The Shadow outside the window:
There she was, standing in front of the window. Someone was again looking at her from the shadows, "someone or something?" she asked herself while panic began to take over as her body instinctively moved by itself. Walking backwards towards the bed, chills ran all over her, crawling under her skin. Finally, she found the edge of the bed with the back of her legs. She sat down, but instead of remaining on the bed, the woman fell into a deep, dark hole that swallowed her into oblivion.
Falling without stopping, the woman tried to call for help, but her desperation grew even more when she realized that it was useless; no sounds were coming out of her mouth. She couldn't scream! She tried multiple times, but her screams were muted. As she was falling, the desperation tightened her chest, binding it, suffocating her more and more with every inch she fell. Suddenly, a blinding light woke her up.
Drenched in sweat, Melissa came to consciousness; the sun above was shining its powerful morning light through her window. She sighed at the warm sensation on the side of her body, and the eyes behind her eyelids felt like melting under its magnificent and hot brilliance. She then proceeded to roll to the other side of her bed, letting the blinding sun rays reach her back instead of her face. "Another nightmare," she thought. The nightmares had become more frequent lately.
She had been having almost the same nightmares for the past week. But something about this one felt different. In the past, they had always ended with the sensation of someone looking at her through the bushes while she stood in front of the window. Yesterday's nightmare had ended with her struggling, trying to ask for help, with no sound coming out of her mouth. It was definitely a nightmare that she would rather not have anymore, but "you'll never know with nightmares."
"What nonsense!" she thought while sitting at the edge of the bed and proceeding to get up. She entered her bathroom, got undressed, and turned on the shower, pausing for a moment to debate whether to have a warm soak in the bathtub instead.
Deciding against it, Melissa opted for a cold shower to cool down her sweat-drenched body. She washed her hair and her body thoroughly, as if trying to wash the nightmare away. After letting the water run down her slim body, she stepped out of the shower.
Melissa was a young, beautiful woman; her long, straight jet-black hair fell like curtains past her shoulders and stopped right before her waist. Her pale skin sometimes looked too pale for her taste. Her facial features were delicate, making her beautiful. At least her friend Sonya was always complimenting her this way, even though, to Melissa, her friend's and everyone else's comments weren't really compliments in her eyes. She always felt as plain as yogurt, and the bad luck that made her repel people like bug spray didn't help with her self-esteem either. To Melissa, her friend was the prettiest one between the two of them.
Melissa's body was lean and tall (too lean and too tall for her taste). And even though she couldn't see this either, her perfect hourglass figure was the envy of all around the university campus. She was one of the very few girls who attracted the eyes of almost everyone passing by. These were words that sometimes came out of her friend's mouth. The only feature that Melissa liked about herself was her unusual eye color; they were silver like the moon, like two diamonds, like two polished silver coins—very unusual in her mind. This distinctive feature made her feel different, but she was okay with being different.
After finishing her well-deserved cold bath, she wrapped her body in a towel and grabbed a second one to dry her long, wet hair. Anastasia had already prepared her clothes for the day. She sighed while thinking out loud, "How many times do I have to tell Annie that I don't need any help?"... "Oh"... she stopped to think, "That's what she asked yesterday…" Melissa remembered telling her maid that she would be wearing her black trousers and a white turtleneck. "Slick Anastasia, very slick," she smiled warmly.
Dressed and out of her room, she looked towards the hallway to her right; for some reason, she always felt like something was pulling her to adventure in that direction. But the only sight of the long, dark hallway left her with a feeling of emptiness in her heart, which she always contented herself to avoid.
Rushing down the stairs, Melissa grabbed her coat from the stand next to the entrance door. As soon as she opened the door to step outside, a stern but sweet voice called her from behind: "Melissa, aren't you going to eat your breakfast?"
"No, Annie," she responded while exiting the house, "I'm meeting Sonya for breakfast."… "to meet someone after," she complained internally as her whole body shuddered. Abruptly dismissing the thought and shoving it to the back of her mind, she thought, "I'll worry about it later," she said as she breathed out, closing the door behind her and walking down the main set of stairs.
Flavio was already waiting for her with the car door open. "Good morning, Miss Melissa," he said in his always low and respectful voice.
