Page 54 of Written in the Stars

Good? He’s an asshole.

Fuck, I need to compose myself. I need to let my anger and fear subside. I need to be strong and get my shit together to find a way past him and run out of the door before this turns into something else. The last thing I want is for Lissa and Zander to read my name in the morning paper.

I suck in a deep breath. “Look, I just came here to grab my things. I’m not sure what you want from me anymore, Walter, but—”

His laughing expression turns ice cold as his eyes glare into mine. “You’re not sure what I want, Serenity? I want you. I love you. Isn’t it obvious?”

I furrow my brows. “How can you say that when you cheated on me? If you loved me, you wouldn’t have done any of this. You wouldn’t have cheated on me in the first place, causing me to leave Narrowville, and you wouldn’t have been following me once I was gone.”

His lips curl into a macabre smile. “Is that what you think?”

I swallow hard. “Yes.”

“The affair wasn’t even that serious. I never cared about Dora. She was just a good time whenever I was at work and stressed over a case. You were the only one I ever cared about.”

He talks as if the words he’s saying mean something. He cheated on me, but it’s okay because I’m the only one he really loved? Is he serious right now?

“Serenity, you’re still the only one I care about, and I’m not ready to lose you over some macho fireman who thinks he can just come in and take my woman.”

He walks toward me yet again, and I instinctively step back once more. This time, though, my ass slams into the counter, and now I have nowhere else to go. Fuck.

He laughs softly, realizing I’m trapped between him and the counter, and he reaches out, grabbing my chin hard in between his fingers. “My woman,” he repeats, and those words have never disgusted me more than they do now. My stomach turns.

I try to pull my head back, but his death grip on my chin makes it impossible. Yet, it doesn’t stop me from continuing to try. I’m not going to give up this easily. “I’m not your woman anymore, Walter.”

He scowls. “Is that what you think?” He lets go of my chin roughly and places both of his hands on either side of me, grabbing onto the counter. Looking down at me, he says, “You will always be my woman, and if I can’t have you,” he pauses for a second glaring at me, when suddenly, he reaches into his back pocket and pulls out a knife, “no one will.”

I gasp. “Walter, please…”

He smiles wickedly once more as he gently glides the knife across my neck. One move and he’ll cut me.

And then it hits me like a ton of bricks.

He’s not just going to cut me or hurt me.

He’s going to kill me.

Sweat beads start forming on my forehead. This is it. He’s going to kill me. I’m going to die. I never thought he would be someone I’d need to be afraid of, but obviously, I never knew him before. I always used to think he’d be my protector in case something were to happen. Little did I know then, he’d be the one I’d need protecting from.

As the realization hits, my eyes swell up with tears. “P-please, Walter. Don’t d-do this.”

“Mmm, you begging always did turn me on, babe.” He grabs my right hand and forces it onto his groin. “You feel this? You feel how hard you’ve made me?”

He pushes my hand away, and with his other one, he pushes the knife harder against my throat. His eyes stare intently into mine, and I can see he’s mulling over something. He’s probably thinking of the best way to murder me without getting caught. He’s about to plunge the knife into my throat and glide it across until I bleed out and die. And then? And then he’ll hide my body where no one will be able to find it and get away with my murder and my sister, father, and Zander will never see me again.

Walter’s lips suddenly curl into another one of his creepy smiles as he whispers the words, “It’s time, Serenity.”

Time? Time for what? Time for me to die?

Before I have a chance to protest and beg for my life once more, he spins me around and the world turns to black.

* * *

My head pounds. I’m shivering. I try to place my hands over my arms, but I can’t move. What the hell? I snap open my eyes, but everything is blurry. I’m groggy. Where the hell am I?

As my eyes begin to focus, I look around and realize I’m in my old bedroom. The bedroom I used to share with Walter.

Walter…

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