Apology Gift

Hillary Picado Centeno

On that Wednesday, the sky was full of clouds giving it a grey and nostalgic atmosphere.
The light breeze in that evening blew through the buildings and streets moving everyone’s
clothes. The sound of heavy and constant footsteps provoked Kari to look back and check
who was following her, but nobody was there. When Kari tried to resume her walk, she
collided violently with a person causing her to fall automatically. While she was on the
floor moaning in pain; a pale hand appeared in front of her face, and a deep but gentle
voice asked if she was fine. Kari swiftly looked at the owner of that voice. A good-looking
guy was just in front of her. His skin was surprisingly pale prompting an attractive contrast
with his ebony hair, but his face expression was not that charming. In his face, there was
not any emotion or worry. That poker face gave her the creeps, so she swiftly got up and
ran away without giving a second look at the guy. He just stood there staring how the girl
disappeared into the distance. Exhausted after some minutes of running, Kari stopped to
take a deep breath. Until that moment, she analyzed what had just happened “Jeez, what
kind of vibes were those?” She asked herself.

Closing the door of her cozy house, hurling her bag on the cream couch, and heading
towards the kitchen, Kari began her evening routing which consists of devouring
something while watching some episodes of her favorite anime. However, the sensation
of being observed did not allow her to pay attention at all. At some point, exhaustion made
her fall asleep on the large couch. When she opened her eyes, Kari realized that she was
no longer on her comfortable sofa, for she was in the middle of the woods at night. “Wait,
when did I get here?” She asked in her mind. At the moment, she tried to yell to check if
someone else was there. Then, the booming growl of a savage animal interrupted her
action, and a pair of hazel eyes gleamed through a bush alarming her. As soon as she
started to run, the beast did the same, but it was hunting her. The sensation of tiredness
was growing in her legs, but the unknown animal kept following her making every type of
disturbing and piercing sounds. Suddenly, Kari reached a field full of flowers surrounded
by enormous trees. In the middle, there was a tiny pond, and surprisingly the guy she had
run into that nightfall was there, yet he had a remarkable detail. Instead of having that
expressionless face from before, he had a wide and horrific smile. With short footsteps,
he was getting closer and closer to Kari, and for some reason her body did not react to
her commands. All of a sudden, the guy swiftly lunged to attack her. As soon as he
grabbed Kari’s arm with the purpose of biting it, she was abruptly awakened by the sound
of the anime’s ending. Although her heartbeat was accelerated, she opted to go straight
to her bed without thinking deeply about the nightmare.

Next day, the incessant sound of the alarm indicating 6 a.m. woke Kari up. Stretching her
body, she began with her morning routing as usual. However, it seemed that it was not
going to be an ordinary day. When she walked by the mirror, Kari noticed a bruise on her
arm right where the nightmare guy had grabbed her arm, yet she justified it as a result of
her fall the day before and continued directly to the bathroom. On her way to college, Kari
again perceived a gaze towards her that grew stronger and stronger as she walked faster.
No matter how many times she took a look around at the street and even inside the stores,
nobody was paying too much attention to her presence. During her classes, Kari was a
bit more tired than usual, yet she once more found a way to justify it with the final project
she had been working on. Later that cloudy day and after three cans of energy drinks,
she was finally able to finish her classes and go home. As she walked hastily because
she was eager to get home as soon as possible, she was thinking which of the instant
noodle to devour due to she was so hungry. Nevertheless, those noodles should wait to
be eaten, for Kari crashed with someone else in the same corner that the day before.

Fortunately, she did not stumble at that moment. When Kari was going to say sorry to the
other person, the words got immediately stuck in her mouth because the pale but
attractive guy with jet black hair was there right in front of her. For a few seconds, they
stayed in silence looking into each other’s eyes. Instead of being a romantic aura, it was
a cold and dreadful one. Also, it seemed that nobody was aware of what was happening
among them. When she finally tried to say something, the guy interrupted her by holding
up a necklace. “Please, accept this gift as an apology for what happened yesterday,” Said
the mysterious guy with that unique tone of voice. The necklace had a pair of angel wings
as a pendant with shades of blue, purple, and silver mixed in. Without waiting an answer,
he just placed the pendant in her hand, abruptly turned around, and rapidly started to
walk disappearing down the street. “What the…” Thought Kari completely bewildered
staring at the guy. Although the situation was completely awkward, the necklace was
adorable. “Well, let’s wear it just in case we meet again by chance,” Said to herself while
placing it around her neck. The click of the clasp indicating that it was already tied made
her check it in a mirror. Strangely, it fit her perfectly. At night, she was so determined to
finish all her college homework, yet Kari ended up asleep laying on the table. Immediately,
the colors of the necklace began to gradually change from bright and delicate tones to
dull and reddish ones. A sort of flame-like aura covered Kari’s body slowly consuming her
energy. As a result, she developed a nosebleed. Additionally, she felt her body overtired
when she woke up giving the impression that she was not resting.

In the following days, her physical condition continuously worsened. At the same time,
she regularly crossed paths with the enigmatic guy. Each time she looked around her on
that street, the guy was there looking at her. However, a creepy smile grew little by little
on his pale lips in every occasion. Kari genuinely made an effort to ignore his presence,
but his gaze elicited a great uneasiness on her. In Kari’s mind, he was either waiting
something from her or pleased to see her wearing the necklace. The days kept going by
for the rest of the society, but Kari’s days seemed to go by slowly and miserably. One day,
she could not move anymore as she was extremely ill, so she stayed the entire day laying
on her vintage floating bed. The intense body pain did not allow her to move from her bed
no matter how much she tried. Her body temperature felt higher than usual, but her skin
felt as cold to the touch as if she were outside in winter. A sharp shiver ran down her
spine causing her to toss and turn on her bed. Due to coughing, her throat and lungs were
sore making it arduous for her to breathe. Her mom had visited and cared for her
throughout the morning. Realizing that her daughter’s health was not improving, Kari’s
mom left her alone to drive to a pharmacy and get some medicine.

While she was struggling to doze off, Kari heard a rumbling sound in the living room of
her house. After that noise, heavy footsteps began to ascend the stairs. Step by step, the
person steadily approached to her bedroom door until the individual stopped precisely in
front of it. For a few seconds, not only Kari but also the person behind the door remained
in a suspenseful silence. Thinking that the person beyond the door was her mother, she
closed her eyes and relaxed her body. At the same time as the squeaking of the door was
perceived by her ears, the shades of necklace turned into an intense crimson and ginger
color. Furthermore, the jewelry instantly increased its temperature sending alarms to
Kari’s brain. Her hands desperately moved to the clasp to take the chain off as soon as
possible, but it was totally stuck. The pendant began to harm Kari’s skin. It was burning
her epidermis giving it reddish spots. A soft giggle made her divert her gaze to the front.
Next to her bed, the individual who had opened the door was the one that had been
causing discomfort since she had collided with him. In front of her wearing dark cloths
and a silk cloak, that distinctive guy stood with a smirk on his face. “What’s wrong with
this trinket? Help me! It’s hurting me! I can’t stand it,” Kari said in an anguished cry, but
the guy just stared at her without reacting. “Please, do something!” She begged weeping.
The terrifying guy was getting closer and closer to her, and his grin was getting bigger
and bigger. “No! Stay away! No! No!” Said the agitated girl. The only sound heard was a
piercing and agonized scream coming from the house.