I Have an Invisible Stalker (Guardians #1)

Chapter 14

Olivia's POV

The darkness isn't the emptiness of oblivion I expect. Instead, it's the darkness of a starless night sky I find myself staring at. I'm lying on my back on a rough yet cold surface while clutching something inside my right hand. My head and my left side are pulsing in an agonizing rhythm, but they are nothing compared to the excruciating pain ripping through my left forearm. I try to open my mouth and let out a loud scream, yet all that comes out is a small gasp.

"Girl?" A male voice floods my ears. "Can you hear me?"

With every bit of strength I possess, I turn my head to the side and find a big guy kneeling beside me. The first thing I notice are his chubby cheeks, which are followed by his big lips and an even bigger nose. Although I'm able to see only the top of his body, I know he is a large man.

I want to open my mouth to tell him I can hear him, but my muscles refuse to cooperate.

"Damn it. Don't move, okay?"

I'm not able to form a single thought before he jumps up and disappears out of my view, leaving me on my own.

In the blink of an eye, the dark sky disappears and I'm back inside our house. I'm lying on my back, but instead of the hallway ceiling, Mom, Eliza, and Anya are now leaning over me.

"Olivia? Can you hear me?" Mom taps my cheeks.

"The paramedics," I force the words out of my mouth. "The paramedics said I was found by an old couple."

"What?" Mom blinks at me. "We're not calling the paramedics. You're already awake, so your injuries are obviously not life-threatening."

"We need to go to the police station." Despite the pounding inside my head, I grab onto Mom's hand and lift my upper body into a sitting position.

"No." Mom shakes her head but doesn't stop me from getting up. "Hospital. The place where you take people who are hurt is called the hospital. Not the police station. How badly did you hurt your head?"

"No." With her and Anya's help, I rise into a standing position. "We need to go to the police station. I remembered who the driver from the accident was."

"What?" Mom, Eliza, and Anya ask at the same time.

"You said the paramedics told you I was found by an older couple." I turn to Mom. "I remembered a twenty-something man leaning over me and asking me if I can hear him. It can only mean that he's the one who hit me and then drove off without calling for help. I need to tell the police what he looks like."

"How in the name of the world did you chose this moment to remember something about the accident?" Mom shakes her head at me.

"We can take my car." Anya steps in and picks up the crutches. "We can go first to the police station and then to the hospital."

"You don't need to—" Mom begins.

"It's the least I can do," Anya cuts her off. "I'm, after all, the one who opened the bathroom door and caused Olivia to fall."

*

If this was any other day, I would have savored each moment spent in the sleek black sedan Anya owns. I would have gushed about the leather seats, the smooth sound of the engine, and the additional gadgets, like the dash camera hanging below the rear-view mirror. However, the moment Anya stops the car in front of the police station I have no other choice but to take one last inhale of the new car smell and slip out.

"I'm sorry I can't come with you," Anya says through the open window, while Mom and Eliza finish climbing out of the car.

"We understand," Mom says. "I know how important your job is to you. But you should definitely think about setting some boundaries. It's not normal to be called back to work at seven in the evening."