Page 19 of Stalking My Stalker

She’s the light of my life. The sun that cuts through the clouds. When I first saw her, I was instantly overwhelmed by her beauty. Her essence. She captured me like a fish caught in a net. And now that we’ve been together and I finally have her, I know I can never be without her.

I arrive at her school only to find that her class ended early today, which means she’s either already home or on her way. I catch her friends, Amy and Christa, eyeing me from the café. Did Ali tell them about us? The way they’re looking at me could mean two things: either Ali showed them a picture of me–which would be surprising—or she told them about me and described me to them, and they’re wondering if I’m the guy she was talking about.

I’m pretty sure it’s the second option.

To the best of my knowledge, Ali doesn’t have any photos of me. And if she does, they’re ones she took while stalking me from a distance. And those would be weird photos to show to her girlfriends to prove you have a new boyfriend. It’s more likely she just told them about me and what I look like. I’m sure she’llintroduce me to them some day, and I’ll have to do all I can to act like the nice, normal boyfriend she’s probably convinced them I am.

I’m grinning as I hop back in the car and drive over to her place. Will I stake out her apartment from the vacant house and sneak in later? Or will I go up early so we can have dinner together? Such a tough decision to make. I love it when Ali cooks for me, and I’ve been promising to help her out more in the kitchen. We even joked about me being her sous chef. Maybe I’ll finally follow through on that this evening.

I park just down the block from Ali’s. No need to be discreet now. I feel like a big, white, puffy cloud as I walk up the sidewalk. Things could not be better. I found the girl of my dreams, and not only are we made for each other, I was able to confess the sins of my past life to her. And she accepted them. She accepted the new me. The man whose duty it is now to protect her. To make her happy.

I’m thinking about all the fun we’re going to have this evening as I walk up to her apartment, but when I reach it, I see her car is not in the driveway.

This makes no sense.

She’s not at school, and she’s not with her friends. Where else would she be right now?

Panic floods my chest, but I do my best to push it down.Be calm. Breathe. There’s a perfectly rational explanation for this.Maybe she just went out to the store to pick up some ingredients for tonight. I’ll just give her a quick call. I do have her phone number now, after all.

I take a deep breath and press her name, locked to the top of my contacts list.

Straight to voicemail.

“What the hell?”

I press her name again. And again, it goes straight to voicemail.

Now the panic is really starting to set in. I look up at her window, and for the first time since I laid eyes on her, the blinds are all closed. Adrenaline floods my veins, and I sprint through the front door and race up the stairs to her unit. The door is open, and I quickly rush inside, only to find the place a complete mess.

Remnants of Ali’s things are strewn all over. Papers, receipts, socks, and shoes, even the most recent book from her favorite fantasy series that I bought her last week. The furniture is still there. The coffee table, her couch, dining room table, and chairs.

“Ali!” I bellow as I race into the bedroom, only to find the bed stripped of its sheets and blankets. Her closet and drawers are nearly completely empty. My body goes tense. My danger instincts kick into high gear.

What the hell is going on?

Could she have been kidnapped?

No. If that were the case, why would her clothes and bedsheets be gone? To make it look like she just packed up and left so no one would suspect foul play?

The only other option is one I’m not prepared to face.

The possibility that Ali left me.

Clutching my chest and gasping for air, I dial Ali’s number again, only for it to go straight to voicemail. “Fuck!” I rage, fighting the urge to hurl my phone straight through the wall.

Battling off an onslaught of terrible thoughts, I race back downstairs and outside into a torrential downpour. A rain shower that came out of nowhere and darkened the sky. I’m soaked through in an instant. But I don’t care. I have to find Ali. Even if that means driving around all night. I won’t sleep. If my worst fear has come true, and she’s left me, I have to know why. I need to look her in the eyes and hear it straight from her.

I start toward my car but stop when something on the ground catches my eye. I kneel down and grasp it, lifting it to my eyes.

A black T-shirt for this local band Ali loves, Sunny Side Up. They played a show last week, and I bought it for her on the way in. She wore it the entire performance. Then I took her home and made love to her while she wore it.

And now I find it lying on the pavement, soaked with rain…

“She left you, Parker.” It’s Janice’s voice. I hear it, but I’m not ready to respond yet. Waves of shock have gripped me, and I’m barely even able to raise my head and look up at her.

She’s wearing a sheer green dress and a pair of black heels and is holding a black umbrella over her head. For some reason, she’s smiling at me.

“What…?”

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