As if whoever was calling could telepathically read her mind, her station started to flash and she rolled her eyes. Great, she thought, what will I get blasted with this time...?
She reached her arms up high over her head and stretched, and as she did so, she shot a quick look behind her at the other teleoperators. Surely another one of them was free and could field the call. She waited for another few seconds before reluctantly reaching down to the red button, and just as she was about to hit it and break into her unenthusiastic spiel, she was saved the hassle by one of the new kids behind her.
Thank Christ, she thought.
She poured herself another glass of water from the jug beside her and pretended to be flicking through some work-related notes and the manual that lay limply in front of her. But really she was trying to piece together the events of the night before and remember if she had acted out of character or not.
She knew that she and Helen had started in Ocean Bar and done several shooters before moving on to a new, modern place she couldn’t even remember the name of. It had been sleek and clinical and she hadn’t liked it in the slightest. They only served expensive mineral water in fancy glass bottles and frowned at her when she asked for tap. When they’d ordered two vodkas, the tab had been over fifty dollars and Victoria glared at them as if they’d just punched her pet cat.
She worked in telesales and marketing and barely cut minimum wage. She couldn’t afford to go to places like that and resented Helen for dragging her to them. Helen worked as an exotic dancer and regularly made hundreds of dollars for just a few hours of work. Even though Victoria was glad she didn’t have to get naked in front of strangers to pay the bills, she was still kind of jealous of her friend’s exciting and carefree life. But they had still had fun, even with the bar costing a fortune and the knowledge of her early start nagging at the back of her mind. They’d sat up at the bar and had knocked them back one after the other, Victoria managing to excuse herself eight times out of ten when it came turns to buy the next round. She was sure Helen knew what she was up to, but she no longer cared. If her friend wanted to rub it in her face that she had more money that her, then she could pick up the bill.
They’d met some guys, she could remember that much. And she thought there had been discussion of joining them in a club. Helen had been really up for it, grinding up against one of them in the last bar, but Victoria had gotten the feeling that they were a bit creepy and weird. They’d both been tall and slender with slick white blonde hair and an icy air about them that she couldn’t place. It had kind of freaked her out because she had the feeling they’d been planning it… It was if they had waited until they had been good and drunk and then moved in. They even admitted to watching them the entire night.
“We saw you in Ocean Bar,” one of them said.
Victoria ignored him and sipped her drink.
“We wanted to come over but you looked so deep in conversation.” He smiled at her, and when she looked up at him she noticed how black his eyes were. There wasn’t a single hint of color in his irises. Victoria shivered.
“Helen,” she had said, “These guys are giving me the creeps, can we go?”
“But I kind of like this one,” she hissed into her ear while the two men chatted. “We could get some free drinks out of them at the club and then bail.”
“I’m not going,” Victoria said defiantly, “But if you want to…”
Helen rolled her eyes. “Okay,” she said, “I’m done anyway, and you’re right, they could be anybody.”
Victoria linked Helen’s arm and smiled.
The two guys were still chatting as the girls backed away quietly and made their way to the door. It was as Victoria opened it and the cool night air blew in after her that the guys both turned and glared at them, looking completely pissed that they’d been ditched.
“Hey!” the one who had been speaking to Victoria called as he held out his hands in disbelief.
“Sorry, guys!” Helen called back.
They had ran down the street laughing and hailed a cab. It was October and the leaves were falling, blowing around them in an orange and gold cloud.
“Taxi!” Victoria shouted as she held out her arm. A white cab zipped up next to them and the girls both clambered in. As the driver started the engine, Victoria looked back towards the bar and felt a tingle of terror roll over her as she realized the two men stood outside, completely still and side by side, just staring at them without moving a muscle.
“Creeps,” Victoria whispered before slumping down in her seat and snoozing as she let Helen direct the cab driver back to her apartment.
Chapter Two
The feeling when she could finally switch off her computer and pull on her coat was the best thing in the world. She was hungover to hell and just wanted to crawl into her apartment and veg out on the couch. She knew she was going home to an empty place, and there were times when the disappointment of how her life had turned out would catch her off guard and drag her under, but Victoria was determined that this wasn’t going to be one of those days.
She hadn’t always been alone. She had had a serious relationship once. Rob… she had loved him very much. When it hadn’t worked out and she had been forced to leave their lovely little house in a much nicer neighborhood than where she was now, she tried to console herself with the theory that this was her time to make a fresh start and discover the life she was meant to have.
Two years passed and it was becoming apparent that the life she was meant to have was spending her days hating her job and earning basically nothing, going home alone and watching rom-com’s on Netflix, and maybe looking forward to the occasional night out with Helen, who would generally make her feel worse about the situation. Helen’s life always looked so glamorous. She was stick thin with big fake boobs and pumped up lips, and men lusted after her everywhere she went. She had a long line of sugar daddies willing to pay her bills and shower her with gifts. She danced at one of the best strip clubs in town three nights a week and seemed to earn more than Victoria did in an entire month. She was kind hearted, but she seemed to miss the fact that her best friend didn’t have a disposable income like she did, and Victoria regularly found herself feeling like she just couldn’t keep up.
