Walls Of Hearts

Chapter 99

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Unknown: I've made you wait so long, Jasmine. But sweet relief will be mine and a painful end will be yours. Just a while longer.

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We didn't get much further with the stalker after that. It always felt like every time we were getting somewhere - taking a step in the right direction - there would be something stopping us or sending us two steps back. This time, it was that it wasn't possible to get a list of all of the deliveries made to us, meaning that we couldn't test our theory out as to whether there was a pattern in how often these issues of harassment were happening.

And if that was the case, we had no idea when the clock would strike twelve. And we certainly had no idea how soon it was. If we knew, we probably would have made a wish at 11:11, in hope to end it all. But the glass slipper was lost sooner than we could even apprehend, in the midst of happy dances and loving talks. What essentially was this facade of one night was going to come to an end eventually. And the worst part was there was no prince charming or happy ever after that would come out of it, just relief at the bare minimum but nothing more. We had each other, my 'prince charming' and his Cinderella, and that meant we had everything to lose and nothing to gain.

"What do you think will happen if we ever do find out who our stalker is?" I'd asked Harry as I laid in bed one night, the only source of light coming from the moonlight peeking through the window as it wasn't shut properly.

"I don't know, Jasmine." Harry said with a soft sigh as he and I both stared up at the ceiling, though there was nothing exciting about it at all. "I just hope we can live a more normal life after that, not in constant fear or paranoia."

"And what if the paranoia never goes away? What if it never ceases to exist?" I'd asked him and though initially, it was just a thought that came in my head, it was only after I'd said it that I realised how fearful I was of it all. For someone who never usually voices any feelings, I hadn't thought a second before I spoke up as to whether it would put me in a vulnerable position that I wouldn't like because truthfully I didn't care. In that moment, it felt to me like a never-ending problem and it was rather overwhelming and daunting, so much so that I wasn't able to suppress that worry within me for even a second.

"We'll find a way out." Harry had said, turning to me as he caught onto my emotions that were intertwined in the question stronger than ivy leaves on an old building. "We will. But first, we need to find out who it is."

"Does it not scare you?" I'd asked him.

"What, love?" Harry asked, sitting up as he turned the bedside lamp on, on his side, so that he could talk to me properly. He was frowning ever so slightly and I'd instantly hated myself that I must have been so annoying right now, opening up the jar of thoughts in my mind to him that he couldn't even get a good night's sleep. "You can tell me, you know?"

"I just - it scares me." I sat up too, tucking my lip between my teeth as I thought to myself how best to explain myself. "You know when you're younger and there's the whole 'monster under my bed' narrative that most kids get afraid of?" I'd checked to which he nodded his head. "It feels like that. You spend this whole time worrying about it, wondering whether it's there or not and what'll happen when you take the step to check. Of course, there never is a monster under the bed but when you wait, you're already thinking about the potential jumpscare, how you'd feel after it's confirmed. I don't know like I can't explain myself well but I just get scared thinking about what'll happen after we find out."

"The only thing I think either of us needs to be afraid about is the potential criminal conviction I might get." He'd smirked.

"Oh yeah? For what, exactly?" I'd laughed, wanting to steer away from speaking about how I felt.