Alone Together – Namya Moffett

Alone Together

by Namya Moffett

It was getting much colder at night thanks to the oncoming fall weather, so Priya zipped up her puffy black jacket and pulled the hood up over her head. She began taking quick and calculated strides, in order to get to the bus station that was three blocks away from the diner she worked at. Walking to the bus station after a late shift was always a daunting task for Priya and just the thought of being alone at night made her blood curdle. Thankfully her friend Darren was a chef at the diner, and they usually walked to the bus station together at night. Not tonight though. Darren got sick with the flu, and he was gone from work for the last three days. For those three days, Priya was lucky enough to have not worked the night shift but on the fourth day her luck finally ran out.

So, there she was with her keys clutched between her palms, one key between each finger, classic defense mode. Her eyes were directed forwards, making sure to pay close attention to her surroundings. Priya hated being so on edge, but she knew that her precautions were extremely warranted, especially given her past experiences, and hearing the horror stories that some of her friends had to face while being out alone at night. She was about a block into her journey when she heard the footsteps start behind her.

They were very faint at first, so Priya passed it off as paranoia but still quickened her pace a bit. After a couple more seconds, the footsteps got louder. Priya knew it wasn’t just paranoia, there was someone behind her. With every tap of her foot against the pavement, there was another slightly louder tap that she could hear a second later. Priya’s mind became frantic. “What do I do?” she thought to herself. “Do I run, do I turn around?” But surely she couldn’t turn around, right? Because the second that she did, the situation would become all too real, and the person would make their move on her. Priya had no idea what to do, she felt paralyzed with fear. Her legs were still moving but

her ability to process the situation and come up with a safe getaway plan was nonexistent. So, she kept walking, well more like sprinting at this point. It was the only thing she could do, the only thing that felt right in the moment. She didn’t want to turn around and face the reality that someone was following her, someone who could be much bigger and much stronger than her. She picked up her pace again, the change in her pockets clinking together at the fast movement. The footsteps behind her got quicker and louder meaning that not only was the person behind her moving faster but they were getting closer to her as well.

Priya had finally had enough and abruptly stopped her sprint and turned on her heels, facing the direction of the perpetrator. But there was no one there. Priya had her key clad hand raised in the air, waving it in every direction as she tried to catch sight of the person but came up short. There was no one in the street, there were no trees or alleyways for the person to take cover in, there was nothing. She was completely alone. Priya dropped her hand with the keys to her side and rubbed her other hand against her forehead, letting out a soft laugh.

“Wait till Darren hears about this, he’ll never let me live it down,” she muttered under her breath. “Who’s Darren?” asked a quiet voice behind her.

Priya instantly froze, able to hear her heart pulsating loudly through her ears. She slowly turned around to face the voice, throat constricting at the thought of what she was about to face. What Priya saw next scared her more than anything in her entire life. Standing in front of her was a woman. The woman was wearing a long white nightgown, with blood stains smeared down the front and she had a large tattoo of a snake eating itself on the side of her neck. But that’s not what scared Priya, not the blood or the creepy tattoo or even the face splitting grin plastered on the woman’s face. No, what scared her was the fact that this woman standing right in front of her, looked exactly like Priya. From the long, wavy brown hair, down to the mole under her right eye.

“What the-” but before Priya could finish her sentence, she felt a prick in the side of her neck and was immediately engulfed by darkness.