Page 7 of Vicious Little Darling

My alarm pierces the silence of my bedroom and I startle awake, shooting straight up in bed. I suck in a sharp breath, and run my hands over my face. Sleep didn’t come easily last night—not with that creepy masked man who had followed me to my apartment and came out of the shadows, but…

There’s nothing I can do about it. Honestly, it was probably a one-time thing, just some guy out to scare people for no reason. Stranger things have happened in this city. I mean, hecould’vegotten me if he’d wanted to. The stand-off we’d had at the front door of my apartment was tense, but the guy didn’t lunge or come at me at all.

You’re just trying to justify not telling anyone, aren’t you?The intrusive thought has me sighing as I climb out of bed and get ready for my shift at the bookstore. I pad to the bathroom, the image of that skeleton mask lingering in my mind. I shudder as I start the shower and step under the water, before washing myself quickly.

Fifteen minutes later, I’m ready to go. I am wearing a pair of dark jeans and a Beauty and the Beast book-themed shirt with the wordsHidden Booksscrawled across the front. It’s a lame shirt, but it is what it is. I run my fingers through my damp locks, decide I’ll make a cup of coffee once I get to work, and then slip out into the hallway.

“I tell you what,” a voice startles me, but I instantly recognize it as my nosy neighbor, Rose. “This side of town just gets worse and worse.”

“I’m not surprised,” I mutter, trying to slip past her as she tinkers outside of her door. “This area isn’t a great one.”

“Hmm,” she huffs. “I’d think you’d be more concerned knowing there’s some creep wandering around the building and trying to spot you. Not to mention, the nerve of that man.” She shakes her head. “He tried to tell me that he was one of your friends, but I ain’t ever seen one of your friends that looked like that.”

I freeze, spinning around to face her. “Did he have a mask on?”

Rose makes a face at me. “No, if he had, I’d have called the cops or tasered him right on the spot.”

I sigh with relief. “Oh, well, whatdidhe look like?” Part of me is picturing Josh, just making sure that I made it home safely. I wouldn’t put it past him. However, Rose would probably recognize him.

“He looked like a pretty boy.”

My heart stops. “Black hair?”

She shrugs. “Hard to say. He had a hood up, but I told him not to come around here no more.”

My stomach churns, but I force a smile. Maybe it’s nothing… “Thanks, Rose. I’ll keep a lookout.”

“You oughta have a taser,” she responds, not a hint of a smile on her face. “That’s what you really need.”

“I can’t afford one,” I laugh. “I can barely afford to eat most days. I have pepper spray anyway.”

Rose just stares at me for a few seconds, her expression unreadable, before muttering something under her breath and disappearing into her apartment. I’m left standing in the hallway, checking my phone for the time. Ireallyneed to get going to make it to work, and I don’t have time to wonder if Rose is—or isn’t—going to reappear from her neighboring apartment.

I shake my head as if it’ll rid me of the unease I am feeling and head down the stairs to the building’s exit. My footsteps freeze as I make it a few feet from the glass door, and my heart thrums in my head as I suddenly picture that guy with his hands against the glass…

And hislaugh.

A chill runs down my spine, but I shove it off. Creepier things have happened in the city, and it’s not the first time some weirdo has tried to make a move on me. Besides, it’s almost eight-thirty, so the streets are busy. I shove through the door and step out into the sunlight.

My Converse pound the pavement as I head towards work, maintaining a faster pace than usual. It’s a crisp autumn day, but that doesn’t stop the sweat from beading up along my hairline. The air feels charged, even though I know that’s just in my head. There’s no way the masked guy hung around all night, so he could follow me to work almost twelve hours later.

I’m fine. I’m fine.I repeat the words in my head as soon as the bookstore comes into view. I rush for the large white wooden doors and slip inside, breathing a sigh of relief.

“You look strained,” Rich, the owner, looks up from the front counter, his brows furrowed. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, sure,” I say quickly, walking to the back. I slip through the door, hang up my purse and jacket, and then return to the front of the store. We don’t open until nine, and according to my phone, that means we still have fifteen minutes.

“You’re positive you’re okay?” Rich inquires again as I start a batch of coffee. I like Rich, even if Josh doesn’t. He’s like the older brother I never had. He comes from a small trust fund—which is what he used to open the book store—and his upper crust upbringing shows in his close-knit, rich friends. However, he’s always at work, hiding behind his Gucci glasses and slightly graying blonde hair.

“I’m fine. I just overslept.”

He narrows his eyes at me as I straighten up the new release shelf. “You’re not even close to being late.”

“Because I basically ran here,” I joke, shrugging my shoulders. “Is Megan working today?”

He shakes his head. “Nah, she’s going part-time. I can’t afford to give her the raise she wants.” His face looks resigned for a moment, but then he shifts it to more of a smile. “I think it’ll be fine though. I’m going to try some new marketing strategies to hopefully up the traffic in the store.”

“Yeah, that would be cool.” My words come out almost without thinking, as my mind shifts back to the guy outside of my apartment.Maybe I should get a second job and move to a better part of town.

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