Page 57 of Shadowing Charlotte
"Of course, Charlotte."
I gathered up my folders mechanically, unable to focus. I woke in the morning in such bright spirits and my day had been flipped upside down. Hell, my entire life had been turned upside down.
It was strange that Alexander had stalked me, and I'd never felt afraid. But Adam stalking me was an entirely different story. I was beyond scared. Every time I thought about him, a wave of nausea coursed through me. How had I once cared about him?
My footsteps echoed through the parking garage as I made my way back to my Jeep, clinging to my stack of work. All I wanted to do was lock myself inside, curl up on the couch, and read for the next few days.
The air was suddenly thick, stifling; I felt my skin prickle, my hairs rising as the feeling of being watched pricked at my consciousness. Instinctively, I glanced around the garage, my pulse racing.
"Adam?" I don't know why I called out his name, whether it was sheer stupidity or if I was just trying to act braver than I felt. A car door slammed, and he stepped out from behind one of the pillars, a sickening smirk painted across his face. My heart jolted and sunk into my stomach with sickening force.
"You're more intuitive than I ever realized," he commented idly as he strolled toward me with his hands tucked in his pockets. He was an image of calm and casual, that smile never falling from his face.
"What are you doing here, Adam?" I asked, ignoring his observation. "Why can't you just leave me alone?"
"Probably for the same reason your new little toy spends every night at your house. You're an addiction, Charlotte. From the first moment I touched you, I knew I wanted to keep you."
"I don't want to be kept! I want to be loved and respected and you're capable of neither!" I snapped. I could feel my cheeks getting hot as my anger bubbled over, threatening to erupt. "You fucking hit me, Adam! You hit me and destroyed my car over a perceivedindiscretion; something that hadn't even happened! I don't want to be with someone like you!"
"I apologized a thousand times!" he retorted, the smile falling from his face. Once, I had thought he was handsome, now, he disgusted me.
"Apologies don't just magically fix what you did! You can't keep following me!" I shouted, my voice echoing through the garage. "You need to leave me alone. I've already informed the police—"
"Yeah, I know. They came to my fucking house!" he snarled. "Luckily, I haven't been there for a while."
"Oh, staying with one ofyournew little toys?" I countered venomously. His smirk returned, not quite meeting the dangerous glittering of his eyes.
"You think you're so fucking clever, don't you, Lottie?" I cringed at his use of my nickname, suddenly loathing the sound of it.
"Adam, I'm only going to say this one time. Leave me alone. Don't come here again, don't go to my house. I want you to disappear from my life."
"That's not going to happen, Charlotte," he replied, growing serious as he took a threatening step toward me.
The air in the garage seemed to still around us, as if the world was holding its breath just as I was. I retreated slowly, clutching my belongings to my chest as my vision narrowed.
"Go away, Adam…" I managed to croak, reaching for the door with fumbling fingers. He moved at the same time I wrenched it open, throwing myself into the driver's seat. I tried to pull the door closed, but Adam already had hold of it, leaning over me.
"You think you can just walk away from me, Charlotte?" he hissed, his hand gripping my wrist to keep me in place. Like a frightened mouse, I froze, unable to move as he pressed closer, nuzzling my shoulder and inhaling deeply. "You think I'm the type of man who will just let you walk away?" he murmured against my skin, the action sending a wave of revulsion through me.
"Please…" I whimpered, unable to move, to recoil as I wanted to. "Just leave me alone."
"I can't, Charlotte. I told you already. You're an addiction…" he whispered, his tongue grazing the shell of my ear.
His hand tightened around my wrist, painful and bruising as his other slipped beneath my skirt, forcing itself between my legs. "Stop!" I sobbed, tears brimming in my eyes and spilling down my cheeks. Adam let out a heavy sigh as his head fell against my shoulder, and still, I was frozen in place, unable to make my limbs comply. Then his hand eased away.
"Alright, alright… Don't cry, baby." He kissed my temple, an act that might have felt tender, had it not been for his actions. "You're right. Not here. I want to fuck you in bed, properly, with you crying out my name." Oh, God. He really was delusional if he thought that would ever happen again. "I'll come find you soon." Another kiss against the corner of my mouth, and then he was gone, the weight of his body dissipating as I sucked in a painful breath.
A car started in the distance and pulled away, but I didn't register it. I sat there, gasping for air as sobs forced themselves from my chest. Tears streamed down my cheeks. I cried out all of my fear and sorrow, for the loss of the Adam I thought I had known and once cared for. When I had no tears left, I rested my forehead against the steering wheel, tuning everything out.
I should have called the detective that officer Stevenson had referred me to. I should have called my father, or Lex. Instead, I just sat there, the Jeep door still hanging open, unable to fully process what had happened. There was a strange, repetitive buzzing sound in the distance, but I closed my eyes, tuning out the noise. I didn't want to think, I just wanted the earth to swallow me up and let me fade into nonexistence.
The world had gone quiet, like someone had pressed their palms over my ears. I stared at my hands—still, foreign—as if they belonged to someone else. The space around me seemed to pulse in and out of focus, sounds stifled, air still. I knew I should move, speak, react—anything—but my body refused to obey.
I was trapped in a strange, weightless hush. It was as if my mind had stepped back, observing from a comfortable distance while my body crumbled into jagged pieces.
Faintly, I heard my name being called, the sound muffled, like someone was speaking to me underwater.
"Fuck, Charlie?!" The voice became clearer. "Charlotte, baby?!" Hands wrapped around my shoulders, pulling me away from the steering wheel. "Princess, look at me!" I blinked, my vision swimming slightly as I finally looked up at Lex.
