My Invisible Lover

by Jamie Athelstan

  MY INVISIBLE LOVER

  A Novel By,

  Jamie Athelstan

  ©2018 Published by After Hours Publications, Inc. www.afterhourspublications.com

  All rights reserved.

  Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage without express permission by the publisher.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Contains explicit language & adult themes suitable for ages 17+

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  Chapter One

  Jada found herself unexpectedly wide awake. Something had made all of her hair stand on end, and even though she wasn’t sure what it was, she knew it had nothing to do with her dreams. The room was pitch black. Nothing was visible around her for a moment as her eyes began to adjust.

  There was a scuffling noise from somewhere else in the house, and she sat bolt upright in bed. Jada lived alone. There wasn’t supposed to be any noise, anywhere, if it wasn’t being made by her.

  Her mind was racing even though she had been asleep mere seconds ago. She flashed back to the news reports she had been reading on her phone all week: Vicious attacks, all right here in her neighborhood. All of them were single women living alone, just like her. Most of them black, young, and beautiful, just like her.

  Their homes had been broken into by an unknown intruder, who overpowered each of them by grabbing them while they were sleeping. Then, he had his way with them, all in the dark, so they never saw their attacker’s face. There had been a handful of attacks over the past few weeks. One girl had even died, stabbed with her own kitchen knife when she tried to fight back. A few more and the attacker would be on his way to getting a serial nickname.

  She tried to think fast, mentally scanning her bedroom for something she could fight with. There was one thing she knew the attacker hated, one thing he had been able to avoid so far. She reached over and fumbled with the switch of her bedside lamp for a few moments before turning it on. The bright light hurt her eyes, but the room was empty.

  For a moment, everything in the house was quiet and still. It was as if everything was holding its breath. She wondered if the intruder had seen the light and was having second thoughts.

  Then she heard another banging noise and shot out of bed. Maybe it wasn’t smart, but Jada had never been one to go down without a fight. Maybe if she went for him first, she could scare him off. As far as she’d read, none of the other girls had put up enough of a challenge for him to have to deal with, except for the girl who had panicked, and she had been too slow, reacting to his attack instead of acting first. This would be something new for him.

  She hoped it would be enough.

  She stumbled into the kitchen. Her feet were still a little clumsy from being asleep even while her mind was wide awake. The kitchen was dark, although a faint light managed to penetrate the blinds from outside. It gave a white dusting over the surfaces and lines of things that barely helped at all.

  She went to the counter first and grabbed a large knife out of the block. The banging had sounded like it was coming from the living room, which was only separated from the kitchen by a row of counters coming out from the wall. She spun around quickly with the knife in her hand, all too aware that the intruder might know where she was already.

  Over the sound of her own pounding heart and rapid breathing, she strained to hear something. Her eyes moved restlessly back and forth, although for the moment she could only just make out the faint outline of the counters in front of her. She tried to stay as still as possible, striving to see any flash of movement. The knife was already raised in her right hand.

  Her eyes began to adjust to the gloom, and she could see a little clearer: the shapes of pans on the sideboard, the silver metal of the sink picking out the light, and the looming black shape of the television on the far side of the room. All familiar things, nothing out of place.

  Then, she saw it. There was a flash of white out to the left in her peripheral vision. She turned and lashed out immediately with the knife, hoping to hit something before it hit her. She caught the impression of an arm, pale in the dim moonlight, and then it was gone.

  She waited, and waited, and waited, still frozen in shock and fear, unsure of what to do next. She couldn’t hear or see anything else, and though she had sliced the knife through the air, she couldn’t be sure of whether it had hit anything.

  After another ten minutes, she began to relax slowly. There was no sound and nothing moving. She worked up the courage to move and switched on the lights in the whole apartment, one by one.

  Nothing.

  Jada sighed with relief and put the knife down on the counter. She must have imagined everything. It was probably a neighbor’s cat banging into the window as it walked along the windowsills.

  She got back into bed, shaking her head at her own paranoia. Maybe she had better stop reading the news so often. It was obviously putting dark images into her head.

  Jada fell asleep, tired already and more tired from the adrenaline she had expended. She had no idea that her ordeal was only just beginning.

  Chapter Two

  In the morning, which turned out to be not much later, Jada got up as usual and started getting ready for work. She was part of the marketing department for a high-end clothing brand, so she always chose her clothes very carefully. Today, she chose a burgundy knee-length dress with a slightly flared skirt, thick, dark grey, knitted tights, heeled boots, and a dark grey sweater in a size too large for her petite frame.

  She wore her hair in a neat bob, and it didn’t take long to have her make-up done. Glancing at the clock, she saw that she had plenty of time for a leisurely breakfast. Perfect: she liked to sit down at the table in the kitchen, watch the city waking up, and check up on her Instagram feed while she ate. Plus, she needed a little bit longer to feel alive this morning, after her interrupted sleep.

