Unknown:Are you sore?
That one question tells me exactly who it is, only I have no idea how he got my number. I pick up my phone, but I still don’t respond.
Unknown:I’ve been thinking about you all day. I can still smell you.
My thumbs hover over the keyboard, but I have no idea what to say.
Unknown:I’m coming to get you.
I get a weird feeling in my stomach. That sentence seems… off. Almost threatening.
Me:No, don’t.
I quickly type out the response then wait for his reply, but nothing happens.
Me:I can’t leave.
Me:Are you still there?
Me:My dad will call the cops.
After I type out the last message, I set the phone next to me on the bed. The sounds from the front door are steady now, and when I look out the window, I see that the sun is setting, making the sky dim. I don’t know what I’m going to do if he shows up here. My parents will freak, but do I really care?
A loud thud from upstairs has me forgetting all about him and my parents. It sounded like someone jumped off my bed, or maybe lifted it off the ground and dropped it back to the floor. I twist my legs out from under the covers and hang my feet off the side of the bed, preparing for something even though I know there’s no escape.
A heavy footstep sounds right outside the door in the hall seconds later. There wasn’t enough time for someone to get down here, but I’m certain whoever it is, they are just outside the door now. I inch off the bed and back toward the wall. There is another footstep, even closer this time, and a shadow darkens the doorframe.
The light in the room dims until it snaps off completely, plunging me into darkness. The shadow steps forward, and as my eyes adjust to the soft light of dusk filtering through the window, I can seehim. Theo is standing in the doorway.
I open my mouth to hiss at him to leave, but the red liquid dripping off his hands steals any sound I might have made. His mouth curls up into a mischievous grin as he raises his finger and smears blood on his lips as he makes a shushing motion.
“Hello, my beautiful creature,” he coos softly.
I flatten myself to the wall, but it doesn’t stop his approach. He tilts his head to the side, examining me with his icy blue eyes, and my brain wars with what I’m seeing. There’s a part of me that’s trying to convince me it’s just his Halloween costume, and that the blood on his hands and lips are fake, but I can’t seem to make myself believe it.
“Did you miss me?” he asks with total sincerity.
I swallow, but I can’t force any words out of my mouth.
“I missed you.” His eyes rove over me possessively. “I managed to keep myself busy though.”
I turn my head to the side as he creeps into my space, and he uses it to his advantage, running his nose up the column of my throat. My mind fills with the image of the blood on his lips leaving smudges on my skin. “Cat got your tongue, Lethe?” he whispers, and goosebumps erupt on my skin.
“Were you… at a Halloween party?” I stammer as my eyes fall closed when he presses against me.
“You could call it a party,” he agrees. “But you don’t need to worry, sweetness. I thought about you the entire time.”
I shudder when I feel his teeth scrape my neck before he bites me. The pinch has me snapping my eyes open and looking at the door. I watch as his hands come up and he places them against the wall, caging me in and leaving bloody prints next to my head.
“Theo,” I say his name softly, and his eyes leap up to mine. There’s a feverish intensity in his gaze I didn’t notice at the restaurant, but it was present last night when I let him fuck me, and I didn’t even mind it. I liked it.
“Yes?” he answers in a voice so deep it’s nearly a growl. The same scent of smoke I detected when I thought there was a ghost in the house teases my nose.
“It’s you,” I whisper as the pieces in my mind slip into place. He was the shadow at Corey’s, he killed them and the Bigelows, and probably Mark too.
“I told you I was coming for you.” He leans in and presses his lips to the side of my mouth.
“Why didn’t you just kill me last night?” His mouth drags away from the corner of my lips when he jerks his head back.
