This is for @hrs1500 I know you've just started reading, but I hope you keep on going to see this ❤️

Warning: Gory scenes ahead.

The doors were all locked and I mentally thanked Dad for the crazy amount of security he invested in. The CCTV covered all angles and there were automatic floodlights. If anyone tried to come for me, at least I would have a warning. I was like a storm, switching my brain off and packing everything in a frenzy. I placed all my valuables like my passport and computer in a safe just in case and pushed it into a small alcove that was barely noticeable for safekeeping until I was ready to leave.

I knew deep, deep down, that there was no escape for me today. Exits were blocked. My house was probably being monitored. He had the manpower to get to me. When I still had that small flicker of hope, I tried to look at the maps to see if there was an exit I didn't know about but there was none.

I sighed in frustration massaging my aching scalp. A pulsating ache was slowly blossoming in my temples despite the Paracetamol I took earlier. It was hard to keep a cool level-headed when it felt like someone was hammering away at your skull.

A part of me felt dead. I no longer had the energy to ask questions. I just didn't care anymore. Maybe it's because my investigation only dug up more trouble or maybe because I basically told Malik I was quitting. He would never know about me meeting this mysterious creep. He would never know what happened unless he was told. And even if he did, would he - could he come for me?

I just missed his touch. His presence. I knew I was trying to run away and I might never see him again. I wished I spent more time talking to him than fighting what I felt for him.

An abrupt bang in the distance made me jump so I watched out of the window. I couldn't see anything, but I couldn't shake off this ominous feeling that someone was watching me.

Suddenly, the floodlights in the garden switched on. Someone was outside. Holding my breath, I checked through the CCTV. A man was standing outside my front door and he rang the doorbell, the sound echoing loudly. Was that Luka?

Shit, shit, shit. What was he doing here?

I fished my phone out of my pocket and rang him nervously.

"Hello?"

"Oh, gosh. Luka, what are you doing here?" I asked hysterically.

"What do you mean?" He asked angrily. "You saw what you sent me right? Of course, I will be worried. Please tell me what's going on".

"Luka, for God's sake, I am begging you to go home, please, please", I begged.

"I will, only if you explain", he replied. "I trust you, Arya. But I can tell you don't feel safe right now. Talk to me. KK is with my sister by the way".

I swore loudly and cut the call off. He was stubborn and wouldn't leave till he knew I was safe. I would have to somehow convince him to leave as quickly as he could. I ran downstairs and peered through the peephole. Luka stood there, his hair dishevelled, looking really stressed.

I flung the door open and wrapped my arms around him tightly.

"Whoa, it's okay", he said surprised. He hugged me back tightly, patting my back to reassure me. He let go of me and grasped my shoulders, making me face him. "What's going on? I've never seen you so scared".

"Luka, please", I begged. "I can't explain right now. Please, go home".

"For fuck's sake, Arya", he said, running his hands through his hair. "You're shaking like a leaf. How can I leave you alone like this?"

"You're making things worse", I said, frustrated. "You - you literally cannot be here right now. Please, listen to me".

He stared at me, silently observing.

"Fine", he said. "I trust you. If you need me, I'll be at Karl's house to be close by. Tell me you know what you're doing".

I hugged him tightly one last time, not really wanting him to go. It was for the best, I told myself. There was no way out for me. The forest was ridden with dangers. The way out was blocked. And these people couldn't get hurt for me.

"Yes", I said, smiling bravely. "When do I ever know not know".

I knew he could see through my false bravado but he didn't comment on it. He squeezed my fingers gently and let go of me. I missed his warm presence straight away but forced myself to keep quiet. Sighing, he tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ears and gave me a warm smile.

"You-" He started. "You don't have to be scared alone, just remember that".

He took a step back and turned to walk away.

Crack.

His body was flung to the side like he weighed nothing and he flew with a loud crash into the fence. He slumped down to the ground, his arm at an awkward angle and blood started to pour from a large, nasty gash on his forehead.

"Noooo!" I screamed.

In Luka's place stood Malik's lookalike who was examining me and grinning.

"Hello, little bird", he purred. "Missed me?"

My heart dropped so far down that my feet were frozen on the floor. I wanted to move, scream, run but I was cemented to the ground. I looked at Luka, crumpled on the side unconscious. The blood seeped out of his wound, a sea of red slowly advancing down his clothes.

I was about to run to him when I was reminded that I was not alone. The man took a stride forward towards me.

Run.

What about Luka?

You can't save him. You'll both just die. What can you even do? You're a Psychologist, not a Doctor. RUN.

Suddenly, my legs were able to work again. I stumbled back and slammed the door shut, activating all the locks. My back slid down the door until I was on my haunches. I couldn't stop my body from shivering.

Had he killed Luka? When he hit him, Luka must have flown at least a couple of metres back and hit the fence with enough force to break his arm. I couldn't get the sound his body made as it hit the fence out of my mind. It echoed through my head on repeat.

It's my fault. I should have forced him to go.

My hands pulled on my hair roughly as I sobbed silently to myself. Luka was always helping me, was always there for me. And now he was hurt because of me. My body painfully shook as I struggled to breathe. I was next. I was alone. I couldn't call anyone. I didn't want anyone to get hurt.

My phone buzzed with a notification; it was the family group chat. Ignoring the message, I looked at the profile picture of the chat and smiled at the family picture. My dad was grinning at my mum who looked at the camera straight-faced. I was sat, smiling as well. My grandparents sat elegantly and seriously. I looked at my Grandpa's toughened face and drew strength from it.

Although he was a distant figure and showed his love in a very strange way, he showed me support when no one else did. I could do this for him. I wasn't going to make it easy. I could take revenge on what he did to Luka, what he was doing to me and everything he had done to Malik.

