Winter had been walking down the shaded roads for over twenty minutes when she made it to her street, starting down her neighborhood.
She knew her mom was home, so once she got there, she’d be safe... She also knew that she should’ve driven to school, but she couldn’t foresee the future... and she sure as hell didn’t expect a guy from her dreams to be real, and the fact that he was most probably stalking her.
Winter guessed it could’ve been her subconscious mind giving her those dreams... maybe she knew that he was stalking her... seen him somewhere...
Yes, that sounded like a possible reason...
Not the fact that supernatural beings existed.
When she made it to her doorstep, she froze in place, blood turning cold.
There was a certain someone sitting on her doorstep... dark hair... blue eyes, staring down at the sidewalk lazily as if he’d been waiting there for a while.
Cameron...
He looked up when she stood there, and smiled. “Now you’re home,” he said as if he knew she’d be home earlier. “Do you drive twenty under the speed limit, Snowflake?”
She opened her mouth and closed it again, trying to understand why the hell he was sitting outside her house, and also... how long...
“I walked,” she said finally. “And stop calling me ‘Snowflake.’ It’s creepy.”
Cameron only smirked, but looked to the ground, hiding his expression.
“How did you know where I live?” she said then. “And how did you know when I usually get home?”
“I know a lot about you, Winter,” he said, pushing his hands on his knees and standing.
“Have you been stalking me?” she questioned as he brushed the debris from the sidewalk off his pants.
“Maybe.”
“Why?”
“I have my reasons.”
“You haven’t told me what yet, Cameron.”
His smile somehow widened. “Because you didn’t me at the arcade yet.”
“I wasn’t planning to,” she snapped.
He only chuckled. “That’s why I’m here.” He gestured to her house.
“Because you saw me walking home and you guessed I wasn’t going to follow through?” she quizzed.
“No,” he said, shrugging, “I knew you weren’t going to follow through the moment I said it.”
“Then why did you threaten me?”
He raised his brows. “I didn’t ‘threaten’ you, Snowflake.”
“Really?” she said sarcastically. “So when you said, ‘Come to Dunston river or I’ll drag you there myself,’ that wasn’t a threat?”
He laughed softly. “You make a good case, Snowflake. Do we need to take this to court, ‘cause I have a good defense lawyer.”
“What’s your ‘defense’ then?”
“That I was testing you,” he stated.
“Why?”
“Because I wanted to see if you’d get scared and run away with your tail between your legs, or be interested and come with.”
“And what did you find out?”
“Neither.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Elaborate.”
“You’re a spit-fire, Winter Evans. Nothing I say will get you to come willingly.”
“So you’re just going to kidnap me?”
“It’s more of... save.”
“From what? You?”
Amusement still lit his eyes. “That’s part of it.”
“You’re making no sense.”
“I’m very much aware.”
“Then why the hell are you confusing the hell out of me?”
He laughed then. “Once again, I have my reasons.”
She pointed to the road. “Get off of my property before I call the police.”
“Why?” he wondered curiously. “Do I scare you?”
He did more than scare her, he screamed insanity.
And she was going slightly crazy. “Get out.”
He stepped over to her then, continuing until they were inches apart. “I know you’ll come willingly... eventually, and you can call me when you’re ready to, Winter.”
Before she realized it, his warm grip held onto her wrist, and she pulled away suddenly, making his lips tilt higher.
“Call me, Winter,” he said. “I know you will eventually. That won’t come off any time soon.”
She followed his gaze down to her arm... where there were ten numbers written in red on her skin...
His phone number...
When did he...?
But when she looked up to question him... he was gone...
She ran up to the road then, looking up and down the street to find it empty despite a couple cars parked on the side of the road...
Jesus... it was like he could teleport or something...
He was probably a fast runner.
She looked to her arm.
Call me. 207-344-0089
No, she wouldn’t. She would not call him...
But she had to question... why did he want to meet at Dunston River specifically?
Well... it was one of her favorite arcades to go to after school... and he was a stalker...
She wanted to go there tonight... but not when he would be there...
Just him knowing where she lived freaked her out...
He might as well know everything about her, her social, her number, her driver's license code...
She didn’t have her license with her today... because she wanted to walk to school... but he knew her name which gave her bad vibes... and she wasn’t sure if she liked it.
