Ever After (currently rewriting)

Part 11

The ringing phone wakes me up. I'm confused for a second, it's still dark outside. I glance at the alarm and it glows 3:03am.

My mind finally kicks into gear. If anyone's calling me this early, there must be a problem. I lunge for my phone, "Hello?" I croak sleepily.

Nothing but silence. "Anna? Is that you?" Still nothing. I glance at my phone to see who's calling. Restricted number. I don't know this person.

I'm just about to hang up when I hear a noise on the phone. I swear, it sounds like canine growling. And then, "I warned you." The low, menacing voice says, "I warned you, but you just couldn't listen. Now, I'm going to have to punish you."

In horror, I listen as the line goes dead and then throw my phone onto the bed. How did he get my cell number? There are only a few people who have it. And why am I worried about that right now? He said he's going to punish me. What does that even mean? My thoughts whirl around in confusion. What do I do? I have to tell someone. The police, I should call the police.

I grab my phone again, ready to dial, but hesitate. What are the police going to be able to do? Nothing. They can do nothing, until my stalker does more than watch me from a distance and dial my number in the middle of the night. By then it may be too late.

Aedans face comes to mind. I wish he was here. Before I can think to much about what I'm doing, I scroll to his name and hit the green icon. He answers right away. "Liz?" His voice sounds like he was sleeping. "Is everything ok?"

"No," My voice comes out small.

He's suddenly alert. "What's wrong?"

"I'm sorry for waking you up. I didn't know who to call..." I trail off feeling slightly stupid. He's going to thing I'm crazy.

"Stay inside and make sure your door is locked. I'll be right there," He in a no nonsense tone.

The line clicks off and I'm sitting there holding my phone like it's a lifeline. Springing into motion, I lunge off of my bed and hurry downstairs. I check the lock on the door, pull back the edge of the curtain and look outside. Nothing seems out of place. It's only then that it occurs to me that I never told Aedan what was wrong, but he seemed to somehow grasp the situation.

I really didn't care how he knew, I was just glad he was coming.

Its only been a few minutes, but it feels like hours. Every shadow that moves outside makes my heart stutter in my chest. Headlights speed along the road and swing into my driveway. Aedan's jeep slides to a stop in front of my house in a cloud of dust. He jumps out and turns a circle in my driveway, looking into the darkness.

Then he jogs to my front door. I fling it open as he's coming up the steps. He rushes inside and closes the door, locking it behind himself. "Are you ok?" He grabs my shoulders and looks me over. I think I see a hint of that swirling yellow in his eyes. He's practically frantic.

"Yes. Just scared," I step in closer to him and wrap my arms around his neck. The contact soothes me and I start to feel better, safer.

"What happened?"

I tuck my face into his chest and tell him the whole story. Starting with the first time I noticed Cade watching me in town. And ending with the threatening phone call from minutes ago. "He's obviously crazy," I finish.

As I fall silent, I notice that I can feel a rumble going through his chest. He's not making a sound, but his posture is stiff. He's wrapped his arms around my back and is holding on tightly.

"It's going to be ok," He finally says. I find myself believing him. "We will figure this out."

I back out of his arms and grab his hand. He follows me into the living room and we sit on the couch together where he tucks me under his arm and rests his chin on the top of my head. I curl into him and feel the tension start to leave my rigid muscles for the first time since my phone rang. We sit like that for I don't know how long, not talking. Aedan seems lost in deep thought. Without realising that it's going to happen, I fall asleep.