Chapter One

Her eyes shot open and she sat up, she was breathing heavily and in uneven paces. Naomi looked at her clock. It read five-thirty in the morning. Naomi laid back down, her breathing becoming stable.

"Again," she said to herself, "it happened again."

Naomi was a girl who had nightmares, bad ones where she'd scream and cry in her sleep, but when she woke up, she usually forgets what happened, but all she remembers is the unlimited fear and adrenaline.

The ones she would somewhat remember were bloody and gruesome. Naomi would be standing in pools of blood, dismantled bodies, ripped throats and bleeding wrists that would surround her. Sometimes she would stand there by herself with her hair blowing in the nonexistent wind, or a large, skinny, gawky figure with a scythe and hood stood next to her. She was never scared during her dreams, a weird blank feeling would just sit in a pool in her stomach. When she woke up, it would bring her to tears. Nothing was more unsettling then being fine with being surrounded by dismembered corpses. Naomi could never tell a living soul, the fear of her being a young girl being mentally unstable or being looked at differently made her feel uneasy.

This particular time, she was in a cage. The thing was, nothing was there, she was just surrounded by pitch black, unable to move or scream for help. She stood there restlessly, trying to beg for a savior. She felt trapped, locked up and put away to rot.

Shaking her head to forget the horrifying dream, Naomi swung her legs over the bed and got up. Better sooner than later, she thought to herself. The girl walked to her bedroom, turning on the harsh light. Naomi opened her mirror cabinet and grabbed her brush, starting her morning routine, making herself feel okay to go outside.

The alarm went off after some time, signaling it was six o'clock. Naomi trotted over and dismissed it, conveniently being done with her bathroom routine, she headed to her small walk in closet to get dressed.

Naomi opened the door, turned on the lights and caught a glimpse of her reflection in the full body length mirror with her fluffy duck pajamas on.

She untied the ribbon that she would tie in a bow on her pants and slipped out of the bottoms, throwing them on the ground. Naomi unbuttoned her top, her small, nimble fingers undoing the buttons sewed onto the cloth. She also threw her shirt on the ground with her bottoms. She grabbed a pair of her favorite, simple jeans and looked at the hanging shirts with her brown eyes to find an appealing shirt.

I guess whatever's fine, I'm just going to cover it up with my sweater anyway.

She threw on a plain pastel colored shirt and went out of the closet, walking over to her bed and grabbing her hoodie she threw on the bottom of the bed, too lazy to fold it or putting it in the closet. Just throwing the black jacket on the bed was more convenient anyway. After putting it on, she walked over to her window, peeking through the blinds to see if her parents left. Naomi was surprised to see them both hurrying into their separate cars to go their separate ways for their jobs. They were usually gone by this time. Her dad kissed her mom on the cheek before throwing his brief case in his trunk and walking to the driver seat to drive off. Her mom waved him goodbye, getting her own car to go drive off the opposite way.

Naomi quit "spying" on her parents, and went downstairs into the kitchen. Preparing herself a bowl of cereal then sitting down at the table to eat while she finished some remaining problems on her homework. Being the only child, she didn't have to worry about siblings, but she always wanted a younger sibling to tease about cute kids attending their school. Her parents had some problems, so she couldn't have her wish grantees, but life was steady so far. Anxiety was getting better, and nightmares weren't so horrible. Naomi looked at the clock before sighing and putting everything away in her small bag. She ruffled her hair and reluctantly drove herself to school.

The drive seemed a bit off, and it seemed a bit shorter than usual. She brushed it off, parking the small car and grabbing her back to go into the unwelcoming high school. The walls were painted white, it looked like it was given one quick coat and they let it be. The paint was chipping off, and the tile flooring was dirty and stained. Naomi had seen janitors scrubbing on their knees trying to get the stains off, but they stubbornly stayed on the tile, leaving a nasty mark.

The school was already bustling with activity and news, the young kids hanging out with their friends, fooling around, copying off of each other, or finishing a project due that day.

