I sighed as I counted the final seconds of my shift at the Dainty Dish, a local restaurant that was old and outdated, but the townsfolk loved this place like a second home. It had been busy all day and I was exhausted. I thought about how I had just got my masters degree in marketing and business. All of that hard work just to work in an old restaurant. All because I didn't have any experience. My lips formed a thin line. How was I supposed to get experience if no one wanted an inexperienced person on the work floor?

But I couldn't just sit around and do nothing. So after I came back from New York I slept in my car for a few weeks until I could effort two months of rent. I was so broke that my card declined when I wanted to buy a pack of ramen. I had no one to help me. No parents, siblings or any other relatives that I knew of. No college friends I could think of. I never had any of that. It's kind of hard when you are actually alone.

The only thing I know about my mother is that she was a teen mom who couldn't take care of me so; naturally, she left me at a hospital and never turned back. I got put in an orphanage where nobody came to adopt me. I think you can imagine how hard that was on me as a child. I saw all of the other children get adopted and find their forever homes while I cried in a corner as they smiled and laughed with their new parents.

There was only one person who cared for me, Nurse Mathilda or as I called her, grandma. The sweetest soul I had ever met. She was already in her sixties when I first entered the orphanage as a baby. She was the one who made it possible for me to go to New York. She always believed I would do great things. I wanted to make her proud and not let her efforts go to waste. If only I had known that she had been battling cancer for years. I couldn't even be at her funeral. Not long after she passed the orphanage burned down. So at this point everything I knew was gone.

Now I was washing dishes and serving food to people day in and day out. Not that they were horrible. This is just not something I would want to be doing right now.

I groaned and let my head fall on an empty table I just cleaned. "This is all temporary. Soon, I'll be dripping in jewels" I whispered to myself. My phone buzzed in my pocket, the end of my shift. I got up from the table and made my way to the staff area to change my clothes.

I fumbled with my car keys as I walked through the parking lot to my car. I was deep in my thoughts. I had to do something, because I have been here for almost a year and my progress is devastatingly slow. I sighed as I finally got to my car. I unlocked it and opened the door. I tossed my bag in the passenger seat and sat in my driver's seat.

I stared into nothing and then leaned forwards in my seat. I closed my eyes and softly banged my head on my steering wheel. I was really tired, mentally and physically. I laughed humorlessly as I opened my eyes. I couldn't stay here, but I was too tired to drive. I breathed in and started my car. I started driving while my eyes weld with tears. I stopped at a red light and did my best not to start crying.

"Oh, pull yourself together" I scolded myself as I blinked back my tears. I looked to my left where the road led to my house then to my right where the road led to a cemetery; the cemetery where gran was buried. It's been a while since I've visited her. I looked at the clock that showed five minutes past ten. I jumped up in my seat when the car behind me honked its horn. I decided that I needed to go see gran. I took the right road and drove silently in the empty part of town. People always believed that there was something wrong with this part of the town.

I remembered how gran used to tell me that she lived here. I frowned as I recalled that one story about a man saving her from drowning when she was a little girl. She was playing near the lake when she slipped and fell in and got dragged by the strong current. Her foot got trapped under a tree and she thought she was going to die, but then a man came and lifted the tree with one hand and pulled her foot from under the tree with the other. The tree really did a number or her foot and since there wasn't a good hospital in town back then her foot never healed properly, which is why she always limped.

I personally thought she might have been over exaggerating, because nobody can lift a whole ass tree with one hand. I stopped when I reached the front gates of the cemetery.

"SAINT ESTHER CEMETERY-HOME OF THE DECEASED"

I shivered as I read the letters on the gate. I turned off my car and got out. I used my phone flashlight to light the way. I zoned out as I walked on the path that went through the front of the cemetery where people have been recently buried. Since gran was part of the old townsfolk she was buried near the much older graves, as she requested which where all the way in the back. I greeted the old man, Joe, that cleaned the graves and turned the lights on and he gave me a friendly smile.

After walking for a few minutes I finally came to her gravestone.

"MATHILDA EMILY EVERFROST

1-4- 1940 -- 12-O7-2022"

I sighed as I read it and looked at her gravestone.

