“Hey, what’s wrong?”
Those were the words Gabe had used and said to me after I almost collapsed into his arms and onto the ground. I tried my best to stay upright, but it just wasn’t working for me. I thought I was going to pass out right then and there, in the middle of the dark forest, with my fake stalker.
It wasn’t Gabe that had shot River, but it was my old stalker that did. It was my old stalker that had caused us to crash as we drove home from the movies, kissed my neck, and he shot River. He shot my boyfriend, the boy I was in love with. He tried killing River because he was in love with me. He tried killing River because I was in love with him, even though I didn’t see it then.
He had followed me from Washington, and he had found me. But how did he?
“Are you okay?”
Everything Gabe said sounded fuzzy, as if he wasn’t really there and I was imagining this all. I really wished that I was imagining it. All the anger that I had had for Gabe right then disappeared as fear took over my body instead. My old stalker had to be somewhere around, watching and lurking. And I was terrified. Absolutely terrified and horrified. Because of he had been able to find me once, he would be able to find me again.
Where was River when I needed him? All I wanted to do was crawl up into a ball in his arms a cry.
“Delilah,” Gabe said again, and I could hear a tiny bit of forcefulness in his voice as he shook me a little, as if to see if I was still alive. I guess I must have been really freaking him out, since I was saying absolutely nothing and I was half fallen over onto the ground.
Maybe he really did think I was dead. I’d probably think that, too, if I was him.
But I wasn’t as big of an idiot as Gabe was.
But I couldn’t help but act this way. My whole body felt numb as I tried to process what I had just learned in my mind. It was so unbelievable.
I was just so terrified. I was completely and utterly terrified. I was terrified to think that my stalker could be around, watching every single move I dared to make. How could I live life like this? I couldn’t stay in Bentwood forever. But Bentwood didn’t even seem to help, since he had somehow found me and was able to get into the school to give me the notes.
He had followed me, all the way across the country. He was that dedicated.
He was dedicated enough to try and kill me and the boys in a car crash, just so he could kiss my neck for only a few seconds.
He was dedicated enough to shoot River.
He was dedicated, and I was stupid.
I was getting sick of being so oblivious and ditzy all the time. It just made everything worse for me.
I never even thought that it could actually be him that was the one giving me more notes. I never even suspected that it could be him. I was that stupid and oblivious to everything, only thinking about Avery and why the boys hated him so much, or about all the boys’ secrets. I didn’t even think that I could actually be getting notes from my old stalker. But it had to be. It had to be him. There was no one else that knew so much about me.
He knew that my father was supposed to be dead, and he called me his dear Delilah. Everyone in my old town in Washington knew that my father was dead, or supposedly dead. My stalker would always send me notes on days that had to do with my father, like my parents’ anniversary or his birthday. No one here in New York knew that at all. I never even spoke about my father.
“Delilah, what the hell is wrong with you?”
Even with the forcefulness in his tone, I still didn’t listen to him. I knew I must have been freaking him out now, especially when I fully collapsed onto the ground, trying to think of what I was supposed to do. How was I supposed to get out of here calmly without having a complete meltdown? I didn’t think it was possible. He could have been watching right then, watching as Gabe tried to pick me up off the ground and carry me, watching as I refused to be touched by him and sinking away, further into the trees.
“What’s wrong?” Gabe asked again, sounding impatient now. “What is it, Delilah? I couldn’t have scared you that much… It was just a harmless prank!”
I wouldn’t have exactly called his prank harmless. He had no idea how he made me cry or scream or wish that I hadn’t ever been born. He did scare me, he scared me a lot, but not even close to as much as my old stalker was scaring me right then. How was I ever going to find out who he was? I felt like my lungs were going to burst as tears fell down my face and onto the green grass that was below me, almost looking like dew as it shined against the green blades.
“There’s no way I scared you that much,” Gabe said again, crouching down and reaching for me, but I recoiled away from him quickly. I did not want to be touched. By anyone. I didn’t even know if I wanted to be touched by River right then, but I would have only found out if he was there with me.
I didn’t even think I wanted to be touched ever again, if that was even able to happen. I’d have to be locked up in a room for that to come true. I could never get away from contact from people, even though I wished for that right then more than anything else.
