It was odd but, ever since my aunt, Serena, and I went over to Jerry's for dinner I've been having weird dreams, and that was a week ago. It's the same damn dream too. The red eyes and something scraping my thighs. I still had no clue who the red eyes belonged to. I kept blaming it on the stress of starting a new school and being in a new community and who can forget the terrible relationship I have with my parents and my crazy ex boyfriend. I sighed, putting my book down and getting out of bed to go get the mail that was just dropped off by the mail man. I slipped my black flip flops on and headed down the stairs and out the front door. As I walked down the driveway I noticed, in the corner of my eye, Jerry standing under his porch.

"Hey." I said cheerfully as I reached the mailbox, opening it to find 3 white envelopes in it. I looked through them as I walked up the driveway.

"Hey, Brooke. How are you?" Jerry asked. I stopped to turn and face him.

"I'm okay. Just waiting for my first day of school to start at the college." I noticed a green apple in his left hand. He looked, of course, handsome today in blue jeans, work boots and a grey t-shirt. I, on the other hand, probably looked like crap from lack of sleep.

"Ah, I see. Sleeping okay?" His question caught me off guard and I started to walk up the driveway towards the door.

"Um, oh yeah I'm sleeping well. Well, I gotta go. I'll see you around."

"I'm counting on it." He said smiling, as I slipped inside the house.

A few hours passed and I heard a bus pull up outside the house. It was Serena's school bus. I watched her from the living room window walk up to the front door. I think I saw a smile on her face. I ran to the front door and opened it before she could open it herself.

"Hi!" I boomed with a big smile on my face.

"Ew, what are you so hype about?" She asked, laughing a little.

"I should ask you the same thing. What's with the smile on your face, grumpy? Did ya meet a dude at school?"

"None of your business." She said making her way into the kitchen and opening the refrigerator.

"Well, did you meet any new people today? How was your first day?" She pulled a can of coke out of the fridge and opened it, taking a long sip.

"It was cool. It actually wasn't bad and to answer your question, yes, I met two guys. But, they're just friends. I don't think they're interested…yet." She said with a grin on her face. Now, she was searching the cabinets for something to eat, I guess.

"That's great! You'll probably make friends faster than me." She gave a smug smile like she was the shit, or something.

"Seems like you already have a special friend."

"Who?" I asked, taking a seat at the kitchen table. Serena sat down across from me with her can of soda and a bag of Dorito's

"Uh, Jerry. Who else?" I rolled my eyes.

"He is not my special friend. He's our neighbor and if I go outside to get the mail or something we say hi to each other. No, big deal, idiot. But, since we're on the topic of him…um, does he come off like kinda… odd, to you, at all?"

She had a look on her face like she was really thinking about the question but, suddenly said 'nah'.

"Really? Wanna hear something weird though that happened today?" She nodded for me to continue as she stuffed her face with Dorito's.

"I don't know if I told you but, I've been having this same weird dream for a week now and haven't been getting much sleep. I'm sure you can tell because I look like crap but, anyways I walk outside to get the mail today and Jerry's outside, just standing there. We say hi to each other and then he's like, 'are you sleeping okay?' And, I'm like, yeah? Isn't that weird that he'd ask me that when clearly, I haven't been sleeping well. How would he know and what a random question to ask."

Serena just looked at me and then rolled her eyes and started laughing.

"You watch way too many scary movies and read too much Stephen King. The guy was just making small talk."

"I guess. I just think that was a funny question to ask. Must have just been a very big coincidence. But, anyway, tell me about these two guys you met."

"Well, the one guy is in like all 4 of my classes and the other one is in my homeroom and in only one of my classes."

"Okay, and what are their names?" Getting information from Serena is like, pulling teeth.

"Ed and Charley. Charley's really cute but, I don't know about Ed. He's kind of a nerd, but I think he likes me."

"Serena, it was your first day. Relax." I said, laughing at her. If looks could kill, I'd be dead at that moment. Suddenly, I felt my cell start vibrating in my pocket. I saw the number that was calling and my heart almost dropped. Serena saw how I looked and asked who it was.

"It's Michael. Why the hell is he calling me?"

"Answer it!" Serena demanded. I hit the answer button and put the cell up to my right ear.

"H-Hello?" I waited a second and heard nothing but, static. I rolled my eyes.

"Hello?"

"Listen, bitch I know where you ran to and I'll come for you one day. Don't think that I don't have people keeping tabs on you. Just watch yourself." Tears started to well up in my blue eyes and I quickly hung up and put my phone on the kitchen table.

"He's a bastard." I said looking at Serena.

"What did he say?"

"He said he has people keeping tabs on me, here. Also, that I better watch myself. What am I doing that I should watch myself?" The tears started running down my cheeks. Serena got up and grabbed me a bottle of water.

"Brooke, he's a fucking maniac. If anyone comes near the house that looks suspicious all we have to do is call the cops."

"Yeah, I guess. I just wish he would leave me the hell alone now. It's done. He left me. He was the bad person, not me." I started to cry harder now. I grabbed my cell and left the kitchen, running up to my room. I felt so sad and alone. I knew it was a bad idea but, I decided to call my dad. Maybe he could make me feel better. I picked up my cell and dialed my Dad's number. I let it ring 6 times and then, I hung up. He was probably busy with his new family. I wasn't even going to attempt to call my mom. I just couldn't deal with her attitude right now. What I did wasn't wrong. It was the only choice I had. I walked over to my bedroom window and opened it. It was a beautiful sunny evening. I felt like I was cooped up in my room so I changed into a black t-shirt, black running shorts and my running sneakers. I grabbed my cell and headphones and walked downstairs to find Serena watching TV.

"I'm going for a walk. Do you want to come?"

"No, thanks."

I didn't say anything more and walked out the front door. I walked outside and looked over to my left. Jerry wasn't standing under his porch… surprising. I put my ear buds in my ears, turned on Pandora, and started to jog. As I passed Jerry's house I looked at the blacked out windows. I still found them to be quite odd. I jogged passed a few more houses and jogged out of my neighborhood and eventually made it to a park. By this time the sun was almost down and I was tired. I stopped jogging and noticed a set of swings. I sat down on one and closed my eyes. A warm breeze blew my hair around and I exhaled. I couldn't stop thinking about what my ex said on the phone earlier. I knew that I shouldn't be scared but, to tell you the truth… I was. I didn't know what he was capable of and his voice sounded so harsh over the phone. I was starting to stress myself out so much tears started to trickle down my cheeks. Who did I really have to turn to? Nobody. Who could save me from him? Nobody. I truly felt like I was alone in this world. This stupid town in Nevada. I opened my eyes and looked ahead of me. I spotted a dark figure leaning on the tree a few feet ahead of me. I couldn't really make out who it was or what this person looked like. I started to feel uncomfortable as the figure moved away from the tree and started to walk over to me. Who the hell was coming towards me?