Page 41 of Creep

Mael:What are you wearing?

I laughed.

Me:We’re not doing that

Mael:Doing what?

Me:Sexting

Mael:I would never

I shook my head. I could just picture that mischievous look on his face as he texted me.

Me:I’m going to bed now

Mael:Dream of me

Me:You wish

Mael:I do

I didn’t text him back, not knowing what to say to that.Dream of me?

Did I want him to dream about me? Did I want to dream about him?

Mael was good at making me forget about anything and everything that could be wrong in my life. He made me feel like I was living in a fairy tale, and while there might be dragons and evil stepmothers to contend with, I would always have my knight in shining armor to protect me, taking us to our very own happily ever after.

But life wasn’t a fairy tale.

Mine certainly wasn’t. And I still wasn’t sure if Mael could be my knight or my dragon. There was something about him that didn’t sit right with me. Or perhaps I was just projecting, trying to find an excuse as to why this wasn’t a good idea because I hated how much he was able to make me feel, and we hardly knew each other.

I put my phone down and reached for the lamp, shutting it off and bathing the room in darkness, save for a small sliver of moonlight peeking through the curtains.

My stalker was gone.

Perhaps… he was harmless. Perhaps he was nothing more than a Peeping Tom, and now that he was able to… towatchme shower, he’d gotten bored and had moved on and would leave me alone.

I hated the fact that he had seen me that way, hated how disgusted I still felt from the memory, but if it was a trade-off for him to just disappear from my life for good, I would take it.

I closed my eyes.

The last thought I had before I succumbed to sleep was, I really hoped that was the case.

* * *

I was in my apartment,only… it didn’t feel like my apartment.

It was too big to be my apartment, but the furniture was mine, the appliances were the ones from my place, and even that small scratch on the wall from when I first moved in was there. I was standing in the middle of my living room, and I was terrified.

I looked around the space, everything telling me I needed to leave, to get out, or hell, at least go hide, but my legs felt like they were glued to the floor.

I was stuck, unable to move.

I opened my mouth to call out for help, but no sound came out.

Why couldn’t I talk?

I tried again.

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