"So, any plans for today?" Lily asked me over the phone.

"By plans do you mean sleep and drink coffee? Then I have many plans today," I replied calmly while I stood by the window, talking to Lily as I watched the London street.

"Argh, you sleep almost all the time. Are you a panda or what?"

"Nope, I'm not a panda but a polar bear."

"Anyways, I gotta go. My cousin brother is here for two days and I've got instructions from my aunt to show him the city."

"Wait, wait, wait. You got instructions from your aunt to show him the city, when you yourself don't know the city properly. Like, you always roam with a pocket map!"

"I don't know, dude. Anyway, bye."

I heard the beep signalling the call has ended. I sighed as I felt a little pain in my head, that was a result of me talking to Lily for about one hour or so.

I looked out the window one last time and something caught my eye, and it was that same old shadow of the 'person in black' who was walking away.

I'm not safe. I thought to myself.

What is his problem? What did I ever do to him? I shivered as I thought that I'm being stalked almost every single moment everyday. Why does he stalk me? It's like he has made it his life mission in making me go mental. If that's the case, then I think he's succeeding so far. But I shouldn't let him win.

I went to my room and sat on the bed, thinking of what to do. I want to get this off my chest. Maybe talking it out with someone will make me feel better? Lily seems to be busy today, and she will be more terrified than I am if she gets to know about this stalker.

Then I thought of meeting Alice.
She is wise, she will surely help me in easing my misery. Maybe her collected behavior will make me calm as well? How I wish behavior was also contagious. If it was so, then I would always surround myself with happy people so that their happiness gets transferred to me too. 

Alice is a smart one, hopefully she'll be helpful in solving the mystery that is M. Also, Alice knows about Hailey. She doesn't know as much as Lily does, but one day when she asked about my siblings, I just told her that I had a sister named Hailey who died in an accident. She doesn't know about the aftermath of it.

I quickly got ready, wore my coat and stepped out of my flat. I was about to go when I thought of something. I went back to my room and took all the letters and put them in my pocket. If I simply go and tell her, she'll look at me as if I've grown two heads. Showing her the letters will be a proof I believe.

I locked the door of my flat and climbed down the stairs and walked out of the building before I started heading towards Alice's house.

Is M watching me now as well? I casually let my gaze wander here and there before taking a spin to take note of the surroundings behind my back as well. So far, there hasn't been any sign of the person who has been stalking me. That's a good sign, I hope?

I was walking mindlessly while thinking what might M be up to when I suddenly crashed into someone and stumbled.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," I said as I held out my hand and then helped the girl stand up whom I just crashed into.

"No, it's okay. It was partly my mistake too, I was reading a book and walking," the girl said while she smiled at me.

I took a step back and nodded and as I was about to continue my journey, she stopped me. "So, were you in a hurry?" She asked me.

"No, just going somewhere," I said while I gave her a small smile. Is it common for strangers to ask if the other person is in a hurry?

Don't overthink, Hannah. She might just be curious because you crashed into her and thought of asking it.

Because of M I'm starting to suspect every person on Earth who breathes in oxygen.

"Okay. Have a nice day," she stated before walking past me and continued going to wherever she was meant to go. I continued walking too just when I realized something.

Her looks. In the back of my mind I felt nostalgic upon seeing her face. Why did she seem so mysterious and oddly familiar? I wondered before I shook off that thought from my head and continued my way to Alice's house.

---

"You could've just called me and I would've been at your apartment instead of you walking all the way here, you know," Alice said as she sat down beside me on the couch with her mug of coffee while handing me one too.

"Nah, I wanted to have some fresh air too. Coming here was an excuse," I replied, not telling her the fact that I had the intention of coming here, while I took a sip of coffee.

Alice's house is big, not like my small apartment. She lives in the richer neighbourhood of London. The house is surrounded by greenery everywhere with a flower garden. Alice's family loves nature, and so do I. They also treat me like their own family member and I'm very grateful to them for that.

Alice lives with her parents, two sisters and a cousin brother in this house. Currently her parents were out and one of her sister and cousin brother are in school. Her elder sister is out to work.

Long cut short, we are alone, which is good so I can talk to her about the one thing which has been eating my head for days now. I realize now that M might as well be a parasite.

We talked for a while and Alice shared me a story idea of hers. She asked for my opinion, and I blanked out as I didn't hear what she had just asked me. I don't think I even heard what her idea was. Alice understood that I was hiding something and I didn't just normally dropped by her house. She is very observant.

"So, what made you come to my house all of a sudden after so many days?" Alice asked and I was relieved that she did because I had no idea how to casually bring up such an important matter.

