Page 35 of Revived
I work up the strength to check the peephole again, but when I do, the porch is empty. It’s like he was never there. My throat burns with acid that’s stuck in my esophagus. The next thing I know my vision tunnels, and I know what’s coming before it happens. My legs give out, and I’m surrounded by darkness.
***
The steadybeep…beep…beep…has me aware that I’m in a hospital before I even open my eyes. My next clue is the people whisper talking around me, but the voice that I pick out above all of them has me fighting to open my eyes.
“How long until she wakes up?” Sully’s panicked voice rings throughout the space.
I blink my eyes open to realize how wrong I was. I’m on a stretcher in my entryway. The beeping is the monitors the paramedics have me attached to, and the whispering voices actually aren’t whispering at all. Sully’s pacing the length of the entryway while pulling at the short strands of his hair. His eyes snap to mine like he can feel me looking at him.
He lets out a shaky exhale while two words pass his lips, “baby girl.” He’s at my side in the next second and his hand wraps around mine. “Dammit Elle, you scared the fuck out of me.”
I look around, confused for only a few seconds before it all comes rushing back.
My stalker at the front door.
The movie reference.
Cameras, there have to be cameras.
Texting the guys.
Addy and Kenz…
Fuck, where are Addy and Kenz? Are they okay?
Frantically I begin looking around for them. “Where are they? Are Addy and Kenz okay?”
Sully grips my hand just a little tighter, “Calm down. They’re okay. They’re talking to the police in the other room. Your blood sugar tanked, and they’re thinking you passed out from that and being so scared. What the hell happened?”
I thread my fingers through his and hold on like he’s my only lifeline. He’s here, so I know nothing bad can or will happen. Terror grips my throat, and it takes longer than I’d like to admit to get the words out. Once I take a few deep breaths, I manage to run through the events of the night, making sure to leave nothing out. By the time I’m done, Sully’s face is stone cold and unreadable. He looks above my head, and only then do I realize that Xavier and a police officer that I remember from the bar are standing there. I think his name was River? I can’t be too sure with my head still swimmy.
“She’s had this stalker since we were in high school. He went underground our senior year, and I guess he’s now decided to pop his head out. He wasn’t like this, though. Just love letters, some gifts, and knowing things he shouldn’t. He was never violent before.” Sully shakes his head like he can’t believe the escalation. Only he doesn’t know the truth.
“Uh… Actually he was violent before. Once, right before he wentunderground.” I look at River andonlyat River, ignoring X and Sully burning holes into my head.
“Elena, I don’t know if you remember me or not, but we met at The Den once. I’m Detective Brooks. Can you tell me about that?” Detective Brooks probes.
I nod as I shut my eyes and allow myself to go back to that time.
***
Seventeen years old
I swipe mascara over my lashes to make them impossibly longer as Harry Styles blasts from the sound system in my room. After making sure my makeup looks perfect, I move from my vanity to the full length mirror attached to the back of my bedroom door. My room is white and lavender, even down to my bedroom furniture. It’s way larger than I’d ever need it to be, but our house is also way larger than it needs to be for just my Papa and I.
Looking at my outfit, I smile. Sully loves these denim shorts. I mean, he hasn’t said that, but the way he watches me a little closer when I wear them tells me he does. My cropped white shirt and bright red chucks finish off the look. Grabbing my phone after checking myself over one more time, I race down the stairs towards my Papa’s office. After telling him where I’ll be and promising him that Sullivan will be there so I don’t need security, I head out.
I slideinto my new Audi Q7 and make sure to buckle before pulling out of my long driveway. I’m meeting the guys at the party since half of us are coming straight from practice, while the other half aren’t. Almost immediately my low gas light comes on… Shit. I hate gas stations, especially at night. Pulling over to a well lit station, I get out and begin pumping my gas. I’m mid text in the group chat to let them know I stopped when a sharp pain radiates from the back of my head and everything goes black.
My eyes flutter open while pain radiates through the back of my head and my limbs scream in agony. I’m in the back seat of a vehicle that I don’t recognize, and the driver of the car is humming the song on the radio happily. A groan works its way past my lips without permission, which causes the man that I don’t know to look at me in the rearview mirror and smile with glee.
“Elena! I’m so glad you’ve woken up. So sorry for the nasty headache, but it was the only way I could get you alone.”
Holy shit. This can’t be the guy who’s been stalking me for years. There’s no way. A guy has been leaving me gifts and notes, and taking pictures of me from afar for a few years now. He seemed harmless enough, so I just ignored him. My Papa was trying to track him down, but apparently he’s slippery as well. He looks only a couple of years older than me. His eyes and hair are both dark. His skin is ghostly pale, and his voice causes the worst kind of shivers to slide across my skin.
“I want to go home. Please let me go.” Tears spring to my eyes, and I begin to try to work my ankles and arms from their restraints.
We pull over immediately. The man gets out of the vehicle and flings open the door at my feet. He rips me out of the car until I crash to the asphalt, my head bouncing off the unforgiving road. The way he drags my body by my feet causes the rocky street to cut through the rope at my wrists just enough for me to wiggle out of them. Blood, road rash, anddirt coat my arms along the way. I bite down on my lip to stave off the scream of agony that I want to let out.
