Falling Ember by C.Y. Stewart

Author:C.Y. Stewart [Stewart, C.Y.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Cold Ridge Publishing
Published: 2024-01-30T00:00:00+00:00

9

Funny how one’s mind could sometimes drift to totally irrelevant things in a moment of panic.

Fifteen feet away stood Daniel. He had bags beneath his eyes and was still wearing the same black turtleneck he had on last night.

Fifteen feet.

Ten times that distance would be a hundred and fifty feet, which was close to fifty meters. Lauren used to train for sprints when she was in the eighth grade and fifty meters was one of her best distances. The coach was an ill-tempered man with bulging eyes and a loud voice. He trained the girls with a ruthless rigor that bordered on viciousness. The conviction among Lauren and her friends was that the coach’s wife divorced him and he hated women ever since, but what did fifteen-year-old girls know? Lauren trained for two semesters and eventually quit. Lauren’s dad was mildly disappointed, but he let Lauren do what she wanted, as long as what Lauren wanted didn’t hurt anyone. Back then, he was still the indulgent dad who would smile at Lauren’s errors and mishaps.

Now, watching Daniel, Lauren couldn’t help but think: This man hates me. Maybe it was the way he stood—both legs planted on the pathway, but the weight of his body oddly skewed to one side, like the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Maybe it was how he cocked his head at an unnatural angle and studied Lauren with narrowed eyes. Or, maybe it was the fact that he had kept quiet without calling out to Lauren until she was close. Lauren suddenly became keenly aware of the gift bag in her hand—her evidence of crime. He hates me, Lauren thought to herself. He was here to harm me.

“Lauren,” Daniel’s voice had a pleading note, not matching the heat in his eyes. “Can we talk about what happened?” He advanced a step, reading the unease on Lauren’s face with a furrowed brow. “Something wrong?”

They stood apart, now a mere ten feet separating them under the grim sky. The clouds were heavy, filthy, threatening rain, or snow. The wind screeched in sudden gusts, sweeping dead leaves across the pavement with a rasping whisper. Such an unusual Sunday morning.

Lauren thought of what John had just said. Daniel “needed mental help”, something like that. Steve had said something similar last night too, although a bit less diplomatically.

“Hi Daniel,” Lauren said, feigning composure.

On hearing Lauren’s voice, Daniel’s face shifted. A smile curled at the edges of his lips, crafted to appear reassuring and pleasant. A mechanical smile. He glanced up at the sky but quickly retrieved his gaze to focus on Lauren. “It’s going to rain,” he said. “Can we talk inside?”

No way would she let him inside her building. She knew that. Lauren felt rooted to the spot. For a moment, she debated crying out for help, but that seemed too extreme.

A car hummed past on the street. Lauren heard the sound behind her.

“How did you know where I live?”

“Oh, that. I Googled,” Daniel shrugged, “It’s not difficult to find.”

“I…” Lauren’s mind reeled as she searched for words to say.

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