"Ni! Nina!"

Naomi turned to check who was calling her by her nicknames to see Alex. She waved excitedly at her close friend, who ran towards her and wrapped Naomi in loving arms and Naomi quickly hugged them back, squeezing them.

"Did you sleep well?" Alex asked, looking at her, then running their hand through their hair, which they recently got styled to an undercut. They were very cute, appealing to they eye. Dyed dark hair that was naturally platinum blond, charming amber eyes, fair skin and very faint rosy cheeks.

"No, not really. I had another nightmare," she replied, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear.

"Oh, I'm sorry babe," they replied, rubbing Naomi's arm.

"Yeah," was all Naomi could muster. She looked down at the ground---she didn't tell Alex, but she was losing more sleep than often. At least the nightmares weren't so gruesome, but she didn't want to tell Alex about her bloody dreams or burden with her problems.

The bell rung, and they hugged and said goodbye before heading to their classes. They never got to see each other again during school, which bummed Naomi. It was normal for them not to run into each other, with all of their classes being on opposite sides of the school and Alex's clubs keeping them busy during the breaks, but it pulled down Naomi's mood anyways. Her day was already a little weird, and she guessed this was just another variable to it.

It was lunch and Naomi quickly escaped outside to avoid the awkward looking around for a seat in the cafeteria, but she really didn't eat when she sat down on the drying out grass. She wasn't hungry, so she just people watched. Naomi analyzed how they all acted differently with their friends, their body language, who they stood next to and how they stood next to them. She watched how some talked with her hands, how they would throw their heads back when they laughed or clutched their stomachs. Naomi always distanced herself from people. Despite walking, talking, and looking like a human she always viewed everyone else as if they were an exotic species, like a scientist studying a rare bird.

It made Naomi remember how she met her two friends, Alex and Stella. Stella had gone to a different school, but they'd usually hang out in their spare time on school days and sleepover at one's house on the weekends. Those were the only two people she could talk to, but she was fine with that. Naomi and Alex met at a public therapy session, and Naomi met Stella through Alex. Although they did spend so much time with one another, Stella was one of those accidental friends, but both of them couldn't say no to her or tell her to back off.

The day flew passed with the sassy teachers and the obnoxious kids. The school day had finally ended. Naomi scampered to her small car to put her bag in the trunk, but before that, she grabbed her phone and hey car keys from out of her backpack and put it in her sweater pocket. She, Alex, and Stella were meeting at the library which wasn't too far away from the high school, and Naomi decided to take a stroll there. She liked to walk, it was an opportunity to people watch and take in her surroundings. It was usually pleasant, since she lived in a small town and there wasn't people crowding her on the sidewalk.

She quickly arrived at the library, opening the door and it made the usual bell sound. Naomi suddenly felt relieved being surrounded by all of the books. She took a deep breath, letting herself relax.

It wasn't long before Alex showed up, and they both walked around the library looking for books fitting for their science project. After a few books, they found a table in the back and settled there.

"Didn't we say three-thirty? It's four and Stella isn't here," Naomi stated after a little while of reading the books.

"Stella's always late," Alex let out a small laugh, "all we can do is wait here or wait for her to call us saying she can't make it. You know how she is, Ni."

Naomi shrugged her shoulders, playing with her fingers. She grabbed her book and started reading again to find some useful information.

---

"What's up, b*****s?"

Naomi shifted uncomfortably when Stella showed up, her bleach long blonde hair going down to her waist and her brown eyes sparkling. Maybe it was her new eye makeup that made it look like that, Stella was always the one into cosmetics. Stella's skin looked slightly darker, it was already naturally tan, but she wanted her skin to be more even of the golden skin color. Alex noticed how Naomi was in distress and started rubbing her back.

"Stella, the name calling?" Alex brought up, giving Stella a somewhat stern look. Alex was never the one to directly call someone out, but it made Naomi feel better than Alex at least did something in her defense.