"Good morning, Flavio," she answered with a smile as she entered the car. Flavio closed the door and moved swiftly to the driver's seat.
"The usual place, Mel?" he asked while setting the car in motion.
"Yes, Flavio, the usual place, please." Melissa responded while thinking about how Flavio always called her 'Mel' when they were alone but 'Miss Melissa' in front of other people. Even though it was only him and her outside the car, Anastasia was still in the house. "That's why he addressed me as Miss Melissa," she said in a whisper, smiling at the thought as they took the main street to get out of the manor.
On Sundays, she met with Sonya for breakfast; it was the only day they could see each other and chat about their week. Since Sonya got engaged, they had less and less time to be together. Now she had to content herself with only one day a week with her beloved friend. It was a sunny Sunday, and slow traffic was perfect for it—no work commute, so the streets were practically empty, with just a few cars. Most of the people were riding their bicycles and having picnics at the park. It was a sight that she always loved to see: people having fun, lovers holding hands, families together enjoying the day—everything that she yearned for.
Flavio stopped the car a block before the café, as usual; she never arrived at the café by car. She loved to walk that block by herself and stop at the Christmas store, which was open all year long and had been there since she could remember. Melissa used to visit the store very often, and she would stare at the display window. They had a Christmas town with sleds, houses, and miniature people skating on the frozen lake. She stood by the window while the lady inside waved to her. She waved back and kept going, crossing the street and entering the café. Melissa didn't see Sonya in their usual spot and proceeded to the counter to order her breakfast.
"Hello, Melissa," a small red-haired woman greeted her.
"Hello, Mrs. Johnson," she replied.
"The usual?" she asked.
"Yes, please," Melissa finished.
The usual consisted of a hot cream-filled croissant and a cappuccino, which Mrs. Johnson always prepared personally. Melissa had been frequenting this café for quite some time now to meet with Sonya and had instantly fallen in love with the tastiness of its food and the warmth of its people.
While she was waiting for her meal to get ready, Melissa had a strange feeling that she was being watched, making her suddenly remember the nightmare from the night before.
"Here you go, dear," said Mrs. Johnson, frowning. "Are you okay?" She asked Melissa while looking at her with puzzled eyes.
"Melissa!" someone shouted, bringing her back from her thoughts.
"I'm okay, Mrs. Johnson, thank you," she replied absentmindedly while turning towards the voice.
It was her friend calling in her always high-pitched voice. Melissa didn't want to look behind her; instead, she started walking towards the side of the café... when she felt it again. Shivers ran down her spine, but she kept walking, passing a table and fixing her eyes on Sonya, who was, as always, happy and eager to see her.
The sensation came again. Melissa was getting anxious by now; the presence was right next to her. She kept walking until she got in front of Sonya, who was looking at her with questions on her face. "Oh... wait, Sonya, I forgot my receipt." She knew this was only an excuse, but Melissa was determined to know what (or who) was causing this feeling.
Turning around abruptly, she walked towards the counter. To her surprise, everything seemed normal; nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary—just a regular Sunday morning at her favorite café. The table she had just passed was empty. "Empty?" she asked herself. "Someone was definitely sitting there when I passed by." She said while her body trembled.
Sonya came to her, looking at Melissa with a puzzled expression. She asked, "Your receipt, you said? You never get your receipt. Are you sure you are okay?" she said to emphasize Mrs. Johnson's question, a question she had heard the owner of the café asking moments ago.
"Yes, I'm okay. How are you?" Melissa responded with a big smile, trying to hide and drive away the strange feeling. Shrugging off the sensation, she then proceeded to give Sonya a big hug, wrapping her arms around the small frame of the woman in front of her.
They went to their usual table in the corner of the café to sit and talk. The usual 'What did you do during the week?' conversation took place between them every Sunday morning at the same café since their graduation. But Melissa was absent the whole time. 'Someone was definitely sitting there,' her mind repeated the same words over and over. She felt the same sensation—the same feeling her body experienced every time she woke up from her recent nightmares. The sensation of someone stalking her, looking at her, following her. The shadow outside her window.
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Hello everyone, Melissa has a long journey ahead of her. (No spoilers 😆 ).
Thank you for being here and for your patience,
JAlmodovar