My Horror Stories:

My Ghost Lover:

'Why am I so unlucky?' I thought bitterly as I stood in Stratford Shopping Centre glancing at all the couples around me hugging, kissing and showing their displays of affection that they had for each other. It was Valentine's Day and I detested it ever since I had learnt about it in school and I wished that it never existed, as each year rolled by as a teenager I had felt worse about myself and today was no different either, as I wandered around the shopping centre in my Black heeled boots.
Outside it was snowing it was a chilly but mediocre Winter day, nothing extraordinarily unusual but inside it was cosy and safe with people wearing thick wool Winter coats and the aroma of food and hot chocolate wafting in the air from coffee shops, I felt like having a hot chocolate so I decided to stroll over to Starbucks.
What Is Love by Haddaway blasted from a shop on my way over to the famous coffee chain and I thought about how shops would play all of the cheesiest love songs to accommodate the celebrated Hallmark holiday.
I looked around me at the Pink and Red love hearts that hung on the ceilings of the wall, a shop window exhibited a giant teddy bear holding a Red heart with an I Love You written on it sitting next to a Valentines Holiday Specials advertisement that was stuck on to attract would-be couples to celebrate this day by going on vacation, it illustrated an exclusive resort to Bora Bora for just £30 a night and all-inclusive breakfast bar at a 5-star hotel.
I stared at the brochure with a feeling of envy and a small tinge of heartache.
'Why?' I thought tears welling up in my dark eyes threatening to ruin my make-up and waterproof mascara. 'Why can't I find love?'
I shook my head feeling bitter, 'Starbucks will cheer me up, drinking coffee always does,' I thought to myself as I moved away from the romantic shop display and walked until I reached Starbucks.
Once inside I ordered myself a Signature Hot Chocolate with extra whipped cream and rainbow sprinkles on top with a pumpkin-flavoured muffin and as I took a photo for Instagram I could smell the pleasant scent of the coffee drifting into my nose and once I had edited the image I took a generous sip.
I was enjoying my coffee when I caught sight of a man in Black from across the room who was staring at me, he looked like a waiter but I couldn't tell.
'He's cute,' I noticed his Dark Green eyes, tanned skin and long nose.
I wondered whether I should go over and converse with him but I pushed the thought out of my mind as I felt it was too awkward to do that. I believed that a man should make the first move if he was attracted to me and I wondered to myself whether he would or would not.
I turned my attention back to the beverage and slowly savoured the flavour of it taking my time to finish it. A Starbucks employee walked by tidying up tables along the way by the time I was done with my drink I started on my muffin when the cute guy I had noticed came over to me.
"I'll take that," he said. He reached over and picked up my empty White coffee mug that had the Starbucks logo emblazoned on it.
"Thanks," I replied giving him my 'shy and innocent' smile. "Do you work here?" I asked him.
"I do but as an assistant manager but anyway what's a cute girl like you doing all alone?" Asked the man.
I felt taken aback by his sudden question implying that women weren't allowed to hang out alone or something but I chose to remain modest and just go along with it.
"Oh, nothing just appreciating a day out alone by myself. It feels good being alone, just hanging out doing my own damn thing in life."
I sighed thinking of the pleasure I got from being alone, nobody to control you or tell you what to do, it felt great being your own person but the only downside was that it could get lonely sometimes, very lonely and on days like these I wished I had somebody to cuddle and share my heart's feelings and bond with just like these cringey valentines couples in the mall had each other do that with.
"Don't you feel lonely sometimes?" The man asked me staring with his deep Green eyes, I looked at his eyes admiring the beautiful Emerald colour, it reminded me of the gem itself from a jewellery store.
"Sometimes. I guess." I wondered what was happening as normally nobody spoke to me or even bothered me, men just didn't seem to be that interested in me at all and I had to wonder if it was because there was something wrong with me, I had faulted it down to feeling ugly and I thought men could sense my insecurity and it turned them off.
"You're so beautiful," the man leaned in almost as if he was going to kiss me.
I leant back not because I didn't like him but because we had only just met and I didn't know what his intentions were, he seemed attractive and innocent enough though but I had no idea who he was, who he really was.
"What's wrong?" He frowned as if he had been slightly offended.
"Nothing but thanks for the compliment," I said smiling at him to ease the tension, letting him know that it was nothing personal.
"You don't get complimented enough do you?" The man asked leaning over me now, staring again with his piercing eyes.
I looked away, his eye contact was very powerful and intense, something about him made me feel like I would go crazy.
"No, I guess I don't," I shrugged. "Nobody seems to like me."
"Well they should, a beautiful woman like you deserves a man to go down on his knees and satisfy your every wish, you should be treated like a princess."