"Oh you big babies, you'll be fine," Stella rolled her eyes, playing on her phone.

"A-Also, you were late again," Naomi said, her voice barely above a whisper. She pulled her sleeves to her knuckles, trying to cover more of her fair skin, so less of her would be seen, and she looked down at the ground again.

"It's just a science project, not a business meeting. So, anyway, what are we doing?" Stella retorted, continuing to play on her phone.

"W-Well, we were just waiting for you and---"

"And I have stuff to do, Nina, and what are we doing?"

Alex gave Naomi a sympathetic look, Naomi shrugged once gain, trying to brush off her hurt feelings.

The group worked in the colorful library with witty posters stapled to the wall. Other teenagers came in, stayed for awhile, and left while the three researched and wrote down notes for their strict science teacher.

"Well, I have Starbucks with someone soon, so, bye for now, my darlings," Stella said after a few hours, getting out of her seat without any other words. Alex called after her, chasing after Stella. Naomi watched Alex as they ran to catch up with the tall girl with five inch heels on.

Alex came back a few minutes after, explaining they weren't able to convince Stella to stay and ditch Starbucks. Naomi said it was okay, and not it's their fault, but Naomi could tell Alex felt guilty for not being able to convince Stella to stay and help.

After another couple hours, Alex had to leave, leaving Naomi at the library. At ten, the library was starting to close. Naomi took her leave, and started walking to the high school to get to her car.

She already informed her parents that she would be home late, but when she checked her phone for text messages and found there was none, she couldn't help but feel upset. She sighed, putting her phone in her pocket and continued to walk. Naomi thought maybe they were stuck in traffic, even though it was late, or they trusted her enough to come home on time. She knew her parents loved her, but she wish they would just check up on her a little more often. It would be nice to know to be worried about, knowing they cared about you and wanted to make sure you were safe.

Naomi had heard footfalls, a tapping echo on the sidewalk, but she shook her head and regarded them as her own. She started to walk faster, staring at her feet to see if the sound was actually in sync with her steps. She bit her lip when she saw she was walking faster than the reoccurring boom.

It could just be a person walking the same route as her for now, but Naomi was unsure, she craned her neck to peek if someone was actually walking the same way or following her. She saw a tall, lanky figure that was so exaggerated she wondered if it was even human. They wore a dark swearer with the hood on, and was dangerously close to her. If they walked even a little bit faster or she barely slowed down her pace, they could've been breathing down her neck.

Paranoia filled out throughout her whole entire body, and an uneasy feeling at the pit of her stomach. Anxiety started to take over and she could feel it and how her fingertips tingled strangely. She took detour and other routes to double check if they were actually following her, and if they were, they lost her.

She turned her head to check, and there they were. The figure was almost right behind her, Naomi didn't wait any longer and she started running. She just ran, not wasting any time to get away from them.

She could hear it, the figure being right behind her. She felt them there, she felt the piercing eyes on her back, she felt the emotion while they stared at the back of her dark jacket. Naomi thought of only one thing that could get rid of them.

Only the drunk and mentally unstable go there at that time, not even the brave and stupid. Naomi ran into the woods, she'd been there a few times over the weekends for family hikes. Then again, she did that in the middle of the day.

She ran into there, expecting them to stop once she went it, but they continued to run after her. Naomi wanted to cry, she choked back sobs while she ran for that one little precious life she had. She searched her sweater pocket for her phone to call someone, but she was only greeted with the jingling keys.

Naomi twisted and turned through the trees and their thick trunks and large branches sprouting out of them. She couldn't see where she was going, nor did she even know where she was headed. No one had gone fully into the woods yet, business investors tried to buy it, but the town wants go leave it alone for wild life. Naomi turned her head, noticing they were drastically behind her from where they were earlier, but she was still in line of sight.

