I needed to explain that he was the one who did everything. He kissed me. He put his hand down my pants. True, I hadn’t stopped him, but maybe if I told her how I felt about him since the beginning, how I’d tried to avoid him and his strange looks she’d believe me.
I needed her to listen...I needed her to believe me but I worried it might be too late. She said she didn’t want anything to do with me. That I was dead to her and I, of all people, knew how stubborn she could be. Once she’d made her mind up about something, especially if she was offended, it was hard to convince her otherwise. I nearly burst into tears thinking about the possibility that our friendship might be over… And because of him.
Him...What was I going to do about him? What had he meant by submit. I’d nearly forgotten about it with all the other things he’d done to me. What did he want from me? What was I going to do if he tried something again if I couldn’t move or think? I needed to come up with a plan. Some way to fight him, to fight the feelings he evoked in me.
I finally made it to my street and let out a sigh of relief when I saw the porch light was on. My mother must have turned it on for me. It was over; this horrible, horrible day was finally over. I couldn’t wait to go inside and wash it all away. I vowed to come up with a plan and never, ever let something like this happen again.
I cut across the front yard and was almost to the walkway that lead to the porch when I saw something move out of the corner of my eye. I turned looking at our maple tree and froze as a shadowy figure emerged from behind it.
My heart pounded in my chest, my first thoughts were a prowler...but I’d only be so lucky. The figure moved into the light and to my utter horror it was Lynn. My hands shook as he approached me. I was scared, scared of what was going to happen even though I was right and front of my house.
With him everything including myself was unpredictable. I bit my lower lip and refused to ‘submit’ as he’d put it. I positioned myself defensively though I’d never taken a self defense class in my life.
Chapter Five
“Hello again,” he said casually. While I was ready to fight, he seemed relaxed, “I went back for you but you were gone,”
I glared at him. As if I would wait for him to come back for me. I gasped as I looked at him and realized my dislike, my hatred for him, had gloriously returned. I was worried that when I saw him again I might feel confusion, nostalgia, passion, sadness. Fuck that shit; I wanted him off my lawn and out of my life.
I’d spent most the day in denial and confusion about how I felt but now I knew. It wasn’t strange. I wasn’t going crazy. It was my gut instincts trying to tell me he was dangerous. I wasn’t going to ignore them anymore.
“Stay away from me,” I said making it clear, “I don’t want to know you. I want you to leave me alone,”
He took a step towards me and shook his head, “You didn’t seem to mind earlier,”
Then he licked one of his fingers. Possibly the one that had been inside me. I closed my eyes and shuddered. He was fucking nasty. I quickly opened my eyes realizing I shouldn’t let him out of my sight. Sure enough, he was even closer now, too close.
Without thinking I swung my hand out, slapping him. I must have caught him off guard like Julia had caught me. The palm of my hand collided with his cheek but he just stood there. Sharp pain surged through my hand from the impact. I quickly pulled it back and clutched it to my chest. I took a step back.
My heart raced. It worried me that my slap hadn’t affected him in the slightest. Angrily I yelled at him, “I HATE YOU!” My eyes suddenly began to well up. No, not now...I didn’t want to cry, not in front of him. I said it again, “I HATE YOU,”
He tilted his head and his smile widened as if he found all this amusing. “You don’t hate me,”
“I do...I do,” I protested, “I hate everything about you. How you make me feel-”
“I feel it too,” his eyes widened with delight. He stepped forward and I swung at him again trying to keep him back, but this time he snatched my hand. He held it tight and brought it to his chest. “Since the first time I saw your picture I knew you belonged to me,”
Belonged to him? What the fuck. What the fuck! Who says that? And what did he mean? Wait! What picture was he talking about and when? Fuck, I didn’t care. I snatched my hand back and thankfully he let go.
