"Aiden" a voice whispered.
"Who are you? What do you want?" she called back
"Aiden." The voice got louder.
Aiden Burn started running, as fast as she could in the other direction. It was pitch-black out, she couldn't see a thing. She could hear the sound of footsteps following her, and the distant sound of a garbage can being knocked over. She kept running, her legs felt like they were on fire.
"Aiden, don't run from me." A voice called.
Aiden tripped, and fell hard on the ground. She scrambled to regain her footing, but someone dove on top of her. He picked her up, and slung her over his shoulder. She kicked and screamed, and scratched and bit, but nothing worked. He opened a door and threw her into a car…
"Goodbye Aiden" the voice said, and she screamed…
Aiden Burn sat up in bed, drenched in sweat, and tangled in the covers. She was panting, and trying to get control of her breathing. She threw the covers off of her and scrambled to the bathroom, where she promptly lost her dinner. She looked into the mirror, and contemplated her appearance. She used to be the smart, sexy CSI from Brooklyn that no one could mess with. She used to have long, wavy brownish-black hair, and her chocolate eyes used to glow. Her skin used to be radiant, and her lips full, her smile perfect. But lately, that was all gone. Her dreams haunted her, they scared her to the point that she was ready to go back to Mac, just to find something to do. Her hair was flat, it lost its body, and she no longer bothered with it since she lost her job. Her eyes were dull, her skin dry. She had black bags under her eyes; she didn't bother to hide them with make-up. Her lips now dried and cracked and her smile no longer shined the way it used to.
She brushed her teeth, to rid her mouth of the retched taste. She pulled her hair into a mess onto of her head; and she walked through her apartment, and into her bedroom. She pulled out a pair of sweat pants and a tank top. She went back to the bathroom and showered.
She stepped out of the stall and got dressed. She brushed her hair and pulled it back into a bun on her head. She decided that she would get her house cleaned, and then maybe go out for a run. She needed the exercise. She walked into the kitchen and busied herself with washing the dishes. They had accumulated over the week; she was to into her depression to do any cleaning. She then moved to the counters, the floor, the tiles, and so on. She looked at the clock, 7:23. She didn't realize how early she woke up, damn those nightmares. She stood up from the floor, and looked around her kitchen. Everything was sparkling, and she felt better. Maybe her home could shine some happy light onto her.
She changed out of her sweats, into a pair of cotton shorts. She put on her running shoes, and popped her contacts in. she grabbed the little rubber scrunchie that held her keys, and grabbed her I-Pod. Aiden Burn walked out of her apartment and into the New York City streets.
She ran about two blocks before getting to Central Park. She pulled out her I-Pod and put on some upbeat music. She ran about seven laps of the Park route, before decided to get a hot dog from the stand a block down. She left the park and got her hot dog, sitting down on a nearby bench to eat. She suddenly got this eerie feeling, almost like she was being watched. She finished her hot dog and figured she was just being paranoid. Before she even got close to Central Park, it started to down pour.
She put her I-Pod away, to keep it dry, and turned down an alley to get home faster. The feeling she had seemed to get stronger in the alley. She slowed to a jog, listening as best she could through the rain. She thought she heard footsteps, so she turned. She looked behind her, her eyes darting back and forth over the alley, but she saw no one. She chuckled at herself and kept walking. She heard the footsteps again, and a trash can being hit, a distant meow followed. She turned again, and saw a figure dart around the corner. She figured it was just some homeless person, and continued home.
Aiden walked into her apartment, throwing down her keys and I-Pod. She looked at the clock again, 11:37. She had run for a few hours. She grabbed a towel from the bathroom and made an attempt to towel her hair dry. All she could think about was this feeling she had. It had subsided, but barely. She put her sweat pants back on, and sat down on her coach.
She flipped the TV on, and watched the Channel 12 news broadcaster. The latest story was a female was burned alive in a car. She couldn't help but stare at the CSI that was speaking to the Newscaster. A female, not one she recognized, she must be her replacement. She saw the rest of her old team in the background. The picture that showed up on the screen was a photograph of the victim, and what scared Aiden was that she resembled her. Long brown hair, brown eyes, pale skin.
"That's creepy." She muttered to herself. She changed the channel to 123, The-N. She would never admit that her guilty pleasure was teen dramas. She started to doze off, and as much as she fought it, she drifted off into a nightmare.
She was in the alley again.
"Aiden" a voice said, almost sing-song like. "Aiden Burn"
"Go away!" she cried. She was almost in hysterics. Somewhere in the distance a trash can was knocked over. She heard footsteps reverberating off the walls of the alley way. She turned and ran from the figure following her. She ran so fast her legs, her lungs, her heart; they all burned from lack of oxygen. She tripped, scraping her knees on the pavement. She pulled on a trashcan to pull herself up, but her legs were weak from fear. He took this opportunity to pounce. He picked her up, and threw her over his shoulder. As much as she protested, he didn't give in. she fought with every ounce of her strength, every fiber of her being, but he was too strong.
"Finally, we have you." He said.
"WE?" she cried.
"Yes, I have her." He said. Aiden was at a loss for words, because he seemed to be talking to himself. He went over to a blue Cadillac, and opened the back door. He threw her in it, hitting her head on the door in the process. She saw blood, and she screamed.
