I freeze in place when I hear his voice. My hands curl into fists to use as weapons, and I slowly turn around to meet the person who's been stalking me. He's standing several feet away from me and I immediately begin to walk backward to create distance between us. How long has he been following me? How did I not know?

"Get away from me," I say confidently, hoping he doesn't notice the trembling in my hands. My hands may be balled into tight fists, but I don't know how to use them if I need to. I figure I'll kick, scream and thrash around with panic if he tries anything. The man appears to be in his early forties. He has dark short hair with stubble lining his jaw. His dark eyes narrow in my direction and he takes a step forward. He's much taller than me which means he towers over me with his height. "Stay away!" I yell at him while extending my hand to keep him at a distance. The man doesn't say much, but his eyes tell me everything I need to know. He doesn't have good intentions.

"Why are you out here alone, Emily? You shouldn't be alone." The man questions me, acting like we're familiar with each other. I stare back at him in disbelief. Chills cover my body, and I feel the moisture strip from my mouth. My heart thuds away in my ears and I force myself to remain calm so I can get out of here alive. "Who are you? What do you want with me?" I snap back at him. I've never seen this man before in my life. I would remember the darkness in his eyes and the intimidation he radiates from his presence.

"I know your father," the man tells me quietly. It feels like all of the air is knocked out of my lungs."My father is dead," I respond bluntly. Does he have me mistaken with somebody else? His dark eyes cloud with emotion, and he begins shaking his head repeatedly. "No, no, no." The man says over and over again. I feel the urge to flee, but I know he's going to chase me if I start running now. I slowly reach into my pocket for my cell phone when the man's dark eyes narrow in on my hand.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," he warns me with darkness in his voice. I feel a whimper of fear build in the back of my throat and I drop my hand from retrieving my phone. How am I going to get away from him? "I don't know you. Please leave me alone," I whisper while keeping my hand outstretched. He doesn't make another attempt to approach me, but it doesn't ease the panic bubbling away in the pit of my stomach.

"I can't do that, Emily. I can't leave you alone. Not now," the man says with a distant look in his eyes. As soon as the words leave his lips, I turn around to bolt in the direction I came from. I'm not hanging around to be murdered in the woods by a crazy man. I run as fast as I can physically go. I hear footsteps approaching me from behind, so I begin screaming for help.

"Help! Somebody help me!" I scream at the top of my lungs. The footsteps behind me quickly stop, but I don't slow down my pace to check if he's still following me. I run until fire explodes in my lungs and it feels like I'm running out of air. I don't stop running until I'm safely back at Jake's house. I slam the door shut behind me before sliding down to the floor. My legs feel paralysed and I'm gasping for breath. "What happened to you?" Tobias calls out to me. He's standing in the middle of the stairs and he's looking at me with an arched brow. I gasp for breath before pointing at the door.

"T-there's a man out there! He was following me." I explain, feeling like I'm on the verge of a panic attack. Tobias' eyes cloud with darkness and he rushes toward the front door before throwing it open. He scans the surroundings with his shoulders squared, ready for a confrontation. I remain on the floor with the stranger's face firmly planted in my thoughts. His eyes were emotionless and I shiver at the possibilities of what could have been if I didn't run away from him.

Once Tobias is satisfied nobody is around, he storms inside the house before dropping down in front of me. His dark eyes scan my face. "What did he look like? Describe him to me," Tobias urges me. I shake my head before gesturing at my chest. I need a moment to catch my breath before I'm able to speak. Tobias whips out his phone before holding it to his ear. His chocolate brown eyes remain fixed on me the entire time. He doesn't make an attempt to help me, but his eyes flash with concern. I hear a muffled voice come from the other end of Tobias' phone.

"You should come home, Emily needs you." Tobias says quietly. I want to open my mouth to reassure him I'm okay, but I'm left visibly shaken from the interaction. I figured the stalker would eventually get bored and go away, but I was deeply mistaken. Tobias ends the call before sliding his phone into his jacket pocket. He drops down on the floor opposite me before resting his forearms on his knees. "Jake will be here soon and he'll deal with it," Tobias tells me. I nod my head before dropping my gaze to the floor. Now that I'm not running away from a creepy stalker, I feel the embarrassment hit me. I don't want to be gasping for breath in front of Tobias Melvin. I bury my face in my hands before forcing myself to calm down. I'm safe now. I managed to get away.

"I think he's linked to Trevor," I tell Tobias, feeling the need to get the information off my chest. The stalker and Trevor radiate the same energy. It wouldn't surprise me if Trevor paid someone to stalk me and watch my every move before reporting it back to him. If that was true, why would the stalker speak about my father? That part doesn't make sense. Tobias' brows knit together with confusion. "Trevor?" He questions me. It dawns on me that Tobias has no idea why I'm living with Jake, or who I'm running from.

