Loving Annabelle

by Priscilla Melinda Visser

  Everything was a mess. Summer was in a coma and we don’t know how long it would be before she regains consciousness. I sit up in the bath and remember that the doctors hadn’t mentioned anything to about the baby. They must have detected it by now. I lie back and wonder if my aunt knew but just decided not to say anything. I close my eyes thinking about how everything had been turned upside down the last few weeks. Harker had given our paper and exemption mark and my marks were great. London was happening sooner than I had thought but there was someone out there threatening my life. I was in love and I was fighting being in love. I don’t know what was wrong with me? I get out of my bath and I walk into my room. I dress quickly. I always feel like there is someone watching me. I see my phone’s notification light flashing and I pick it up quickly, maybe it was a text from James. I open the screen and see that it was a miss call from an unknown number. I look at it and then the phone rings loudly in my hands. Unknown number. I can’t bring myself to answer it. I just let it ring and then I head down stairs. Before I hit the bottom floor the house phone rings and I see my mother getting up. She answers the phone but here was no-one on the line. She lifts her brow and puts the receiver down. I look at her and she smiles at me. I walk into the kitchen and look around the room for anything out of place. I walk to the sliding door that leads to the patio and look outside. Suddenly I see something in the distance. I can’t make out what it is but it was looking this way… There was something in the back yard. “Dad…” I call to my father and I see my father look up and then he comes rushing to my side. “There is something outside there… Can you see?” I say and point out into the distance and my father squint his eyes to focus his vision. “You’re right there is something out there…” He says and then he opens the sliding door. I hold onto his arm and look at him scared. “Adam we should call the police” I hear my mother talking behind me and I turn to look at her. “Okay you call them I will go and see what it is in the meantime” My father says and starts walking towards the back yard. I see the sensor lights go on and the whole back yard lights up. I walk outside too trying to figure what I was seeing. I see my father freeze and then he starts walking backward. “What is it dad?” I call out to him but he doesn’t answer me. I walk out to him and he holds out his hand to stop me. “No Annabelle…” He says I frown. “What is it?” I ask and he holds me back. “Dad… Let me go…” I say and push against him but he stands firm and I push again. “Dad…” I say one last time and push hard. “Annabelle…” My father says and tries to stop me but it’s too late. I see the doll lying face down with a rope around its neck on the floor. I see the blade of the knife glistening in the moon light and then I see the words written on its chest. Romeo must die. I see the red of the blood and I freeze. I hear my mother gasp behind me and she pulls me back. I look at the doll gutted and hanging there. This was serious. He was going to kill me.