I tried to get to my front door but he stayed close to me. I got to the steps when he reached for me. He grabbed my arm and I pulled myself free of his grasp. I turned around. He was taller than me but standing several stairs above him we were now nearly the same height. I didn’t dare look him in the eyes. I turned my head to the side and snarled, “Stay away from me. I want nothing to do with you,” My heart stung as I thought Julia had said those same words to me just hours before. However, this was different. She was my best friend and this dude was practically a stranger, “Just leave me alone,”
“I can’t,” he said. He sounded agitated, “You’re mine,”
“What’s wrong with you?” I said shaking my head, “I’m no one’s...and you, you’re Julia’s boyfriend,” I know there were more serious concerns going on right now than him being my best friend’s boyfriend. He was clearly mental but maybe if I reminded him that he was with someone he’d stop and leave me alone.
“Is that a problem?” he asked as if the thought never occurred to him.
“YESSSS,” I hissed. Even if his girlfriend wasn’t my best friend, he’d still be in a relationship with someone and trying to hook up with me. That was messed up.
“I’ll dump her,” he proclaimed, “She means nothing to me.” He moved up a step, “She was just a means to an end,”
I took several steps back in disbelief. A means to an end? “What are you talking about?”
“I think you know,” he said. He stepped up to me. Before I could react he reached out and grasped a strand of my hair. He brought it to his nose and smelled it. I pulled it from his grasp. He was crazy, crazy, crazy.
“You need to stop this. Right now!”
“No,” he said as if he’d been challenged. “I won’t ever stop. You belong to me and you will submit.”
He moved in then and I walked myself back into the wall of my house. I was standing inches away from my front door but I felt crushed by his presence. He tried to kiss me again but I put my hand over my mouth to block him. My eyes widened as they connected with his. He looked displeased.
I felt he was going to hurt me, make me suffer for the sheer audacity of denying him. I felt chilled. A darkness was creeping up all around me. He grasped my hand. I struggled to hold it to my mouth but he pried it off and pinned it at my side. Defiantly I put my other hand over my mouth. My skin crawled; it almost felt like it was burning as he glared at me with such intensity. His ice blue eyes darkened. He removed my other hand and again pinned it at my side.
I closed my eyes and shook my head side to side. The first time I’d been caught off guard, taken in by shock and emotion, but this time I was going to fight. I wasn’t going to make it easy for him. I could feel his breath on my skin; he was so close to me. Tears escaped my eyes. I was afraid of what he was going to do to me, just how far he was going to go. And then I heard my front door open.
My eyes shot open and light flooded the porch. I looked to see my mother step out. She looked around and jumped when she saw us. She laughed nervously, “Oh, I thought I heard voices out here. Hello,”
Her voice and the warm light of my house set me free. It gave me the strength I needed. I slipped from his grasp and rushed inside my house. I stumbled down the hall and collapsed on my knees in the living room.
Gasping for air I felt as if I’d been held under water. I closed my eyes and just breathed. After a minute or two, I wondered why my mom hadn’t said anything about my strange behavior. I looked around and didn’t see her. Shakily, I got up and went back into the hall. The front door was still open. She was talking to him. His body language had completely changed like he was another
person. He was light and cheerful, charismatic.
Whatever he was saying to my mother she laughed and smiled. I could tell she’d been drawn into his vortex. Weakly I called to her, my voice coming out in a whisper. Though she was just down the hall and outside she felt miles away. Panic struck me as I worried she might invite him inside. “Mom,” I called desperately my voice rising several octaves. She must have heard because she glanced at me.
He continued to talk to her and then a moment later he turned, leaving. He was leaving. I slumped against the hallway wall. My mother came back inside and shut the door. As she locked it her voice was cheerful, “Such a nice young man,”
I felt sick. There was nothing nice about Lynn.
She turned and began to walk to me. “It’s nice you have a boyfriend, dear. I know you’re an adult now but...do keep in mind your younger brothers and our neighbors,”
“He’s not my boyfriend,” I said shakily. She picked up that something was wrong. She rushed over to me and I stood up. Instinctively she put her hand to my forehead, “You’re freezing.”