"Goodbye Aiden." He sang. She could just make out green eyes and blonde hair. He closed the door, and she smelled something burning. She screamed and fought but she was too tired, and the doors were locked…
Aiden woke up screaming. She sat up on the couch and toppled off. She ran into the bathroom and had an involuntary purge of her lunch from the park. Brushed her teeth again, and looked at the clock. It read 7: 17. She had been sleeping almost all day. She decided to rid herself of the nightmares for one night. She rummaged through her medicine cabinet, and found a bottle of sleeping pills. She downed one with a cup of water. She went into her bedroom, and flopped down on the bed. She decided to leave the light on until she fell asleep. She was grateful when a black cloud overcame her.
NEXT DAY
Aiden woke up slowly, like she used to. Not as abruptly as she had been recently. She crawled out of bed and made her way to the kitchen. She made herself some coffee, and tried to find something to eat. She looked through her refrigerator, and found that everything had gone bad. So she got dressed and decided to go food shopping.
She took the train through downtown to where she could get her food, the best food with the cheapest prices was MARTY$ across town. She went and did her shopping, filling about three bags with food. She returned to the subway, and sat down. There were some little kids on the train who were complaining so she let them have her seat. She went to cross the train, but a sudden bump on the tracks caused her to fall onto a man's lap. She looked up at him and apologized…
"Oh my God, sir, I'm so sorry," she stammered trying to pick up her lost bag.
"It's ok; it's ok, ok, miss. Its f-fine." He stuttered. Aiden would have figured he had some sort of speech disorder had he not started to mumble to himself. It was barely audible, but she could make out a few words…
"That's her…yes…I know…Aiden Burn…next one…Cadillac…"
She looked up at him, and felt a sense of déjà vu. She felt that she knew him, recognized him, but she couldn't place from where. She got up and backed away from the man, and confused frown on her face. He watched her, almost as if he were studying her. The train came to a stop and Aiden dashed out of the doors, not looking back at the man. She didn't stop until she was three blocks from her apartment. She struggled with herself to decide to take the long way home, or to take the alley again. She decided that she had to take the alley, her arms and legs hurt, and she felt like she would pass out.
She turned down the alley and saw a blue Cadillac. She tried to ignore it, except she got a feeling again. Only this time it was stronger. She picked up her pace, her shoes making soft clicks in the alley. She saw a black dart out of a trash can and gasped.
"C'mon Aiden, get it together." She said to herself, the fear in her heart causing her Brooklyn accent to come through thicker. She kept walking but soon heard footsteps. She listened and realized that they were in sync with hers. She turned and screamed at the sight. The man she fell on was standing a good three feet behind her. She dropped her bags, not caring that she just broke all her eggs. The man was tall and lanky, with lighted green eyes. His hair was a platinum blonde cut in a crew cut style. He wore all black and smelled of cigarette smoke.
"Aiden" he said, in a sing-song voice. It was the man from her dream, that's why she had a sense of déjà vu, she knew him from her dream. "Aiden Burn"
She turned and ran. She kicked off her shoes in an attempt to run faster, but she felt that her lungs and legs were on fire. Her heart pounded in her chest. Her hair fell into loose curls behind her back. Her feet stung from the cuts and scrapes she was causing, and from her blood picking up any dirt on the ground. She tripped, flying into a pile of trash cans. She grabbed the handle of one and made a futile attempt to stand again, but she had no strength. She was so low on sleep, and so scared that her legs would not listen to the frantic signals her brain was sending them. She looked behind her and saw him dive onto her, crushing her into the ground. She cried out from the pain. He grabbed for her throat, and she bit him. He cried out, and she crawled away.
"She bit us, oh it hurts, ok, yes I will." He was still talking to himself. She noticed that there were no Blue tooth's, or ear buds, or cell phones for him to talk into. Then she saw him twitch. It was a tell tale sign of long term use of narcotics. Certain types of narcotics are prescribed for people mostly with schizophrenia, those types cause twitching. People with 'schizo' talk to themselves, and do what their 'counter-part' tells them to do, without thinking about it. They tend to hear 'voices' and do whatever they tell them to. This man had schizophrenia.
Aiden kicked him hard in the chest and made to run again, but he grabbed her ankles. She toppled to the ground, and smacked her face on the gravel.
She growled out, "Who the hell are you"
"Joshua Mart" he replied and slung her over his shoulder. She screamed and kicked, punched, scratched, bit, and elbowed her way out of his grip. He momentarily dropped her, but he instead grabbed her by the hair and dragged her over to the car. He heart stopped when she recognized the smell of lighter fluid. He picked her up and held her at eye level.
"Well Aiden, I guess this is goodbye, yes, yes it is, good bye, y-yes." He stuttered again. He opened the door of the Cadillac and bodily shoved her into the back seat. She screamed, but every time she breathed her lungs burned from the fumes of the lighter fluid. He smiled and called out,
"Goodbye Aiden Burn. Burn!"
She looked at him, and he just smiled. She reached over all the doors but they were locked. She stared in horror as he lit a match. She watched in slow motion as he dropped it on the hood and the car sprang to fire.
Joshua Mart backed away from the burning Cadillac and the screams of the person inside. He stood there with a goofy smile on his face, proud of himself for finding another victim. Soon the screams died out, and he turned around. He lit a cigarette, and puffed on it a few times. He looked over at her groceries, and a voice some where said…
"Take the bags, and blend in. Find another one. Move on."
Joshua complied. He picked up her bags, emptying out the broken eggs, and walked out of the alley. He looked around for a few moments, before he found another woman. She was brunette, tall, skinny, and pale. His favorite. He stepped into the crowd and kept his eyes on the woman that would be his next victim. He smiled and never thought twice about Aiden Burn.