I blushed hard. My Pink blusher emphasised the colour of my cheeks making them bolder. I felt shy, warm and loved something that I had never felt by a man in my life. I was quiet and shy not loud and confident like other women could be.
"Thanks, who are you?" I glanced at his face. "You didn't introduce yourself to me."
"You can just call me The Man," he said.
"The Man?" I repeated. "What about your real name?"
"I can't reveal that," he said, he cleared away the table and walked away.
'Strange, I wonder why not.' I thought to myself before finishing off my muffin, I cleaned my mouth with a tissue, reapplied my lipstick and got up to leave the shop when I bumped into The Man.
"Oh sorry," I apologised to him.
"It's ok," he said. He pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket and gave it to me. I looked at it.
"My number," he explained.
"Oh," I blushed happily. I thought I was living in some kind of a fairytale or movie where these types of things usually occurred, but no, it was real life. It was my life, 'maybe life is starting to look better I thought feeling happier.
"Call me!" The Man said.
"What about me?" I asked. "Don't you want my number?" I usually didn't give my number away to strange men I had only met but for some reason I trusted this man, I wanted to open up to him and just spill all of my secrets for some crazy reason.
"I'll get it when you call me," he replied.
"Ok thanks," I unzipped my bag and the paper he gave in to a little compartment which I had no idea what it was meant for anyway, I zipped my bag up and gave him a longing glance before I left.
I looked at my clock. 'It's getting darker I should go home.' I walked out of the shopping mall leaving the warmth and hustle-bustle of people behind me to enter the cold and dark Winter World again.
I trudged through the snow, the snowflakes melting under my high heeled Black boots, to get to the empty bus stop which was next to an old and run-down cinema, the building which had once been filled with cheap food and fun movies was now cold and empty and nobody had bothered to fix it or even to redecorate it.
I sat down on the hard cold bench shivering, it was so chilly outside it must have been -six degrees. I dug into my coat's pocket and pulled out the Pink furry gloves that my mother had knitted me for my birthday and slipped them on, instantly my hands felt a slight warmth even if my face didn't.
I looked at the bus table which was lit up with bus numbers and times that they would be arriving and wished that I could drive or that somebody could drive me home so that I wouldn't have to sit in the cold and dark waiting for ages.
"Number 28 is coming at 05:50 PM," I read from the bus board. I looked at my clock and it read 05:40 PM. It was about ten minutes to wait.
I looked all around me at the scenery as I waited for the bus to come, I waited more than ten minutes and it still hadn't arrived yet by now the sky was a Dark Brownish shade and I could see tiny snowflakes falling from the sky.
"Oh, shit!" I cursed. I didn't want to be stuck in the city during bad weather and have the buses be delayed, it would take even longer now that the weather had turned bad and traffic delays would occur too.
I watched as the snow fell and a few minutes later my wish about going home quickly had come true as a Black Chevrolet pulled up right next to the bus stop and a window rolled down.
"Do you need a lift?" I recognised the deep and strong, Eastern European accent because it sounded familiar to me.
I got up from the bus stop and peered into the car to see that The Man was sitting inside on the faux leather interior seats, he had his hands casually resting on the wheel, strangely enough, he had sunglasses on even though it was Winter which I found wasn't suitable attire since there was no sun and it was dark outside.
Nevertheless, I ignored his odd fashion choice and said "yes I do."
"Well then come in, I'm glad I was coming this way I usually don't take this route," the man explained.
Stupidly enough I got into the car despite all of the Stranger Danger warnings my parents and school teachers had told me growing up.
"I never got your name?" The man told me.
"Oh I'm Layla," I replied.
"That's a nice name," he replied in a husky voice. I blushed again.
"Where do you live?" The man asked me.
Stupidly enough I gave him the address to my apartment block and allowed him to take me home.
I sat silently in the car ride home, I felt that there was something strange about him even though I trusted him but I couldn't explain what the feeling was, there was a hint of something supernatural in the air around him.
"Don't like talking much?" The man quipped looking at me in my direction through his dark sunglasses.
I turned away from the window to look at him, I couldn't see his eyes from his sunglasses but for some reason, I felt that he cared about me because he was taking me home after all.
"No," I admitted honestly. "I don't feel comfortable talking to strangers.
"But you're speaking to me?" The man interjected.
I nodded. He had a good point I was talking to him and he was a stranger too but today had been a long and miserable day and I didn't feel like going into the details and reasons of what made me who I am with him.
It was only a five-minute drive from my apartment and once I could see the buildings I thanked him and got out to walk home again.
I entered the lobby and used the elevator to get to my apartment, I unlocked the door and entered my apartment.
I gasped in shock.
"Oh my God."
I looked around my apartment, a window in the sitting room had been shattered in, glass was piled up on the floor, and books had been thrown along with clothes and candles all over the floor. It looked as if somebody had broken in while I was out.
I ran around the apartment checking all the rooms to see if anything had been stolen. I pulled open my cupboard door and pulled my Money Jar out I opened it and counted all my money but it was exactly the change that I had put in and nothing had gone missing which relieved me.
I put the money back into the money jar and went into the kitchen to wash my hands to rid myself of the germs from other people handling money and entered my bedroom again.
I opened my drawer and checked my jewellery box but the jewellery and gems were still safe and untouched. My hand hovered over a Gold locket with a photo of my mother inside and I picked it up and held it close to my chest. 'I would die if I lost this, it means so much to me.'
The locker had been given to me as a gift on my 18th birthday by my mother and I was relieved to see that it was safe, I didn't know how I would have explained to her that I had lost it but I was glad didn't have to.
As I slammed the drawer shut my phone started to ring. I went into the kitchen where my handbag was on the table and unzipped the bag to take my phone out.
"Hello,"
"Hello, Layla." It was my mother's voice.
"Oh hey Mummy," I said tears prickling into my eyes.
"I just called to see whether you were home or not?"
"I just came back," my voice was shaking and tears started to roll down my eyes.
"What's wrong?" My mother asked recognising the slight pitch in my voice. "Why are you crying for?"
I took the phone into my bedroom closed the door and sat down on my bed.
"I think I've been robbed or something," I forced the words out of my mouth. I looked at myself in the mirror next to the cupboard and felt I looked ugly. My make-up was ruined and mascara and eyeliner were running down my face in long Black lines.
"Oh no," my mother gasped. "You should call the cops as soon as you can."
"I will." I grabbed a tissue from my Pink nightstand and wiped my face with it.
"Do you want us to come?" My mother asked.
"No, don't worry about it I will deal with it," I responded blowing my nose with the tissue.
"But how did this happen? Didn't you lock the door before you left? Did you not pray?"
I sighed in annoyance I didn't feel like playing 20 questions and talking about what had happened I just wanted to shut up and deal with it.
'This day keeps getting better and better,' I thought sarcastically.
"It's fine," I told my mother after she had finished interrogating me. "I'll call the cops and deal with it."
"Ok don't delay it. Call them as soon as you can and don't forget to pray. Call me as soon as you can."
"I will," I sighed and hung up the phone. I slammed the phone and threw myself back onto my stomach and sobbed into the pillow not caring that it would get stained with my make-up.
After letting all the frustration and sadness of my apartment being robbed through my tears I finally felt a little better. I got up and went over to my dresser and grabbed a make-up remover and wiped my messy stained face then I went into the bathroom and washed my face with warm water.
I peered at my reflection in the mirror, I looked like a sad and depressed woman who hadn't slept for a year, the dark circles under my eyes were deep and heavy like a raccoon's face. I was tired and I needed sleep but I also needed to deal with what had happened in my house.
Who did this? Why did they do it? How did they even do it? I wanted answers, I needed to know.
I headed back over to the bedroom, unzipped my jacket and dialled the police on my mobile phone. I went into the kitchen and turned the heating on, I shivered as the cold Winter air from outside drafted in from the broken window in the sitting room.
"999 how can I help you?" A man's voice asked me through the phone.
"I need the cops," I said. "I think somebody broke into my apartment while I was out," I explained as I gave them the necessary details that they needed.
The man said the cops would arrive soon so I hung up and waited.
I thought about tidying up the sitting room as the shattered glass still lay on the floor but decided against it as the cops would need to look around the apartment so I didn't want to tamper with any evidence the thief might have left behind.
A half an hour later the cops showed up and I unlocked the door to let them in, two male cops in Black uniforms entered the room one had Blonde hair with Blue eyes and the other one had Dark Brown hair with a Black beard and ethnic Middle Eastern skin.
"I'm Inspector John Carter," the cop with Blonde hair introduced himself.
"I'm Detective Imran Shah," the one with the beard said.
I explained to them what had happened filling them in on the important details trying not to cry again after seeing the state of my beautiful apartment ruined.
"Do you live alone?" John asked me.
I nodded.
"You don't know anyone who might have done this?" Imran asked me.
I shook my head. "No idea," I said.
"Have you been in any arguments with anyone?" John asked writing down everything I said on his notepad while Imran looked around the apartment noticing the broken glass on the floor.
"No. I just like to stay in my lane and mind my business," I said.
John asked me a few more questions and Imran finished looking around, he helped me clean the broken glass and took a shard to bag it off for evidence to investigate further.
"We'll take this to the lab and search for any DNA imprints on it, in the meantime you should consider getting a burglar alarm and we will come back here again," Imran said.
I thanked them for the advice and closed the door after they left. I returned to my bedroom closed the door and put my pyjamas on.