“The men would go wild for you at the club. You should consider it, you know,” Helen had told her one day.
“Oh please, no chance,” Victoria laughed.
“They would,” Helen protested, “Especially with your beautiful curves. You’d make more money than me!”
Victoria shook her head and dismissed the idea immediately. Even if she believed Helen, she would never have the confidence to do something like that. It had been a full two years since a man had seen her naked, and she wasn’t about to change that by taking her clothes off for a room full of strangers!
“Your loss,” Helen had pouted.
***
As she left her office and made the short walk home, the cold bit her skin. She pulled her coat and scarf tightly around her. At least she was being woken up after a day of feeling half asleep. She stopped by her usual take-out place and debated going inside to save her the chore of cooking once she got back to her apartment. She couldn’t even remember what she had in the refrigerator, but when she saw a group of rowdy men inside, she decided it was a sign that she should just go home.
It was dark already by the time she got to the steps at the foot of her building, and as she checked her mail, an eerie feeling suddenly washed over her.
She turned on the spot and looked down the street. She seemed alone, except for the old lady at the building opposite who was walking her dog, but she had the strong feeling that someone was watching her.
She turned back around and looked down the other end of the street. Cars flashed by on the main road and the wind rustled the tree next to her, blowing a plume of leaves in her direction.
“Stop being stupid,” she said to herself. “There’s no one there.”
She
collected her mail and started up the steps. Even though she had just looked everywhere, she could feel eyes on her back and her skin prickled. She fumbled for her keys in her pocket, but her hands were so cold it was as if they had been frozen.
“Come on,” she hissed to herself.
She finally grabbed them and jabbed the key into the lock, turning it quickly and shoving the door open with her body. She slammed it behind her and looked out onto the street. It was as empty as it had been before.
“You’re cracking up,” she said to herself. “You need to get yourself to bed.”
***
Her apartment was small and cozy. When she had moved out of the home she shared with Rob, she had barely taken anything with her, knowing full well that she wouldn’t be able to afford a big place.
Her apartment consisted of a small front room with a tiny adjoining kitchen, one bedroom in which she managed to fit a full-sized bed, chest of drawers and arm chair, and a bathroom. The hallway was small and she had decorated it with a selection of mirrors of all shapes and sizes to try and make it feel more open and welcoming. It wasn’t so bad, but she wished she could have gotten somewhere bigger so that she could actually enjoy the space. Victoria had a secret passion for interior design, and she spent most of her lonely nights in looking at design apps and home and garden magazines, dreaming up her ideal home and choosing exactly how she would decorate it. She always told herself that one day, it would happen.
She turned on the TV and sat on a stool next to the small bar in her kitchen. She flicked through her mail that was nothing but junk and financial demands and then crossed the room to the refrigerator. Inside was a sorry sight… eggs, milk and an old packet of ham. She rolled her eyes and slammed it shut. Toast would do.
After making it and slathering it in butter, she crawled onto the couch with a cup of coffee and pulled a blanket around her. It was only six p.m. and she had a whole night stretching out ahead. She felt the tears welling up in her eyes and scolded herself for being so weak and pathetic.
It’s just the hangover, she thought. Tomorrow you’ll be fine.
She didn’t know when it happened, but at some point she fell to sleep on the couch, cradling the plate of half-eaten toast and her empty cup of coffee. She woke with a start when the commercials blasted throughout the room. She jumped up with a start and glared at the television, which quickly buzzed off and then flicked to white noise as if the signal had gone down. She picked up the remote and bashed it with her thumb.
“Oh, come on,” she said.
When her attempts failed, she chucked the remote across the room, gathered up a few of her interior design magazines, and made her way to her bedroom.
Even though she had closed the blinds all the way through the apartment she still had the feeling she was being watched. It seemed to follow her from room to room and she even found herself checking under the bed before she climbed into it. She just couldn’t shake the feeling and after spending only five minutes flipping through the magazines she put them down, switched out the light and pulled the covers up to her chin. She lay on her back watching the darkness around her. She knew no one was there… but she still felt like someone, somewhere was lurking.
She lay in bed with her eyes wide open and the hairs on her arms standing on end. Her heart pounded quickly until she finally succumbed to sleep.
Chapter Three
Her dreams were fragmented and frightening. Everywhere around her were black eyes, following her…watching her. She was back in the bar, and it was empty and bright white, with green lights lining the floor and strange objects in jars. The men that she and Helen had met were there, and they were trying to get her to drink something. She threw it on the floor, but they produced another one, and then another.
