Vicky

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“Someone is following us,” My neighbor said. Her tone showed that she was serious. When she clipped her brunette hair into a ponytail, I knew she meant business.

Goosebumps crawled through my arms. ‘Great, day one as a woman and I am already the victim of sexual harassment.’

Pictures of white vans, creepy old men and other undesirables popped to my head. I looked around, but we were alone, among shadows and starlight.

“We have to go, now!” She shouted. Without warning, she grabbed my hand and put my cardio to test by making me run as fast as her.

‘Ouch, Fuck!’ My legs were still sore from when I ran in the morning.

Across the barren streets and cozy suburban houses, we sprinted forward as whoever followed us crept closer. With only the expanse of the dark blue sky as our witness, we took an abrupt turn into the gloomy alley of an apartment complex. Taking cover underneath the industrial light of a lamppost, we stood our ground, standing firm on the oil stained concrete. 

“We’ll stop them here.” My neighbor said, barely regaining her breath. Whew she extended her hand, a white orb appeared in her palm. The pure white light that it emitted soon dispelled all darkness. This created pitch-black shadows that danced as the orb spun.

Was it fire? Or electricity? I did not know. But as she began to spin the orb in her palm, it became engulfed in a blue flame that grew in size as the orb's rotation accelerated. The air was tense, I could hear my heartbeat as the adrenaline left my bloodstream. When the silence grew, I could hear the sound of a bug flying nearby. 

‘The stalker should appear at any second,’ I thought. I directed my gaze to the street. Unless our stalker could fly, that was their only route of attack. 

Something moved. Then the spinning flame was shot at them like a shuriken. But the shot missed. Instead, the flame hit a black car that was parked nearby. All the lights blinked on and off until the lights shorted, and then the car’s alarm began to drum a lot of noise.

As the alarm rekt havoc to our ears, all the street lamps turned off. The street and the alley were now as dark as a wolf’s mouth. Suddenly I was afraid of the dark.

I gazed at the darkness, and a pair of glowing red eyes gazed back at me. Neighbor-chan then without warning began pelting the stalker with an unending stream of spinning shurikens. The alley became illuminated with a baptism of blue fire.

I stood back, afraid of getting burned. When the bombardment came to an end. The red eyes remained unchanged, clouded in darkness.

When the light returned, Ayuna was standing in front of us with a smile. “Why did you run away?” She asked.

That was a good question. “She told me that you were stalking us,” I said, pointing at my neighbor. Ayuna looked down at her.

“I see, so Ellie told you to run away from me. How silly. How about we go for a frappe, I’ll pay for it,” Ayuna continued.

I looked at my neighbor. “Ellie?”

To which my neighbor Ellie replied. “You know this girl?” Referencing to Ayuna. I just nodded. Although saying I knew who she was is being generous.

“Fine, I’ll accept,” Ellie said.

“You heard Ellie, we are down for a Frappe,” I said. Ayuna seemed happy at my response, despite the fact that Ellie tried to kill her not a minute ago.

The three of us ended up walking into the commercial district. The sound of busy street corners and the neon lights made the city have signs of life, as cheap as they were. Yet, there was this loneliness in this world that was so great that even when walking in packed crowds it did not relent. At Ayuna’s urging, we entered a cheap burger place.

“I have a few coupons,” she said.

When we entered the lobby, the door made a ring as in to notify the wave slaves that new customers were in. The lobby was half packed, half empty. Thugs in fancy dresses sat at the front, their arms riddled with tattoos, their woman all with big boobs. The tables at the back were empty for the exception of an old man and his old wife, modest indeed, a dying kind.

While we ate, someone else entered into the lobby. The man was wearing a brown coat and a brown fedora. ‘Was he a cop?’ No, cops these days are dressed to kill, like soldiers in the front lines.

I couldn’t keep my gaze away from him. Tall, messy black hair, a two-day-old beard. ‘Was he a detective?’

He ordered a cheap cup of coffee and then after glancing at the hooligans at the front; he tilted his fedora as in to hide himself from the world. Then sat two tables behind us, alone, with a laptop. With his back turned against us, he had no way to know I kept staring at him.

“Gabrielle, can I ask you a question?” Ayuna asked, while sitting on the other side of our table.

Her question made me spit my frappe. “No, I am not into old men.”

‘I am not gay, I swear.’

“Earlier you said Ellie made you run away from me? Is that correct?” She asked.

I nodded. While Ellie, who sat to my left, said, “Yeah I did.”

“Gabrielle… Ellie has been dead for three years. Her body has yet to be found,” Ayuna said, with a monotone voice.

“No way, then who-”

Upon glaring to my left, I was only met by the emptiness of my own reflection. Ellie was nowhere to be seen. The restaurant table that until a second ago had felt a bit crowded, now felt incomplete.

“Rumor has it that she was mortally wounded when she jumped into one of her portals for the last time, with only her body landing on the other side. What you saw was nothing but the afterimage of the Schrödinger's cat. Until her body is found, her soul is doomed to roam around, manifesting itself in front of observers that are unaware of the cat’s fate. As far as everyone knows, her corpse is rotting away between some hollow walls.”

I was speechless.

“YOU, Gabrielle Goodman, attended her funeral, YOU were her neighbor, so how come YOU of all people were able to SEE her today? Goldsmith was right. Your behavior is worth observing.”

My stomach roared. It was a shame; it was a good frappe.