Page 146 of Obsession

It was empty.

I stopped in the doorway, panting furiously.

I turned on my heels and ran down the hallway. My body was already warmed up, so I sprinted down the stairs like I was waiting for someone to jump out of the shadows and grab me. I walked out of the house and ran without a destination in mind. I didn’t care if my bed was soaked in paint or blood. That wasn’t important, the message was.

Because it was a message. I felt it through my pores.

Like a madwoman, I ran to the square and called my father. He answered immediately and seemed calm.

“Where are you?” I asked, panting.

“I’m at Josh’s bakery. Kath, are you okay?”

He was startled to hear me, but he seemed fine.

I allowed myself a pause and rested my palm on my knee as I realized I had run a mile.

I struggled to gather my thoughts and calm down, but it was damn hard to calm down in that moment.

“I went out for a job. I just wanted to know where you were. I’ll see you later.”

Then I hung up and closed my eyes.

Someone grabbed me by the shoulder, and I jerked back violently, ready to attack. A woman pulled back, her eyes wide.

“I’m sorry, I just wanted to make sure you were okay.

When she looked at me, she realized I wasn’t fine at all, even though I nodded.

She kept walking without asking any more questions.

“Fuck,” I cursed through my teeth, kicking an empty soda can that had been thrown on the floor.

When I had managed to conquer my terror and calm my heartbeat, I took a deep breath.

No one was going to throw me out of my own house.

No one was going play with me like that.

I looked around, searching for suspicious glances, for signs that I was being followed, but everyone continued on their way and no one paid any attention to me.

For a moment I wanted to call Harris. I felt deep down to my core that this had something to do with him, but something stopped me. I didn’t think him capable of such terrible things… but how well did I actually know him?

It broke my heart when I realized that I couldn’t bet that he was not the one who had done this, like some crazy revenge for what I had done today.

Last night we’d slept in that bed together, and now it was full of…. God, I hoped it wasn’t blood.

It wasn’t even about me anymore. About my safety. Whoever was playing these vicious games had been in my house. So close to my dad.

The rage that coursed through me at that moment made my veins burn. I wanted to call Harris, confront him, ask him for help, but reason pushed me to the other side.

To that person who knew everything about Harris.

I had saved his number just to ignore him if he ever called, but now I was the one calling him.

He picked up after the first ring.

“Hello?”

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