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

Chapter 6; 'Final' gift

A few days had passed since Noah witnessed the darker side of her best friend. She hadn't heard from him and he was nowhere to be seen during her days on school. The fact that it didn't feel like he was constantly watching her anymore made her feel at ease. Maybe her words finally managed to put an end to his stalking, even if she didn't really hate him like that.

The teacher began writing down things they had to know for their finals on the board, and Noah began taking notes to make sure she would be on track.

It was Friday afternoon and Noah was following her last class before heading home to enjoy her holidays.

The minutes flew by quickly as the bell rang and Noah stood up from her seat, putting her books in her backpack and wandering out of the classroom. She kept checking up on her phone feeling like any moment she would receive another anonymous text again, but it really seemed like Daniel stopped his stalking. She let out a gentle sigh and approached her locker, taking her coat out of it and putting it on along with her scarf. She was looking forward to tonight since she was going out for dinner with her parents as an early Christmas celebration. She took the bus as usual, staring out of the window subconsciously looking out for Daniel, but he wasn't going to be anywhere.

Once the bus reached the stop she got off and took her usual route back home. The walk felt really empty without him, because usually he would be there with her and carry her bag for her without permission, or offer her his coat. Each moment that he messed up her hair and made her laugh was flashing by too. A deep sigh escaped her lips as she proceeded to walk, eventually arriving home and taking her snowy boots off before entering. The house was very quiet which was not very usual. Her face grew a little anxious to the silence, and after taking off her coat and scarf she began walking around a bit. There was nobody in the kitchen, and there were no sounds coming from upstairs either. She noticed the television in the living room being turned on, but the sound was muted.

Once closing in on the couch she was relieved to see both her parents simply laying under the blanket together, as they seemed to have fallen asleep to the movie. Perhaps they could skip the dinner for tonight since her parents did deserve the rest after working so hard. They hadn't made a reservation anyway. Noah gently pulled on the blanket and made sure it covered the both of them nice and warm, as she then took the remote control into her hand and turned the television off.

She wandered up to the kitchen and put a mug of chocolate milk in the microwave, letting it heat up as she leaned against the kitchen counter with her arms crossed. She was staring out of the window with a tired expression, wondering if she was really safe right now. After the microwave finished, she took her warm chocolate milk out and dropped some marshmallows in it and coated them with whipped cream afterwards.

With silent steps she took her chance to walk to the backdoor and sit in the snowy white yard for a bit. She sat down on a bench in the back porch and began sipping at her drink. The snow came down in slow and gentle motions as she felt relaxed by the silence of her surroundings. She began smelling something off, definitely not her chocolate or anything sweet. It smelled like smoke, specifically cigarette smoke. At this point she stared at the window besides her and saw someone standing behind her in the reflection, causing her to rise from her seated position and drop her mug on the floor. She turned around and stared at the hooded figure enjoying his cigarette. There was no doubt in who that was. He took a deep exhale, blowing out all the smoke along with it and gave her a weakened smile.

"Please, don't scream. I already have a headache. I am going to leave this town and you alone, okay? You can have what you want."