Chapter 8

˚ʚ♡ɞ˚

Aldira was anything but quiet as she sat in class. She’d been nervous. Her fingers clicking away at the pen as her eyes darted under her light eyelashes. It was a dreary night class, but somehow she had plenty of energy left. She looked across the room, her chin resting on her hand to help stop her jitter. Most of the other students slouched as they worked on their computers, barely looking up at the board, which was a shame as the professor wrote furiously, barely looking back at them. She looked down at her notes, her handwriting was neat in an obscure way. Safe to say it was unique, tonight, however, her page was surprisingly full. Not of the classwork of course, but instead a detailed list of dates. She glanced at the clock once again, now patting her hands on the table rhythmically unable to keep still, her curls swaying with her movements, complimenting her wide crooked smile. She was one of the first to stand as the professor declared the class over, racing out the door before stumbling back awkwardly to grab her bag. Her heart raced as she walked towards her apartment.

What an amazing day

She felt for her pockets, pulling out her phone. She wore a white cotton long sleeve, her wide crochet bag a mixture of orange and brown hung on one shoulder. She walked quickly although she lived quite near to her university. She wasn’t into living on campus dorms, besides her parents had no problem paying for her apartment. Her family was well above well-off, as were many of the students at her university. She wasn’t relatively known for her brightness as much as her un-reserveness. She was usually noticed for skipping to her classes, followed by a girl wearing dark clothing close behind.

Cold air gusted as she opened the front door, her long curtains swaying in the air. She strode towards the wide windows, her eyes practically glowing from the light emitting from outside as she peered over the edge of the window. It was a bright night as usual. She smelled a faint sense of rain as the wind blew past her. Aldira closed the window as she turned around, making sure to lock it. The house was quiet, her dad mustn't have shown up tonight. He hasn't been coming to visit her for a while. She wasn't very used to the quietness. Her father often visited using the excuse that he paid for her apartment. She had no problem it, but it wasn't unusual to come back from class seeing him make a meal for her. She sighed, brushing her hair from her face and setting her bag down. She slouched as she walked towards the kitchen. She was starving, though most nights when she had practices, she was often too tired to get the microwave working. Tonight however, she was hungry.

Setting aside her stuff she opened the fridge.

What to make...

She was hungry, yes, but she was craving something. Waffles. And she was sure as hell gonna make it.

Aldira grabbed open her undecorated brown cupboards. It was one of the only objects in her home that wasn’t covered with stickers or fairy lights. She wrecked through the shelves as she looked for the instant waffle box.

“It’s not here,” Aldira whined as she slumped against a red chair that sat next to a small marble island. It's fine, I can go buy some.

She wore a scowl as she grabbed her scarf, uncaring to turn off the lights as she walked out of her front door, locking it behind her. Aldira's footsteps thudded against the concrete as she trudged down the fairly lit street. She walked through the small streets, internally groaning as a group of tourists made their way in front of her.

I hate summers

She cringed as their voices rang and echoed off the street, rolling her eyes as she crossed the street.

I’ll take a shortcut

Her eyes blurred as she paced off the street making her way through a dimly lit park. She was tired. She let her legs lead her down the cemented path, the scraping of it against her shoes making her wince occasionally. Aldira groaned, rubbing her eyes as she kept them closed, a cluster of yawns followed. She didn’t care about staying on the path tonight as long as she got to a shop. It was dark either way, she wouldn’t get in trouble. She listened as the scrapes were replaced with the crumple of leaves under her feet. She felt her pockets, pulling her earphones out while opening her eyes widely to watch the ground below her. The cawing of birds was all she could hear as she walked deeper into the wooded area of the park, the lights that led the pathway barely shining through the trees. Aldira could no longer hear the leaves under her while she plugged in her earphones. She was practically skipping through the park, her eyes closed for most of her steps, a soft smile playing on her face, a crumple of quiet thoughts fluttering in her head, the most prominent being if she should do a cartwheel.

I don’t really wanna show up to the store covered head to toe in mud and leaves.

Aldira continued on her path, turning at random trees, and the more she walked, the more she wandered away from the path, seemingly obvious to how the fractures of light could no longer reach her. She paced like this for minutes, her eyes setting to the darkness around her.

Her airy attitude was cut short as she heard an all too familiar beep. Her phone powered off. It died. Aldira froze as she took off her earphones, her chest slowly tightening.

Shit where is this?

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She whirled around vigorously, her hand nervously patting down her hair. She felt her heart thump against her chest, the darkness seemingly engulfing her. Aldira’s eyes widened as she glanced up, unable to see buildings or any sign of light above the trees, and the leaves that once settled around her feet were now traded with mud, the ground still wet from the rain that fell a few hours ago. She walked cautiously forwards, holding her hair in a ponytail trying to breathe comfortably.

