Page 67 of Creep

And angry.

Why couldn’t he just leave me alone?

For the first time since I felt him get into bed with me, I turned around to face him. I knew the move surprised him because he held still. It was too dark to make out his face, and a part of me was tempted to reach over to the lamp and turn it on, but the other part was afraid he might just kill me if I found out what he looked like. And something told me he was faster than me.

He was certainly stronger.

“Well,” I said, feigning bravery. The anger was able to cover up the tremors in my voice. “Aren’t you going to talk?”

I didn’t know how I knew this, but he was grinning at me.

I shuddered and moved back. He wrapped his arms around my middle to keep me from moving further away from him. I closed my eyes, my fear warring with my anger.

“What do you want me to say?” he asked. Much to my disappointment, his voice wasn’t familiar to me. I didn’t know him. I just thought… if he was stalking me like this, then we probably had met somewhere, hadn’t we?

But if we hadn’t officially met, then he was stalking me… becomingobsessedwith me after only seeing me on the street once?

I rubbed my hand down my face in frustration.

“What do you want with me?” I asked. “Why can’t you just leave me alone?”

I was feeling brave. Or perhaps stupid, but I didn’t think he would hurt me. If he wanted to hurt me, he would have done it already. But all he’d done was hold me in the night and disappear before the sun was up, leaving no trace of him behind save for a faint scent on the bedsheets.

“I can’t leave you alone,” he said, his voice rough. My heart dropped from his confession. He was telling me things I had already guessed, but there was a finality to his words that left me feeling hopeless.

He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. The move was surprisingly gentle. Still, I flinched. Anger had made me brave, but hopelessness had brought my fear back tenfold. He was still a stranger who had access to my apartment.

Tears burned my eyes.

He leaned down and kissed my cheeks. I let out a stuttered breath. “You belong to me, and that’s all there is to it.”

“Are you… are you going to hurt me?” I asked.

He didn’t say anything for a long moment. Then, “I would never hurt you.”

I didn’t believe him.

He got up.

I flinched, but all he did was leave.

I knew he wasn’t coming back—tonight.

But he would be back soon.

And I didn’t know what to do anymore.

* * *

I hadn’t sleptsince he left my apartment. I sat on my bed and stared at the wall. I was still doing that when dawn broke and sunlight crept in through the open blinds in my room.

My alarm blared sometime after eight, and I reached to turn it off.

I moved on autopilot. I didn’t give myself time to think or delve into my situation. I thought if I did, I might just lose it, and the last thing I wanted was to lose it.

I grabbed my phone from the nightstand and pulled up Mael’s contact.

My lips trembled. I shouldn’t be this affected.

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