Page 5 of Stalked

It happened again two nights later when I stepped out of my car ?after class. My blood ran cold as ice as the sensation touched me again.

“Who’s there?” My voice had cracked, fear choking me.

Clutching my phone, I fumbled for the flashlight, but the battery died before I could turn it on.I grabbed my purse and bag, then sprinted into my apartment, locking all the doors and windows. I didn’t sleep that night.

I snapped out of the grim memory, my focus turning back to the backyard fence—spotting the dark figure again. They were still there. I wanted it to be a student taking out the trash or someone walking a dog. But the silhouette stood there?—motionless. The only movement was the wind blowing through the trees and the river’s rippled waves gliding across the water.

The threat of something violent was in the night air, and I lifted my hands, watching that same green light from earlier shine lightly, barely over my fingertips. It was mesmerizing. Whatever Nick had slipped into my drink was starting to freak me out. There was a sound of footsteps in the grass behind me, and I felt the fear surging through my body again. I opened my mouth to scream.

“Mercy!”

Riley gripped my arms from behind, twirling me around to look into his panic-filled eyes, and for the first time that night, I felt safe again.

CHAPTER 2

“WHAT ARE YOUstaring at, Mercy?” Riley asked, with concern in his eyes. He took one tiny step back to create space between us.

I blinked once. “Did you see that?” I asked, looking over my shoulder through the trees, then back at my hands. Everything was normal again.

Cami, who stood behind Riley with Shannon by her side, brushed her long, blonde hair nervously away from her pale face and let out an exhausted breath to blow a strand away. “We should get you back to the apartment, Mercy. You’re drunk as hell and freaking everyone out right now.” She adjusted the strap of her yellow sundress while putting her weight on her right heel.

Shannon straightened up, pulling her raven-black hair to the side. She began to wrap it into a braid against her dark olive skin and batted her long lashes at us before stifling a yawn. “I’m tired, anyway. These guys are boring as fuck.”

Riley turned around slowly, giving her a playful sneer.

“You don’t count, babes,” Shannon added, winking at Riley.

With Riley’s light blue eyes glued on mine, he said, “Cami, start the car. Just give Mercy and me a minute, and I’ll bring her back.”

The girls nodded, turned around, and headed to where they parked, leaving Riley and me alone.

Once they had left, Riley threw his hands out in frustration. “What the hell is going on with you tonight?” He gestured to me as I wrapped my arms around my waist.

At least the nausea was beginning to pass.

The dimly lit deck lights glimmered in the reflection of Riley’s eyes. I didn’t want to put this on him or my girlfriends, but not talking about it would be a thousand times worse.

“Three years ago today, Riley,” I told him, waiting for it to register. I didn’t expect any of them to remember. Of course, not; enough time had passed for them to let it slip into the back of their memories.

His eyes widened before he drew in a shallow breath. “Ah, shit, Mercy, I had completely forgotten.”

I stepped back until my rear hit a nearby deck swing and sat down, gesturing with my head for him to sit next to me.

He sat down but gave us enough space.

It had been exactly three years since my attack. Three years of trying to rebuild myself again and repair every relationship that I had pushed so far away because I was afraid.

I honestly thought heading out tonight with my friends would help me forget it, allowing myself to have fun as a distraction. But it wasn’t fun; it was a horrible mistake. All I wanted to do was go home and sleep the memory off.

There was also the fact that someone had been following me in the last month, and I couldn’t even share that with the ones I loved and trusted—the three friends I had known since we were five years old. I convinced myself it was only paranoia—living my nightmare all over again by creating something that wasn’t there.

If it wasn’t the sensation of hands on my skin or the faintest sound of footsteps behind me, causing a harrowing chill to run down my spine, it was the dreams that kept me up at night.

Something terrible was going to happen, and I was about to be in the middle of it all. This was a sense of doom I couldn’t shake; I couldn’t free myself from.

“Talk to me, Mercy,” Riley spoke before I could tell him I was sorry for drinking so much and for causing a scene out on the porch by being sick.

I reached over and gently took his hand in mine. The action caused him to look at me, and I saw genuine concern in his eyes.

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