"My step-father," I mumble an explanation. I know it isn't enough information for Tobias to figure out what I'm saying, but I don't feel ready to give him all of the details. Tobias' dark eyes linger on the bruises on my arms. I quickly draw them into my chest to cover them. His expression remains still. "Your step-father hurt you," Tobias comments. I turn my head away from him so he doesn't see the pain etched into my face. When people hear about Trevor, it automatically makes me feel weak. I don't like to be viewed as vulnerable, even though that's exactly what I am.

"I don't want to talk about it," I mutter. Telling the people closest to me about Trevor was hard, but telling Tobias about him feels impossible. We share no common ground beside two people who live together. "Okay, so don't talk about it." Tobias responds, sounding completely unbothered at my unwillingness to share. My gaze flickers over to him, and it's when I notice the cut embedded into his hand. My eyes grow wide at the sight of it.

"You're hurt, Tobias." I say, pointing at his hand. What was he doing to sustain an injury like that? Tobias lifts his hand to inspect the cut before shrugging in response. "It's an old cut that keeps reopening. It won't heal properly," Tobias says casually. The blood is drying up on his hand and the wound appears to be angry. "How did you get it?" I question him.

"Doing something I shouldn't have been doing," Tobias responds with honesty. He doesn't try to hide the fact he's involved in something dangerous but I like that about him. He's brutally honest. "Do you have a first aid kit? I could patch it up for you. You should treat it before it gets infected," I say to him. Tobias' dark eyes linger on my face before he slowly stands to his feet.

"Okay." He wanders off before returning with a first aid kit. He drops down in front of me by the front door before extending out his hand. I pull open the first aid box before pulling out of all the equipment I'll need. I'm grateful for the distraction. Patching up his hand forces me to concentrate, which helps take my mind off the stalker incident. Tobias isn't a man of many words, so we sit in silence as I help him.

When I reach for his hand, I feel his dark eyes flick up to watch me. His stare remains on my face the entire time I work. I finish wrapping the gauze around his hand before securing it in place. A smile of satisfaction spreads across my lips. "There you go. It should heal in a few days as long as you keep it clean and change the dressing."

He examines his hand before looking up at me with gratitude. "Thanks," Tobias mutters quietly. I feel warmth spread through my cheeks when he praises me, and I hope the interaction has worked in my favour so I can build some sort of friendship with him. It would be nice to be around him without feeling discomfort. The front door suddenly opens and Jake enters the house with urgency. He stops in the doorway and blinks in surprise when he finds me and Tobias sitting on the floor with a first aid box between us. "What's going on?" Jake asks. Tobias holds up his hand before standing to his feet.

"She wrapped up my hand," Tobias states bluntly before walking away. Jake's eyes follow his cousin up until the point he disappears into the kitchen. There's a brewing look inside his eyes, almost as if he doesn't trust Tobias. Once he's gone, Jake drops down beside me. His blue eyes scan over my face with concern —

"What happened, Wentworth? Are you hurt?" Jake asks me. I shake my head before exhaling a deep breath. I didn't want to tell Jake about the stalker, but now I'm left with no choice. He needs to know in case anything terrible happens to me. "I'm being followed," I say to Jake. "By who?" Jake asks me while looking furious and concerned at the same time. I pull out my phone before showing Jake the text messages from the stalker. They're from the day I was sitting in Lulu's coffee shop. Jake's eyes scan over the screen and he inhales a deep breath. He grabs hold of the phone before scrolling through the chat.

"Why didn't you tell me about this?" Jake asks me. "I thought it was a prank until he followed me on the nature trail. He told me he knows my father," I say to Jake.

"Is he talking about Trevor?" Jake asks me. I shrug my shoulders because I have no clue what the stalker wants, or who he is. Fear of the unknown is a strong emotion. It brews inside me, and the more I think about the situation, the deeper it becomes. It makes me feel paranoid, leaving me wondering if I'm being watched at every moment. "I have no idea." I whisper with honesty. It would make sense for him to be linked to Trevor, but what could he possibly want with me? Would Trevor go through all of this trouble just to rattle me?

"Leave it with me. I'll find out who he is," Jake tells me quietly. He pulls out his phone before taking a picture of my phone screen with the text messages. "What will you do when you find him?" I ask quietly. Jake turns to look at me, and I can sense from his posture he doesn't want to be honest with me. He clears his throat before tearing his eyes off me. "It's better if you don't know."