The only person I wanted with me right then was River, if I did let him touch me. And I hoped I did. I just wanted Gabe to keep his hands off me, even if he was trying to help me. River was the only person that I wanted to be with right then. He was the only one that would be able to calm me down. But he was with Rex and Seth in the house of mirrors, having a fun time with his best friends. And I was here, in the dark woods with a boy who had tricked me for so long, and I was sobbing almost uncontrollably.
I just wanted to go home, where I was safe.
I wanted my mom.
I wanted Jake.
I wanted my dad.
But I wanted River more.
“Stop crying,” Gabe tried to say softly, reaching for me again.
“D--don’t touch me!” I shouted, throwing myself back away from him. I still didn’t want to be touched. I thought that it was obvious that I didn’t. If anyone touched me then, it would just feel like my stalker was touching me, just like all those dreams that I had had in the past about him.
“What’s wrong?” Gabe asked again, his eyes determined to get an answer this time.
“Go get River,” I demanded, my voice sounding shaky and raspy. It really sounded like I couldn’t breathe at all. It was probably because I really couldn’t.
“And have him kick my ass? No way!” Gabe said, standing back up and stepping away from me a little. “You know that if you tell him that I harassed you for the past five months that he’s going to beat the crap out of me. I want to help you and everything, but I really don’t feel like getting into a fight right now. Especially after chasing you around. You’re a really good runner. I probably wouldn’t have been able to catch up with you if you didn’t trip. You’re way too fast for me.”
I ignored his remark about me being a fast and good runner, mostly because I really didn’t believe it was true. I wasn’t fast, and I wasn’t a good runner, but maybe since I was running for my life, I picked the speed up a little. It made sense, I guess.
“Get... my boyfriend,” I demanded once again, sucking in the breath that I so desperately needed. “Now.”
I shook my head to get rid of the tears in my eyes as Gabe only stood there, looking down at me. He didn’t look like he was going to get River.
I slammed my fist against the cold ground.
“Get him right now!”
Gabe’s eyes widened a little as my voice rose shrilly, almost desperately, and I knew that he wasn’t going to argue with me anymore after that. I knew that I wasn’t going to tell River about what Gabe had done just yet, because I knew that I didn’t want him dealing with Gabe yet. He could deal with him and kick his ass or whatever after everything else was sorted out.
That wasn’t my main concern at that very moment. I just wanted to get out of there, and fast.
Gabe didn’t protest, he only nodded and walked out of the woods.
I let out a long breath, trying to breathe as normally as I could. I couldn’t believe that I had never realized something that I should have. Even though I had been angry, I had always been relieved that Gabe was just being my stalker for a prank. But I had been getting notes from two people. One, who was serious, and another, who was only messing with me.
I still couldn’t believe what Gabe had done to me. I actually considered him my friend, after that date that we had gone on. But he had taken Arianna’s money and terrified me for months without fail. It had been about five months, I believe, because it was now late March, almost April. He had been able to fool me for so long. I had gone out on a date with him. I couldn’t believe that I hadn’t ever saw it coming. I never thought that it could have been him, even if it was just a joke.
Arianna was going to get an earful from me. I hoped she went deaf.
Actually, I hoped a lot of things happened to her.
But those things aren’t really appropriate the be mentioned.
But that didn’t mean that I didn’t want them to happen.
I felt bad for thinking bad things about her, but she had gone way too far this time. I had let her get away with so many things in the past, like cutting my hair while I slept at a sleepover because she thought it was too long, or putting red dye in my hair so I had a bright red streak for months back in freshman year. My old stalker didn’t seem to like it very much, but he said that he could tolerate it.
Didn’t mean I liked it. Because I didn’t, because I hated red. Especially in my hair. But I thought red hair could be cute though. Just not on me. I didn’t make many things look good. It could be on display in the mall and looked completely gorgeous, but then on me, it just looked like blah. Arianna made sure to tell me that every time I tried something on, making sure to add that it would look a lot better on her.
And that made me realize that Arianna had never been a good friend. After all the bitchy things that she had done, I tried to give her the benefit of the doubt and still think that she was my friend, and that she thought of me as a friend, too. But I wasn’t. I never had been. People like Arianna Devon did not have friends. They had minions and followers. Minions and followers just like Violet and Ericka Chambers.
I suddenly heard a twig snap, causing me to spin around on the ground in the direction that it came from.
“H--hello?” I questioned hesitantly, looking around. “Is anyone there?”
Silence.
“Come on out!”
More silence.
