Destiny

It's her! That woman!

The same woman who had been stalking her for 15 days and a half. Yes. She was keeping count.

The woman was hiding half behind the large lamp post. She was wearing a weird assortment of clothes that definitely did not belong in this century. A dark leather corset over a long sleeved white undershirt and tight pants that looked like they were squeezing the life out of her legs. A long overcoat with a hood and buttoned over her waist completed the ensemble. She dimly thought of how the lady looked absolutely striking when she met the woman's eyes.

Her breath caught in her throat. The woman was looking right at her!

And she wasn't happy. Her gaze was sharp, almost a glare as it met hers and Ellie felt like she was under a microscope being studied and analyzed piece by piece. This wasn't the first time she felt like being sized up. It happened before. Every other time she met the woman's gaze, Ellie felt the same.

Who is she?

The first time she saw the woman, Ellie was just on her way to work on the bus. There was this uncomfortable feeling of being watched and sure enough, she caught the woman staring at her. She was in the same weird outfit and was standing at the back of the bus among the other passengers. She looked around her age but carried herself as a much older person. Intimidating was the word Ellie would use to describe the woman after her preliminary observation.

She brought up her gaze to the woman's face and a chill went up her spine as she met the woman's eyes. They were sharp and were scrutinizing her from top to bottom. She had her hood over her head, almost falling over her eyes and what Ellie was pretty sure a blade was strapped to her waist.

Strangely, no one around the woman seemed bothered by her appearance. She was still staring at her and Ellie felt like she was in a dream. Distantly, she wondered whether she fell asleep on the bus and was dreaming about the woman. She broke her gaze and pinched her arm wincing when it stung.

Definitely not a dream, then. Ellie looked back at the woman to find her eyes dancing with mirth and an almost smile on her lips. She blushed looking away from her admirer. She spent the rest of her ride staring out of the window and kept from glancing at the woman out of sheer will.

The next time she came across the woman again, Ellie was busy bargaining with a vendor in the farmer's market. It was a warm sunny afternoon and she was tasting victory of bargaining when she felt the hair stand up on the back of her neck. She was being watched. The vendor gave in to her and billed her purchases. She took her things and moved away from the stand subtly looking around her surroundings to find her watcher.

The high of getting her way during a bargaining was quickly reducing while the fear of being watched was making itself known. Her thudding heart was not helping at all and she could feel it pounding in her head. Ellie took a deep breath to ease her poor heart and looked around again. Not seeing anyone paying attention to her, she started to move around the market when a glint caught her eye. She turned towards it to find the same woman from the bus a week ago staring at her.

Ellie's heart felt like it would beat right out of her chest and run far far away. The woman was dressed up in the same clothes and Ellie's petrified brain wondered about the hygiene of putting on same clothes for an entire week. Why does it matter? She scolded herself. This crazy woman was obviously stalking her and was carrying a blade and she was worried about her clothes!

A shoulder knocked into her own and jarred her out of her thoughts. Ellie realized she stopped in the middle of the market and the owner of the shoulder that ran into her was giving her a stinky eye. She winced in silent apology and he walked away grumbling to himself. She shook herself from the daze and looked back up at the woman only to find her gone. She wasn't there. Ellie thought she might have been day dreaming again and it was all just a figment of her imagination but even she wasn't convinced of her own thoughts.

Taking a deep breath and letting it out in a long exhale, Ellie forced her mind to relax and decided to enjoy her day. Yet the woman occupied her thoughts not only then but even the days following that incident.

A few days after the lamp post incident, Ellie was sitting at a small corner table in a cafe, nursing a large cappuccino hoping it would wake her up and stop her eyes from closing against her will. Her office workload was huge and even the thought of the bulging amount of work she had yet to finish before the end of the week was enough to bring frustrated tears to her eyes. She screwed her eyes shut to stop her tears from falling but snapped them open again when her closed eyes lured her to sleep.

She shook her head and took a large gulp of her coffee dreaming about the weekend and her fluffy and warm bed. She made the decision of taking time off from the work starting at the weekend to the mid of next week. A whole 5 days of no work and only me time. Ellie sighed wishing to travel to the Friday in a snap and start her weekend plus time off.

She gulped down the last of her heavenly liquid, debating with herself over getting another coffee but decided against it since too much caffeine makes her jittery. Ellie dropped her ceramic mug at the station and walked out of the cafe readying herself to continue her work and mentally preparing herself for staying overtime at her small cubicle.

She walked onto the street the leads to her office building and turned around a corner when she ran smack into a body. Her forehead met head on with the other person's chin leaving her to blink black spots from her eyes at the hard contact. She was apologizing even before she righted herself from the encounter and gazed up at the person she ran into.

Ellie's words stuck in her throat, refusing to come out. Her tongue felt heavy inside her mouth and she started feeling dizzy. She realized she stopped breathing and took a large gulp of air. Only then was she aware of her heart pounding inside her chest. She grasped her shirt over her heart and blinked at the person before her.

It was her. Her stalker.

Every encounter Ellie had with the woman, it was from a safe distance away. Never this near. Never face to face. She had an inkling that this was not a coincidence. This was deliberate. For whatever reason the woman was following her, she was ready to talk. But why now? Ellie wondered. Why not the other times she came across her.

Before she could voice her thoughts, the woman grabbed her shoulders in a firm but painless hold and leaned close to her.

"It's time," The woman said.

Ellie blinked. Time for what? The woman's voice was beautiful and smooth. It was a bit deep but Ellie found that it suited her just right. She kept her tone even but Ellie detected a hint of apology in it. Why? Time for what?

She liked her lips. "Time for what?"

The woman gazed at her, still holding her shoulders. She seemed to be contemplating her words. She looked away clenching her jaw as if whatever she was doing or saying was painful for her. She breathed deep and looked back at her.

"Destiny," The woman breathed tightening her grip on her shoulders and pushed her into oncoming traffic.

Ellie barely had time to scream before her world faded into darkness.

The end.