It was because of him...another thing I wasn’t just imagining. My mom ushered me into the living room. She took the blanket off the back of the couch and wrapped it around me, having me sit down. She rubbed my arms up and down and I fell into her arms, hugging her tightly.
“There, there, it’s okay. There been a lot of excitement lately. It’s easy to catch a cold when so much is going on. I’ll make you some hot cocoa and then you can have a nice hot bath and go to bed,”
It all sounded so nice but when she pulled away and got up, I grasped onto her hand. I needed her to know what was going on. I wasn’t going to make the same mistake I’d made with Julia. “He’s not my boyfriend, mom. He’s Julia’s,”
“Oh...okay,” said my mom she sat back down next to me. She listened as I broke down in tears. I told her what had been going on. I didn’t tell her everything. I left out all the strange feelings, just saying I didn’t like him. I told her about the kiss but left out him fingering me. I told her Julia had seen us and ended our friendship. How he was trying to hook up with me when I wanted nothing to do with him. She sat and listened to it all. Her brow wrinkled with worry. When I was finished I felt more exhausted than ever.
We sat in silence for a moment and then she shook her head and said, “Oh my...I just assumed. I never would have invited him to dinner if I had known.”
I shook with panic, “No!” I practically screamed, “I don’t want anything to do with him!”
My mother pulled me into her arms and hugged me tight, “I know...I know, he won’t come. It was just an offer for sometime. If he ever shows up I’ll send him away,”
I let out a sigh of relief and she patted me on the back, “It’s okay, don’t worry. Things will work out.”
“Not all things,” I said, thinking of Julia.
My mom had a feeling and said, “You’ll make up. I know this is probably the last thing you want to hear, but these things happen sometimes.”
‘Really?’ I thought, ‘Did strange boys really move to town with the intent to make you submit?’ I hadn’t told her about that either.
“Boys will come and go,” she said pulling back, “Give her some space and I’m sure in a few days you’ll work things out,”
She was so positive, so sure. I wanted to believe her. I did. I sat on the couch as she made my hot cocoa. I drank it slowly as my brothers came in and watched TV. They didn’t seem to notice anything weird was going on. At least if they did, they didn’t say anything. When I was finished with my cocoa I went upstairs and took a hot bath. I scrubbed nearly every inch of me. When I was done I got into bed and got on my phone.
I tried calling Julia but she didn’t answer. I texted her everything Lynn had done tonight, including him saying he was going to dump her. She didn’t respond to any of my texts. I waited for a few minutes and then put my phone down. I knew she might never speak to me again but I wanted her to know. Even if she didn’t think so, she was still my best friend.
Chapter Six
When my alarm went off at four, I felt like I’d barely slept at all. I wanted to go back to bed but Sunday was the worst day to call in sick. Somehow I got up and managed to get dressed. I ate a light breakfast and by the time I was done the delivery truck had dropped the papers off in our driveway. I prepared them for delivery and got on my bike.
It normally took me several trips. I’d take a few blocks’ worth at a time and when I was empty I’d come home for more. When I first set out I was still tired and moved slower then I usually do but once I woke up I kept a pretty steady pace.
At one point I turned onto a new block and thought I saw Lynn’s car. I nearly crashed my bike I was so terrified. I considered skipping the block but pressed on. I couldn’t allow him to effect my job. If it was him I planned to pedal fast.
When I got closer I realized it wasn’t his car but I couldn’t shake the eerie feeling that he was somewhere close by, watching me. I did my best to get my paper route done after that. I moved as fast as I could. I actually ended up finishing half an hour earlier then I normally did.
My mom was making herself breakfast when I got in. I waved to her but went up to my room and back to bed. I didn’t even bother changing my clothes. I just fell on top of the covers and passed out. For hours I tossed and turned in my sleeping, feeling restless. I had one of my nightmares.
