𝅘𝅥𝅮Pa-na-na-na𝅘𝅥𝅮

Music pounded into my eardrums from the black headphones that tightly held onto my ears.

I wasn’t into music. But he said it really helped.. So we kept it on. All the time.

‘Look at him; he looks like a druggie. Best not get close.’

He was also really invasive, demanding, and bossy. It was irritating, but I couldn’t really do anything about it.

We were walking on a busy crowded marketplace; towering skyscrapers mixed with tempered and organic looking shops lined the streets. Usually, I wouldn’t go out during this time of day because the number of people made me break out in a cold sweat. Even now, my hands were shivering. But I really wanted to get the newest My Hero Academia edition, so he forced me to go out claiming it was a good thing.

"It is, dumbass!’ He interrupted.

He was also a jerk. Sometimes he’d just break my train of thought out of nowhere and say mean things.

BEEEEEEEP

I froze. A car honked at me just as I crossed the street. My hands began shaking, my lips quivered, and my eyes fluttered.

“Uh..” I needed to apologize.

‘Calm down. Listen to me and just keep moving your little feet. Don’t disrupt the traffic more, and make sure you look before you go...’’ He consoled me.

So, I scuttled ahead, trying not to trip myself up, carefully looking the rest of the way until I reached the other side. Then, catching my breath, I looked behind me at the stares and awe of people. Maybe this wasn’t a good thing, I thought, my cheeks flushing red.

‘Stop thinking. Just walk. Go.’

Ok.. ok.

So, I tightly held my handbag with weak fingers and went my way, just as the lights had turned red, and the pedestrians behind me began to walk the crosswalk.

…

The doors jingled as I opened them, and I was met with a brightly lit store. Rows of shelves lined the walls and floor with all kinds of books neatly arranged and stacked beside each other.

I sighed a breath of relief. I was finally here, with my headphones still blasting non-stop. I didn’t want to turn them off. It made him go to sleep more, and I liked that sometimes.

I glanced around, the cashier energetically greeting me. I replied with a slightly crooked smile and walked off towards a section.

Souvenirs hung on the spinnable circular racks. Lockets, figurines, T-Shirts, all kinds of things.

I paused in front of it for a second. If he was here he’d probably cuss me out and say that we didn’t have enough money, and I should stop looking at it, which made me kind of irritated, but he was right, so I only glanced at them for a second.

I looked at the neatly arranged books that were basking in the sunlight. My fingers hovered over each one, then picking one up and flipping through it.

Luckily, not many people went here so I could take my time. I loved the feeling of paper in my hand, so I refrained from reading online. It was also nice to give a little donation to the authors for their work.

I continued to flip through a variety of novels and comics for a while, picking them up and neatly settling them back down. I was so enthralled that I didn’t notice that a little old lady was standing behind me.

She had a smile plastered on her face, deep wrinkles penetrating her skin– but you could tell she was beautiful when she was younger by her distinctive features. But her eyes were strangely deep black.

It dawned on me that I was probably in her way, so I shuffled out of the way while apologizing. “Um..S-sorry,” I stuttered, taking my headphones off. “Was I in the way?”

Her deep black eyes penetrated through me, and I felt like she could see and hear my suddenly palpitating heartbeat and awkward thoughts.

With jittery hands, I slightly smiled, waiting for a reply as she just continued to stare at me.

"..."

“Ok, I’ll just..” Feeling the awkwardness, I made a quick move to leave, but she suddenly spoke up and stopped me.

“Ah, dear, I’m so sorry.” She raised her hands, gently placing them on my wrists. “Sometimes I just get so caught in my head I don’t realize what’s happening around me!”

She laughed, letting go of my wrist.

“That’s an excellent choice of a book.” She said, her eyes twinkling at the book in my hand. “It’s always a pleasure to meet someone who appreciates the beauty of a good story.”

“Oh, umm..” I said, my eyes dashing around avoiding eye contact. “I was just looking around.. I’m actually here to buy another book.”

“Oh, I see.” She smiled further. “I must be holding you up, go on ahead then.”

“No, not at all..” I hurriedly placed the book in my hand back to its spot. “Ahm.. so, you–”

“I’ll see you around.” She interrupted, giggling.

“Oh, yes.. See you around.” I held out my palm, gave a still-wave of goodbye and swiftly turned around, walking away.

…

Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

I went ahead to the manga section, carefully eyeing each spine. I paused a couple of times, picking out ones I didn’t know about and quickly reading the blurbs. I put them away, keeping mental notes of the ones that piqued my interest.

Then, I noticed a whitish-blue spine sticking out at the bottom of the shelf. I quickly snatched it up. My heart gave quick little jumps as I was flipping it all around, examining every inch of the cover. It was perfect!

Sometimes they say it’s available on their website, but there've been a few instances where they lied, which made me a little mad– but all is forgiven because of this!

Then, my eyes sparkled as I gave a small, intense grin. It was also pretty cheap, so maybe I could buy a souvenir after all!

I skipped my way back to the cashier, waiting in line and eyeing the souvenirs in the front. I thought that maybe it was my lucky day, because I spotted a figurine I’d been wanting for quite some time now that was always out of stock.

And, just as I was squinting for the price tag, I felt a cold whisper on my neck. I turned my head in confusion and froze when I saw the scene at the window. The little old lady was standing still outside, her deep black eyes staring intensely into with a frown.

