Ava came out from the backroom already changed and holding her bag. She was in the process of letting hair down when she spotted her coworker waiting for her by the door.
She hurried towards him and they both left the café and walked a certain distance in silence.
"My house is the opposite way." Shawn told her after a moment, pointing at a bend in the road. "But would you like me to escort you home first?"
Ava shook her head. "Oh no, that's fine." She smiled. "My apartment isn't too far from here. Thank you for offering."
"...Alright." He answered reluctantly, waving at her before leaving. "I'll see you tomorrow then."
"Bye." Ava waved back and soon enough Shawn's back had gone out of her range of sight.
She sighed as she stared at the relatively empty, dim street in front of her, letting out a nervous laugh.
'Maybe I should have just taken him up on his offer…' She thought, then let out a sigh a second later. 'But there's no way I would have inconvenienced him like that…'
Ava reached a hand into her bag and took a hold of a taser that she had slipped into it before leaving her apartment and she began to walk. She'd never had any pleasant memories of walking on empty streets like this.
Something buzzed inside her bag and she jerked, then she let out a nervous laugh when she realised what it was.
'It's just your phone, Ava…' She consoled herself.
She took the device out of the bag and took a look at the screen, smiling as she picked the call.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Cookie," Kiera's voice sounded from the other end. "Are you still working?"
"Uh… no I'm on my way back already." Ava answered.
"Alright. Just called to check up on you." Kiera added. "Be safe."
Ava smiled. "...Thanks." She said before Kiera hung up.
She hadn't taken up to ten steps after the call when she suddenly heard a thumping sound from behind her.
Ava whipped her head around sharply, her eyes darting left and right as she searched the darkness behind her. She pursed her lips and continued on her way, clutching onto the taser in her bag so tight, her knuckles turned white.
A few minutes in and she began to hear heavy footsteps from behind her. Ava's eyes widened and her heart began to beat wildly in her chest.
Her mouth dried up…. someone was following her!
'No…' She begged. 'Please no…'
Ava quickened her pace and so did the person trailing behind her. Her breathing seemed like it would stop with every step she took.
Her eyes grew damp. 'It can't be him… How did he find out about this place so soon?!'
She began to run, like her very life depended on it and to her dismay, she could hear the clear thumping of the person's running footsteps behind her.
Even with experience in years of running from danger, Ava wasn't fast enough. She couldn't outrun this stalker, she could never outrun him. After all, he always proved to be the strongest and fastest of all of them.
A hand circled around her slender arm tightly and jerked her back, nearly knocking the breath out of her. Her bag fell to the ground from the force of the pull.
"Why is it that you always try to run from me, Ava?" A familiar voice sounded in her ear, mocking her useless attempt at an escape.
Ava began to tremble, her eyes fixed on the ground. She didn't want to look up. "Please… please let me go…" She gasped. "Why… why do you always have to do this?"
The man sneered. "Why do I always have to do what?" He asked, feigning ignorance. "I don't get what you're trying to say."
Ava bit her lip hard enough to draw blood, then she looked up at her stalker, taking in his repulsive features. "You know he'll be furious at this, yet you keep trying to go against him every time…"
Vince's features contorted in rage. "Damn him!" He seethed, roughly jerking her chin upward and making her gasp in pain. He smirked. "What's the worst he could do? It'll all be over when I've done what I want with you anyway."
When was this ever going to end? Over and over again, he came at her almost every night and pretended like nothing happened after. Ava let her eyes drift close, as if finally accepting her fate.
Vince chuckled. "Now be a good girl and come with me." He said. "After tonight, I promise I won't bother you agai–"
He could barely complete his statement when he suddenly doubled over and howled in pain.
Ava had kicked him in the groin with all the strength she could muster. Vince's grip on her loosened for just a moment, letting her escape his grasp.
Before Vince could try to grab her again, he felt something hard jab the side of his stomach, his eyes glanced over the weapon before it focused on Ava.
"Don't–" He started.
Ava smirked. "That's what you say all the time when you manage to get hold of me." She spat. "But despite all your experience, you keep falling for the simplest tricks just because of that enormous ego of yours."
Vince grit his teeth. "You dare not, Ava."
She shrugged, letting out a shaky breath. "Too late."
Before he could get another word out, he felt a burning, sharp pain go through his entire body. Electricity sparked his muscles, jarring him and he jerked violently as his eyes glazed over.
He would have foamed at the mouth if he was any weaker.
Ava jumped back and saw as he spasmed for a few seconds before collapsing to the ground heavily.
"You bitch…" He spat out weakly before he lost consciousness.
She didn't waste another second. She hurriedly snatched her bag from the ground and began to run again. Seconds later she heard another series of thumping sounds right behind her.
'Coyle!' She guessed, doing her best to increase her pace.
She nearly cursed out loud. Each time she managed to escape from Vince, Coyle was always in the shadows as backup.
He wasn't as stupid as Vince… her petty tricks would never work on him.
She was only lucky to escape from the second ambush other times because she either ended up on crowded streets, played hide and seek until she got home or ran straight to a police station.
But everywhere was empty now, there weren't any police stations nearby and her apartment was still so far away. She was quickly running out of energy.
She heard Coyle chuckle from behind her. "You're fun to chase, you know that, right?" He called out.
'That madman!'
Ava almost let out a whimper but she was far too tired for that. She tripped on gravel and started to fall over when a strong grip took hold of her and jerked her back, preventing her from hitting the ground.
Ava's heart fell to her stomach.
"Are you alright?" She heard a hoarse voice ask.
Panting heavily, she slowly glanced up weakly at the figure who had caught her, her eyes widening for just a brief moment.
'Mr. Berger?!' She thought in shock but she could only nod numbly at his question. Then remembering she was being chased, she began to look around wildly.
But Coyle was nowhere to be seen.