  The house is filled with police and I see my father and the inspector going over the security footage. “The camera doesn’t reach that part of the yard.” The inspector says and I feel my hope plummeting at them ever finding this guy before he finds me. “What do you think this mean…? Romeo must die?” The inspector asks me and I barely hear what he is saying. I sit staring at the many things of nothing in front of me. “Annabelle?” I hear my mother speaking behind me. “I don’t know…I don’t want to know what it means” I say and get up from my chair and walk to the lounge and put on the TV. I plant myself in front of the TV and then I hear a text coming through on my phone. I pick it up and everyone looks at me. “What?” I ask and shake my head. It was a text from Nicole telling me that the HK said we needed to start clearing out our rooms for the new student who start the early program to move in. I read it and throw the phone back on the couch next to me. I ignore the eyes on me and then I hear my father talking to the inspector again. I sit and everything replays over and over again in my head. I sit up and it hits me like a lightning bolt. James! I pick up my phone and dial his number with shaking hands. I listen to the ringing. I get up from the chair and start pacing the room. My parents and the police start looking at me. I hear the voice mail Hey this is the King… You know what to do and I will call you back. I put the phone down and dial again but this time it doesn’t ring and goes straight to voice mail. Shit! The damn things battery is probably dead again. I look at the clock it was after ten and I know with the fight we had he will be out on the town tonight. I throw my phone down on the couch and I see my mother walking to me. “Annabelle… What’s wrong?” I can’t think I can’t breathe and I know that right now there was nothing I could do about it. There was no way my parents were going to let me out of the house after this spectacle “It’s James… His Romeo… His going after James” I say and I sit down on the couch and my father looks at inspector accusingly. The inspector comes walking towards me. “Are you sure about this?” He says and I shake my head yes. “He must have seen me with James all this time, must have been watching us and all the times he wanted to get to me James was there standing in the way of his plans… He knows that with James out of the way he will have me all to himself” I say as everything dawns on me. I pick up my phone again and dial his number but nothing. “Oh my God… what have I done” I say and the tears roll down my face. I look at my mother. I see my father pacing around the kitchen and I know he feels guilty about the way he had treated James. “Well… We need to find him” My father says and I know that he will do his best to make sure that James was fine. “Do you have an address for Mr King Ms Spencer?” I think and realize I have no idea where he lives. I think Peter would know where he lives. “Call Peter… He should know where James lives” I say and then I realize that I don’t have Peter’s number either. Oh my God! Nicole… I should call Nicole she would know. I dial Nicole’s number but her phone just rings and rings. “Urgh!” I shout and throw my phone on the couch again. I fall down on the couch and I feel my hope sink low into my shoes. I rub along my forehead and face and I feel my lips quiver in despair. He was going to kill James and I know that I’m next. Romeo dies first and then does Juliet. I get up and look at the inspector. “Are you not going to do anything?” I ask and he lifts his brow at me. “Miss we don’t have an address and can’t reach Mr King right now… We can’t just run into the street because someone wrote on a doll Romeo must die and assume it is directed at Mr King” He says and I feel like slapping him right across the face. “So if he had said James must die than you would have cops roaming the streets for him” I ask sarcastically. I see the inspector open his mouth to speak. “God please help me… you don’t answer a fucking sarcastic question… How dumb do you have to be” I say and walk out of the conversation. I walk to the front door and grab my car keys. I hear my mother running down the hall towards me. “Where are you going Annabelle? Please you can’t just go out there like this. Someone is out there waiting to get you alone…” I hear her say and I stop she was right. The pain grips at me hard and I shake my head and scream at the top of my lungs. Who is doing this to me? Why do they want to hurt me so badly? I can’t think of anyone who would go to these kinds of extremes to harm another human being. Well I was wrong people do worse things than this to make a point or show how serious they are. It was pretty terrible that anyone and everyone are at risk of getting hurt one way or the other. “Oh God James… Please be careful” I say a pray and head back inside. “He will be okay… he know what is going on and he will be able to protect himself in the face of danger” My mother says and I grow sarcastic again. “How is he going to protect himself against himself when I thought it was him doing all these things” I say and look at the inspector again. “Well Mr Spencer we will leave two officers here tonight who will be patrolling the area and your camera’s are working so we will see if there is anything out of the ordinary going on” He says and avoids looking at me. He says his goodbyes and then he departs. I stand looking out of the patio doors to where the doll was found and sigh. Who are you? I turn and walk towards the sta
irs and I see my father returning from the foyer where he had said goodbye to the policeman. I look at him and continue walking up the stair and into my room. I sit down on my bed and look at my phone and try calling James again. It goes to voicemail again and I sigh. Where are you James? I think for a second and then I decide to call Nicole. “Hey… What the fuck is going on at you house. Your mom called Adele completely hysterical.” I hear Nicole speaking on the other side and I roll my eyes. “They found a doll in the yard… It had a rope around its neck and a knife in the back…” I say and decide to leave out the Romeo must die part. I didn’t want to think about James dying again. It was too horrible to even say. “That is so hectic… I mean who would do something like that?” She asks and I know she wasn’t really expecting an answer. “What are you doing?” I ask and I know it was a really stupid question to ask with everything that I had happened today. “Ethan and I are heading out for a drink. Its super tense here and I know if I don’t get his mind off things he might break something” She says and I smile. It was strange thinking of Nicole and Ethan together but they seemed happy, well it has only been a week and he had ready asked her to marry him. I think they were rushing, but then I blush thinking about the fact that I had almost… well practically had sex with James and we weren’t even in a relationship. “Why don’t you join us?” I hear her ask and I almost agreed but I knew there was no way my father was going let me out of the house tonight whether or not I was an adult. “I don’t think that is a great idea… But can I ask you a favour…If you see James around please ask him to call me urgently” I say and I hear silence. “You know I gotta ask right…” I hear Nicole speak and I hear the curiosity in her voice. “Did you and James… You know… Did you give him the crown?” She asks and I shake my head with a little sigh. “No… Well almost did but he stopped” I say and frown at the thought of what he had said to me earlier. I blush again thinking about what he had done instead. “What do you mean he stopped?” She asked and I sigh… “It’s a long story Nicole and I will tell you another time… Just please tell him to call me if you see him” I say and she sighs. “Okay… I will tell him if I see him” She says and I smile by myself. “Thank you… I will speak to you in the morning” I say and we say our goodbyes and then I fall back onto the bed and look at the ceiling. I hear a soft knock on the door and I then I mother comes walking in slowly. I look at her as she hold a cup of hot chocolate and something else. “I brought you a little something that will help you sleep… I know you will need it tonight” she says and gives me the sleeping pill. I take it from her and drink it quick. She smiles at me and then she sighs loudly letting me know that she has something on her heart she wants to talk about. “I’m trying to figure out who is this person doing this to you” She say and I sigh. “That makes two of us” I say and she looks at me. “So James…” She says and roll my eyes at her. “Not you too mom… We didn’t have sex” I say and get up and pace around the room. “Well we gathered that much from earlier” my mom says and I remember our argument and I blush at what he had said. “But I have to tell you that he looks serious about you…” She says and I sigh again. “I don’t know…I’m leaving for London soon that’s if this guy doesn’t get to me first” I say without thinking and my mother looks at me sharp. “Don’t you dare say that again… They will find this sick bastard” She says and I feel stupid for saying such a thing. “Well… What I meant was that us getting attached to each other was a bad idea… There was no way it can work… He has a promising career in rugby and I have my career…” I say and I see her relax again. “But you must feel something for him… to have…” She waits for a second trying to find the right words and I can’t help but feel ashamed. “To have opened up to him like…” She says and I think that she has no idea how much I had opened up to him. “I don’t know what to feel really…I mean how can I be sure he is the one” I say and she looks at me and then she smiles. “You’ll know… Believe me” and I sigh… “I have never been with a boy before and so what do I have it to compare it too” I say and I shakes my head. “I guess you’re right but sometimes you don’t have to go out there and experience many things to be sure. Sometimes that search does more bad than good…If you find someone who makes you feel good about yourself and understands you for who you are and what you believe in, then you really have no more searching to do” She say and gets up from the chair and looks at me and smiles. “I like him” she says and starts walking to the door and gives me one last final look and walks out of the room. “I like him too… So much” I say to myself and fall down on the bed again. I pick up the phone and dial his number but still no answer. “Where are you James?” I say and I my heart sink with despair.