“Alright alright, just go back in the direction you came from” she quietly murmured to herself, before swearing harshly when she tripped over a tree branch fell to her knees, Aldira groaned quietly, before freezing once again as she found herself peering into a bush, noticing a figure a few feet in front of it. If she wasn’t scared before, she was definitely scared now, and she could practically hear her heart beat. The sounds of crickets and birds that once swarmed the area were now engulfed by a deadly silence, and she craned her ear to hear any sign of the city. Breathing in quietly while keeping an eye on the still figure before her, Aldira moved back up to her feet, crouching still behind the bush.

“Little late for a hike” The figure spoke, turning its head toward her, unmoving. Aldira clenched her fist. It was a man's voice, and not only that, a fully hooded man.

Hell no, I’m not dying today.

Aldira stayed quiet as she observed the man before her, watching for movements that never came.

“You're on private property,” he remarked at her silence. “I don’t want anything. Leave.”

Aldira breathed out, noticing the lack of an accent, before carefully looking behind her.

“Actually…I’m lost.”

The figure turned away his head, looking down at the ground as he kicked a pebble.

“That's not my problem. You shouldn’t be here so leave,” he replied smoothly.

“Uhm, please sir I don’t know where to go from here. Even if I’d like to leave I would have no idea where to go.”

The man huffed, and she could hear him swear under his breath.

“If I show you the way out, will you leave indefinitely?”

“Yes.”

The man treaded towards her, careful to not step on any bushes or flowers.

“You came from that direction right?”

Aldira shifted, “yes but…” The man turned towards her.

“I was actually heading somewhere.” “Alright,” The man spoke hesitantly, rubbing his hand on the back of his head before turning away from Aldira when he noticed her staring at his face intently with the little light that show’d through the forest.

“Where to?” he grunted, turning his heel away from her.

“I actually wanted to go a grocery store”

The man glanced back at her, and Aldira tried to hold in her smile as the man shook his head and walked forward, allowing her to walk a few steps behind him.

“So…you live around here?”

Aldira heard the man sigh and pause before he responded, “Yeah I live somewhere around here.”

The conversation slacked as they walked, a silence falling between them. That didn’t stop Aldira from peaking over his shoulder curiously as they paced. But before she could open her mouth, light beamed through the trees, the path opening up to an empty lit street.

“There you go” the stranger huffed, tilting his head towards the street.

“Thank you” Aldira breathed, looking back at the hooded man as he leaned back on a tree. The man nodded and reached into his pocket, pulling out a thin black wallet before reaching out and handing Aldira some notes, raising an eyebrow when her smile churned into a striking baffled expression.

“Oh-I don’t need the money” I have more than enough… Aldira thought, mirroring the man's raised eyebrow as he looked her up and down.

“My mistake,” The man remarked, straightening himself as he turned back towards the wooded area, before stalling as Aldira spoke out. “If you haven’t eaten anything, I can get you something. It's the least I can do”

“I…will take up that offer.” The man stated thoughtfully as he rubbed his eyes. “Great! Well, I know this street so…let's go.” The pair made their way through the street quickly, the man turning his head away slightly when he noticed the intrusive green eyes that landed on him whenever they walked past a lamp.

“It's around this corner” stated Aldira, passing the stranger an awkward smile, silently thrilled when she saw other people walking around the store.

“This works great” He spoke, smiling back before dropping it when he remembered his mask.

They shopped quickly, Aldira avoiding the man's gaze as she only grabbed multiple waffle boxes.

“Well let me thank you again, I wouldn’t have gotten out that quick without you.” Aldira added, clipping back her hair before handing a small paper bag to the man.

“Or gotten out at all”

“Excuse me?”

“What person walks through random streets and shady areas?”

“Well I can say the same about you. What were you doing in there?” Aldira ranted accusingly.

“Please” The stranger huffed, “I have permission to be in there. You however,” The man now pointing a finger in her direction, before dropping it as he noticed her eyeing a scar that ran down his hand, “should not have been poking around.”

“Alright lighten up, it was obviously a mistake” Aldira replied curtly, rolling her eyes. “Well, now that we’re acquainted-”

“We’re not”

“We could be” She chipped,

“I should get going-”

“You're obviously not native and you’ve got a funky getup”

“I don’t think you qualify for judging someone's outfit” the man replied, holding his stare towards Aldira’s almost eye straining bright multi color scarf.

“I disagree” she giggled, before reaching her arm out, practically dislocating his shoulder as she shook his hand.

“Well I hope to see you again Mr…” she drew, looking into the man’s light brown eyes waiting for an answer.

“I probably won’t see you…” He replied, holding her gaze, taking in her green eyes once again.

“Right, well thank you” Aldira sighed, looking down at herself making sure she got everything.

“Welcome.” The stranger replied softly, before turning away from her, adjusting his hood as he walked back down the street, slipping into the shadows in the space between the faint lamps.