  The knife was still where she left it on the counter last night. Sighing at herself again, she picked it up and started to put it back in the block.

  That’s when she saw it.

  Blood was on the knife.

  The very edge had the finest line of red running around it, something you could miss easily at first glance. Paralyzed for a moment by the discovery, Jada eventually swiveled her eyes to look at the floor. There, just to the left of where she had been standing with her back to the counter last night, was one drop of red.

  “Oh, my god,” Jada said out loud, her heart fluttering so fast that she felt like she was going to be sick. “Oh, my god!”

  She put the knife down on the counter and stared at it. A million things were racing through her head.

  Did she really cut someone last night? Was there really someone here, in her house?

  She grabbed her phone out of her pocket and scrolled to her favorites, hitting Maya’s number and waiting for it to dial. She needed the calming influence of her best girlfriend. Maya always knew what to do in crazy situations.

  “Mornin’ gorgeous,” Maya answered after ten or so rings, her voice still crackling with sleep.

  “Maya, oh my god,” Jada burst out. “I think someone was in my house last night.”

  “What?” Maya asked, her voice a little louder. There was rustling on the other end of the line. Jada pictured Maya sitting up in bed, pushing her dark hair up off her forehead.

  “I heard somethi
ng,” Jada explained, staring at the knife the whole time. “I thought it might be that creep, you know? The one that’s been attacking all those girls?”

  “What creep?” Maya asked. “Jada, slow down, girl. I feel like I’ve tuned in halfway through the episode.”

  “You haven’t been reading the news? He breaks into their apartments and attacks them,” Jada said, feeling frustrated. Maya lived in a world of her own at times, but missing news as big as this was too far even for her. “Look, it’s not important. I thought I heard someone, so I crept out into the kitchen to get a knife.”

  “Ohhh, tell me you did not do that,” Maya moaned. “You thought someone was there to attack you, so you came to attack them back like a lunatic? Why didn’t you call the police?”

  “I didn’t know for sure whether I heard something,” Jada replied. “Just listen. So, I freaked out, and I lashed out with the knife because I thought I saw something. Then, I thought I must have imagined it, so I went back to bed. But Maya, this morning – there’s blood on the edge of the knife.”

  Maya audibly gasped. “Like, a lot of blood? The police could test that!”

  “Not, like, a lot,” Jada replied, a little doubtfully. “I mean, some. I don’t know how much they need for a sample. Not a lot, right?”

  Maya paused for a moment. “How much blood are we talking exactly?”

  “Well, the edge of the knife is red,” Jada said. “The very edge of it.”

  “Oh, girl, you need to stop reading the news,” Maya said, sounding sleepy again. “I think you had a nightmare about that creep you’ve been obsessing over. It’s probably just a stain on the knife where you didn’t wash it properly.”

  “I’m not obsessed,” Jada tried weakly, but she could hear that Maya had already reached her own conclusion.

  “Listen, I better get up, I’ve got work,” Maya said, yawning. “You do too, so stop thinking about it. Get some more sleep tonight and put your phone away before bed. Love you, girl.”

  “Love you,” Jada managed to get out before Maya was gone.

  She put the phone down on the counter next to the knife and stared at them both. What Maya said had made sense, but Maya hadn’t been here. She hadn’t been in the apartment, hearing those noises, seeing that flash of white.

  “I’m not crazy,” she said out loud as if Maya could still hear her. “I did not imagine it. It really happened.”

  That’s when someone who should not have been in the living room said, “You’re right.”

  Chapter Three

  A man stepped out into the light, although until he had materialized Jada hadn’t thought there were enough shadows to hide in.

  He was dark-haired and handsome, with bright blue eyes that caught the light instantly. There was something about him, though, that made all the hair on the back of her neck stand on end – and it wasn’t just the fact that he had broken into her apartment.

  “Who the fuck are you?” Jada burst out, snatching up the knife from where it lay on the counter in front of her. She held it up and pointed it towards him, but even she could see how badly her hands were shaking.

  The man held his arms up immediately, stopping in his tracks. “Whoa, whoa, whoa,” he said, his voice soft. “I’m not the bad guy here. Look at my arms.”

  He turned them around slowly so that she could see both sides. Although they were white, Jada could see that there were no scratches on him. Nothing that would mark him as the man who had snuck in the night before.

  “Even if you’re not him,” Jada hissed, holding the knife up stronger, “You’ve still broken into my apartment.”

  “Fair point,” the man nodded. He raised one eyebrow, a gesture that was instantly enticing. “I don’t want you to be afraid. I came here to check that you were alright. I know that he broke in here last night, and I know you scared him off.”

  “Who is he?” Jada asked, more nervous about never finding out than she was about hearing the answer.

  “He’s my brother,” the man said, dropping his arms casually by his sides. He did not try to walk closer to her. “My own brother. He’s the one behind all of the attacks, and I’ve been one step behind. I’m trying to stop him.”