  I allow my mind to go back to this morning to the place between heaven and earth; the moment of pure bliss and being one. I feel his hands on my skin and his lips teasing me to my crescendo. I feel a chill run through my body of pure ecstasy and lust. My mouth goes dry and I feel myself throbbing again. How can you be thinking about sex at a time like this? I shake my head and then think about how people deal with grieve. I’ve read about it in the past of how people find comfort in physical satisfaction and that takes the pain away. I know getting close to him is a mistake but it’s done. I have fallen for him hard and I don’t know how I was ever going to let him go now that I’ve allowed him in.

  Where are you James?

  Chapter Eighteen

  Annabelle. Her name will always haunt me and I will never forget her. I guess she will always be the one who got away. The one. I know being with her this morning was only the beginning of the torture of her. I sit in my car and look into the distance. I see the confusion in her eyes again and I become angry and mad all over again. I would never do anything to hurt her, but I know that it was hard to believe since we only really started hanging out together about a month ago and even that wasn’t a real friendship but academic. I shake my hand and start my car and drive back to my place. Once there I undress and take a shower. The water is relaxing to my tired soul and aching body. I feel her hands on my body again and the sweet taste of her lips. I hit the tiles hard as the resentment at this fucker comes rushing over me. If I laid my hands on him I was going to tare him limb from limb. I know that acting out right now might just attract the wrong type of attention to me. I wash my body trying to get my mind of things and get out of the shower. I see my phone flashing and pick it up and dry my hair as I read the message from Peter. I could really use a friend right now… Can you we hang? I wasn’t in the mood to hang out with a lot of people who were drunk, but I know Peter must be going through hell with what happened to Summer. I shake my head and I type back. Sure… Where do you want to meet? I wait for him to reply while I take out a fresh batch of clothes and I then I remember her in my top and pants which she still had. I remember her face afraid and horrified. I remember her shaking as I held her. I remember her running from us and I remember her kisses. I shake my head hard. I know that what we had even it was brief was amazing. I know she loved me too. I remember seeing her that day in the restaurant. It was my shot I though that day. I had to speak to her even if was just stupid things I just wanted to hear her voice again speaking to me and not the class or whoever, but to me.

  You can come over to my place… I got some stuff here we can just chill. I read the message and throw the phone down on the bed and finish dressing. I sigh hard and look in the mirror at the man staring back at me and I wish this wasn’t happening. Who the fuck was this guy? Why would he want to hurt Annabelle like this? Someone who is capable of hurting anyone the way he had hurt Nicole and now Summer wasn’t planning on going to jail or leaving Annabelle alive. This guy was going to kill them both if he gets the opportunity to get to her. See you in a few. I type back and grab my keys and head out of the door. I get into my car and drive to Peter’s house but decide to take a different route and drive past Annabelle’s house. Maybe I could go and talk to her again, try to make her see that I would never hurt her li
ke this. She knew that I could have done whatever I wanted to her this morning, but I didn’t. I shake my head thinking about what the police had said about me having an accomplice. I want to start laughing. They were truly unbelievable. They couldn’t find the real stalker so they plant seeds of doubt so that they have less police work to do. I hit the steering wheel hard. I enter her street and far in the distance I see something. I squint my eyes trying to make out what I was seeing. There was someone standing by her gate and I saw the figure looking up. Then it sees me coming closer and it starts running. I speed up chasing after it but it was fast and I know driving in this car wasn’t helping. I see it cutting through some back yards and before I knew it, it was gone. Who the fuck was this guy? Should I go back and let them know that I saw someone outside their house? Maybe that would be an even worse idea and they will ask questions like what was doing there, and telling them I was only driving by because I was suspicious wasn’t going to cut it. I decide to continue on to Peter house and leave it alone for now. I will find out who you are and believe me you will pay for what you are doing.