The smell of freshly baked pizza wafts on the warm summer air. Dance music is oozing from nightclubs.
I feel uneasy alone at night. I walk confidently, briskly, like a prey animal advertising their fitness. My footsteps are deafening as I walk across the plaza. Reaching the pedestrian crossing, my hands shake as I press the button.
All around, people are pouring out of clubs and bars, laughing and stumbling into taxis. I recollect a back seat; I am in my black dress. My friend is giving the driver my address. I am waving as the taxi drives off.
Did I get home? When I try to remember all I see is void. My heart is beating fast; I can’t catch a breath. Calm down, I tell myself, remember what the doctor told you. I feel for the rubber band on my wrist. But it’s not there. How did I lose it? When? I am anxious and confused. It’s then I notice that I am still wearing the black dress.
The right side of my neck begins to itch. Must be the heat. I get rashes all the time. Allergies. I automatically scratch and feel two raised lumps. Strange. I don’t remember them being there before. They feel sore and angry.
I could murder a drink right now. Flashback: I see a face. His face. At the bar, he smiles as he sits down next to me. I can tell my friends are jealous. When he looks at me it’s like there is no-one else in the room. I
don’t remember much after that.
I snap out of my reverie as I notice a group of men ahead of me, talking and laughing. They smell of beer, cheap aftershave, sweat and something else…something sweet…i struggle to identify this. Then it dawns on me, it’s blood. My pace picks up speed, every sense is heightening. I am licking my lips, salivating with anticipation. I am the hunter not the hunted.
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Melissa Dennison is a writer of flash fiction, short stories and shorter poems, namely haiku. Her stories are shaped by her interest in the natural world, conservation, folk lore, mythology and fairy tales.
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