Stalked - From long ago {On Hold, Will Be Continued}

Chapter 2; He follows

Noah had hardly any clue how to deal with the information she was just provided with. She stopped running after a while. Her breathing was hard to control, it didn't help that she was on the verge of crying either. She looked back for a moment, but there was no one there. The sudden feeling of someone watching was constantly creeping down her spine. How did Daniel even know about that time when Rafael laid his fingers on her? She could clearly remember it wasn't at school, and she knew very well Daniel wasn't there at the time. At this point Noah was just tracking back in her head what happened and who was there. Rafael, Laura, two other males from a class higher, but certainly not her best friend. She never told him about what happened either, knowing with their past she didn't want Daniel to be involved. In fact, Noah never really told him anything about the times she was being picked on.

She never told him because of the time that he almost strangled a girl when they were 13 for pulling on Noah's hair. It frightened her so much she tried to always avoid bringing any of these things up with him.

She positioned herself against a wall for a moment and stared at the people walking by. Everyone was just a strange fade of colours crossing her eye sight. Noah bit her lip a little, realizing that she would have to face a decision. He confessed to her, he said he killed Rafael, but did she really have it in her heart to tell anybody? Her face was going a little pale, her mind rewinding and playing Daniel's words over and over again.

A gentle hand placed down on Noah's shoulder, snapping her out of her thoughts. Once looking where the hand came from she saw the kind expression of the owner of the tea shop on the corner.

"Are you alright?"

Noah let out a gentle sigh in relief, not wanting to worry the sweet lady she replied with a simple nod before reacting with words.

"Y-..Yeah, I am doing fine Miss Westbrook. I am just feeling a little out of it today."

The woman gently hooked her arm around Noah's as they began walking to the teashop, the elder woman clearly wanting to take care of her. Once inside Noah was gently helped into a seat, and afterwards served a nice warm cup of tea to warm up her shivering body. She couldn't help but constantly stare over to the windows to see if Daniel was anywhere out there, but she couldn't see anyone that even looked a little like him. His dark eyes, pale skin and brown bushy hair were not a common thing to find around here.

Noah was a pretty rare one too. She had big, friendly blue eyes and a very fair skin with always a gentle blush on her cheeks. On top of that was her hair completely black, even if that wasn't really a thing in her family. She watched miss Westbrook approach with a plate in her hand, serving Noah some freshly made cookies.

"Here you go deary, are you feeling any better? You still look a bit pale. I should probably give your mother a phone call to pick you up here, I don't really trust letting you walk home by yourself in this state."

She gently gave Noah a stroke over her head, as she wandered back to the counter to give her mother a call. Noah didn't really protest, she wouldn't mind being safely in the car with her mom. It was already dark out at this point, as her mother soon arrived at the tea shop. Noah thanked the lady and waved goodbye as she stepped in the car. Her mother dragged a caring hand through her long hair as she stared at her daughter with full concern.

"Are you sick? You look a little off. Let's go home, your father made chicken soup again. Isn't Daniel going to be around for dinner? He usually-"

"No. He's not feeling well. He is at home."

Noah's mother looked at her with a curious expression as to why her daughter cut her off so quickly as soon as the name was mentioned. It didn't raise many questions at this point, so her focus went back on the road as she turned the radio on. They both relaxed to the calm jazz playing silently in the car, as Noah supported her head against the window. She was lifelessly staring around but none of it was actually being registered by her eyes. She was too far away in thoughts again.

Upon arrival they got out of the car, and made their way into the cozy looking house they lived in. Noah hung her coat on the coat rack. She took her shoes off, and pressed her feet down in her slippers. She went straight for the kitchen, her stomach growling for some of her fathers tasty soup. Noah sat down, her face had cheered up a little more despite the fact that her mind was still solid on Daniels words. She was soon joined by her father and her mother. Her father was about to take a spoon of soup in his mouth, before he stopped himself reminded of something.

"Oh, Noah, honey. Daniel called. He said he was feeling better and he's on his way here."

Noah's eyes immediately widened, as she stared at her fathers face. He looked at her in slight confusion, wondering why his daughter reacted the way that she did to the arrival of her friend.

"I-.. I see.."
Noah replied, stuttering and shivering. She suddenly had no appetite anymore. What was she going to do with him on his way like that? 

"He's feeling better you said...?"

Noah felt more anxiety crawling down her body the more she thought about it. It's as if he knew she came up with an excuse like that. She stood up from her seat as she faked a smile, her knees were feeling weak.

"I better save dinner for later. I should get the homework ready and shower before he gets here."
"Alright sweetheart, we will save some soup for later."
Her father replied, smiling as kind as ever as Noah left to go upstairs. The first thing she did was going into the shower. After turning the water on, and undressing, she stepped calmly into the shower and leaned her back against the wall. 

She began sliding herself down, eventually ending up seated on the floor as the shower water embraced her shaking body. She bit her lip numerous times, holding her hands on her legs while digging her nails into the skin. He is haunting her at this point. She took her hands off her legs and rested them on the top of her head, attempting to regain on some sanity. After 45 minutes of sitting around in mental panic, she slowly got up and turned off the shower. Her hand reached for a towel slowly, pulling around her body. 

The mirror showed her just how scared she was looking, that expression worsening the moment she heart the doorbell going. He's here.