"Well... How to start?" I asked myself before I dug my hand into my coat pocket and took out all the envelopes containing the letters and handed them to her. Not the best way to reveal it, I know but it saves me from talking so much nonsense.

She looked at the letters in her hand and raised an eyebrow at me and asked, "What are these?"

Oh, just some papers with the dashes of ink printed on it by my stalker who stalks me all the time and apologizes for a reason I'm unaware of. Totally normal.

"Letters. Plus add some stalker too," I replied choosing not to use sarcasm at the moment. Not the best time.

Alice opened the letters and furrowed her eyebrows as she read them before she sat back and let out an exhausted sigh. I feel you, Alice. Too much information to handle.

"Oh, wait. Check this out too," I told her as I unlocked my phone and showed her the message.

"Seriously? This man seems so confusing. He's apologizing, and he also knows about Hailey. I mean- Does he have something to do with Hailey?" She asked me.

I shrugged. "What do I know? And plus he/ she keeps stalking me every time. The day when we were at the cafe I noticed him stalking me. Just now when I was talking to Lily I saw the same shadow."

"Woah. So that was the reason you suddenly looked very dull and kept looking out the window after every few minutes on that day."

"You noticed?" I asked. I honestly thought I succeeded in masking the worry on my face. Looks like Alice is a lot more observant than I give her credit of.

"Not only me, we all noticed. We were only talking about you after you left. We asked Lily, and she was confused as well but then we thought that it's just your normal behavior."

Oh, that means I was bad at covering myself, if all my friends managed to see my worry that day.

"And I thought I left unnoticed..."

"Yeah, you? Unnoticed? You're the most mysterious friend we have, and we won't notice you, right?" Alice said in an obvious tone.

I kept quiet for a while. I felt guilty that I was hiding this from Lily, and from everyone in fact. But I also don't want everyone to know about this, as they will never look at me the same way again. I turned to look at Alice who was silent too.

"Alice?" I whispered.

"Yeah?" She replied in a low voice too.

"You have to promise me not to tell about these letters to anyone. And about the stalker too. And you should never ever bring up this topic again, unless I do. I just needed to get this out of my heart, and I thought telling you would be good. So, do you promise?"

Alice was silent for a while, as if not considering it. Then she saw my pleading eyes before nodding and replied, "Okay."

I spent a an hour more at her house, trying to list out the people who I think might be M but failed to do so. I know two people whose names start with M; Mary and Mrs. Miley, but both of them are too close to me and I don't think they have such evil thoughts in their minds. I decided that it's enough for the day and got ready to leave. We bid each other bye and I left her house before walking back to my apartment.

As I was walking, I felt someone's eyes on me and that someone copying the same steps as me. Oh damn.

I turned around and found no one to be there. This feels like when Dora was trying to find Swiper the fox. What should I do when I find my stalker then, stick out my hand and say 'Swiper no swiping?'. I stood like that for a while trying to find my stalker and then continued walking when I failed to do that.

Again I felt the same thing and turned to find no one. Damn it! Is he a ninja or what? I continued walking but my heart beat was increasing as I walked faster and faster. I felt someone behind me walking with the same speed as mine too.

I turned around once again and there seemed to be no one...

Until I saw the same shadow hiding behind the electric pole.

I let out a low toned scream as I turned around and started running towards my apartment. I let out a breath of relief as I saw the familiar building a few feet away from me.

I opened the door and closed it before I ran up the stairs. I opened the door of my flat and locked it before I ran in every room and made sure that all the windows were closed.

I sat on the couch as my heart was still beating fast and my breathe was uneven. I started biting my nails as I thought of the stalker following me and his shadow behind the pole.

Why me? What have I ever done? If anything, I should've been the one to haunt my past tormentor's, but obviously I don't have the heart to do so.

Just then, it happened.

The doorbell rang.

I stared at the door for a long time. I didn't want to open it but I had to overcome my curiosity.

Another letter.

I slowly stood up and walked towards the door. I bent and saw through the keyhole to make sure no one is outside.

I quickly opened the door, snatched the letter and closed it again.

I went back to the couch and sat down before ripping the edge of the envelope. I took the letter out and started reading it,

Dear Hannah,

Oh, so you've grown brave enough to go tell your friend about me?! How dare you.

I guess it's time I stop being nice and pitiful. You seem to be going out of hand, rat.

No need to be scared of me! I'm not a monster.

But surely, I am a killer. And... your favorite stalker.

And... I murdered someone you loved.

Wait, allow me to correct that. You love her even today.

Yes, "Ham".

She wasn't gone in an accident.

I killed her.

-M.

---

:O

How do you think Hannah will react to this?

And above all,

Do you think the 'M' is planning on killing her too? Stay tuned to find out!

The Poisonous Apples,

~Apple.