"You did get my message,right?" He asks, taking another step closer.
"What message?" I ask, sitting back on the couch, pulling my legs into myself, hoping it makes me smaller. Praying that Matt comes down and stops this madness.
"The one I left for you at your apartment."
The moment I process what he just said, fear hits me anew. This man was in my apartment, destroyed my stuff, and terrified me into leaving. What the hell is he going to do now? Should I just run and hope for the best or stay here and hope someone comes to save me.
A noise from behind grabs his attention, when Louis goes to turn to see what it is, I take advantage of the moment. Sprinting across the room, I knock into him, he's so off-center with me running into him, that he fumbles and the gun falls to the ground. For a split second, we both look at the gun sitting under the coffee table, I begin to scramble to get it. One thing I do know is that if he gets that gun before me, I'm done for. He's going to kill me.
I stretch my arm as far as possible, my fingers brushing the gun, just when I'm sure that I have it, he wraps his hand around it too. "No!" I scream, pushing myself even further. The wood floor digs into my skin, but I pull my arm back toward my chest, hoping to bring the gun toward me.
Looking at Louis, you wouldn't have thought that he was so strong, but he comes along with the gun. I try to tighten my hands around it, hoping that my body will help. But unfortunately, he's able to pull the gun out of my hands, it falls through them as if they were made of sand.
I lay on the ground, closing my eyes. Part of me praying that he'll just make it quick, the other part yelling to get up. When Louis doesn't move or say anything, I look up at him, hoping that I might be able to appeal to the human side of him. But when his eyes clash with mine, I know he doesn't have any humanityleft in him. All that's left is this wild creature, and he's thinking about killing me.
Pointing the gun at me, he begins to walk toward me, then squats down in front of me, pushing a strand of hair back from my face as he starts to speak, "You know, Elsie, if you would just have been mine, I wouldn't have to do this."
I can't help but feel repulsed by his touch. Thankfully, he stands back up, stepping away from me. I watch as Louis begins to pace back and forth before me, talking to himself as if he's trying to figure out whether not to go through with killing me.
When I look past Louis, I see Matt sneaking up, and I know I need to keep him distracted.
"Hey, Louis. I'm sorry I didn't tell you this at the time, but I did think you were cute when we first met." I tell him.
When he turns back toward me, narrowing his eyes at me. I think I might have him, at least long enough that Matt is able to do whatever he's going to do. Louis' face turns hopeful, "You did?"
Nodding my head, I repeat myself, "I did."
"I knew--" Before Louis is able to finish, he's cut off by Matt tackling him to the ground. I watch in amazement when Matt does some move, taking the gun and throwing it away. So that Louis can't get to it. He then pulls his arms back behind his body, tying them with something that I can't make out. And I don't care either.
Matt stands up, looking at me with concern. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine." I insist.
"I've called the police, but after they leave I'm going to be looking you over."
My heart flutters in my chest, but I refuse to identify what it could possibly be. Instead, I do something that is out of character for me, especially when it comes to Matt. I don't fight him, I just reply, "Okay."
Chapter twelve
Matt
I could've lost her. Those words seem to be on repeat in my head. My heart is beating so fast, I'm surprised that it hasn't just beat right out of my chest.
Needing a distraction, I head over to where Elsie is talking with the police. After I was able to neutralize the intruder in my home, I called them right away. For this guy's sake, he's lucky they have him in custody. Because all I want to do is beat the shit out of him for traumatizing Elsie. If she wasn't sitting right in front of me, before I had tied his hands up, I might've done it.
I'm ready for everyone to leave. I won't be able to calm down until I can check her over myself.
"Thank you, Elsie. I'm sorry this happened to you." The sheriff of Rose Valley says to her, then he turns toward me with a smile. "Good thing you had this guy on your side."
Elsie looks over at me with a soft look on her face, when she breathes out, "Yeah. I am."
"We will get out of your way, but let us know if you think of anything else. I'll contact the police in Los Angeles to let them know we've got your guy," the sheriff reminds us.
When everyone leaves, I'm finally able to take a deep breath, automatically reaching for her. Pulling Elsie into my arms, I kiss the top of her head, breathing her in. Right then, I vow, once again, that this woman belongs to me. I will not be letting her out of my sight.
"You know what you did was incredibly stupid," I say casually.
She pulls back from me, scanning my face, as if she's trying to figure out what I mean by my comment. But there is no hidden meaning. When she doesn't find one, she grits out, "I was not going to let him do anything to me without a fight."