I let out another breath, almost going limp against the ground. I just wanted to go home. I wanted to go back to Bentwood. I wanted to go to sleep. I knew that it was a bad idea to go to the stupid fair. I would have been just fine living in my world of stupidity, where I thought I only had one stalker that was serious.
But life wasn’t as simple as that.
Especially my life.
Another snap of a twig, and I had jumped up from the ground and made my way back to the fair. My ankle was still a little sore from falling earlier, but it was fine enough to walk. I was lucky that I didn’t sprain it, or then I really would have been screwed over.
I couldn’t just sit out there in the dark and wait for River to come. It would have just been easier for me to go and find him myself. I didn’t think that Gabe was going to have much luck, since there was probably more than a thousand people out there. Probably even more than that.
It was a stupid idea and a good one at the same time, because I was going somewhere where there was a lot of people. But then again, I could have totally collapsed at any time. Which meant that I would be collapsing in front of a lot of people, even my stalker. And since I was alone, I definitely did not want that to happen. My stalker would probably come and get me then, because I was vulnerable and alone.
Which I already was…
I continued to just walk around, looking all over for River or Seth or Rex. Anyone that I knew from school, even Paul was okay right then. Some people were looking at me like I was insane, wondering why I was here all alone, but I only ignored them and continued walking as quickly as I could, making sure to go through big groups of people so I wouldn’t look like a total loner or a complete nut job.
I didn’t really care what those people thought of me. I wasn’t ever going to see them ever again. It was my stalker that I was worried about. I didn’t want him knowing that I was alone and had no idea where I was going. At least right then it looked like I was actually going somewhere.
I was seriously starting to go insane before I remembered that River told me that he and he guys were going to the house of mirrors.
I let out another large breath, happy that I remembered before I go sent to a mental hospital for walking around a fair all alone, looking like a whack job.
But I would think that a mental hospital would be a lot better than where I was now. I knew that I would actually be safe there. But now that I was here, in the middle of a fair, all alone, anything could really happen to me. Anything at all. And that’s what scared me that most.
“Delilah?”
The second I heard this from behind me, I jumped about twenty feet in the air. At least, it seemed like twenty feet. I was so not expecting it, so when it came, I just jumped.
I turned on my heel swiftly, blinking at the person that had said my name.
“Mr. Higginson?”
I was not expecting to see my old homeroom and history teacher here, all the way across the country from Washington. But it did make me feel a little safer, knowing that I wasn’t alone, as if begging for my stalker to take, anymore. I was glad that someone was talking to me and that I wasn’t just walking around aimlessly, like I had been doing for what seemed like hours before.
“What’re you doing here?” Mr. Higginson asked, a polite smile on his face. Even though I hadn’t ever really talked to him unless it was necessary, I always noticed how polite he always was. He never really got angry with anyone, and he was somehow always calm, no matter what was happening.
“Oh, well…” I started, trying to think of a good explanation to why I was so far away from my house. Even though he had been my teacher, that didn’t mean that he was told where I was going. No one but Julie knew exactly where I went to school, except for my mom, Jake, and Lieutenant Shrew. And my father, of course. But outside the family, Julie was the only one who knew. “I’m actually attending school here now. It’s just a couple miles away, actually.. What about you?”
“I’m visiting my sister,” he answered with a nod. “She’s been sick for a while, and I haven’t seen her in a few years. I was here with her kids, but they found some of their friends and went off to go hang out with them. So I’m just waiting for them to come back.”
I nodded. “Oh. Well, that’s good, seeing your sister and all.”
There was an awkward silence that passed through us, but I wasn’t really surprised by that. Every silence was awkward silence for me. I was just an awkward person.
“I can drive you back to your school, if you want,” Mr. Higginson offered. “You looked like you were all alone, and you looked pretty tired as well. Didn’t you come here with friends or something? That’s the fun part of fairs, isn’t it? Being here with friends?”
I nodded, scratching the back of my head a little nervously. “Uh… yeah, I did come with friends. But I just got separated from them, and I was going to go find them just now… I was supposed to go meet them in the house of mirrors right now…”
“Oh,” Mr. Higginson smiled. “Would you like me to walk you there? You looked so upset walking all alone before. And it’s kind of hard to get through all these people.”
I blinked. “Um… sure.”
“Okay,” Mr. Higginson smiled once again. “Come on.”
