The moment I wake, I know that someone has been in my room again. The first clue is the cold draft from the open window, and the second is the fact there's another white rose on my bedside table. He certainly hadn't wasted any time after the Agent Callaway's visit, that's for sure.

I flip on the lamp sitting on my bedside table and toss the rose in the garbage. I know Callaway would want me to keep it for evidence, but I don't think I can stand to look at it for any longer than five seconds.

Then, as I reach over to turn the light off again, my eyes catch the corner of another slip of paper, which had been half-concealed by the rose. Frowning, I scoop it off the table and open the creases; it's almost like deja vu.

My breath catches in my throat as I read the message, printed carefully in red ink, just like his last letter.

'Your mother knows why.'

Your mother knows why...what does that mean? I don't know how to interpret it. Is he talking about the date he left me in our last phone conversation? June 20th, 2000?

Shakily, I stuff the note under my pillow. I should at least show the letter to Callaway...considering I'm not going to mention anything more about the roses.

I check my phone, looking for the time. It's then that I notice I had received a text around midnight, and I can't resist checking it.

"Crap," I whisper when it brings up an unknown number. The message sends shivers down my spine, the hairs of my neck stick up straight on my skin. Two taunts in one night...good luck trying to sleep Melanie.

'You look so beautiful when you sleep...has anyone ever told you that?'

Deleting the message quickly, I turn off the light and hide under the covers, praying for morning to come soon.

•••

It's hard not to question Mom about the note the next morning. During breakfast, she doesn't talk, making it even harder to keep quiet. I need more information before I talk to her about it...I'm hoping my stalker will allow a few more things to slip out about that night he desperately wants me to know about. For some reason, I feel it may have something to do with my father, but I can't be sure.

A few hours later, Mom announces she's going for a walk. After yesterday's chat, I am not allowed to leave the house at all, no matter the circumstances. Yes, I had pointed out I would need to leave the house if there was a fire, but Mom only glared at me.

"Okay, I'll be here," I mutter from the sofa.

She gives me a hard look. "No visitors. If I see that boy Xander here ever again--"

"--Mom," I interrupt. "It's Xavier, not Xander."

I know I ticked her off when she grits her teeth together. "I don't care what his name is. You are not to come within twenty feet of that boy, do you understand?"

I sigh, "Yes, Mom."

She leaves a couple minutes after that, and I decide to text Xavier, asking him how he's doing. With Mom out of the house, I haven't the need to look over my shoulder all the time. I don't care about the fact she doesn't want me talking to him, it's my life.

Xavier texts back a few minutes later.

'Hey, I'm pretty good, how about you?'

I quickly type a text saying that I'm okay, and go back to watching a TV show on rehabilitating animals. I am in no mood to be watching some of my favourite crime shows, considering I'm living in one all my own.

A veterinarian is just in the middle of examining a dog that had been hit by a small car when Xavier texts me back.

'That's good...are you busy?'

Mom's words come back into my head as I pick up Xavier's hint. He wants to hang out, and she specifically said I couldn't before leaving on her walk. Sighing, I reply to his text, telling him that I'm cleaning the house. I feel bad lying, but if Mom found out I was gone when she came back, she'd have my head on a stick.

He replies with an okay that makes my heart drop into my stomach. I text back an apology, even though I want to hang out with him. It'd take the pressure from the past few days off of my shoulders.

Then, he says, 'It's fine, what have you been up to for the past couple days?'

I pause before replying. I haven't done much except for meet with an FBI agent, think about my stalker and what he's trying to tell me, and worry about receiving more flowers and notes, all of which I cannot tell him.

'Nothing really, how about you?'

Xavier doesn't text back for around five minutes, not that I'd been counting of course. When he finally does, it's a measly: 'Nothing much.'

I sigh, and return to the TV program.

Around a half-hour later, Mom gets back from her walk. She barely says hello to me before heading to her room, shutting the door tightly behind her. In her hand, I thought I'd seen a letter of some sort, but I couldn't tell for sure. Whatever it was, she seems pretty shaken up about it.

Curiously, I sneak down the hallway, pressing my ear up against the door. I hear a faint shuffling of papers and ripping noises, but nothing more. I can't go inside to check on her either, because she had so conveniently locked me out.

Damn it Mom, I think to myself, stepping away from the door.

I decide that I have to do some investigating later, find out what she had carried into her room, and why she was so freaked out. For now, all I can do is wait.

Suddenly, as I'm trying to sneak back down the hallway, my phone rings loudly, warning that Xavier has texted me again. I try to silence it, but by the time I do, Mom has thrown open the door. She spots me almost immediately, her eyes flashing with fury. "Were you spying on me, Skylar?"

I quickly shake my head, "No, Mom, I was just going to the bathroom." I nod towards the bathroom door, praying that she buys my story.

For a few seconds, she only looks at me. Then, she glances to the phone in my hand. "Who texted you?"

I stiffen, my fingers tightening around my phone. "Nobody, I just got a notification...you know, from a game."

I can tell she doesn't believe me. "Give it to me, Skylar."

Crap.

"No," I quickly say, "there's nothing for you to see."

She takes a step towards me. "Then it should be easy for you to let me look."

I step back. "Mom, seriously, it's nothing."

"Melanie," she hisses. "Give me your phone now."

What am I supposed to say to her? If she finds out I've been texting Xavier, I'd be screwed beyond belief. I can't let her see the texts...so how do I delete them?

Slowly, I flip my phone so the screen is facing away from Mom and press the home screen button.

_________________________________________________________________

Wow, what an eventful chapter!! Haha!

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