Turning her head forward, her eyes widened when there was a straight drop. She tried to stop herself from running off of it, but inertia and gravity cut to the chase. The girl tumbled down the drop, her back hitting against the dirt as she rolled down. She constantly gained new cuts and new bruises while she brutally rolled downwards. Naomi landed onto her stomach once the drop stopped and she was finally on level ground. Without thinking, she wobbled as she got up, and stared at the large drop.

How am I not dead?

Realizing this could be a chance for escape, she started sprinting forward, running as fast as her legs would and could carry her. Naomi looked behind her, seeing the stalker was out of sight, she felt only a small wave of relief. If they chased her into here, they would definitely would not be giving up that easily. She pressed her back on a trunk, a shocking and stinging pain jolted through her when she made the contact. The pain and fear made tears leak out of her eyes, she covered her mouth to stifle the broken and ragged sobs escaping through her lips.

She looked around at her surroundings, trying to figure out where she was even though she knew she was lost. It was foggy, there was surrounding mist, the air was moist and it seemed to almost suffocate her. There were incredibly large trees she never noticed before, and the uncertainty made her anxiety spiral out of control. To the left of her, there was a small creek, and there was a bridge made of of wood palettes. Naomi noticed another figure, but it was actually human proportionate and they stood there, facing to the side. A spark of hope flew through her, seeing they were on their phone. They could call for help or a ride to get the hell out of here. She bit her lip, knowing there was a possibility she could put them in danger too. But, they were already in danger if the nonhuman was still after her, a chance it might hurt anything in their way.

Naomi took and deep breath and composed herself, decided to be brave, stupid, or maybe all of the above. Mostly to save her and their a*s from it.

She ran after him.

Naomi raced towards him, and she latched on to his arm. He jumped back from the sudden contact, his muscles tightened under her hand. She was shaking so badly, trying to muster the words out of her mouth without starting to melt down.

"Help me," she choked back a sob, her grip on his arm tightening, "someone's after me." Her voice cracked, becoming weak. He tensed more, she feared he would run away or tell her to piss off. She bit her lip, hoping he'd take her seriously and save her. She actually started to let herself cry, tears running down her cheeks, making quiet squeaks as she tried to stay silent.

"Hey hey hey," he cooed, quickly grabbing her arm, "someone's following you?"

Naomi nodded, her sobbing becoming harder to control. He seemed as if he hesitated, pausing as if he were thinking what to do. Naomi watched him, scared where she might have to go for the night.

"S**t," he mumbled, glancing around.

Without any warning, he yanked her with him, running in the opposite direction she came from. Their feet padded along the terrain. The world around her was a blur and she focused on him, watching how he looked forward while they ran, taking her along with him.

Her savior was incredibly fast, she was sprinting and even that wasn't good enough. It seemed she was still slowing him down and he was dragging her along, then again she was around one-hundred thirty pounds, give or take.

They ran together as if they were going to the other side of the world before sunrise or they'd dissolve in flames in the sun. They never stopped to take a breath or wait for Naomi's hopefully gone and lost follower.

Naomi tried to see her hero in the moonlight, but all she could distinguish was head full of thick, straight hair that reached to where his head and neck connected. Naomi felt herself calm down looking at him, maybe he was just a calming person, or how he was saving her, or how he was leading her around.

The two seemed to run forever, trying to escape from the inhuman follower. Once they started to slow down, there was a large two story house in front of them. Anxiety filled throughout Naomi again, the fear returning and the pain entering her system. She tried to hold back her tears, but they slipped out and rolled down her icy face.

He opened the door and pushed her inwards as quickly as the law of physics could. The lights burned her eyes, she squeezed them shut, trying to let them adjust to the artificial light.

He has let go of his grip on her while he let himself in and closed the door behind them. Naomi backed herself into the wall, sliding downwards to sit down and trying not to cry anymore than she already had. The more she tried to/calm herself down, the more worked up she got. She gripped onto her hair, quietly panicking to herself.

"Ben?" A voice called; Naomi froze.

She started to breathe heavily, trying not to relapse and go into a full panic attack. The grip on her hair tightened, hopefully it would distract her from going into a full outrageous attack.

