Yes, Masters (Book 2 of Desire's Den)

Chapter 13 - Emma

The box itself looked harmless, but that didn't mean anything. My body was locked in tension as I debated on what to do.

Maybe it was from the guys. They had keys to my apartment after all, I tried to calm myself down, but no matter how hard I tried, it didn't make me any less scared. It was one thing to sneak into my apartment to fix my ceiling and shower as a surprise while we were still together and another thing to invade my space with a gift—or whatever the hell this was—while we were on a break. So no, I didn't think this was from one of the guys.

After what felt like ages, I eventually gathered up enough courage to inch my way toward the bed. My hand shook as I reached for the lid and carefully lifted it. As soon as I saw something inside of it, I jumped back and dropped the lid back into place.

Trying to ease my frightened nerves by controlling my breath, I went to open it again. I'd been too skittish to get a good look at what had been inside the first time. My mouth was dry, and the food I'd recently eaten didn't feel like it would stay down for much longer.

The sight of a cute teddy bear shocked my system, especially after I'd envisioned something much worse. It looked innocent where it sat inside the box, but every nerve in my body objected to the sight. 

With clammy and shaky hands, I took a picture and a video of it, aware that I could use this for evidence later—if the police would ever help me, that was.

In the bear's hands was a small white card, the front of it said, "To my dear." I felt nauseous looking at the neat and elegant handwriting.

My dear. If I hadn't known it already, I did now. When he had called me on my phone, he'd also called me his dear. It was disturbing that he called me that. The endearment was mocking the real meaning of the words.

With a tentative hand, I picked up the card and flipped it. The same handwriting was on the other side, but with a new message.

"Happy 1 year," I read out loud and then tensed. Even the sound of my own voice felt unwelcome. Happy 1 year...what the hell could that mean?

Tears welled up in my eyes, but not from sadness or fright; I felt that too, but I was also so angry. This person invaded my life like it was his right. He gave me threats to keep me away from the guys. He texted me and called me. He went into my apartment, taking away my only safe space, where I used to feel secure, where I should've been able to take a break from everything. It hurt, it fucking hurt to have someone violate my life like that.

I hurled the bear away from me and shoved the box off my bed in a bitter sort of rage. If I'd had a fireplace in the apartment, I wouldn't have hesitated to burn it all, every fiber of the bear, the box, the fucking card.

For a moment, I considered contacting the police, but what the hell would they do about this? After the policeman had minimized my situation, I'd basically been thrown out of the station the last time I was there. They'd made it sound like this was a prank rather than someone who was forcibly entering my life and messing it up while terrifying me in the process.

You could count on the police for one thing: to protect after the fact. They wouldn't do shit until after you'd been put in danger. My visit there only supported my belief that I couldn't trust them to keep me safe.

A sob escaped me, rattling my body with its force, even as angry tears slipped down my face.

I sat on the bed for I didn't know how long, contemplating my options when I didn't have any options to contemplate on. This person had already started alienating me from my best friend because I was too scared of getting Kevin hurt if I involved him. This person was taking away the people that could actually help me because I wouldn't be able to bear it if anything happened to them because of me. This person was taking away my safety, bit by bit. He made me afraid to walk outside alone, and now he'd made me afraid to be in my own home. He'd been stripping me of my security and already, after stepping into my life only two days prior, had taken everything from me.