*Not Edited*
Chapter Nine
"What's wrong?" Cami voice pulled me out of my shock.
"Oh er nothing, I just forgot about an assignment that's due." I must have sounded convincing because Cami didn't question me further.
Putting my phone on silent I tried to ignore the message I just received.
"Can I use your phone for a sec? I want to see how much we can cash out in the bank without having to speak to the bank people." When Cami sent me a puzzled look, I continued. "My phone is being weird, it'll be more quicker on yours."
Cami handed her phone over and I quickly googled how much money I could get out from my bank account. I could get out £10,000 without needing to talk to someone but I had to use the cash machine inside the bank which was fine. To get money out of my savings was another issues, I would have to transfer my savings money into my current account and then get it out.
"We can get out £10,00 in one go, so we'll have to go to the bank twice. I'm thinking we cash out £7,000 now and another £7,000 on Monday because the bank is closed on Sundays. We can only use the money in your current account, we won't be able to access the money mum and dad left you until you're 18. It's okay though, we have enough to live on until we figure something out."
"Maybe we can call Uncle Tom and ask if can get the money out." Cami suggested.
I shook my head. "No, he'll ask too many questions and we can't justify why we would need that money right now."
"I can't believe we're doing this." Cami mumbled as she took her phone back.
Me neither.
"Right so, I'm going to go the bank and cash out. You stay here and start packing your clothes. I think we have a couple of suitcases in mum and dad's room. We can take only one suitcase each so only pack what you need."
As I drove to the bank my mind wandered over to the message I received. It was grainy dark picture of two people in what looked like a field. The picture was dark and it was unclear who those two people were but I'm assuming the creep who was sending me those messages was trying to say it was us.
If that's the only 'evidence' he had then we would be fine, a blurry and unclear picture of two people in the dark didn't prove anything. To be on the safe side, we still needed to get away from here.
I didn't reply to the creep but decided not to block him, he'll end up texting me with a new number anyway and I wanted to know if he had anything else. That didn't mean I would play along with his sick game.
The bank was quiet on this Saturday morning despite the amount of people shopping in the town centre. It felt strange carrying all that money in my purse, I felt paranoid that someone knew what I had in my bag and they would try to take it off me.
As I walked past I saw a familiar face exiting a phone repair shop. "Hey Jackson."
Jackson turned around. "Hi Nala, you alright?"
"Yeah, just here to do some shopping." I told him. "Sorry about the other day, something came up. Thanks for all the help though."
"Yeah sure." Jackson replied sounding distracted. "I have to go, I'll see you later yeah?"
"Sure." I said but Jackson had already left. My eyes wandered to the shop he had left and the man behind the counter gave me a friendly smile.
I walked into the shop and headed to the counter. "Hi, love. Do you need any help?"
"Yeah." I muttered as I eyed all the phones in the shop. "Do you know how I can track a number?"
"Track a number?" The middle-aged man asked, raising a dark eyebrow.
"Someone keeps texting me, I block the number and the person texts me again with a new number. Do you know if there's a way I could find out who it is?"
The gave me a sympathetic look but shook his head. "Sorry love, your best option would be to get a new number."
That was actually a good idea, if the creepy man told someone what happened and we had to hide we would need new numbers so no one could track us down.
"How much are these phones?" I pointed at two Samsung phones.
"These are new so they're £495 each. We have second-hand phones on the other side."
I browsed the second-hand section before finding two phones that I liked. "Can I have two sim cards as well?"
"Sure." The man said as he packed up the phones I selected. "What network?"
"EE, please."
After I got everything I needed, I decided to head over to Sainsbury's to get some Galaxy for Cami before heading back home. As I sat in my car in the car park I thought about what our life had become. I never in a million years pictured my life this way and my heart clenched tightly as I thought about what Cami went through.
Maybe we didn't have to leave, there was another option. I had to do it for Cami.
Making my mind up, I sent a message to Uncle Tom asking him if it would be okay for Cami to stay over for a couple of weeks. I could persuade Cami to stay with Uncle Tom for a bit while I tired to figure out who the creep was.
Maybe I could get him to stay quiet? I winced and swallowed the bile in my throat as I thought about what I would have to do in order to make sure he stayed quiet.
Once I got home, I called out for Cami. "Cami, I'm home!"
"Upstairs!" She yelled back.
I headed upstairs to find her folding some clothes on the bed.
I threw her the chocolate and she sent me a grateful smile. "We need to talk."
"What is it?" She asked hesitantly as she unwrapped her chocolate bar.
"I texted Uncle Tom about staying over there for a while and he said that's fine." I told her as I stroked Misty who was sleeping on the bed.
"Okay, it'll be nice to see everyone. When are we leaving?"
Uncle Tom had replied back and said we were welcome to come at any time and that both him and Aunt Jess will get Cami's old room ready for her.
I grabbed the clothes from Cami's hand. "I'm not coming with you."
"What? You said we were both leaving, you literally said that like an hour ago."
"I know and I'll join you there later. For now I need to find out who's been sending us those messages."
"No." Cami said as she stood up. "I'm not going without you."
"Cami please, let me just figure out who is doing this and then I'll come too. Maybe I can convince the person not to tell anyone and then we wouldn't have to leave at all. This is just temporary."
"No, I'm not going anywhere without you. If you're staying so am I."
I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath. "Cami, lis-"
"No, Nala. I get to decide too, it's not just your choice." She snapped at me before storming out the room.
"Urgh." I groaned as I leaned back onto the bed. The sound of my phone vibrating had me groaning out again in frustration. "Why can't this tosser just leave me alone?"
Did you like the picture?
Answer me or I'll send it to the police.
With gritted teeth, I replied back to the creep.
Who are you and what do you want?
The reply was instant.
I want you.
I rolled my eyes and replied back. I was no longer scared of this creep, I was just pissed off.
Let's meet up. Somewhere public.
After what felt like ages he replied back.
You looked pretty today.
The message had a picture attached to it. The picture was of me at the phone shop talking to the man at the counter.
The hairs on the back of my neck stood up as I realised that this creep was following me and was only a few metres away from me. How did I not notice?
The phone started to ring but I didn't pick up, too disgusted as the thought of how close this man was to me. Did I walk past him? Did he follow me all day? Has he followed me in the past?
The phone rang again but I rejected the call.
Who could it be? It had to be someone I know or else how would they have got my number? Or maybe it's friend of a friend? But who would give my number out without asking me?
I knew this would take a lot of time and effort but I didn't care as long as I found out who it was. I could text everyone on my contacts list and ask them of they've given my number out to anyone recently.
Let's play a game.
"Creep." I muttered as I blocked the number and started to draft my message that I would send to everyone.
I'm going to find out who this person is.
@=#~=~#=@
A/N: I hope you guys liked the chapter!
Thank you to everyone who reads, comments and votes. I really appreciate your support!
-Kayy xx