When Night Breaks

I carried her to her apartment, concealing us both with the darkness of the night. She was unconscious the entire time. Thankfully, because of my stealth following, I knew exactly which apartment was hers. I didn't think the security guy at the front door would allow me to enter the building because of two reasons: 1) I was carrying an unconscious tenant at 10:00 at night and 2) He wasn't blind, therefore he would detect my condition, so to speak. So, instead of being buzzed in through the front, I climbed in her window. She lived in an upper level apartment but had a balcony I could climb and enter into her bedroom window. As creepy as that may sound, I was quite thankful that I knew this information.

I laid her down in her bed and covered her up after removing her shoes for her. I was going to leave, but something kept me in the room. I had made sure that physically she was okay, so there really was no reason to stay. She was sleeping and would soon awake, with no harm done minus a few scrapes and probably a headache.

I stood watch over her for the next hour or so. I could feel the anger rage up inside me all over again as I thought about what Ian had done. It was a good thing that I had decided to follow them. I knew that this event was the one I had sensed before. I could tell something bad was going to happen, and this was it. It was almost like a premonition, a warning that I gave myself to look after her. As I stood there having a mental conversation with myself, she awoke. I quickly turned and headed for the window. But instead of climbing out, I stood facing the corner of the wall; hiding my face.

“You saved me.” I heard her voice say softly, “I knew it was you.”

Her voice. It was beautiful. She had never directly spoken towards me before, and for those to be her first words almost knocked the breath out of me.

“Who are you?” she asked.

“It doesn’t matter who I am. It matters that you’re alive.” She then climbed out of bed and started to walk towards me. Why wasn’t this girl afraid of me?

“Stop. Lay back down. Get your rest.” I insisted.

She hadn’t run away yet, but I know if she seen me fully, she would.

“I’m fine. Tell me your name.” She was standing right beside me.

“Please. Don’t look at me. I do not want to frighten you.”

“Frighten me?” She asked. “I am not afraid of you. What is your name?” She was persistent. Do I dare turn and reveal my face? Do I tell her my name? I slowly rotated around, out of the shadowy corner. She looked me in the eyes, and I could tell that even if she wasn’t frightened, she wasn’t sure what I was. I quickly felt insecure and too exposed.

“I must go.”

“Wait!” She touched my arm. The feeling of her hand on my sleeve was so intense that it felt as though there were no layers between us. “I just want to thank you. For saving me.”

“No need to thank me.”

“Why do you hide your face? I’ve already seen you.”

I turned back around to face her. “Why do you not scream or run? Why are you not afraid?” I had to ask.

“Maybe I am a little scared. I don’t know who you are. But you did save me. I owe you something for that.”

She asked again for my name, yet I still did not answer. “Since you won’t tell me your name, answer one thing.” I nodded to show I agreed to this condition.

“It’s you that I’ve sensed following me, isn’t it?”

“Not entirely.” I answered honestly. “Yes, I have been following you. But it’s not always been me.”

“Are you like a stalker?” She asked bluntly.

“No. Not me.” She looked confused so I continued. “Ian is your stalker. He’s the one you’ve sensed. He’s been watching you, and memorizing your schedule. I was following you to protect you from him.”

“Why didn’t you tell me? You should have confronted me and warned me.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle.

“You really think you would have believed some man who was following you that you had never met before if he came up to you and told you that someone was stalking you. And the only reason he knew this was because he too, followed you?”

“Oh.” She said, trying to think of a response. “That makes sense.”

Again, I nodded. “I am not here to harm you. I’m not a creepy stalker, nor do I want to make you feel afraid or uncomfortable. I must go now. Get some rest.”

“What’s your name?” She asked one more time, despite our agreement.

“Does it matter?”

“I want to know what to call you.” She answered.

“Call me whatever you’d like.”

“Well, my name’s Samantha.”

“I know.” I said, as I climbed out the window and headed for the fire escape stairs.