  “So, why are you here now?” Jada demanded. She was still holding the knife towards him, but she was feeling her resolve waver. Despite it all, he actually sounded reasonable.

  “I thought he might come back and try again,” the man said, casting an eye around the room. “Actually, I think he’s coming back tonight. I needed to warn you.”

  Jada let the hand holding the knife drop to her side. “I should call the police,” she said, reaching for her phone.

  “No, wait,” the man said, stepping forward.

  Jada turned back towards him, alarm flaring. She could feel all of the bells inside her head ringing.

  He stopped when she turned and seemed to sag a little. “Please,” he said. “I need to deal with this. I promise I’ll protect you, but you have to leave the police out of this.”

  “He’s attacked other women,” Jada said, angrily. The news reports flashed through her head. The thought of those women, afraid and vulnerable, their whole lives changed, made her feel more furious than she was scared. “He can’t get away with that.”

  “He won’t. I mean that,” the man said. He ran a hand back over his head to push some longer strands of hair out of his face. “My name is Garrett. Trust me. I’m the only one that can deal with him, and I will deal with him.”

  “How are you going to do that?” Jada asked, shaking her head. “By using me as bait? And what happens if you’re too late in getting here?”

  “I’ll stay the night,” Garrett fired back instantly. “I’ll be right here to protect you.”

  Something about the way he had the answer on hand already made her hair stand on end again. Something about this wasn’t right. “No,” she said. “I think you’d better get out now.”

  “Jada, please -” he began, and that was the last straw.

  Jada began dialing 911 with one hand, pointing the knife at him again with the other. “You know my name. You need to get out, right now.”

  “Wait,” he said, looking pained.

  “Right... Now,” Jada repeated, giving him the kind of glare that would kill if it was weaponized.

  “You don't want to do that,” Garrett said, and something in his manner had suddenly become very, very different.

  She glanced down at her phone to find the call button, and at that moment, he was upon her. The knife dropped out of her hand as he pushed her up against the kitchen wall, grabbing her by the shoulders and physically moving her. Jada had a small frame, and he was able to overpower her easily. The impact of one elbow hitting the wall knocked the phone free from her other hand.

  She tried to struggle, but he was far stronger. He started to force his hand inside her collar, to snake it down the front of her shirt, and she felt herself beginning to cry.

  That’s when she kneed him in the groin and punched him in the face, and he started to buckle up in pain. She pushed him away from her hard and watched him hit the ground.

  Jada scrambled for her phone and grabbed it, quickly pressing the call button.

  “Operator, what’s your emergency?”

  Jada spun around, ready to ask for the police, but she faltered. Garrett was gone.

  And so was the knife.

  She walked forward a few paces, to look down the hall. The front door of her apartment was closed. She could see from where she stood that the lock was still in place, as was the chain.

  “Someone broke into my apartment to attack me,” she said, quickly. She was almost amazed at how little her voice shook. “Please, send someone quick. I think he’s still in here with me.”

  Chapter Four

  The police found nothing. The knife was gone; even the little drop of blood on the floor was gone, probably smudged away during their struggle. They looked around and verified that there was no one in the apart
ment and treated Jada much the same as Maya had. They thought she had been dreaming.

  So, she put it out of her head and tried to focus on work. It was the only thing she could do. Besides, she was late coming in after everything, and she had to make up the time somehow.

  She walked home from work a few days later with her mind on a project that needed to be wrapped up soon. At least it was the weekend. She could take a break from it all, get some rest, and spend some time with friends.

  There was a man outside the apartment block, and something about him set off a red flag in her mind as soon as she caught sight of him. She watched him carefully. It looked as though he was trying to get in by pressing buttons on the keypad and fiddling with the door, but he didn’t have a key in his hand.

  He had something familiar about him, though she couldn’t place it. He had blond hair, a strong build, and was wearing a grey athletic shirt. She didn’t know him from work, that was for sure, but had she met him somewhere else?

  As she approached closer, he looked up, and he had startlingly blue eyes that almost stopped her in her tracks.

  They reminded her of the blue eyes she had seen only a few days ago.

  “I’ve locked myself out,” he said, sheepishly. He must have seen the key in her hand and known she was a resident. “I came out for a quick walk and forgot to pick up my key.”

  “You didn’t lock your apartment door when you came out?” Jada asked, raising an eyebrow.

  “Uh, well,” the man hesitated, looking over his shoulder at the door. “I guess I forgot that too.”

  Jada glanced down as he turned and noticed a light scratch on one of his arms. Her blood ran cold.

  “I know who you are,” she said, quietly. “You need to leave. Right now.”

  He looked back at her, met her eyes, and saw that there was no point in denying it. He paused again and held up his hands in a calming gesture. “No, you don’t understand. I’m not him, okay? Please, I just – I know you fought him off. Twice now. That was so brave of you. But you don’t know my brother. He’s going to come back for you until he finishes the job.”