He could show me the sunset without the sky.
He could give me a love poem without writing a line.
He could play me a song with no instrument.
He could make me fly without wings.
He held me without touching me.
He crawled inside me without asking for permission.
He asked me to stay with him without saying a word.
Mute love.
That was what he’d get from me.
That was what he could accept.
And that was what I would give to him.
Today.
Tomorrow.
And every day after that.
I clasped the music box to my heart and heaved a dreamy sigh before getting up off the bed to go put it next to the glass cube. I would undoubtedlyglance at it every night before I fell asleep and every morning before I left my room, just like I did with the pearl. Just to make sure it was still real.
Just then, my open laptop screen lit up with an email notification. I glanced over at the closed bathroom, and while I waited for Neil to come back, I sat down to read it. Lately, I’d been getting a lot of correspondence about my upcoming classes, and I presumed it was more of that.
I opened my email account and checked the latest message:
Hey, Selene, or rather, Target #2,
So pleased to see you made it out of your wreck with only a measly scar on your forehead.
That wasn’t how it was supposed to go. I’ve been thinking about you ever since.
So I hacked your computer to gain access to all your correspondence, social media, chats…
Everything. Absolutely everything.
I watched you every day through your laptop’s camera, thanks to some malware that allows me to control it remotely.
It also allowed me to record what you just did to your man.
My compliments, I didn’t think you were so…forward.
A real full-service whore!
It’ll only take me one click to send that video to everyone you know and forever ruin your life as well as the life of that asshole with you.
Don’t bother alerting the cops, Selene.
I am in control. I am watching. I am following.
Any mistakes will be met with one little click.