Or him for that matter.
You have a little red on your chin.
Oh... so I do.
What is it?
Tomato juice.
It mind as well be blood... because Winter wouldn’t be surprised if he killed people in his spare time.
She sighed stepping up to her front doors seconds later.
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*****
A couple minutes after Winter stepped into her house, she found no signs of her mother... Just a note on the fridge that said:
Had a work emergency, also had to go deep in the city... Sorry, Honey...
I’ll be back after five.
- Mom
Great, she thought at the time.
Currently, Winter sat on her bed, staring down at the floor as she kicked out her legs as an attempt to get her energy out.
No math homework... no homework in general...
What was she supposed to do?
She wanted to go to Dunston River to play some games... but that was before she had a little encounter with a certain stalker.
Creepily pale... too...
She looked to the clock on her nightstand:
2:49 pm.
God... why did school have to end at two every day?
And why did she have to wait two hours until her mother got home...?
Then an idea popped in her head...
Maybe she could go to Dunston River... she knew it was where Cameron told her to go, but if she called him to make sure he wasn’t there and then ended the call before any other conversation... and if she wore a disguise... she might’ve be able to not draw attention to him...
A smile crept onto her expression.
Goodbye, boredom...
She looked to the phone number on her arm... He might’ve known her phone number... but if she called from her homephone... he probably wouldn’t recognize her...
She tiptoed out from her bedroom, sneaking to the kitchen which was where the nearest phone was and typed in his phone number, taking a deep breath before blowing it out and pressing talk, holding the phone to her ear.
The line rang for a moment, and it clicked...
“Hello?” Cameron said through the other line.
Oh, God, oh, God, oh, God... What was she supposed to say to not sound suspicious?
“Hello?” he said again.
“Oh, yes,” Winter said with a Texan accent, “sorry about that, I was talken to my boss.”
“Who is this?” he questioned.
Oh... good... he knew it wasn’t her...
She knew practicing her fake accents would come in handy one day.
“Is this Cameron Arcus?” she said.
“Yes.”
“Hi, I’m Amelia from the police department, we got a call from a... Samantha Evans? Do you know her?”
“Yes...” he said suspiciously, “what’s this about?”
“Her daughter Winter Evans told her that you’d been stalking her, and while this investigation is undergoing, we need you to stay away from her.”
He was silent.
“Where are you right now, sir?”
He was quiet for a moment, and she worried that he hung up when he responded, “I’m not near her, if that’s what you’re asking.”
“I’m not asking that, sir. I’m asking for your whereabouts.”
“Why?”
“Tell me where you are sir so we know she’s safe or I’ll get a warrant out for your arrest.”
He sighed. “I’m at Mario’s subs on twenty-second street.”
“Alright,” she said in the same accent, excitement warming her inside, “I’ll send some officers to your location so we know for sure.”
“That’s really not necessary,” he stated quickly as if scared. “I swear I’m nowhere near her house.”
“If you go near her again, we have reason to arrest you, understood?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Have a good day.”
And she hung up.
Holy crap... she actually fooled him!
Winter couldn’t help but jump in the air happily...
She could go! And he wouldn’t bother her anymore!
So she slipped on her shoes, grabbed her purse, and darted out the garage door.
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*****
It was a little after three when Winter parked in front of Dunston River, swinging out of her car and locking it with her key.
She had a baseball cap on and tucked her hair behind it, hiding the color and style, she also put on some of her old clothes that she wore in middle school...
Cosplay, mainly...
She had to choose between the anime skirt and a death metal T-shirt, or a maid costume.
She choose the primary for obvious reasons...
She didn’t want to attract attention to herself... and compared to what she wore now... the maid cosplay would do the exact opposite.
After checking her car was locked by pulling the handle, she looked around under her ball cap to see any signs of Cameron, and ended up finding none...
So she stepped casually to the front doors despite her entire body screaming to get inside where it was darker, louder, and it would be harder for him to recognize her...
When she made it inside, after feeling a heat wave from the vents on the ceiling, Winter walked in—once again—checking for anyone who looked similar to Cameron, but there was no one.
So she stepped over to one of her favorite games named, Arcus... Which was a tad concerning due to that being Cam’s last name, but she pushed the thought away.