Ever since I could remember I’d often dreamed about being chased by a dark figure. I’d talked about it with others a few times and they told me it was a manifestation of my fears chasing me. I needed to stop running and face them. I tried to do that more than once but it never ended well. The figure would get me and attack me. If I was lucky I’d wake screaming. If I wasn’t...for the most part I’d learned to run away, run and hide.
When I woke up it was late in the afternoon, almost evening. I couldn’t help but compare my nightmares to what had been going on recently. It occurred to me how similar Lynn had looked to the dark figure when he’d emerged from behind our maple tree. I shuddered, wondering if he’d triggered my latest nightmare.
Perhaps I should treat him as I treated my nightmares and run. I sighed and turned on my side. I knew that dreams and reality weren’t the same. The dark figure may sometimes get me but I wouldn’t let Lynn. If he wouldn’t back down and stop this, I’d call the police and have him arrested.
I got up and heard my father downstairs. I realized he must have gotten home from his business trip. I could smell my mom was already starting to cook dinner and wondered just how late I’d slept. I checked the time and looked to see if Julia had responded. She hadn’t. I didn’t even bother getting dressed or brushing my hair.
I went to the bathroom and while I was washing my hands I heard the doorbell ring. I wondered who it could be as I went to the stairs. I heard the TV and knew my brothers were probably watching it. I went down two stairs before I paused, hearing my father talking to someone, “I’m surprised she didn’t mention it,”
“Well, allow me to properly introduce myself. I’m Lyndon Craw. Feel free to call me Lynn,”
My heart sunk when I realized he was in my house, talking to my father. I wanted to run back up stairs and hide in my room. I fought the urge and sat down on the steps. Thankfully, I was at the top of the staircase and couldn’t be seen just yet. I wanted to know what was going on. What was he doing here? My mom said she’d send him away if he came. She must not have talked to dad.
My father continued to be friendly, “Well I’m Dave, Becca’s father, and the zombies on the couch are my sons Chip and Tam.”
I barely heard my brothers mumble a greeting. They must have been lost in their TV show. I felt like I should do something. I gripped the banister tightly but didn’t move. I felt like such a coward but I didn’t want to see him right now.
I heard my mom come into the living room a moment later. “Dave, have you seen-” she paused. She must have finally seen Lynn. When she
spoke again she sounded surprised, “Oh, Lynn, is it?”
“Yes, I hope I’m not too early,”
“Too early?” said my mom. She must have forgotten about her invitation to dinner.
Lynn sounded ever so happy to remind her, “For dinner,”
“Oh, right, dinner.” said my mother. “Dave...could I see you in the kitchen for a moment?”
There was silence. I assumed my parents left the room. Hopefully mom would fill dad in on the situation. I wondered if I should go downstairs. I didn’t feel comfortable leaving my little brothers alone with that psycho. Yet I hesitated once again. I wasn’t sure if my presence would make things better or worse.
I decided to listen for any signs of danger and wait to see how my parents handled this. I heard some rustling and a few seconds later Lynn spoke, “Mind if I sit here?”
Neither of my brothers responded. At least if they had, I hadn’t heard them. It was difficult to hear clearly with the TV on. “So,” Lynn spoke again, “What are we watching?”
“Captain Cord,” said Tam.
“I used to watch him as a kid. He still saving the universe?” asked Lynn.
“Not today,” said Tam he sounded disappointed, “He got captured.”
“Oh please,” said Chip. He was starting to grow out of the show. He was nearly eleven but was going on fifteen with his attitude lately. “He always does. Everyone knows that,”
“You don’t know that,” said Tam. He was barely seven and believed in everything. “He might not escape,”
“Yeah,” said Lynn, “Anything could happen,”
“He always does,” said Chip, annoyed, “Something always happens but in the end he always saves the day.”
“Not always. Even Captain Cord can’t always win,” said Lynn.
That wasn’t creepy at all. I scooted down a step thinking I should just go down there.
A moment later I heard my father’s voice again. His friendly tone had changed, “Lynn, could I have a word with you?”
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