Skylar's POV

I'd seen her before.

I knew that because I was freaking out right now and there must be a reason for me to freak out just as I'd caught a glimpse of my creepy hooded stalker. I had seen her before. Where, was what didn't quite click in the first few panicky hours.

All this time I'd expected it to be a guy. I'd expected it to be Blake, for fuck's sake. I'd even come to think of it as Kyle. But it was a girl. With long dark hair and a slender face and a small button nose and a frown. I don't know. Perhaps my brain was making up the rest of her face when I'd just seen it for a second or two maybe. And then she'd run away.

Must be a real psycho, I thought amidst my fear and panic, threatening my cat out of every possible option.

I felt like I was being watched the whole way back to my apartment. When I was safely on the other side of my locked apartment front door, I didn't wait a single second before fetching my phone.

"I have to see you." I slumped on the floor with my back against the tiny kitchen counter. "I need to see you."

Caden sounded like I'd woken him up mid-sleep, which was absurd because it was near evening right now. Even I didn't have that messed up of a sleeping schedule.

"Sky?" He spoke up, confused. "What...Are you all right?"

"I'm freaking out a bit." My voice sounded funny. "Where are you? Can I...can I see you? Adrian said--"

"Um." He still sounded sleep ridden.

I grimaced, then said in a rather small voice. "Are you all right, Caden?"

"Yeah." He answered almost immediately this time. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"You sound exhausted."

"Yeah, well, you did wake me up from a nap, Sky."

I frowned and there was this heavy gutting feeling in the pit of my stomach. The feeling you get when something's really wrong but you just don't know what.

"Okay." I forced myself to stop freaking out for a second there. It worked, I think. "You know what, it's fine. You don't have to...I think you should sleep. And we'll, we'll talk when things are a bit settled, yes?"

Caden was quiet on the other end. I thought he'd already fallen back asleep.

"I'm fine." He sighed and he sounded a bit irritated now. Maybe I was just imagining it.

"I didn't say you weren't." I pulled up my knees, pulling on a loose thread from my white shorts.

"Well then why did you say when things are a bit settled?" I wasn't. Imagining it, I mean. He sounded a tiny bit mad. "Aren't they already? I'm fine."

I winced. "That's not what I--"

"Just...I'll meet you somewhere, all right?" He cut me off. "Tell me where, Anderson."

I nodded even if he couldn't see me. In the next few minutes, we agreed to meet at the small walking track just outside the woods that surrounded most of the town here. I didn't ask him how he was here when Adrian had just told me that he wasn't. I didn't ask him anything more because I had a feeling he'd snap at me. I didn't want him to snap at me. Maybe I can ask him the rest once I see him with my own eyes.

"I'll be there." He said before hanging up.

I'll be there too, I thought in the silence.

•••••

Caden wasn't there when I reached the open walking track right outside the green stretch of the woods. I'd gotten there a bit earlier than the time we'd agreed on so I couldn't really blame him.

I'd been too antsy to keep still back at my apartment. Not when I'd had a lot to think about. Such as Blake. And that dark-haired girl who was apparently the stalker and who I think was a bit familiar too. She wanted something from me. She thought I had something of hers. And Caden was...well, I didn't know what Caden wasn't saying. He'd gone mad defensive earlier on the phone call, and I didn't know how else to ask him about stuff if he got like that again.

It was all connected. Somehow. I just didn't know what I had done. Why I was being stalked.

I'm fine, I recalled Caden's words. Was he though?

Pulling my oversized sweater sleeves over my fists, I tried to wave off the cold. There were only a few other people here besides me and I hoped Caden would get here before it got too dark.

Meanwhile, as I waited, my phone started vibrating. I took it out of my pocket and saw Nova's name flashing on the screen.

"Hey," I answered. "What's up?"

"Hey, where are you?"

We barely ever did phone calls so it was a bit bizarre that she was asking me that.

"I...am out for a bit. Will be back in an hour or so. Why?" I leaned against the tree bark, frowning a bit.

"Oh, well." She started. "You worked with Sarah, right?"

"Sarah?"

"Uh...Mrs Marshall?"

"Yeah." I nodded. "Yeah. I work at her shop sometimes. The flower shop. What about it?"

When Nova went silent, it didn't take me long to realise that whatever she'd be saying next wasn't going to be nice. And I, all of a sudden, found myself thinking of all the horrible things that could've happened to the old lady.

"Did her dog die?" I asked her with a grimace.

"No. No." Nova said. "She got in an accident. A break-in at her house actually. One of the neighbours called the police when they found her in a hysterical state. One of the officers called here on the house phone, which I guess isn't that bad since the officers didn't visit themselves."

I could've felt all the blood draining out of me. "An accident," I repeated. "Fuck. Fuck. Where's Chicken? Is she all right. Holy hell, is Mrs Marshall all right?"

I'd left Chicken with her. Oh my God. Not again. Fuck fuck fuck.

"Yeah. Yeah. I'm going by to visit her? I can like, bring your cat back with me if you want." She sounded a bit at unease. "Sky, that's not why I called. I mean, the break-in at her house was exactly like the one you'd described at our apartment."

