Prison Bars

Emily's POV:

Someone was following me. Quiet footsteps were shuffling, and a dark shadow was in my peripheral. My heart was beating as fast as a hummingbird and the blood was rushing past my ears.

Not again.

Not again.

I told myself it wouldn't happen again. That I had escaped the danger that had plagued me as a child. That my imagination was running wild. Still overactive because of yesterday. But there was a feeling in my gut. One that wouldn't go away when I turned a corner and the shadow followed me. One that got more insistent the longer I went without doing something about it. Eventually becoming its own separate feeling as my legs picked up into a jog. Racing to my home as fast as I could go.

Everything stopped when my front door shut, and the lock clicked. Signaling I was safe. The blood quieted and the knot in my stomach slowly unraveled. Leaving me panting and covered in sweat.

I looked around. Everything was where it should be. There was nothing out of place like in the movies you see and the books you read. No one had been here. But that didn't mean they wouldn't show up.

I quickly went to work. Setting my alarm system and locking all the windows. Making sure to shut all the shutters and turn the sound of a barking dog on. Hopefully scaring anyone away.

As I got into bed that night, I tried to convince myself that it wasn't them. That they had no idea where I was. My dad had made that final promise to me before he left. I haven't seen him since. It was like everyone in my life was now a ghost. Just a distant memory.

I tried to go to sleep. I really did. But I couldn't.

My therapist told me that there are certain triggers that will bring everything back. That will start to undo everything we had worked for. I couldn't let that happen. The thought of those memories rising to the surface once more made me curl into a ball and cry. Trying to feel the pain from them and push it away at the same time. An annoying, emotional Ferris Wheel that won't let me off.

That's when I heard it. A bang. A crash. And then footsteps. I didn't do anything. Didn't get up. Didn't try to run. It was like I was frozen. Unable to do anything except let the panic take over. And it did.

When the small white cloth was pushed over my nose for the second time in my life, I laid there like I had nothing in the world to worry about. My vision getting blurry and my head spinning.

"Didn't think you'd make it so easy darlin'."

Then I blacked out. That voice haunting me as I drifted off.