He started walking, and I made sure to keep up with him so I didn’t fall behind. The last thing I wanted to do was get lost and be alone once again. As long as I was with someone, my stalker wasn’t going to be able to get me. And that’s all that mattered.
Mr. Higginson stopped in front of a giant group of people that wouldn’t move. He shook his head, glancing back and me and taking my hand, leading me through the group. This shocked me, and made my hand feel weird. I didn’t expect him to do that.
“Sorry,” he apologized once we got through the group, dropping my hand and chuckling. “I didn’t want to lose you there.”
But my hand still felt weird, like that wasn’t supposed to happen. Which it wasn’t, I was sure. He was the teacher, I was the student. My boyfriend was River, and he probably had a girlfriend or someone like that. But it didn’t feel wrong in that way. It felt wrong in a different way, a way that I didn’t even know.
“Well, here we are,” Mr. Higginson announced when we got to the front of the house of mirrors, which looked pretty deserted. I nodded, smiling gratefully toward him. I knew that I would have probably never make it if he didn’t lead the way. I’d either go in circles or just finally give up before I found it.
“Thank you,” I thanked, nodding once again. “I probably wouldn’t have made it here if it wasn’t for you.”
I sounded like I was on some kind of mission or something, but I didn’t really care at that moment. All I cared about was getting back to River as quickly as I possibly could.
Mr. Higginson smiled. “No problem.”
I walked into the house of mirrors then, not looking back at Mr. Higginson. I just needed to find River before I completely broke down. I knew that the place that I was in wasn’t the greatest place to break down in, since there were so many mirrors that I could look at myself in. Including ones that made me look really fat or really tall. They wouldn’t make me laugh this time.
“River?” I called out, looking around once I was inside. “Seth, Rex?”
There was silence. Complete and utter silence. I even heard the echo of my own voice, which just scared me even more, if that was actually possible. There wasn’t even anyone inside at all. I was the only one there. Maybe Gabe had found River and told him that I needed help…
I let out a breath, shaking my head in frustration. They told me that they were going to be here! Knowing the boys, if Gabe hadn’t found them already, they probably got distracted by something that wasn’t even important. At least, Rex would be distracted. It wouldn’t have been very surprising if he actually had been. That’s just how Rex was. Man, I found that even more annoying right then.
I sighed again, digging in the pocket of my shorts and pulling my phone out. Why I didn’t think of this in the first place, I’ll never know why. But instead of calling River, I found my finger hitting the button and calling a different number that wasn’t my boyfriend’s.
“Hello?” the excited, jolly voice said from the other line. It actually made me sad that she had no idea what was going on with me right then, or how I was alone without anyone to protect me. I was weak, she knew that, everyone knew that. I was all alone, but there was no one to save me.
Help me, River.
Please help me.
I’m about to have a total, mental breakdown. Please come and save me.
I continued to think these thoughts in my mind, over and over again, hoping that River would somehow get the message and come rushing over her, saving me from my mind and the person who stalked my every step, my every thought.
Two, almost three, years later, and it was suddenly all getting to me.
He was driving me crazy.
I was going insane.
All I wanted to do was collapse onto the ground and start crying and screaming, getting any of the attention that I needed to get away from here, and to a safe place. But my stalker had taught me that no place was safe, no place at all. I would always be watched, no matter what I did. He would always be watching me, from far away or up close, because I was too stupid to figure out who he was.
I was going completely mad.
“Julie,” I said, shaking a little as I side glanced at my reflection in one of the mirrors that surrounded me.
I didn’t find it very amusing at all. I looked totally fat in it, but I quickly tore my eyes away from it as Julie cried out, “Delilah! It’s been forever!”
It was only two weeks since I had seen her last, but I didn’t say anything about that then. That wasn’t what I was calling her about, it wasn’t important at all. I needed answers, and I needed them right then. Before I was went even crazier. I felt like a caged animal, locked up and being watched all the time, almost like a goldfish swimming in a bowl, being watched by a very hungry cat.
All Julie wanted to do was chat, but I didn’t have any time for that right then at all.
What I was calling about was something way more important than anything she could have said right then.
“Did you tell anyone where I was going to school?” I interrupted in the middle of whatever she was saying to me, not even listening to it at all in the first place.
“Wh--what?” she stuttered, her perky attitude disappearing as she now sounded nervous. I gripped my phone tighter, almost tapping my foot against the floor. My reflection was seriously starting to freak me out, so I went farther into the building, where there were more mirrors to look at myself in.