"I'm sorry, gran. I'm not as brave, strong or special as you wanted me to be. I don't feel like I'm doing a good job. I feel like I let you down. I feel so alone and empty...like I have no purpose. And I don't know where I should go next. Every job I applied for has turned me down. I can't keep living like this. I can't do this without you. I don't know how long I can keep going. I-I-I" I cried and sobbed loudly as I fell on my knees and fisted the dirt. I yelled my pain and frustration out. I closed my eyes and sat near her gravestone as I cried.

I woke up as Joe tapped my shoulder.

"You okay there?" he asked with worry in his voice. "What?" I asked, confused as to where I was. "You fell asleep here" He said. I suddenly remembered where I was. "Oh thanks for waking me up, Joe. I'm just really tired" I said. "That's alright. But it's just not that sensible to sleep in a cemetery. Especially at night" He said with a slight chuckle. I nodded and got up. "Should I walk you to your car?"Joe asked. "Yes, thank you" I answered.

We walked in silence for a few seconds before Joe started, "Mathilda was an amazing woman; always helping others even when she didn't even have much herself" I nodded and mumbled "She sure was"

"I've always loved her ever since we were little children. It's sad that I only had to courage to confess it when our lives were almost over. But those last two years with her were the best two years of my life." He chuckled sadly. "If I'll ever tell you something it's that you should never wait to confess your love to someone. Either they loves ya back or they don't. It can't get any better or worse. Drive safely, missy" He said as we finally reached my car. I smiled at him and thanked him.

I unlocked my car and went to sit inside my car. I smiled as I shook my head. I can believe gran had a boyfriend at 80. I tried starting the car but it just wouldn't stop sputtering. I groaned and cursed at the car. Joe came closer to the car and tapped on my window. I rolled my window down. "Got car trouble? Don't worry, I help you" Joe said as he walked to the hood of my car. He opened the hood and frowned. He bent down to inspect something. He quickly jumped up with a look of panic in his eyes. "Ru-" He couldn't even finish his sentence as a small bloody hole formed in the center of his forehead. I screamed as he fell on the ground with his eyes wide open.

I opened my car door and I began running. From what you ask? I didn't know and I was sure as hell not sticking around to find out. I looked back as I was running and my heart skipped a beat as I saw three figures standing near my car over Joe's body. I quickened my pace as I noticed that they started to walk in my direction. They were walking but they were somehow getting closer to me inhumanly fast.

I looked at the dark sky as I ran as fast as my legs could carry me. I was scared for my life. Was I going to make it out of here alive? Was anyone going to find my body? Would I be able to escape or even fight back? I looked back to see if they were still following me. The three men were still just walking after me. Oh goodness, why me? I know that its selfish, but couldn't it be anyone else? I was so tired. I wanted to stop running. The air wasn't filling my lungs anymore. My vision was starting to turn black as I started crying.

Screaming had no use. I was so conveniently in an abandoned part of town. I tripped and my body gave out. I crawled with my last strength. I needed to stay fighting. The footsteps were getting closer. I prayed in silence. One of my worst fears is about to happen to me and I was going to die. The men slowed down and started walking normally towards me. I could feel them looking at me. I got goose bumps as hot tears ran down my face. I was about to die. They knew I couldn't run any further. After a few seconds they started laughing at me as I crawled over the street, desperate to stay alive. One of them grabbed me by my hair. I screamed in pain as my hand instinctively went to my head to try and soften the pain. He bends down to my level. He looked at me and grinned.

"Are you crying?" He asked tauntingly with his head cocked to the side. "Please let me go" I pleaded through my sobs. Two of them made eye contact and then burst out laughing. The two men laughed as the other one just stood there with no expression. I had never felt so powerless. What was I going to do? They were three grown men and I? I was just a woman. Thoughts raced in my mind as I looked at all of them. They were all really tall. There was one with fully white hair with no expression and the other two had black hair and they looked like they were really having fun. They didn't bother to wear masks to hide their identity so I was probably going to die.

Blondie took out a syringe and injected something into my arm. It went directly into bloodstream and I started feeling even weaker than before. My eyes started closing and everything went black as a teardrop fell onto the ground.

Thanks for reading. 

Vote and comment. It helps to promote my story.