Every day was normal, besides the fact it was 60 degrees and winter was close to coming. I mentally got myself prepared for the horrible ride to work, that consisted of smelly men, the extreme scent of perfume, and people all over me. Walking to the bus, my eyes shifted to the spot my acquaintance was always at. For twenty-five years they have always been there. Always gave me a small wave and smile before getting onto the back end of the bus. But today, they weren’t there. I looked around, wondering why they weren’t there. Maybe they got sick, maybe they just slept in too late. Maybes ran through my head. I’m prone to overthinking and this situation spiked my anxiety. I mentally could not figure out what happened to the lovely person who only gave me a small gesture every day. I got onto the bus and scooted to the back of it. I looked around the back and found no sight of them, right now I was too anxious to talk to anyone and right now I needed to find this acquaintance of mine.
The day went on, I googled missing persons, contacted the police, and gave a small description of them but neither had a single hint as to where they were. My brain felt fried from trying to find out where this person was. I only waved and smiled at them for twenty-five years. We never talked, I didn’t know their name, we just waved. So, this small attempt at a search led me to a dead end, as predicted. Instead of riding the bus once again to deal with the headache of now sleepy people, I decided to call for an Uber. My back leaned against the brick building of my job, my head felt like it was gonna explode. Until my eyes were fixated on a moving object. A person, my person. “Hey!” I yelled, running after the person I’d been searching for all day. “Wait up!” My voice echoed as we ran into the alley. This person from the bus ran faster and faster before they took a quick turn and disappeared. “What…Hello? Anyone there? Where did you go?” I shouted into the lonely alleyway. My body heaving because of the exertion I just put myself through. “Where did they go?” My brain was rattled with questions. I was right behind them, behind the person I was for some unknown reason so worried about. I was mentally attached to just a person, someone I didn’t even know and someone who never tried to speak to me. With the strange defeat of not catching up with my bus buddy, I walked to the street once again, my Uber waiting and ready for me.
Walking into the apartment that I alone rent, I set my purse on the counter and poured myself some water before heating up something to eat. Sitting on my couch, watching television and eating the heated-up leftovers I found, something shattered. My head turned quickly to the noise. “Hello?” I spoke out into the not-so-quiet house. Setting my food down, I slowly walked to the hallway. My body shaking, “If you don’t leave now, I’m going to call the police!” I shout before turning on the hallway light, seeing the vase with my violets in it broken. I sighed and started to pick up the mess, maybe my cat did it? Where is my cat? I looked around before hearing a bang in another room. My heart thumping, no one should be here. Slowly getting up from my knelt position, I opened the door to my bedroom, looking at the now turned-on closet light. Only seeing it through the cracks of the door. I swear that was off before I left to go to work. With an unsteady step, I walked towards the glowing door, turning the doorknob. My heart raced as I swung the door open and the light turned off. “What the..” My eyes looked around the dark room before I stepped back, “Hello?” speaking out, the voice that I owned trembled more than my body. I didn’t see anyone, not even a strange moving figure in the dark closet. I closed the door and sighed, “Maybe it’s all in my head” My body turned around for the door, and I went to swing the bedroom door open to leave. I felt something grab my ankle. Looking down and screaming almost instantly, the hand that grabbed me was bloody, thin, and now pulling me towards the closet. I held onto the door, trying to not be sucked into the darkness. My screams do not break any type of fourth wall, no one would help. As I continued to fight, my arms got tired. My body gave up as the nails of the hand pierced into my ankle, letting blood dribble slowly down. I let go, being sucked into the closet and surrounded by darkness, the only thing I could hear was the heavy breathing of someone behind me. I slowly turned around, seeing the gruesome faces of my bus buddy, their eyes plain white, their face bloody. The hands that grabbed me once, grabbed my face this time. The strange voice of the person in front of me spoke in a whisper, “You’ll be with me now…Buddy.” Everything turned black, my life was over. I found my bus buddy, but they were never real. I was searching for nobody and now my family will search for nobody as well. I’m with my bus buddy forever now.