Page 23 of Lights Out

NO.

DUDE.

NO.

YOU BETTER NOT HAVE.

She marched straight into her bedroom with the device aimed.

Welp, here goes my last way to monitor her in her house,I thought.

It took less than a minute for her to find the camera I planted, and when she did, she just stood in front of it, staring for so long that I started to get nervous.

Unable to stand it any longer, I picked up my phone.

Say something,I typed.

She glanced at her phone screen and then back at the camera. “The other night, after you sent me that video. Did you –” She snapped her mouth shut like she couldn’t bring herself to finish the sentence.

Aly, no,I said, feeling desperate. I wanted her to be afraid of me, but not like this.I stopped.

“I don’t believe you,” she said, so low I barely heard it.

Fuck, I was starting to lose her, wasn’t I?

And you don’t have any reason to,I typed.But I’m still telling you I stopped.

“Have you been watching me change and sleep and…”

No. My moral compass might not point north, but it’s not that fucked up.

“Why should I believe you?”

I sighed, wanting to convince her but knowing that wasn’t the right move. As far as she knew, I was a stranger on the internet.

You shouldn’t, Aly.

She let out a low noise of frustration and shook her head. “Fuck.”

As I watched, she yanked the camera from the socket, and even though I knew it was coming, I wasn’t ready for the sense of loss that punched through me.

I don’t want to hurt you,I told her, knowing I might regret it when this all went to shit, and she finally reported me.

Didn’t you just imply I’d be an idiot to believe you?she responded.

I suppose I had.

Her “online” notification cut off as she logged out of the app.

This was fine. I’d expected Aly to be pissed about the camera for a little while. She had every right to be.

But if everything went to plan, I was going to prove that I didn’t intend to hurt her, and she could trust me.

Chapter 7

Aly

Ineed to stop checking my phone,I thought as I pushed open the breakroom door.

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