Page 7 of Misery
He's bigger than Emil, I realize.
Broader shoulders. Maybe two inches taller. The storage room suddenly feels like a cage.
"If someone's bothering you, tell someone. Your dad. Emil."
"Nobody's bothering me." The lie tastes bitter. Like blood. Like fear.
"Elfe." The way he says my name stops me cold. Soft but commanding. Like he has the right. "I can't help if you don't tell me what's wrong."
"Why would you need to help me?" It comes out sharp. Defensive. "I'm fine. Been fine. I don't need?—"
My phone buzzes.
I flinch. I can't help it. His eyes narrow.
"Show me."
"What?"
"Your phone. Show me." He steps into the room. Now there's nowhere to go. Back to the wall. Him blocking the only exit.
My chest tightens. I can't breathe. Too familiar. Too much like?—
"I'm not going to hurt you." His voice gentles. Like, he can read how much I’m panicking. "But someone is threatening you. Show me."
Not a question. He knows. Somehow, he fucking knows.
"It's nothing?—"
"It's not nothing. And it's not some drunk." His voice is deadly calm. "Show me the messages, Elfe."
"You can't just demand?—"
"I can, and in case you haven’t noticed, I am." He's closer now. I smell leather. Cigarette smoke, though I've never seen him smoke.
And underneath it, something else. Pine. Woods. Wild. "Show me, or I take the phone and look myself. Your choice."
It should piss me off, and I should tell him to fuck off.
He has no right.
He has no claim on me, but something in his eyes—protective fury that reminds me of my dad, of Emil, of all the men who've killed to keep their women safe—makes me pull out my phone instead.
He reads, and his jaw tightens with each message.
The temperature drops. His whole body changes. Coils. Like a predator spotting prey. When he scrolls to the last one, his free hand clenches into a fist.
"How long?"
"What?"
"How long have you been getting these?"
"Just tonight?—"
"Don't lie to me." His eyes pin me. Dark with gold flecks that catch the fluorescent light. "This isn't the first time."
How does he know? How can he possibly?—
