Page 33 of Psycho

He slammed his lips against mine once more, and I could taste a slight metallic taste on my tongue. I pushed back toward the door, trying to get away from him.

When it didn’t seem like he was going to move away, I moved my hand between us and pushed the palm of my hand up his neck.

He cried out and pulled away from me, anger blazing in his eyes.

I didn’t wait for him to say or do anything.

I reached back for the handle and opened the door, falling on the ground. I quickly got to my feet and ran off.

I heard his car door slam behind me, and a part of me was afraid he had gotten out and was going to chase me in the dark mountains. But moments later, his engine growled, and I knew he was driving off, leaving me here.

Fuck.

“Enjoy the walk home, bitch!” he shouted out as he drove off.

I turned around and watched as the taillights of his car flashed red before it disappeared from view, leaving me reeling over all that had just happened.

I should be surprised about that, but I wasn’t.

I wondered what it really said about me that I was with him in the first place, and if things hadn’t happened the way they did tonight, I would have continued to be with him.

And now I was stranded after dark, with no way to get home but to walk, after being assaulted and yet not feeling anything.

I might be in shock, or numb to it all.

Or hell, perhaps I was handling this so well because it was nothing compared to the shit I went through yesterday with my father.

I didn’t know which of those things was the least bad.

I shook my head and brushed off some of the dirt on my jeans away, and using my phone’s flashlight, I slowly made the slow trek down the mountains.

There was no cell signal in this part of the mountain, and even if there was, I didn’t have any money on me to actually order a car.

Perhaps I could call for a taxi when I got closer to the city and convince the driver I had cash at home and could pay him then.

That seemed like a better alternative to walking, but right now…

I was stuck doing it.

I didn’t know how long I had been walking for. I was barely paying attention to where I was going, having seen Garrett take this road home many times in his car, my mind running about a million miles an hour.

I thought about all I wanted in life, and how each thought just made the weight in my stomach feel heavier and heavier from the hopelessness of it all.

I thought about my stalker.

I wondered which would be worse, for me to walk the entire way home in the middle of the night or for my stalker to show up suddenly and offer me a ride home.

I shook away the silly thought.

I doubted the last thing I needed was a ride home from my stalker.

But whoever he was, the only thing he had done in the last three years was to leave white roses around for me to find.

How dangerous could the man possibly be?

Or perhaps I had really lost it now to think of my stalker as someone nice.

I stopped when I finally got down the mountain and found the road that would lead to home, bending down and resting my hands on my knees to catch my breath.

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