Litigant by Sarah F (mystery books to read TXT) 📖

Her stomach dropped as she realized that the red fairy dress was rented and any damage to it will cost her handful. It was just recently that she got a stable job but still she was struggling to pay her bills and to top it all, another amount would be added to her list. She picked her margarita glass from the table and emptied the content.

She felt like an outcast more over as a wallflower with no one to accompany her. She felt quite lonely.

'It would have been much better if I had been to my grandma's house than attending this excuse of a party,' she thought as she sighed loudly. She would have definitely left the party long ago to visit her grandmother if only her grandma was still alive. It was just last summer when her grandma left to ride with unicorns in the paradise. Besides her grandma, no one was ever so close with Andrea. She was one of the neglected child among the six siblings. Her parents were always busy taking care of their oldest and mentally challenged daughter Brittany or looking after the needs of their toddler twins. She knew that she wasn't the only one they ignored, her younger sisters Annalise and Cassandra grew up just like her, all alone and neglected. But she made sure that they never felt helpless as she was and always stood by their side whenever they needed. It was what she had learned, to take responsibility whenever it was required. That was what was expected from her being the second eldest daughter in the family.

She was more than happy when she turned eighteen as she could finally move out of the house and live on her own. She thought that she had gained her freedom but it was only after actually moving out she realized the importance of the family. Her parents used to take care of all the bills without uttering single word. They worked over time and took care of the family. Though they didn't frequently display their love to their children, they always loved each and every one of them in their own way.

Dismissing the memories of her childhood, Andrea once again scanned the area for any familiar face. She was actually hoping to see any of her school or college mates and talk hours together just to catch up with the things they missed out. Just when she was about to conclude that she was in a hopeless house, she spotted a person staring in her direction. She looked around to clarify if he was actually looking at her or someone else just a few feet away from her but she found no one. The drink had blurred her senses and her understanding capability had slowed down slightly. Frowning she looked at that person again to find that she had his complete attention. Panic started rising in her chest as she took in his features. She finally recognised the face but couldn't give a name to it. She had seen the same person many times in her recent life. He was always there standing across the street of her apartment every morning. And he would travel in the same bus as she did to reach her workplace. And every time she hanged out with her friends, he would be there in that very same place she would be in. And again he was here.

He never talked or approached her nor had she ever seen anyone else talk to him. He would stand alone with a good enough distance from her and would keep staring in her direction. Had someone sent him to spy on her? Or was he a crazy guy stalking her? Perhaps he was a thief planning to rob her but she had nothing! She could hardly afford a proper apartment, luxury was out of question. He would get nothing by robbing her except for a criminal records and free visits to jail and court. Now no one would want those type of troubles, would they? Then what did he want from her? Was he a serial killer stalking his next victim? That was a huge possibility and it was freaking her out very badly.

"Andrea, you okay?" Wilma, the host of the party inquired suddenly appearing before her and making her to jump in her place. Andrea looked at Wilma, debating with herself if she could tell Wilma about the stranger or not.

"I...I..." Andrea looked back to the place where the stranger was seated only to find it empty, this made her frown. Had she imagined it? Was she disillusioned? Maybe the drink was finally playing its trick.

She looked at awaiting Wilma and nodded her head not trusting her voice. Wilma smiled at her politely and moved ahead mingling with other guests. Andrea was not a very close friend of Wilma's who also happened to work at the place where she worked but still Wilma was kind enough to invite her to the party.

Looking at the clock, Andrea realized that she was way past her deadline. She had had to be in bed by ten so that she would make it to the work on time. Muttering a few profanities, she fumbled form her place and rushed for the door but it was nearly impossible due to the huge crowd. She still managed to get out of the place in one piece and staggered down the dark lonely street. Either everyone was already asleep or they were at someone's party totally wasted. The night was chilly and the Halloween decorations gave a spooky effect to everything around like it came straight from hell. She had completely forgotten about the stranger that stalked her or was perhaps just a hallucination. She was more worried about getting home so that she could rest for the day and then make it to the work on time. She couldn't afford to have any deductions from her salary.