I found myself still shaking, trying to think of anything else but my stalker. But I couldn’t. I just couldn’t take my mind off the fact that this person was probably never going to go away. He would always be there, right behind me, lurking and watching my ever step and move.
He had invaded my thoughts ever since I had entered high school, and he was now stuck in there. He had taken my good high school experience and had thrown it out the window. I knew that he was going to be in my mind for a long time, driving me more and more crazy with every day that passed until he was finally found, caught, and thrown in jail for the rest of his life.
I might have even stayed this way even after he was caught. He was driving me crazy, and I was kind of expecting to stay that way for a while.
This place that I was standing in would have been Arianna’s paradise, if all the mirrors didn’t make you look like a total freak. If they were just normal mirrors, she’d stand in there and examine herself all day long, no matter what was going on around her. A bomb could have hit, and she would have been perfectly fine with everything as long as she just had a mirror to look at herself in front of her.
“Julie,” I said again, more sternly this time. “Who did you tell?”
“I--I didn’t tell anyone!”
“Julie!”
She wasn’t seriously going to lie about this, was she? My life was on the line! Many lives were on the line! She had to tell me the truth before someone else got hurt! Or even worse, killed!
The thought of River getting shot flashed through my head, causing me to feel dizzy and nauseated. I was glad that I hadn’t eaten anything at the fair, because I probably would have puked right then and there.
I didn’t want anything like that happening to anyone else. Especially someone I loved. I hated that I was hurting the people that were close to me, and I wasn’t even the one actually physically hurting them at all.
“Did you tell some guy named Tanner to call me?” she asked, changing the subject as quickly as she possibly could. “It’s kind of weird, but he sounds like a really nice guy…”
She was going to tell me whether she liked it or not. I didn’t care if I had to go through the phone and rip her throat out, she had to answer me!
“Julie,” I snapped. “Don’t change the subject. I won’t be mad at you, but you have to tell me who you told.”
I was so close. I was so close to finding out who this person could be, who had been haunting my dreams for years. I was finally going to find out who this person was.
“Why are you even asking, anyways?”
“That’s not important!”
“Are you okay, Delilah?” Julie asked, sounding afraid. “You sound really, really scared… Do I need to call the police or something?”
“No,” I answered, letting out an impatient breath. I probably should have told her yes. “I just need you to tell me who you told. I promise you that I won’t get angry with you. I just really, really, really, need to know who you told right now. Please. Just answer me truthfully. I won’t be angry… I promise.”
She paused. “Well…” She then paused again, as if she was trying to be dramatic. This was really getting on my nerves right then. She had to tell me!
“Julie!”
“You promise?”
“Yes, I promise!” I snapped once again, almost throwing my phone against one of the stupid mirrors. “I promise that I won’t be angry with you no matter what you say or who you told! Now just tell me who you told before I die from old age!”
“Well, you need to know that I only told one person…” Julie admitted sheepishly, and I could just see her rubbing the back of her neck nervously. Why would she tell anyone? I told her not to!
But she had only told one person. And this person could be my stalker.
“Who was it, Julie?” I asked.
“You promise me you won’t get angry?”
“Yes! Yes, I promise! Now tell me right now!” I shouted, stomping my foot against the ground, producing an echo that even scared me.
“I’m sorry, Delilah! It was kind of weird, actually. The day after I told him where you were going, he just disappeared and didn’t return. No one had an explanation why…”
“Julie!” I shouted into the phone once again. This had to be the guy. This had to be my stalker! “Just tell me who this person is!”
My reflection in the mirror I was in front of made me look tall and skinny, so I walked away from it and to another one. I didn’t see why some people actually liked the house of mirrors. Did they like seeing themselves really ugly? I sure didn’t.
I continued to walk around as Julie continued to ask what was wrong or why I wanted to know, obviously avoiding answering. I was seriously starting to lose my patience, and I was about to start screaming at her to just tell me so I could stop being so terrified.
But she said something then that caused me to freeze.
“I told Mr. Higginson, but only because he asked me and I thought that it would be okay because he was a teacher!”
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This really didn't take me very long to write... But I can't wait for the next chapter :D
Awesome video :D --->
Delilah should listen to his advice... ;)
Please COMMENT, VOTE, and FAN! :D