“Leave me alone!” she screamed at them. “I won’t drink it!”
When she woke up, she was drenched in sweat and there was a garbage truck outside of her window with a yellow flashing light casting a glow over her room. She sat up and leaned against the headboard. Her heart was pounding, and she was ice cold. She checked the clock, and it was six thirty am.
May as well get up, she thought as she swung her legs over the side of the bed and put them down onto the wooden floor. She recoiled almost immediately as her feet touched something wet and slippery.
“What the…” she said aloud.
She looked down and there was a pool of water on the floor. It glistened in the yellow light of the trash van.
“Gross,” she said as she looked up at the ceiling. She was sure the apartment above her must have had a leak, and she turned on the light and looked carefully to see if there were any drops of water still coming down. There was nothing and the ceiling looked completely undisturbed.
“Weird,” she said as she shook her head and went to fetch a towel to clean it up.
After making herself a quick breakfast and getting changed in front of the oil heater her mother had given her as an energy saver, she made her way out of her apartment and down the stairs. The air was freezing. More so than it had been lately, and she found herself running back up to her apartment to grab a set of gloves and an extra scarf. She layered herself up with them but still felt the chill as she walked through the halls and down the stairs.
When she opened the main door to her building and started down the steps, she first thing she noticed was how much warmer it was out there. Within seconds she felt herself burning up and she ripped off the gloves and the two layered scarves. She shoved them in her mailbox and told herself she would collect them later.
“Here’s to another day in paradise,” she said aloud as she made her way down the street, stepping over the mounds of trash that were scattered along the sidewalk.
The feeling gripped to her all day. Even when she was at work and busy, she still had the all too real sensation that a stranger was watching her every move. In the middle of the afternoon, she couldn’t take it anymore and found herself running into the restroom and slamming the door before sitting down on the seat and taking deep breaths.
“No one is watching you,” she said, “You’ve got to pull it together.”
***
When she finally left work for the day and began her slow walk home, she found herself making a small detour down a street that was well known for its doctors’ offices. Her eyes scanned the various signs and rested on one that said “Psychiatrist.” Even though it had only been a couple of days that Victoria had been feeling this way, she knew that something wasn’t right and being all alone made her fear for her wellbeing. She approached the building and took a small leaflet from underneath the sign and then hurried away. She knew she wasn’t crazy, but the way she had been feeling was so unnatural and bizarre, and she had no idea what was happening. It had all started on the night out with Helen, and it hadn’t let go of her once. She felt gripped with paranoia and fear and she had the sensation of wanting to crawl out of her body and run far away.
As she ambled slowly up the street towards her front door, the feeling was stronger than ever and she felt the familiar icy chill crawl back into her bones. She looked up and down the street, and she was sure for a split second that she saw the flash of the tall, slender outline of one of the men she and Helen had been chatting to in the bar.
Oh my God, she thought, I’m being stalked! She remembered the way they had both come out of the bar and stared, watching them both so still and sinister. Goosebumps burst out all over her skin, and she felt a tingling shoot up the back of her neck.
Get inside, Victoria, get inside now.
She slammed the door behind her and rubbed her hands together to try to get them warm. It was freezing in there, and even though she was trying to save money she had no choice but to turn the heat up full blast.
After an hour in the apartment, it was still ice cold and Victoria found herself in bed, quietly sobbing.
What is happening to me? she thought. Am I going crazy?
She gripped the psych
iatrist leaflet and pulled her cell phone out of her purse and punched in the numbers. It was an answering machine, but she left a short message, trying the whole time not to sound too crazy.
When she hung up the phone, she pulled the covers around her and closed her eyes.
Just go to sleep, just switch off and rest…
And somehow, despite all of her fear and emotions, she managed just that.
Chapter Four
The light came back. But this time it wasn’t the dull shine of the garbage truck out in the street. It was bright blue and green. Piercing and vivid inside her bedroom, shining down from the ceiling.
She rubbed her eyes as she looked up at it, convinced she was dreaming. None of it could really be happening. She was asleep. Simple as that. She looked up at the light and at how it twisted and turned above her. It made patterns on the wall and splintered, turning her room into a maze of stars.
Victoria didn’t dare breathe. Her hands were ice cold and fixed rigidly in front of her, gripping the sheets.
“Who’s there?” she whispered.
Was she awake? Could this all be real?
She felt weightless, as if suddenly the gravity had disappeared from around her. She was still in bed, but she felt herself move an inch higher, as if she were drifting towards the ceiling.
“No,” she said aloud, “No!”
She grabbed onto her pillow and tried to turn herself onto her stomach so she didn’t have to look at the light and could grasp onto the bedframe. She clamped her eyes shut, but she just couldn’t move her body. She felt paralyzed.
CHAINS (Forsaken Riders MC Romance Book 18) Page 88