Controlled

Chapter 15- Sophie

Chapter 15: Sophie

"No..." I whispered to myself. I slowly turned and whimpered when I saw his face. His blue eyes paralyzed me. The gentle, yet excited smile that played across his lips sent chills throughout my entire body.

"Sophie... my beautiful Sophie..." he whispered, reaching out towards me. When he saw my tears, he stopped and his smile faltered. "What's wrong my love?"

I shook my head. "Please... just stay away from me..." I whimpered, taking a step back.

"Sophie... why are you crying?" he asked, taking another step towards me.

The tears started again, much to my frustration. "Why won't you just leave me alone...?" I whispered, taking another step back. My back hit my car and I pressed myself against it as much as I could. He stepped closer again, but I couldn't move.

"My dear Sophie..." he said softly, reaching up and stroking my cheek. He wiped a tear away from beneath my eye. I wanted to flinch away, but I was frozen. His face was inches from mine. He was leaning in closer and closer. I wanted to scream. "Didn't you like my gift this morning?"

"Gift?" I asked. Then I remembered the rose petals in the pool. It sent chills throughout my body. Even with the officers parked outside my house, he still found a way to sneak past them.

His lips curved into a smile. "Why didn't you like them, Sophie?"

I swallowed, keeping my eyes on his. He rested his finger on my chin and lifted my head, exposing my neck. My body tensed as he gently ran his finger down my skin and traced my collarbone.

"You're as soft as Kimberly," he whispered. My eyes widened and I held back a scream. Darius was right. This man was Kimberly's murderer. And he was touching me.

"Get away from me!" I shrieked. He seemed surprised as I brought my hands up and shoved against his chest, pushing him away from me. He fell back and hit Zoey's car, but recovered quickly. I ran away from him, weaving through the cars and heading back towards the school's main building.

"Sophie get back here!" He yelled. I didn't look back, but I heard his feet pounding on the asphalt behind me. I tripped on the curb to the sidewalk and slid on the concrete. My head was pounding and my vision was blurry. The pain took a few seconds to set in. A shadow loomed over me and I blinked. "Sophie! Are you okay?"

I rolled over to my back and saw the man kneeling beside me. The look on his face was a mixture of worry and frustration. "Wha..." I mumbled. He brushed the hair from my face and tried to help me up. Once his skin made contact with mine, I snapped back to reality. "No! Don't touch me!"

"Sophie-!"

I ignored him and scrambled to my feet. His hand reached up, grabbed a fistful of my hair, and pulled me back. I cried out in pain and stumbled as he pulled me against him. His arms wrapped around my body and held me against his chest tightly. I desperately tried to push away from him, but he was too strong.

"Sophie..." he sighed. "Are you okay? Please don't run from me, my love. Please don't."

"Let me go!" I begged, pushing against his rock-hard chest.

"Why? I need to hold you..." He buried his face between my neck and shoulder and he sounded like he was about to cry. His grip loosened from holding my hair and dropped to my lower back. "I'm so lonely, Sophie. Please don't leave me."

Lonely? Why did he feel lonely, I wondered? Was it because he murdered Kimberly? For a split second, I felt sorry for him. I wasn't an expert, but I knew that for anyone to murder someone, they must've gone through something psychologically damaging to bring them to do so. And he didn't just murder Kimberly, he murdered a dozen other girls in the past two years. I wasn't about to be his next victim.