She inserted some coins, leaning back up and started playing...
It was a game where you learned how to defeat every boss with strategy, but never got boring no matter how many times you played it.
Winter got to the point where she won almost every time, and she started smiling as little explosions splattered across the screen.
She was in the game for about three minutes before a voice echoed through her ears:
“You go girl.”
Her entire screen exploded, and she got the “YOU DIED” logo, but she froze at the sound of Cameron’s voice.
“So...” he said, “you up for a game of foosball?”
She was silent for a moment, staring at the screen in shock. “You weren’t supposed to be here... and you weren’t supposed to talk to me....”
“Is this about that ‘police call?’” he wondered curiously, leaning a shoulder on the machine. “‘Amelia,’ huh? You’re a pretty good actor, Snowflake. I almost believed you.”
“What gave me away?” she wondered, looking to him now.
He had a small smirk, but his eyes searched hers thoughtfully. “The fact you said ‘police department’ and didn’t state what city. And how you were so eager to know where I was.”
“I thought I was convincing.”
“You were,” he said, nodding, “but I knew you were going to do something like that.”
“How?”
He shrugged. “I just expected it.”
“What if I was the police?” she questioned. “Then you would’ve talked to me, and they could’ve sent you to jail.”
“True,” he said, “so that’s why I searched up all near police department phone numbers, and none of them matched yours.”
She gulped...
Crap...
“I thought I fooled you,” she said then.
“I know,” he said, smirking, “that’s why I’m a good actor, too, Snowflake.”
She was silent.
“So...” he said, “foosball?”
“No...” she shook her head, “my mom’s going to be home soon... I should go back.”
He grasped her arm, turning her to face him.
Despite his mischievous nature... his grip was gentle. “Come on, straight-A student,” he said sarcastically, “have some fun for once.”
“I said my mom’s—”
“Your mom’s not going to be home until five,” he interrupted. “It’s three. You have two more hours.”
How did he know that?
He wasn’t inside her house... she knew because the front door was locked... and the note was on the fridge...
“Come on,” he said, “have a little fun.”
“I don’t know what your definition of ‘fun’ is, but keep me out of it.”
“One game,” he said. “One?”
She looked to her car outside and back to him. “That’s all?”
“I swear on my still-beating heart.”
She told herself he was joking.
“Fine....”
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*****
“Haha!” Winter yelled as the plastic soccer ball went into Cameron’s goal. “I win again!”
“You got lucky,” he said, “let’s try again.”
“You said that the last fifteen games,” she joked. “And I exceeded the limit of our deal of one. That, and it’s four, we’ve been playing for almost an hour now.”
“So?” he countered.
“So I have other errands to run, and I don’t need you attempting to win games and lose.”
“One more, and I won’t lose.”
She laughed not for the first time that night. “You’re a sore loser, Cam. Admit it.”
He looked to her then, narrowing his eyes. “Why the sudden urge to leave? Are you getting bored?”
“No,” she said, shrugging, “I already told you it’s getting late, and I have errands to run.”
“Like what?”
“Something I’m not telling you.”
He shrugged. “Alright, Winter. See you tomorrow.”
She grabbed her purse and threw it over her head after shrugging on her jacket. “See you tomorrow.”
Before she could leave, he grasped her arm, pulling her a little back.
She shot a glare at him. “I said I have to go.”
“I know,” he responded, “I just have a question.”
“What?”
“You didn’t want to come here with me, and you were terrified of me, I know you probably still are, but did you have fun?”
She stared for a moment, recalling all the memories of earlier that day...
She came here because she thought he wasn’t here... he was stalking her and she was a bit freaked out by him... that and he was a creation of her dreams... something that shouldn’t be possible...
When she looked into his dark eyes, she still noticed the cold look in them, and she pulled out of his grasp. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves here.”
“Winter,” he said before she could leave, “you’ll come back tomorrow.”
She shot him a glare at his demand. “You can’t control me, Cam. And I don’t have to listen to everything you say. Especially when you’re stalking me.”
He smirked, the look saying, You sure about that?
Anger burned her inside with his smile.
But he waved. “Bye, Winter.”
She turned and stormed out of the arcade.247Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWrwTJxLbzM
