Page 7 of The Villain

My game has leveled up.

Now to see if he keeps up.

02. Graveyard Shift

Shade

It barely makes it through the first ring when Tera picks up.

“Oh my gosh. Shade? Please tell me it’s you!”

The desperate plea pierces me and guilt floods out of the wound. I’ve been ignoring her to lick my wounds in private. I’m a dick.

Instead of saying I’m sorry I immediately go on the offensive.

“Why has some random woman been following me, Tera?”

“Random?” She asks in surprise. She completely blows off the fact that I ignored her panic at my withdrawal like a champ.

What did I do to deserve this woman in my life? And how do I get rid of the other one?

“For weeks,” I add in a snide tone. “Don’t pretend you have no idea because she wrote your name on my cup yesterday. She bought me a fucking coffee.”

Why did she do that? I don’t drink coffee. If she’s going to stalk me she could at least figure out what I drink.

“You’ve seen her for weeks? Blue hair? Black zipper jacket?”

Her confused tone mixed with the limited but accurate description baffles me.

“Yeah.” I’m not going to mention how nice her ass is.

“That’s South.” She still sounds stunned.

“Who?” The name is familiar but I can’t place it.

“You know. South. My friend from juvie?”

I remember now. She’s mentioned a few times in Tera’s diary, but no real details. I brushed it off as a passing roommate.

“What does she want?” I ask darkly.

Why is she here? Now of all times? Constantly behind or in front of me. Watching. What’s so fucking interesting about my dull ass life? There’s nothing to witness now that I’m stuck on computer duty. I’d have been more concerned if I was still active.

What keeps her coming back?

“I asked her to keep you safe while you were out of it.”

I hang up.

Duty. That’s what keeps her coming back. Nothing more than that.

This isn’t some type of assault. Or a woman interested in me. This is a job. I wonder how much Tera is paying her.

The only way I could picture anyone following me is to kill me. There’s never real interest in me. Only money and how to get it.

When my phone rings I ignore it to pace my apartment. I can see her parked right across from my window watching me. It’s taking all I have to not kneel on the couch and watch her back until she gets uncomfortable and leaves.

A few texts come in and I ignore them too. It might be Tera but odds are it’s one of the four assholes. I try not to respond to them any more than I have to.

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