Page 84 of Whispers of Obsession

My mind reels from the brutality of the encounter with him, a stark contrast to the one with the masked man, but I can’t allow myself too much time to process. I push off the bed, stumbling back to the bathroom to rinse the taste of blood from my mouth and tend to the swelling on my face. As I dab my teeth with a clean cloth, I can’t shake the feeling that this is only the beginning.

Sean’s not-so-veiled threat hangs heavy in the air, like a poisonous cloud, and I know I need to act swiftly if I’m to protect myself. But how?

Slater and the masked man, two enigmatic figures who have crossed my path in recent days, may be my only hope. I don’t know if they possess the strength and connections necessary to put an end to Sean’s reign of terror, nor am I sure I want toinvolve them in this mess. Slater would flip if I told him what Sean did. And the masked man…well, I don’t know what he’d do honestly, but I know he can be absolutely terrifying.

I’m reminded of Slater’s birthday, when he told me to leave and never come back. Did he know then what his father was capable of? He said he wouldn’t be able to protect me, but Sean didn’t hurt me that night. Didn’t hurt me in his own house. No, he chose to come to me, to enter my safe space and desecrate it, and now I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep here ever again.

A knock at my door rattles me from my thoughts, the sound like a gunshot in the silence of the dorm room. My heart leaps into my throat, the fear of what Sean might have done to me, the fear of what he might do next.

I doubt it’s him though. He wouldn’t knock. If he got in here once, he can do again. He obviously has a key.

That thought terrifies me, but I swallow the lump in my throat and steadily, cautiously, I open the door.

It’s not Sean. Instead, I find one of the girls from the dorm, a girl I’ve seen around for weeks but never spoken to even though she’s in a bunch of my classes. She looks up at me with wide eyes, her brows creased in concern as she takes in my face.

“Oh my god, Cora, are you okay?” I nod shakily, unable to speak.

“Can I do anything?” I shake my head. “Do you want me to call someone for you? Get help?”

“N-no. I’m fine,” I tell her, suddenly remembering her name. “Thanks, Betsy, it looks worse than it is.”

“Cora, I don’t know what happened, but I think you need to dump that guy. No guy who gets violent is worth putting up with.”

I nod, not bothering to correct her, and thank her again for checking up on me. Once she’s gone and the door is closed, I lock it, then slide down to the floor and fall apart.

38

SLATER

Cora doesn’t show up for her shift at work. Frowning, I call her phone, but it goes straight to voicemail. I text her, but it remains on unread.

“Where’s Cora?” I ask Shelly.

“She didn’t tell you?” she replies, raising her brows. “She called in sick today. Stomach bug, she’s going to be off for at least three days. I’m going to need you to do a couple of extra shifts to cover the shortfall.”

“Sure thing,” I tell her, distracted.

Cora seemed absolutely fine when I left her.

Guilt swirls in the pit of my stomach. Maybe I pushed her too far. Moved too fast.

As I reluctantly agree to cover Cora’s shifts, worry gnaws at the back of my mind. She’s always so reliable, never one to call in sick without good reason. I can’t shake the feeling that something more serious must be going on.

After work, I decide to stop by Cora’s dorm. Maybe she just needs some extra rest and care, or maybe she’s having doubtsabout the two of us being together and just needs a little reassurance.

But as I knock on her door, there’s no answer. Concern growing, I try the doorknob and find it locked.

No problem. I leave the corridor and make my way outside and around to the back of the building. I know which room is Cora’s, and luckily for me, it’s the one right beside the fire escape. I climb up to her floor and peer through her window in the darkness.

I almost mistake the room for empty until her phone screen lights up, and there’s movement within. Cora, sitting naked and curled up against her bedroom door, flinches.

What the fuck?

My heart races as I watch Cora through the window. She looks pale and fragile, eyes wide with fear as she clutches her phone tightly against her chest. Without thinking, I start climbing over the railing of the fire escape, my only thought to reach her and make sure she’s okay.

I knock on the window lightly, hoping to catch her attention without startling her. Cora jumps at the sound, but when she sees me, relief floods her features. With trembling hands, I slide up the window and push it open.

“Cora, what’s going on? Are you hurt?” I ask urgently, climbing into her room and rushing to her side. She looks up at me, tears welling in her eyes. Her lip is split, and a bruise is blooming across her cheek.

---