Page 14 of Boyfriend From Hell
I slid my feet along the dingy hallway carpet, silently begging them to not contract some kind of disease.
Nerves twisted in my stomach as the reality of how foolish this was sunk in—standing in the middle of the hallway in nothing but an over-sized T-shirt and—
I looked down.
A fucking butter knife.
Crazy neighbor of the year award goes to me!
“Deer?” Gracie chirped. For a moment I’d completely forgotten I was on the phone.
“I’m at his door!” I hissed.
“You’re insane! You’re actually doing this? I didn’t think you were actually serious!” She exclaimed, "Just call the landlord and complain, or the police. Either way, speed it up, because I’m getting hungry.”
Standing in front of the door, I slowly crouched down, pulling the phone away from my ear. I quickly slid away the call screen and opened my text thread with Gracie.
“Don’t hang up.”Send.
I pressed the buttons on the side of the phone, lowering the volume as much as possible, until Gracie’s frantic voice became nothing more than a faint whisper.
Laying the phone just outside the door, I exhaled slowly and rose to my feet.
I knocked on the door, silently praying it was just the hangover making me overthink everything.
The door creaked open as my knuckles rapped on the wood—which was weird. Cold air seeped into the hallway, and my skin tightened in response, painfully reminding me I was less than a handful of garments away from being fully naked.
Hopefully no one decided to come down the hallway right now, because I definitely didn’t have it in me to explain what I was doing.
I pushed the door open further using the tip of the butter knife. The room was far too dark for the afternoon hour, even if all of the blinds were drawn. It was as if a stray hour of the night sky had snuck in through a window and made itself a home within his four walls.
My breath caught as I stepped further inside, knife still clenched at my side.
“Raios?” I called out, as the crawling feeling of being watched crept over my skin once more.
“Hey, not trying to be weird—just wanted to check on you!” I peeked my head around the door. “I heard some loud noises coming from your apartment and wanted to make sureyou’re alright?”
I struggled to keep my breathing even, eyes wide as they strained to soak in every trace of light. God, there had to be a light switch around here somewhere. He wouldn’t mind if flicked on a light, right?
I willed my right arm to move, to reach along the wall and search for a switch—but fear kept it bound to my side, stiff and unmoving like a stubborn animal.
Come on,I scolded myself. You can do this. Just find the switch. “I’m just going to turn the light on, okay?” I said aloud, more to steady myself than anything else.
The muscle in my shoulder began to cramp from tension. I needed light. Besides, if someoneelsewasin here and Raios needed help, there’s no way I could help him if I couldn’t even see. Realistically, if therewassome intruder in here, I doubt they would have let me get this far into the room before springing on me. I tried again to glance around the apartment, but still couldn’t see a thing—even with the hallway light casting a glow behind me.
I flung my arm out, lunging to the right, my fingers feeling up the wall until they met with the smooth plastic switch. I flicked it up—nothing happened. I teetered the switch between my fingers, willing the light to come to life.
“Hello,” a voice so low it seemed to reverberate through my soul, called from the dark expanse of the room.
“Sweet one.”
I knew that voice.
I jolted upright, my breath catching in my chest. A mix of relief and confusion swirled within me.
“Raios?” My voice trembled. “This isn’t very funny.”
An iron fist gripped my racing heart as I took a small step backward. I scanned the darkness in front of me and could’ve sworn it stared right back. The fine hairs along my arms prickled, my body torn between fight or flight.
