"Erica... why are we here?" Addison asked, her sharp mind working quickly.
She could hear familiar sounds that indicated they were probably stopped in a park of some kind. She knew from the amount of turns and the length of the drive that they definitely weren't at King Tower.
"We're at your favourite park," Erica said cheerfully, her voice holding an edge that Addison didn't like. "I want to see it the way you see it. I want to know what you smell and hear! I have a special surprise that you're going to love! C'mon, it's in a secret place where no one can disturb us."
Addison's heart sank as the pieces began to fall into place. Erica’s constant presence when Addison was at the symphony hall. Why she never attempted to befriend any of the other musicians. Erica’s insistence that they were friends and her constant need for reassurance.
Erica was her stalker. Addison's relationship with Daniel must have pushed the other woman over the edge, from just letters and phone calls to threats and now this. She wondered what finally drove her to blow up this morning.
“Erica,” Addison said carefully. “Were you at the symphony hall last night? Did you see me play for… for my friend?”
Erica’s breath caught in her throat and she let out a high-pitched wail as though she were a bird in pain. Addison jumped. “Yes!” Erica howled. “You said you loved him. But he didn’t say it back. He’s so mean, Addison. He doesn’t deserve you at all. You're so much better off without him. I’ll make you see, I’ll show you how much better I can love you than he can.”
Addison’s mouth dropped open at Erica’s declaration, but Erica was back to chattering cheerfully about the beautiful scenery. Erica tried to pull Addison along as though she were a willing participant, eager to show the woman she admired her surprise. Addison dug her feet in, alarmed as the few voices she'd been able to hear upon first entering the park were beginning to recede. It was a chill late spring afternoon with very little light filtering through the trees to warm her face and neck. The weather wasn't going to be conducive to a busy park to begin with and she was worried if they got too deep into the woods she wouldn't be able to call for help if she needed it.
"I can't go with you, Erica. I'm cold and I need to get home. I didn’t dress for the weather today, I’m afraid,” Addison said gently, trying to be as nice as she could given the situation. She didn't want to push an already unbalanced Erica over the edge. With chattering teeth she said, "Let's just go back to the car and we can look at your surprise another day?"
"No!" Erica snapped. "We're going now." Then in a calmer voice she said, “I’ll make sure you stay warm, Addie. I can take care of you, I promise.”
She dug her nails into Addison's jacket and yanked her along, causing Addison to stumble forward. Addison yanked her arm back, but Erica's hold was unbreakable. Addison opened her mouth to start yelling for help, but Erica must have been looking at her.
"No!"
She shoved Addison hard and sent her crashing into a nearby tree. Before Addison could scream, Erica slapped her hand so hard over Addison’s mouth that Addison felt her lip split against her tooth. Then she felt something sharp slip around the barrier of her denim jacket and penetrate the thin material of her blouse. She whimpered and held very still as the knife slid easily through the delicate fabric and settled against her warm skin.
“I’m so sorry Addison,” Erica said, genuine regret in her nervous, high-pitched voice. “I just really need you to come with me. I have to show you what I did for you and I can’t have you ruining the surprise. You’ll understand and then you’ll be happy, I promise.”
She took her hand slowly away from Addison’s face and gently wiped the blood from Addison’s mouth. She reached for Addison’s hand and began leading her awkwardly through the woods with the knife pressed tightly against Addison’s side.
“I waited for so long for you to fall in love with me,” Erica said suddenly, after several minutes of walking. “You would have too, because I know you love women that way, if that asshole guy you were with didn’t come along and ruin everything.”
“I… I’m sorry, Erica,” Addison said, trying to placate the other woman, not wanting to push her any further into madness. She was fighting rising hysteria as she was being led, blind, into a city forest where Erica had god knows what waiting for her.
“It’s not your fault Addie, I’ve seen the way he treats you. He forced you to be with him. I bet he even raped you,” Erica said angrily.
Addison wanted to defend Daniel and assure Erica that her time with him was entirely consensual, but she didn’t think Erica wanted to hear an impassioned defence of Addison’s true love, so she elected to remain silent and instead gasp for breath and try to keep up with Erica’s longer strides. It took another twenty minutes before they arrived, at which point Addison was considering taking her chances with the knife and running for her life. Which would probably work a lot better if it were dark and if she weren’t blind.
“We’re here!” Erica announced excitedly.
“Wh… where are we, Erica?” Addison asked hesitantly.
Please god, don't let it be a grave, Addison begged silently.
“It’s our special place!” Erica giggled, dancing around. She reached out and grabbed Addison, twirling her around in excitement, accidentally stabbing Addison in the side with the extremely sharp knife. Addison cried out and dropped to the ground clutching her side.
“Oopsy,” Erica giggled, “we need to be more careful!”
You fucking psycho, Addison wanted to scream as she pressed her hand against her side, feeling the cut. It was long but shallow. She bit her tongue so she wouldn’t scream obscenities at the other woman who was busily dancing around describing a scene straight out of a horror novel.
“Okay, so as soon as I found out that this park was your favourite place in the whole city I started setting up this little surprise for you. Maybe about six months ago? I picked this secluded spot so no one could find it and started bringing supplies out here. I found this gorgeous scene in a wedding book, like a magical faery world all in white and silver with candles and lace. Oh Addison, it’s so beautiful, I really wish you could see it. It’s exactly how I imagined our wedding will be.”
“What exactly is this, Erica?” Addison asked, hardly wanting to know, but morbidly curious despite herself.
Erica reached down, wrapped her arms around Addison’s middle and hauled her up onto her feet. Addison bit back a scream as Erica’s hand slapped against the cut on her side. Erica maneuvered Addison into a chair and placed a napkin on her lap.
“It’s the setting in a wedding book I have,” Erica said with a happy sigh. “There’s a table, which I had to bring out here in pieces and set up. There are two beautiful antique chairs that cost me a fortune, but were so worth it because I knew you would love them. There’s a white lace table cloth, with an entire place setting of white china plates and champagne glasses. There’s real silverware too, Addison. I even hung lace netting over the entire area, to recreate the whole scene just like it is in the book. I made everything perfect for you.”
Addison was speechless.
