Page 4 of Nyctophilia

She picked up on the first ring, huffing into the phone. “Hello. Nice of you to finally get back to me.”

I smiled. Leave it to Mollie’s dramatics to break me out of any mood. “I’m sorry my phone died. I promise to charge it tonight.”

Mollie sighed. “No, you won’t. You’re so lucky I love you. Not everyone would put up with their best friend ghosting them nearly every day of their life!”

I attempted to sound contrite. “I know. I don’t deserve you. Now what’s the story you wanted to tell me earlier?”

Appeased, Mollie launched into a story about one of the locals whose teeth she cleaned today. Apparently, we went to school with the client’s daughter, and her niece, who lived out in L.A., had been offered a television role on a major network. I would never say it to Mollie’s face, but I couldn’t care less about people I barely knew or who was getting married next spring. But it made her happy, and it kept me from being a complete outcast so I listened to her chatter contentedly. I wondered if she had heard anything new about Jasper. I wondered what he was doing right now. Thanks to this town’s never-ending stream of gossip I knew where he was staying. He was probably eating something better than cold chow mein, and still wearing his leather jacket. Or maybe he had changed into pyjamas in his motel room, a tight white tee shirt stretching over his muscular chest, a pair of soft black bottoms slung low over his hips… that is, if he even wore pyjamas.

“Are you even listening to me?” For the second time today, I was shaken out of a daydream about this man. It was for the best. Regardless of how good he looked in his fictional sweatpants, he still had tried to tell me what to do without even knowing me.

“Of course, I’m listening,” I placated her. “Go on.”

“No, you weren’t.” Mollie lightly complained. “What was the last thing I said?”

“Umm…” I was caught.

Mollie sighed. “What has you so distracted tonight? Not that you normally love hearing these stories, but usually you at least pretend to have appropriate responses. Hold on a sec.” I heard static as she muffled the speaker with her hand. “It’s just Ava. I’ll be right there.”

Ben, Mollie’s boyfriend of five years, must have been over at her house. Ben was a sweet guy, an accountant. He kept her grounded, and was the perfect balance to her contagious enthusiasm. They had met in college, and I was happy she had found someone so perfect for her. Mollie and Ben were my standards for relationships, but I doubted I would ever find something comparable. That would mean having to actually talk to a guy and not immediately put my guard up. My thoughts drifted towards Jasper again… what the hell was this guy doing to me? We had spoken for all of five minutes and here I was planning our future. I mean, there was no denying the guy would probably rock a tux.

“Sorry, where were we? Oh, yeah. You being distracted.”

Now it was my turn to sigh. “It’s nothing. Work stuff. You should go hang out with Ben. You can talk to me later.”

She wasn’t buying it. “You don’t have ‘work stuff,’ Ava, you work off your computer. What is it?”

I could practically hear the gears of her mind churning as she worked over all the possibilities. “Ohmygod did you meet someone?”

I stood up, put my empty container in the sink, and walked to the living room. “No, Mollie, I did not meet anyone. Like really, do you even remember who you are talking to?”

“No. You can’t fool me. I know those drawn out pauses, the feeling like you can’t concentrate on anything else. That’s how I was when I first met Ben. You met someone! Spill.”

I started closing the curtains in the living room and wondered how I could get her to back off. I hadn’t met anyone. Technically. It was nothing to tell her about though. Was it? “Mollie. I’m an independent woman. I do not need a guy to distract me. I’m pretty sure I do that well enough on my own. I promise you the second there is a potential man in my life, you will be the first to know. Now go pay attention to Ben before he thinks you like me more than him.”

“Fine. Keep your secrets.” She huffed. “I’ll get them out eventually.”

I walked over my sliding doors that opened onto my balcony. I had signed the lease for my apartment based on the balcony. The large sliding doors looked out onto the most perfect view of the edge of the woods, which always filled me with a sense of peace. Once I realized all the things I had been hearing and seeing were in my head, it became my happy place. My father was a passionate camper and the scoutmaster for the local boy scouts troop, and always brought me along on their weekend excursions. It was what had begun my love of hiking, and left me feeling capable out in the woods. “I know you will.” I started to pull the curtains across the glass doors and stopped.

Mollie continued talking. “Are we still on for our lunch on Wednesday? At the diner?” The lunch she was referring to was our weekly date we had started in high school. But I was frozen with my hand gripping the curtain, looking out into the woods. The woods always brought me a sense of calm, the woods Jasper had annoyingly warned me to be cautious of. Looking back at me out of the bushes I could’ve sworn was a bright pair of animal eyes that definitely did not belong to a raccoon. Every hair on the back of my neck stood straight up, my nerves shot to hell.

“Ava? Lunch?”

I shook my head and blinked. Should I mention what I thought I’d seen to Mollie? When I looked again, the eyes weren’t there anymore. She wouldn’t understand anyway. Even when we were kids she thought my imagination was over the top. No, I must have spent too much time on my computer today. Or dreaming about a certain private investigator… “Sorry. Yes. Lunch. I’ll see you Wednesday.”

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

I could hear the concern laced in her voice, and felt bad for making my best friend worry about me. Guilt for not telling her about Jasper spread through my chest. “I’m sorry, I’m honestly just tired. I’m okay. I’ll see you Wednesday for lunch.” I tried to sound as upbeat as possible. I didn’t want her stressing about me all night.

“If you’re sure… I’ll let you get some rest. But make sure your phone stays charged! Love you.” With that, she hung up before I even had the chance to say goodbye.

I triple checked the locks before I went into my room -- just in case. It seemed silly. Jasper had made me paranoid, nothing more. As I sat on my bed, I turned my laptop on and flicked through shows until an old episode I knew by heart popped up. Betty curled up on my lap, purring. I still felt unsettled. The whole thing with Jasper, the eyes I thought I saw looking out from the woods… Something wasn’t adding up, and it left me feeling uneasy. I was missing something. I knew I had to be.

I left the show I was streaming running overnight. The few dreams I had were filled with images of Jasper, and eyes in the forest. After tossing and turning most of the night, I decided sleep was a lost cause and got ready to go for a run instead.

Running cleared my head. It was a habit I had started when I was younger and was difficult to break now. I jammed earphones in and turned on some upbeat music as I set off into the still dark morning. Jasper’s warning echoing in my head, I avoided my usual shortcut through the woods, sticking to the main roads. I would never admit it to him, but something wasn’t sitting right with me about the woods right now. I hadn’t felt afraid of them since I was a child, but the last few days had brought it all back. I tried to let go of all the thoughts plaguing me, focusing on work instead. Unfortunately, Jasper’s bright eyes kept coming into view instead of my current projects. I debated calling my mom, but our uncomfortable relationship had never included talking about boys, and now didn’t seem like a good time to start.

I eventually found myself making my way to the old park on the outskirts of town. No one really came out this way anymore since the new playground had been built around the corner from the elementary school. But it was still nice to come out to, and was a perfect midpoint for my route. I took my earphones out and sat down on the low hill, watching the fog dissipate over the tree line. The trees had only just started to turn colour, and the sight was truly beautiful. Too beautiful to be dangerous.

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