Page 14 of The Stalker
Chapter Eight
I Can’t Give In
Bianka
I wrench free.
I don’t know how.His grip was iron, his body pressing me into the stone like he could fuse us together, but somehow I slip through the smallest space between us, shoving at his chest with everything I have left.
I stumble, my shoulder scraping the church wall, and then I’m running again.
My lungs burn and my legs scream.My ankle threatens to give out with every step, but I don’t stop.I can’t.Because if I stop, he’ll be on me again.
But even as I run, even as my heart tries to tear itself out of my chest, my lips still tingle.My neck still burns from the scrape of his teeth, my hip throbs where his hand gripped me too tight.And my nipples are taut beneath my sweater with the lust swimming through my body.
And worse...The worst is the traitorous heat between my thighs.
I hate myself for it.I hate my body for betraying me, for answering him when my mind was begging him to stop.But there it is, pulsing, undeniable.Fear and desire.They’ve tangled into something I can’t name.Something I don’t want to name.
The streets are quieter now.The kids have gone home, the porch lights are flicking out one by one, leaving only shadows and the whisper of wind through the leaves.It’s like the entire town, the entire world, is turning a blind eye to my plight.
I dart down an alley, pressing my back against the cool brick wall, my chest heaving.My breath fogs in front of me and my breathing is too loud, too obvious.
I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to block out the memory of what just transpired even though I know it is a moment I will never be able to forget.His voice in my ear, rough and broken.“You’ve been mine since the beginning.”
God, I used to dream of hearing him say that.Back when we were teenagers.Back when my face was whole, when I wasn’t broken.Back when I thought maybe,maybesomeone like Griffin Hayes could want someone like me.
But not like this.Not twisted, not haunted, not possessed.Because I know I saw something.The flicker in his eyes.The way his voice wasn’t just his.The other laugh that slipped through his lips, not human and certainly not Griffin.Someone—something—else was there, pushing him.
And it wanted me too.
A sob shudders out of me, and I clap my hand over my mouth to smother it.I shouldn’t be hiding from him in alleys.I should go to the police.I should tell someone.But who in Ashburne would believe me?It’s Halloween night.If I walked into the station right now and told them Griffin Hayes was stalking me with a ghost whispering in his head, they’d laugh in my face.
So I do the only thing I can.I keep moving.
I take the long way, zigzagging through side streets, doubling back twice, trying to throw him off if he’s following.The night presses closer, darker with every block but I feel like I stick out like a sore thumb, like every move I make is obvious and will only lead him to me that much faster.
By the time I make it to my front porch, my legs feel like they’ll give out.
The house looms silent, the windows black.For a moment I just stand there, clutching my chest, staring at the door.Home.Safe.Except it doesn’t feel safe anymore.
Because I know he has been watching me for an entire year and I never even knew it.I know he has been inside.I saw him there, standing in my kitchen, mocking me as I fumbled with the knife.And I know him well enough to know tonight wasn’t the first time he was inside my home.
He’s been here before.
