Raven hadn’t slept a wink that night… all thoughts focused on Malachi… his motives… his game plans…
What was going through his head…? She always sensed emotions, but she never knew what he was thinking when it seemed like he had a tunnel to her thoughts.
Her head was spinning… trying to find a valid reason of what he was planning…
Why did she feel so weak last night? Why did she wake up in his lap? Why did he seem scary but warm at the same time?
Was someone like him possible?
He was stalking her… How long?
Jae said he’d been stalking her for a while, but didn’t mention the timespan… And she said she confronted him… clearly he didn’t listen to whatever she told him, but Raven questioned what he told… her…
What was his response?
Clearly she was still alive… so he couldn’t have lashed out and killed her… And it didn’t seem like he physically assaulted her either… because Jae seemed a little alarmed, not terrified…
But still… alarmed seemed concerning… because usually Jaelyn liked gossip and stuff…
Did she know something about him that Raven didn’t?
“Hey…” a voice muttered from across the room, and Raven turned to see Jae staring at her alarm clock with narrowed eyes, “what time is it?”
Raven glanced down at her phone that was charging on the floor next to her. “Around seven.”
“How long have you been up?” Jae responded.
“I woke up recently,” Raven lied.
“Well… what do you want for breakfast…?” she said. “It’s Sunday… and my parents aren’t home today….”
“I actually was thinking…” Raven said cautiously, “if we could go to the library today… and maybe that chai place. Wanna come with?”
Jaelyn sat up, stretching her arms out while yawning. “Okay.”
After Jaelyn took a shower, Raven took a semi-long one, mainly because she was staring at the wall for twenty minutes, lost in thought.
After she got out, she stared at all the concealer and such Jae left on the counter.
Raven wasn’t much of a fan of makeup… mainly because concealer clogged her pores, so she always just wore a light eye shadow and some lip gloss…
After shuffling on her tights, skirt, and t-shirt she shoved in her bag a couple nights ago, she ran a comb through her tangled locks, pulling her hair into a messy bun seconds later.
She stepped out of the bathroom then, seeing Jae at her vanity, skillfully putting on eyeliner.
“Jae?” Raven said.
“Huh?”
She lost her train of thought. “Never mind.”
“Okay.” She clearly was too focused to care.
Raven sat on Jae’s bed, picking up her phone and staring down at the Home Screen which had her parent’s picture set as the wallpaper…
They looked so happy… smiling while the sides of their forehead’s pressed together… her mom sticking out her tongue while her father laughed…
Tears sprung in her eyes… and she wiped them away before Jae saw them…
But when she looked back to her friend, she was still occupied at her vanity…
But Raven’s phone buzzed.
She looked down to it, seeing a green message icon with an unknown phone number…
Who texted her?
She opened her phone and looked at her messages.
It said: Hi.
She blinked, then responded: Who is this?
Look in your pocket, it said.
Her heart pounded, and she shuffled through her skirt pocket, pulling out a small paper slip…
It had Malachi’s phone number on it… the one he gave her…
And sure enough—when she checked the unknown caller’s number—it was the same.
What do you want? she demanded in text.
I want to know how you’re doing.
She blinked, heart racing before responding: Why?
Am I not allowed to be curious?
No, you’re not. What do you want? You always want something.
There was no response for a moment, until he said: You told your friend that I always dodge the question when you ask if I’m going to kill you. I told you multiple times that I’m not going to hurt you, and you decide not to believe me.
Her breathing became strained. Mal, she typed, have you been stalking me all night?
Maybe.
She shook her head. You need to stop that, seriously.
Why?
It’s creepy, and it’s what serial killers do.
I’m not a serial killer, he said.
I never said you were.
You implied it.
She shook her head. Please, stop stalking me.
You didn’t sleep at all last night, he responded, dodging the question. You slept well at my house.
I don’t like where this is going.
Then come back.
No.
He was silent for a moment, and she was about to put her phone down before he said: Why?
You know why.
I don’t.
She took a deep breath. I’m being honest here… I’m scared of you.
No response.
She wiped her eyes when another batch of tears warmed them, but when she looked down to her phone, the little thinking icon popped up when he was typing… and two seconds later, he said back:
You don’t have to be.
How can I trust you? she responded.
I’m trying to help you.
You used me as a human SHEILD.
I wasn’t trying to hurt you.
Yet, you knew they had a gun.
Silence for a moment.
Look… he texted, I know you’re scared, but I’m not going to hurt you, is that so hard to believe?
I don’t trust you.
I know, he responded honestly.
So, leave me alone.
The thinking icon came back for a couple seconds, then vanished for a moment as he retyped his sentence.
I can’t do that, he said.
Why?
I can’t do that, he repeated.
What do you want from me? she said then. Why do you like doing this?
Doing what?
Confusing me? Hurting me? Scaring me? Why are you doing this?
I’m not trying to hurt you, he said.
And yet you keep on eyeing sharp objects, responding to my questions vaguely, and then going onto kidnapping me and not letting me leave.
You’re not safe.
From you, she responded, I know.
That’s not what I was going to say, and you know it.
She shook her head. Just leave me alone.
I’m not going to leave you alone, Raven.
Then I’m calling the police.
You can’t call them.
Watch me.
Raven, he said before she could put her phone down, if you call them, I’ll have no choice but to kill them.
She went cold.
Leave me alone, Malachi. I’m not talking to you anymore.
Before he could respond, she put her phone on Do Not Disturb and shut it off, heart pounding.
“Raven,” Jae said, clearly just finishing putting on her makeup, “what do you think?”
She turned to Raven who was staring off into space in horror.
“Ray? You okay?”
She opened her mouth to respond, but closed it again, remembering his words, I’ll have no choice but to kill them.
“Yeah,” she lied, erasing her expression.
“You look… a little pale, you sure?”
A nod.
A shrug. “Alright, let’s go.” She got up from her desk chair that she used at her vanity and grabbed her purse from her nightstand. Raven tucked her phone into her skirt pocket, grabbing her wallet and shoved it in, as well when Jae gave her a look.
“What?” she said, partly stunned despite her entire body freezing over with panic.
“Don’t think for a second that you’re buying anything, okay?” Jae said. “Horrible things have happened to you, I’m taking care of you today, Raven.”
She forced a smile and a small nod.
Jae grabbed her friend’s hand and dragged her out the door.