I blinked. Then blinked again. "I see." I managed it out. "Actually, I don't. What are you trying to say?"

Nova sighed. "You told the officers a break-in happened at our apartment, yet when they came here, they found nothing out of the blue, yes?" She stopped for a second. "And now the same happened with Mrs Marshall, except that they found her entire house trashed. Your cat was there too."

I licked my lips slowly, trying to make it all make some sense. Any sense. Hell. I was so fucked.

"That doesn't mean...they think I did that to her?" My voice came out incredulous. "Why in this monumental clusterfuck would I break into her house?"

She hummed. "I'm not the one pointing fingers at you, Sky. No one is, at the moment. I'm just saying--"

"I have nothing to do with this, Nova." I sounded on the verge of hysteria now. "Why would I...I wouldn't. I wouldn't."

"I know, hey."

"You need to tell the officers to go fuck themselves for even thinking that I would break into Mrs Marshall's house." I hissed, then frowned. "Or not. Maybe don't say exactly that."

Nova laughed a little, then grew serious again. "Look, let's not talk about this over the phone, okay? When are you heading back?"

She hung up on me once I told her I'd be back in a bit and I pocketed my phone again, breathing out a shudder.

I couldn't quite believe it. A police suspect. Was I one now? Was I going to be closely scrutinized? I hadn't broken into Mrs Marshall's house. I hadn't even been making up the one that had happened at my apartment. It wasn't me. It was that girl. The stalker. The one who was making my life a literal hell.

Why? What had I done that I wasn't even aware of?

I stiffened almost instantly when I heard a crunch of leaves behind me. Turning around, I failed to spot anyone. And when I say anyone, I mean everyone. Everyone was gone and I was the only one standing near the walking track, which I, quite frankly, hadn't even noticed.

Alert and a little cautious now, I pulled away from the tree. "Caden?" I spoke a little slower and it mostly got muffled by the icy gust of wind that blew my way. I shivered.

I was about to pull my phone out again, probably to ask Caden where the fuck he was, when a gloved hand on my wrist stopped me.

Heart lurching, I snapped my head up, expecting it to be Caden. But it wasn't. Caden, I mean. It wasn't him. My eyes widened because I recognised her. My heart started racing because she was right here and not running away this time.

Right here. In front of me. The creepy hooded stalker. A strange, almost panicked sound left my lips as I tried yanking my wrist out of her grip. I tried scrambling back. The blank look on her face was scary, but the curious glint in her obsidian eyes was way scarier.

And I fucking knew her.

I opened my mouth to say something, anything, but then there was this sharp blow at the very back of my head, and everything grew dark.

Really, really dark.

When I woke up, the first thing I noticed was the dirt in my mouth. Not much, thank God, but enough to make me heave the moment I sat up.

The second thing I noticed was the faint ache at the back of my head.

And the third thing I noticed was the night sky.

I groaned and dropped my head in my hands. It took me a while but when my thoughts were finally cooperating with my surroundings, I inhaled sharply and everything came back.

The stalker girl. I was on the ground and in between tall, looking trees. On a bit of an inspection, I realised that I wasn't anywhere near the walking track anymore, but literally in the middle of the forest.

Stranded. At night. All alone.

"Oh God." I groaned again, slowly massaging the back of my head. Not bleeding. Where was I even? No one knew where I was. I didn't even. There were trees and trees and a few occasional sounds of birds (crows?), but not a sight of any human.

Seemed pretty much like my worst nightmare. Except that maybe it was. Maybe it was just a nightmare.

But then I started freaking out because I remembered. I knew her. The stalker girl, I knew her. It'd hit me pretty nicely when I'd seen her standing right before me, before she'd hit me for real and knocked me out.

Senior year homecoming back in Crestmont. I'd seen her the very first time I'd seen Blake. Caden had been about to shoot her in the head. I'd interrupted like the fool I was. And now she was here.

Making my life a miserable mess.

She wanted something from me. I wish she hadn't knocked me out and rather talked a little. At least that way I'd know what she wanted. The metal disk? I didn't have it. Blake? I didn't even know where that shit was.

Sighing, I realised that I was literally stranded in the middle of nowhere, sitting on the ground and having an existential crisis when I should be, I don't know, screaming out loud in utter frustration?

I got up slowly, grimacing and dusting off my jeans. My throat felt parched and I wished I had some water. It was cold. Really, really cold out here. I shivered and leaned under a tall tree's shade.

Why had she left me here? Perhaps leaving me here, stranded, sounded more torturous than kidnapping me. It sounded the same kind of torture to me, though.

Coyotes, I thought. Animals. I was alone in a forest and it was pitch dark all around me and I think I was going to die.

Feverishly looking around for my phone, I checked my pockets. I was expecting not to find it there, but to my surprise, it was there. And my fingers were trembling by the time I saw hundreds of texts and calls from Caden. And a few more from Nova. I'd been gone for hours, I think. I wanted to call back but there were absolutely no signals.

So I switched on the flashlight instead and hoped, hoped I'd get out of here alive and well and not at the edge of my death.

The next few minutes (or maybe an hour?) passed by as I walked and walked, leaves softly crushing beneath my sneakers, and the cold seeping into my sweater, hugging me from every direction.

I think I was walking in circles because not once did I see any car tracks or any car in general. I was freaking out by then and my breaths were coming out in short, panicked gasps.

I was going to die. I was going to die. Eaten alive by coyotes or frozen numb in this cold. I was going to die.

Someone out there must've finally taken some pity on me since I think I saw a huge dark structure a bit away from where I stood, mostly hidden by the trees, but huge enough for me to make it out as a big house.

In the middle of nowhere. Alarm bells rang in my head as I neared it, my eyes nearly watering at the sight. I couldn't go in there. But how was I supposed to stay here? All night?

I would've backed away or I would've neared it a little to check if I got any signals there. But I didn't get to. Not when things took a very sudden, and a very harsh turn.

I didn't see the huge mess of fallen leaves right in front of me, which I hadn't thought to even look for since it was way too dark and I was way too freaked out. And I hadn't quite possibly thought that there might be a hidden door underneath there somewhere.

At least not until I slipped and stumbled and fell right into it. No doubt, one of the worst fucking moments of my life.

I ached all over by the time I stopped rolling and falling, feeling something solid below me. Groaning, I straightened up and my head hit the concrete wall right behind me.

"Ow. Fucking hell." I curled up into a ball, grimacing and hoping the harsh stings and aches would go away. My head was pounding and so was my heart but it was warm. It was warm in here, wherever I was. Stale and warm.

An underground cellar. Oh Lord. Just when I thought my life couldn't get any worse.

I groaned again and looked around. It was dark, but I could almost make out the room. Small room. Closed. Dark. I was still trying to recover from it somehow when I heard a voice. A faint squeaking noise right in front of me.

I think I screamed a little because I was having really bad visions of rats. But then the noise happened again and it sounded more like a chair. Not words, but muffled sounds. As if someone was here with me but trying to struggle and get out of...something.

"H-Hello?" I whispered. The squeaking of the chair stopped and the muffled noise came again. Much louder this time.

Scared and dreading something very awful, I searched around for my phone, took it out of my pocket and switched on the flashlight, moving it right in front of me.

And then I screamed again because holy fuck, I must be in a nightmare right now.

"Blake?" I sounded so horrified, I realised, that it vaguely occurred to me to comfort my own self.

Blake, I thought. The guy tied to the chair right in front of me looked an awful lot like Blake. Dark blond hair stuck to his forehead, eyes wide then narrowing. He made another muffled sound at me and I saw the duct tape over his mouth. Oh.

"Am I having a nightmare." I didn't care to make it sound like a question. The glare I got from him told me that I might just be.

I waved my flashlight at him and he squeezed his eyes close. "What the fuck are you doing here?" I asked him, pressing back against the rock hard wall. "Why...I thought you were on the run from the police!"

He struggled some more and I flinched, contemplating. He couldn't speak until I pulled off the duct tape. I didn't want to. I didn't want to go a single step near him. But I needed to know too before someone else came looking in here. I'd already made a lot of noise.

So I took a deep, staggering breath and slowly neared him. He stopped moving and eyed me. Just some answers, I told myself. I'd probably duct tape his mouth again when I leave. If I leave.

I pulled off the tape and he winced a little. Then I scrambled back because I did not trust him even if he was technically tied to a chair. Blake looked at me and frowned, slowly licking his lips.

"Could've just done it and not wasted the first few minutes?" His voice sounded raspy.

A beat of silence passed by.

"In my defence, I think I'm hallucinating."

He stared at me, silent, and I stared back. "How did you get here?" He asked me.

I pulled up my knees. "Fell down. I'm pretty sure you saw that."

"And you're aware of what this place is?"

I didn't like that. I didn't like that he was near enough smirking at me when he was the one tied to a chair. I didn't like that he was asking me questions when I should've been the one asking him questions.

"Why are you here?" I demanded. "You're not supposed to be here, tied to a chair in a fucking underground chamber of all the places!"

He smiled. He actually smiled at me like a lunatic.

"I didn't run away from prison." He told me. "I would've rather lived in that rotten shithole than been kidnapped."

My eyes widened. "Kidnapped."

He raised his hands but not much due to the ropes. "See this? I'm pretty sure I'm here against my own will. I'm pretty sure I don't like being tied to a chair."

I managed a weak laugh because my head was spinning a little.

"It's the other way around actually." He added.

"You're shitting with me. Why would anyone kidnap you?"

"You're still the same, Skylar." He tipped his head back, trying to shake off the few blond strands from his forehead. "Beautiful and stupid and naive."

I grimaced and gripped my phone. "And you are just as much of a creep as I remember. What is this place?" How long had he been here? If Blake couldn't escape from here, what chances did I have?

Blake's gaze found mine and I shuddered when a slow smile tugged on his lips. Slow and deliberate.

"Your boyfriend's gang headquarters."