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Chapter Three

I raised my head from the cold swing and peered at the unfriendly sky, noticing that the sun had departed and it was starting to get dark outside.

I should really get going and head back towards the house.

I elevated from the swing and initiated walking away from the playground, trudging through the overgrown thick grass to leave.

I perceived a slight crunching noise behind me and turned around, squinting in the dark. My eyes only met piles of leafs spanned out in a bunch of piles.

Ah, probably a deer or a squirrel.

I eventually arrived to the cracked side walk, and began on the path of my usual route home. I took my phone out of my backpack and noticed that I had two missed calls.

I unlocked my phone. One from Amanda and another from an unknown number.

I dialed my aunt's number and called her back. It rung twice before she picked up.

"Where are you Jayden?" She asked with a hint of annoyance in her voice.

"On my way home now." I replied.

"Well, thanks to you we no longer have electricity. I don't know why you spend so much money on clothes and makeup." She snarled, "Not only that, but you left the house a mess. Why would you leave the living room like that? Why didn't you come home right after school????"

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

"What do you mean?" I asked, massaging my head with my free hand.

"You left beer cans and bottles everywhere. It's really disgusting. If you want to drink you need to ask me instead of just doing it. It cost money, yanno." She slurred.

I took a deep breath.

"Okay Amanda, I'll clean it when I get home. I'm sorry." I sighed.

"Good." She replied, hanging up directly afterwards.

She pulls this stuff all the time, it isn't new. I don't drink though, that's not for me. My mother died in a car accident from drinking and driving. Her name was Jessica.

I will never let that happen to myself.

Amanda knows how I feel, but she won't take the blame for anything she has done wrong. She hates me. It's just like that. If she didn't get paid kinship care to take care of me, I would be in Foster Care honestly.

I don't have a family. I want out of this town so I won't be like everyone else here. I hate it here.

The air was humid, a thin fog creeping through the streets making it hard to see now as streetlights were my only guide.

I heard a stick let off a slight pop behind me.

Chills ran up and down my arms, causing my arm hair to stick up.

I felt like I was being watched.

I rotated my head slowly and looked over my shoulder, catching a glimpse of a tall figure dressed in black with a hood over his head walking towards me quickly with long strides.

He didn't look like someone I knew. Then again, his face was not visible.

I whipped my head around, my heart beat increasing its speed. I quickened my pace.

Thoughts ran through my head as I panicked. Could I just be paranoid or is he following me?? What do I do??? Should I scream?? Would that be overreacting???

I turned right at the stop sign, getting closer to my house. I jogged forward, glancing behind me again to see if the figure was there.

He was closer than before. Not only that, but he had turned on the same side-walk as me. He is definitely not a neighbor.