Get a grip.

I felt a little knock on the door from outside and I shuffled away, my back straight with fear.

"Little bird, little bird, let me come in", he purred.

I stayed quiet.

"Else, I'll huff and puff and blow your house down", he sang.

I stayed quiet again, ignoring the vines of terror crawling up my skin.

"Please run", he drawled. "It makes it more exciting".

His words kicked me into action and I scrambled up. Oh, no, I wasn't going to run. I was strong. I had learned Muay Thai and practised regularly until I moved here. I couldn't beat him but I could take him by surprise. I heard silence from the other end, so I ran to the kitchen to prepare. Rather than taking the biggest knife as it would have been too heavy, I chose a medium size knife with a serrated edge and gripped it tightly.

I opened my phone again. The cameras were not picking him up. Was he going to wait for me to come out? I zoomed into Luka's body and breathed a sigh of relief. There was a barely perceptible rise and drop in his chest. He was still alive.

But not for long. He needs medical aid.

He needed help but after that man had gone so I opened my email and wrote an email to Karl explaining that Luka needed help as there had been an accident. Then I set a time delay. Karl would get the email in an hour. By then, I would either be dead, kidnapped or free.

I was safest here, so I was going to stay put.

I opened up the cameras again and felt my heart skip a beat. Three of the cameras showed me static. Now four. He was disabling my cameras. I flinched back as his face popped up onto the feed. He smirked into the lens and covered it and I heard a crunching noise from outside. He wasn't disabling them but crushing them with his hands, I noted with horror. I frantically checked again, but they were all filled with static.

I was in the dark.

I wrecked through my mind trying to think of the safest possible place to be. And then it hit me - the best vantage point was in the attic. I ran up there with my phone and the knife, trying to be as quiet as possible. I locked the door behind me and peered out of the window.

I stayed there for a bit, trying to catch the slightest of movement to no luck. Although I could see the whole garden clearly, I couldn't spot anything. Maybe I should climb onto the roof for a better view and wait there until-

I felt a heavy warm breath on my neck and froze. Someone was behind me. He was behind me.

"Boo", he whispered in my ear.

I jumped in shock and spun around. He stood less than a metre away, grinning wolfishly at me. He was just as muscular and tall as Malik and his frame took up a lot of space in the room. My eyes darted to the door. It was wide open behind him and the handle was broken. How did I not hear him come in?

My heart hammered in my chest and a slick of perspiration covered my forehead. I edged backwards slowly, the knife concealed behind my back. He needed to come closer, just by a little to be in striking distance.

Act scared and weak.

I didn't need to act much as I was terrified but I made my eyes well up with tears. His eyes glittered in the dark as he took in my distress and his smile deepened.

"Stay back", I stuttered, hoping he would come closer.

As planned, he stepped closer and I held my breath, willing my hand not to shake.

Just one more step closer, and I could use the knife.

I stepped backwards, and as I anticipated, he came even closer, too close.

"You're really pretty", he murmured, touching my face softly. "Malik always gets lucky".

Hearing Malik's name spun me into action. I lunged forward, angling the blade upwards and yanked the knife horizontally. The sound of flesh being ripped filled the room as the serrated blade tore through his neck, splashing blood all over my face. He looked at me in shock and stumbled backwards, pressing onto his neck. Blood trickled through his fingers and dripped on the floor as he collapsed.

The cut was through his Carotid Artery. He was bleeding out, rapidly.

"Help me", he gasped, reaching out for me.

I stared back numbly. Shock, adrenaline and a strange buzz overtook my system but strangely, there was no remorse. I felt almost detached as I stared at him bleeding out and coldly noted that it was a shame that the carpet was white.

His gasping breathes echoed through the room, each one sending a fresh wave of blood pouring out of the wound. He tried to speak again, but his words came out slurred. Blood started to pool in his mouth and he started to weakly choke. He was as good as dead. No, he was dead. A person would bleed out within a minute from a cut like that. His eyes watched me lifelessly, still pleading for mercy. It was too late anyway.

So I left. I closed the door behind me and numbly walked down the stairs.

I had just killed someone.

And I didn't even care.

Maybe, I was in shock. Or maybe, I was just incredibly cold-hearted. I ran the cold water tap in the kitchen and thoroughly scrubbed my face clean. The water, tinged with a pale red, washed away the remnants of the murder and I watched as it gradually drained away.

I filled a glass of cold water and stared out of the window. I had sliced through the Carotid Artery which meant he has bled out. As I took a sip, the cold water easing my parched throat, I wondered why sub-consciously I had chosen to go for his neck. Sub-consciously, I had decided to murder him and I didn't even realise. I acted on an impulse and after, I had a strange rush of adrenaline. It was starting to bother me how unbothered I was.

A movement in the corner of eyes caught my attention. I watched through the window in confusion as a dark shadow moved in the garden. What was that?

I studied the movement when suddenly, I realised that the garden was too dark for me to pick up movement. The dark outline was walking closer and closer when I registered that all I could see was a reflection of a kitchen. The outline was in the kitchen. It wasn't coming from in front of me. It was coming from behind me.

Sorry for the cliffhanger 🙏

I wasn't intending it to end like this, but randomly I thought, hey, someone needs to die.

Also, what do you think this mystery man's name is? (We need something to put on his grave)

You can thank @nettab50 for this early update BTW.

Question for today:

If you won an endless amount of money, what's the first thing you would do?

Final note: As much as I appreciate the new readers, I actually love seeing the regulars. I love seeing your comments and votes ❤️.
And @Bak0io is always the first, somehow.
So thank you Xx