"Ben? Who the hell is this?"

Naomi started to hyperventilate, knowing she was unwanted and being a bigger burden than she already believed she was. She looked up, trying to see the second person. The girl was tan, most likely Latino. She had dark, thick hair and was a little shorter than shoulder length. She had a large bust, her milk chocolate eyes narrowed at Naomi, snarling, looking as if she were going to kill her right then and there.

"I don't know who she is. She was being followed and she ran over to me in tears, so I just helped her like we're supposed to do."

How is he so calm?

Naomi turned her head to look at the apparent Ben, the almighty savior. He removed his gray jacket, hanging it on the fancy coat hanger with the actual, expensive looking coats. He was wearing a sleeveless shirt, showing his muscular arms and his caramelized skin. His right arm had the mythical Chinese dragon tattooed on him, it went around as if it wrapped itself on his limb. His brunette hair was disheveled over his emerald eyes, looking intensely at the pretty Latino girl.

"Ben, why'd you bring in something like her into here?" the Latino girl yelled at him.

Something? Am I a chopped piece of flesh?

"She needed help, Bridget!" Ben sounded defensive, almost offended, "it's what we're supposed to do!"

"Not to here, you piece of crap!"

"Bridget!" another voice yelled, Naomi tilted her head so her hair would cover her face but she could see through. It was another girl, she was African American. She was in sleeping clothes and had the traditional hourglass figure with the large bust and wide hips. She looked towards Naomi, who turned her face away.

"Where else do you want me to take her?" he shouted back at Bridget with his fists clenched, "someone followed her into here!"

"That's our problem! Get her out of here!"

"Oh for the Gods' sake, shut up," another voice growled. Naomi looked with puffy eyes still leaking out tears, he was also African American. He had a shaved head and was very clean cut. He lifted his chin up in disgust and looked down at the other four.

"Brought a new friend? I heard from the yelling," he crossed his arms, obviously angered.

"She needed help, leave her alone!" the other girl started, staring at Bridget, "and you know better than to say that."

Naomi tried to get up, but fell down since her body couldn't stand the pain or the exhaustion. She tried a second time, shaking badly as she got up.

"I'm so, so, so, sorry," Naomi tried to choke back from completely sobbing in despair, "I-I really didn't mean to make any of you upset, I-I-I just--"

"Don't explain yourself, everything is going to be okay," the second girl starts, offering a warm smile, "I'm Vienna, okay? Take a deep breath, everything will be fine."

Naomi tried to take a deep breath like Vienna suggested, but it came out short, uneven, and ragged. She tried again, not able to gain control.

"I'm so sorry for disturbing all of you," Naomi tries to do the deep breath again, it's not as bad, but it's not exactly what she was supposed to do.

"Don't apologize, everything will be fine," Vienna coos, walking toward Naomi.

"S-stay away," Naomi scrambled away from in Vienna, clutching to her forearm, "p-please."

Vienna gave her a questioning look, stepping away from the scared girl. Naomi nodded and mumbled a thank you, slowly calming down.

"What are we going to do?" the other boy pipes in, "I don't think George wants a surprise human."

There's a fifth person?

Vienna coughed, glaring at him. Naomi thought he probably just said something he wasn't supposed to, but she wasn't offended. She knew she was annoying, and she knew she wouldn't want a surprise person sleeping in her house either. Flashes of the figure came back into her head, making her start to panic again.

"I'm fine with it this time," a man on top of the stairs said, smiling at the small group in front of him. He had tanned, wrinkled skin and wispy gray hair. Naomi felt bad, probably knowing it was her fault he was awoken from the yelling.

"Th-thank you," Naomi shudders, "I apologize for all of the trouble I caused in---I'm assuming---your household."

"Yes, it's fine," he smiles at her, "we've been expecting you, Miss Williams."

Author's Note

still kinda short. notify me of any grammar mistakes, weird wording, what can be done better and etc.
kinda had a boring day today. sleepy.