She looked around for any passing vehicle but none were in sight and just as she was deciding to walk home, a slight movement caught her eye. Suddenly becoming alert and all signs of tiredness and sleepiness escaping her body, she's turned around to see what was moving. The situation before her reminded her of the famous scene of the horror movies where the victim is being followed and soon is been killed due to this very action that she had executed.

There was no one around her in the deserted street, very cliché. Panic arise for the second time in her that night and she stammered her drunken state away from the area as quickly as her feet could carry. She didn't know what or who followed her and she definitely didn't want to find that out anytime soon. To her luck she saw bright lightings down the road as she took a turn at the corner of the street. It was a small fair and it was always safe to be in public area. Her only mission was to reach the fair in one piece and then call a taxi to take her home perhaps even cops.

Without sparing a second glance behind her, Andrea half jogged and half ran in the direction of her safety zone. She could swear that she felt hot glare burning into her back and could almost hear the inaudible footsteps. Her heart was beating frantically and would have hammered its way out if it had taken some more time to reach the fair. Breathing a sigh of relief she came to halt trying to get her breathing to level down.

There wasn't a huge crowd but passable to survive the night. 'Screw the work, I need life to earn and pay bills'
She decided that she wasn't going to worry about work for the night for she had much serious issues pressing at her hand at the moment. Her life was in danger and being late on work after she was dead wouldn't matter.

She tried her best to dissolve into the crowd that was dressed as monsters. She was exhausted was an understatement. Looking around for a place to sit down she spotted the same stranger again watching her from a distance. Shivers erupted in her body and instinctively she ran in the opposite direction. Was he the one who was following her all the way? Was there someone else too stalking her?

Entering into a random tent, she bumped into a lady dressed as gypsy.

"Help me! Someone is following me," Andrea pleaded desperately.

"It's time. The location of stars is changing. There is no running from the fate now. It will do what it has to do and soon you won't be you any more," she spoke creepily making Andrea cringe at the gypsy's words. It didn't make any sense at all.

"Listen to me. I need to call cops! My life is in danger," Andrea exclaimed irately trying to make the gypsy see some sense.

"Some things are inevitable and death is one if them. Everyone will get their freedom one day but yours will be gained after a lot of difficulties. Ohhh... T'is bad. T'is really really bad. The omens have descended and the procedure has already started. T'is too late now for anything to be done."

This caused Andrea to back walk. She was sure that the lady before her was insane and it wasn't safe to be around loon when she needed help.

"Come. The fate is calling," the gypsy curled her fingers calling Andrea. Without wasting another moment Andrea ran out of the tent without a sense of direction. After running for few minutes she realized that she was into the cemetery that was located beside the Halloween fair to give it a real touch of creepiness. She was completely flushed and was gaping for air due to the run. That night she had run more than she ever did her while life. She stopped to look around. No one was there and it was midnight. She started brisk walking to get out of the graveyard but the fate had different plans for her.

As she tried crossing the row of graves, she tripped her foot and landed in the newly dug grave and hurt her head. The black dots danced in her poor night vision and then everything went black.

Nathan just kept looking at Andrea trying to take in the fresh information that she had disclosed.

"You fell unconscious in a grave?" He confirmed making her nod her head.

"What happened after that?" He inquired.

"When I regained my consciousness, the mortician was staring at me wide eyed. It was already morning. He had called the cops who were on their way."

"Why did you not call the cops when you had a chance in the fair?" Nathan cleared his throat.

"I don't have a mobile. I needed to borrow someone's, and that had to be someone who wasn't a threat to me..." Andrea sighed.

"What happened later on?" Nathan enquired and Andrea was about to respond when the door opened revealing Ronald's peeping head as he announce, "Andrea's lawyer is her and Nathan, we need to discuss something."

Nathan glanced at Andrea giving her an apologetical smile before walking out behind Ronald while Andrea's lawyer, Gemma walked into the room.
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