I decided to sleep earlier which was unusual for me as I was a night owl and I preferred to stay up late but today I was upset and exhausted after what had happened and I would need to fix my damaged window.
'It's gonna cost me,' I thought bitterly to myself as I closed my eyes.
As I fell asleep I couldn't help but get the feeling that somebody was watching me while I slept and I felt creeped out but I ignored my paranoia and put it down to just stress.
I had a dream that felt very real to me. I dreamt that the man I had met in Starbucks was in my house, he was dressed in all Black. I knew it was him but yet I couldn't see his face for some reason, it was blurry but in my heart, I knew who he was.
The man walked all through my apartment and entered my bedroom, I saw myself sleeping and I slowly opened my eyes to look at him.
He walked over to the bed and bent down so I could feel his warm smoky breath on my neck.
"Vreau cu disparare sã fiu cu tine," he whispered softly into my ear.
"What?" I mumbled sleepily. I didn't understand the language he was speaking, I knew it was a European one that I had heard before but I didn't know the words.
"Vreau cu disparare sã fiu cu tine." He whispered it again as if he thought that repeating it would help me understand it.
"What does that mean?" I asked him peering at his face, his facial features were all blurred out as if somebody had censored him like they do in documentaries for privacy. His eyes were just plain Black holes like somebody had drawn them on.
"I desperately want to be with you?" The man translated for me.
Before I could say anything the man faded away and the dream ended.
The next day I opened my eyes and saw pale sunlight streaming into the bedroom from the curtains. I groaned as I got up I felt sleepy and I didn't want to wake up and start the day.
It was a cold lazy Sunday, the sun peeked out from the thick Grey clouds. I forced myself out of bed and opened the curtains. I got ready and pulled my sweatpants on.
Today I was going to take it easy I would call the insurance company and get them to fix my broken window and clean the books and candles that were still lying on the floor from the night before, I also would install a burglar alarm.
I was about to cook myself breakfast when my phone started ringing, I went back into my bedroom and answered it. It was my father calling this time.
"How are you doing Layla?" He asked me sounding concerned. "Your mother told me what happened."
"I'm fine, I wish you guys would stop making a big deal out of it."
"We are your parents and we care about you."
"I know," I sighed. I felt protective of them and also missed them I hadn't seen them since Christmas break and decided that I would visit them.
"You want us to come over?" My father asked as if he could read my mind and knew I needed help.
"No, I'll visit you guys. I haven't seen you in two months."
"Yes it's been a long time," my father agreed. "You should visit more often, I know you are an independent woman and you have your own life now but we still miss you."
"I miss you too," I said.
We spoke a while longer about what had happened and then I hung up the phone. After I ate breakfast I put my coat on and caught the bus to go to my parents' home, they lived a few miles south of the shopping mall so it was only a short bus journey.
I unzipped my jacket as I entered the house it smelt familiar to me, I could smell a curry being made in the kitchen so I knew my mother was cooking, the front room still had the Aqua Blue walls and the sitting room was Mint Green, the house still looked the same as it had always been when we had first moved here.
"It's good to see you," I greeted my father, my mother came out of the kitchen and hugged me tightly. I hugged her back, I could smell the curry amongst various other spices with a slight hint of musk on her apron.
"How are you?" She asked me.
"I'm good," I said. "Just dealing with it all," I looked away.
"Don't worry we will sort it out, I had no idea you were coming we were going to visit you."
"Yeah I decided to drop by," I said.
I unzipped my coat, took my shoes off and entered the sitting room. My mother offered me a slice of cherry pie she had baked the other day but I wasn't hungry so I reclined.
We spoke about the good old times, my childhood and growing up, I enjoyed the old house that I grew up in and embraced the time I could spend with them.
"I went shopping yesterday," I told my parents.
"Did you buy us anything?" My father joked.
"Unfortunately I didn't," I replied "but I did meet someone cute," I said trying to hide my smile.
"Who was he?" My mother asked leaning against the sofa cushion.
"He didn't tell me his name, but he gave me his number and took me home when my bus didn't come," I said.
"You went home with a stranger?" My mother looked annoyed.
"It was fine, nothing happened to me," I said feeling annoyed that they couldn't just be happy for me.
"But it's not safe," my father interjected. "Something could have happened.
"But it didn't!" I snapped. "I didn't come here to get lectured about what to do in life." I felt angry for some reason and I could tell from my parents' facial expressions that they were shocked by my sudden outburst of anger.
Without speaking any further I stormed out of the sitting room, grabbed my coat that was hanging on the coat rack, zipped it up and left the house taking the bus to go back home again.
It was dark by the time I reached home I switched the light on in the hallway, took my shoes off and entered the sitting room.