But just as we locked eyes, her face distorted, transforming into a warm smile. She then suddenly turned around and walked away , disappearing

…

I hesitatingly looked at the door knob, afraid that something might jump at me when I opened it– but held it open anyway due to the rising awkwardness.

With a bag of goodies, I walked out. The cashier gave an enthusiastic goodbye just as the traffic noise and din of people vibrated from outside my headphones.

I walked down the steps, and immediately stepped back as a person walked by, then another. I stayed there waiting for an open path, and quickly jumped to it as soon as

there was one.

Corner.

Just as I’d reached the end of the street, I turned to a less busy corner.

Then, seeing the amount of space, I sped my pace and zigzagged my way through people, being inconspicuous as possible.

Corner.

I turned another corner.

Corner.

And another.

The street this time was weirdly empty– which made me feel light, as I could happily saunter back home for the last few minutes.

Corner.

My eyes smoothly glided around, my mind somewhere else. In the corners of my eyes was an inconspicuous alleyway.

I walked past it, peering into the darkness.

Corner.

Another similar alleyway.

I walked past it, peering into its darkness too.

Corner.

And another.

I paused. My heart palpitated. Cold sweat broke. I didn’t know why, but I started to slowly back away. Trusting my intuition, I shifted my body and turned around. However, the instant I did, I was met with familiar black eyes staring right up at me.

I yelped, staggering back thinking if she was following me this whole time.

She had a frown on her face again. And, just before I could run, she quickly reached out with her weirdly blackened hands, swiftly dragging me into the dark alleyway.

…

“Come on, come on.” She threw me to the ground, a frown on her face while holding my wrist tightly.

“No…” I teared up. “I don’t want to.. I don’t want to, please not again..” Cold and numbness ran through my arms to the tips of my fingers, unable to give strength. I’d turned semi-conscious, my mind swaying back and forth between reality and nightmares.

“Here we are.” She smiled, her face darkening further as she made a small gash on my neck, withdrawing blood. Her eyes bulged, her mouth slobbered, her hands swelled and her teeth sharpened.

I slowly faded unconscious.

----------------------------------------

When I slowly woke up, I felt 2 things. Anger, and fluids.

I was inside an alleyway, and an old lady was on top of me, grinning as she looked at the drop of blood on her hand.

I felt the tears on my face drying up, and a sticky substance dripping on my neck. I reached my hand out to it, discovering blood. And, in that instant I kicked her off to her surprise.

I got up, staring daggers into her demanding an explanation before I would kick her ass.

That stupid girl probably fell for some petty tricks, or willingly followed her here. She just can’t help herself when she gets scared. She becomes meek and easily controlled to do anything anyone wants. I inwardly sighed at this thought.

I glared at her, my anger rising as she continued to say all sorts of nonsense. How I needed to fix some stupid story. She was screwing with me.

“Shut the fuck up.” I interrupted her while wiping my eyes. I wasn’t going to listen to some more bullshit.

So I pulled my sleeves, and walked towards her as I winded my arms.

Yet she just stood there blankly. Perfect target. I saw a broken bottle in the corner of my eyes, then dissipated the thought.

“You dumb old bitch.”

I stopped before her, stomped on the ground then quickly twisted my hips; my hands formed a solid fist that slowly descended onto her old wrinkly face.

BAM

A perfect hit.

But, I staggered backwards as soon as I hit her. Pain cumulated in my hands as I held them, wincing in pain.

“Hehe.” She taunted.

That made me blow a fuse, so I jumped towards her and started an onslaught of kicking and punching, ignoring the pain as much as I could. But that didn’t work so I tried choking her, dragging her down to the ground.

So I finally stopped, panting, as she mocked me.

“Is that all you have?” She giggled.

I don’t know what the fuck her body was made of, but I didn’t care anymore. I picked up the broken bottle beside me. I’d stab her with this, just like back then.

I furrowed my eyebrows. “I’ll be killing you. You don’t have much longer to live for anyway, you old hag.”

Her face distorted, her mouth drooping. Then it turned into a sudden frightful smile, the corners of her lips reaching her eyes.

“Yes.. yes that’s good. Necessary.”

It gave me chills. But I held the bottle in my hands, not waiting anymore, and sprinted towards her.

With a swift movement, I held her head with one hand and forcefully descended the bottle with the other with brutal intensity.

SQUISH.

It went into her skin like a blunt object into rubber. Nothing. I stabbed again, and again and again until I fell exhausted.

Seriously. What was going on?

“It’s time.” Her previously mocking smile disappeared, now boring a serious face. “You have to go fix the story.”

“..Fuck your story.” I huffed. Then, I staggered back as she slowly took a long sword out of nowhere, holding it up. “What the fuck..”

“You’re going to finish the story, right?” She asked again.

“What story?” I remarked mindlessly, my focus on the long sword.

“YOU ARE GOING TO, RIGHT?” She yelled, pointing the sword towards me.

Even though I was still angry, it had subsided from fear. And since I couldn’t damage her the best thing to do for now was do as she said, aim for the right moment to run away.

“..Sure, whatever you say.” I gestured, showing my defeat. “.. Just don’t stab me.”

"Don't worry, you won't die." She smiled, then quickly threw the sword at me. I yelped, my hands covered my face as I cowered back.

Tinkle.

It tinkled in front of me on the ground.

And, in that instant, I had the idea to immediately book it, but just before I was able to, the ground beneath me crumbled, and I slowly fell backwards, falling into the void.

“... Don’t let her die.”