The pounding of feet hitting the asphalt behind me in the middle of the night is enough to make anyone have a heart attack. Sweat drips down from my hairline, soaking my face in warm water. I need to get out of here...but how?

"Please, help me!" I scream into the darkness as I turn another corner. The footsteps are getting louder, which means that he's getting closer.

"No," I whisper, shaking my head. I' m too tired to run any longer, and my body is beginning to betray me. Slowing to a halt, I hold myself up by pressing my hand against a nearby wall. A few seconds after calming my breathing down however, a hand wraps around my arm, yanking me to the ground.

"No, let me go!" I scream in terror.

"It's almost time Melanie," my stalker whispers in my ear, ignoring my pleas. "The plan is close to being complete."

I squirm from under the weight of his body, my breath coming in short gasps. The asphalt that he has me pinned down to scratches at my upper back, but I try to ignore the stinging feeling it brings. "Stop!" I cry, "Get off of me!"

The man's hooded face leans down closer to mine, his warm, but terrible smelling breath fanning me. I attempt to turn my head, disgusted by his closeness, but he grabs my chin with his rough fingers, keeping me from doing so. "Now Mel, you mustn't be scared of me. I'm only trying to take you away from that piece-of-shit mother of yours."

"No," I scream, "leave me alone!"

"Melanie," he warns, his grip on my arm tightening. I wince as his nails dig into my flesh. "You know I can't do that. I love you, and I can't let you go, not when I almost have you."

A tear slips down my cheek. The throbbing feeling in my arm doesn't go away even after he loosens his grip. I squeeze my eyes shut, wanting to wake up from this terrifying nightmare.

"Mom, help me," I whisper in despair.

I feel a sudden stinging in my cheek as my head whips to the side. I let go a small cry of pain as I realize what he had done. He just hit me.

"You bitch," he mutters. "I'm trying to help you and you're still crying for her!" When he slaps me again, he forces me to look at him.

"Don't worry," he says, "I know how to fix that."

Before I can find out what he means by 'fixing it', I wake. Sweat soaks my loose T-shirt so it clings to my torso. At first, I can't make out anything with my blurry vision. The bright lights don't seem to help either, and I can still feel the throbbing feeling in my cheek, although it's fading quickly.

Rubbing my eyes repeatedly, I sit up. When my vision finally clears, the back of my head burns in panic, and I scream in terror.

Crimson stains the pure white walls of the room, spelling out one word over and over again. It's only a few seconds later that Mom bursts through the door, her eyes widened in worry. Just as she is about to ask what's wrong, her milk glass she had in her hands moment earlier drops, exploding all over the carpet. "Melanie," she murmurs, her gaze going from worried to terrified. "Come, now."

•••

We wait outside of the house for the rest of the morning as Agent Callaway and his agents hurry over. When Mom called Callaway with my phone, we'd been instructed to lock the door and wait in the driveway, just in case my stalker was still inside.

I shiver, my bare legs gaining goosebumps. I hadn't had time to grab a pair of shorts when Mom pulled me outside, so I only have a long T-shirt to cover me. I can't help but think it's going to be extremely awkward to talk to the police.

Eventually, after what seems like forever, cop cars pull up to the house, their sirens blaring. I stay where I am, with the longer grass tickling my feet. Mom doesn't move either, she only looks ahead to the small swarm of police and agents exiting the vehicles.

Officer Jenkins is the first one to come over to us. He doesn't seem the least bit concerned by the current situation; it's almost like he knew it was going to happen.

Then, I spot Agent Callaway and a few agents exit their respective vehicles. Callaway immediately walks over to where Mom, Officer Jenkins, and I stand, his face grim. "I see you did what I asked?"

I nod, swallowing as I think about that word...was it actually written in blood? It definitely had the same hue as blood, and I actually wouldn't put it past my stalker. He seems to be about as sick as they come.

Mom shakes Agent Callaway's hand. "We locked ourselves outside the moment you told us to."

Callaway nods curtly, and I notice Jenkins listening intently to the conversation, his eyes never leaving Mom. I become uneasy under his gaze. Jenkins' words from the last time we spoke come back to me, and I try to figure out how he could be my stalker. I did this with everyone I had seen in the past few months, except for Mom. The closest she could come to actually being my stalker is aiding them along, telling them where we were.

"What exactly happened?" Callaway asks, snapping me out of my thoughts.

I hesitate before answering him. "I--woke up from a nightmare and saw red all over my wall...it almost looked like blood, but I couldn't check to make sure before we had to leave. The strokes spelled out a word over and over again."

"What did it say?" Jenkins questions, his eyes glinting in curiosity.

I bite my lip. "It said 'soon', but it wasn't only one time. There must be a hundred of them or more."

Agent Callaway nods back to his agents. "Go check out the house."

I watch them draw their guns, walking up the steps to the door. One pulls out the extra key to the house that Agent Callaway owns and unlocks the door. They pile inside quickly, investigating every inch of the house before inspecting my room. I hope they find something on my stalker to track, but I know it's highly unlikely, because I know he is better than that at covering his tracks. He'd been doing it for a while now. Not even a fingerprint has ever been recovered. Even then, he probably wouldn't be in their database anyway.

"Did you see the person who trashed your room at all? Even a glimpse will help figure out who they could be," Callaway tells me. His eyes are dark, analyzing me once again. I bite my lip before replying.

"No, I was asleep the whole time."

He nods, but doesn't seem extremely convinced. "Okay, do you have anything else to say, or is that all, Skylar?"

I glance to Mom for a moment and say, "No, I'm good."

I then notice Officer Jenkins giving me an expression that I can't recognize. It seems to be a mixture of glee and something else I can't figure out. Deciding to ignore it, I walk away from Callaway and Jenkins, heading over to the other side of the property. Just as I'm about to sit down on the grass, my phone rings in my pocket. Hesitantly, I pull it out. It's Xavier.

I pick it up, wondering why he'd be calling me. He knows we can't call each other during the day, unless I call, because Mom could be listening in. "Hello?"

"Oh my god, are you okay Skylar?" I hear him say, worry laced throughout his voice.

I whisper a curse under my breath when I realize he's seen the cops. "Yes, I'm fine."

He lets out a huff of air. "What's going on? There are cops all over the place!"

I bite my lip, trying to decide whether or not to finally trust him and tell him everything. If I don't, I truthfully don't what he'd do. My worst fear is him not wanting to speak to me anymore, but that could still happen, no matter if I tell him or not. Finally, I say, "I can't tell you now. Meet me at the park tonight at nine."

"Alright, just...stay safe," he tells me quietly.

"I will," I reply.

_________________________________________________________________

Oh my god...I'm so sorry for updating late. My power went out just as I was about to post the chapter, literally!

I know these chapters have been terrible, but I am going to edit them like crazy for when the Watty Awards begin :)

New update comes Wednesday!

Please Comment/Vote/Follow!

xXAmy_CXx