I sat in the back of Hazel's car next to Demetri with Hazel's shopping bags sitting in between us. My legs wouldn't stop bobbing up and down as I nervously nibbled on the skin of my closed fist. The yellow warning note from my stalker was crumpled up in my other hand.

Every time I would stare at my left fist, my heart beat would drum faster inside my chest. Nerves were starting to build up in my stomach. I just couldn't keep still.

I needed Hazel to get to my house now before Mason finds whatever the hell my stalker has planted for him. The stalker must be someone my brother knows, someone my brother would let in the house.

I racked my brain for the amount of friends and flings my brother has, the amount is endless. Fucking shit.

To make matters worse Demetri's dark calculating eyes kept taking glances at me. If he knows something's up he's going to ask me about it. When Demetri becomes curious, he doesn't stop digging or pushing. It's a wonder how he's managed to not find out about freshman year. He knows something's happened but won't push because if my brother wont say anything, it must be a forbidden topic.

If Demetri finds out about my stalker, potentially someone linked to the Staten Island murders, I don't know what he's going to do. He'd probably never step within two feet of me again.

As tempting as that sounds, we're in each other's lives linked in too many ways whether we like it or not. It would make his and all our friend's lives harder. I don't want to do that to them.

If Hazel doesn't drive faster, I'm going to throw up in her car.

I reached into my hoodie pocket and shoved my earbuds into my ears. My fingers shakily swiped over my phone screen until I found the playlist titled 'LOUD'. It was all rock and metal with the occasional belting ballad. The music's loud enough to help quiet down my screaming thoughts.

Drown out the noise

Try to stay poised

Don't be their toy

Hazel finally got onto my street and stopped in front of Demetri's and I's houses.

"We're here my children-"

"K thanks bye!" I grabbed my bag and rushed out of the car.

I took a quick peak to see Hazel's startled face and Diego's confused one. My stomach dropped seeing Mason's car in the drive way. The thought of him upstairs ready to argue with me made my nerves jitter throughout my entire body.

I jumped when Demetri grabbed my arm to stop my rapid walking.

"Ever thought about trying out for track?" Demetri asked. "Those little legs are faster than I thought."

I pulled my arm free and scowled at him. Before I could take another step, he stood in front of me.

"Get out of my way," I tried to shove him but he wouldn't budge.

"What is up with you? I swear your emotions change faster than Anthony's fleeting attention span," Demetri commented.

"None of your business or concern, now move," I demanded.

Demetri opened his mouth to argue but closed it shortly after. I walked around him fumbling with my keys trying to open the door. When the door flew open, I dashed inside and slammed it shut.

Mason flinched from the seat on the couch and snapped his head towards me. My heart stopped beating when I saw the shocked look on his face.

"That time of the month again?" Mason asked with wide eyes.

He doesn't seem mad, just startled. I exhaled in relief and shook my head.

"Did you have anyone come over in the past hour?" I asked.

"No, why?" Mason asked skeptically.

I furrowed my eyebrows. No one was here? Could my stalker have lied?

"Just curious," I replied.

So he doesn't know yet. I still have a chance to save myself.

"Mãe e pãe are out tonight, so what you in the mood for?" Mason asked.

I walked to the living room and dived into the couch opposite from him.

"Pasta."

"You do know I can make more than just that right?"

"Yeah, but you make it the best," I smiled. "Do we have sausages too?"

"You're in luck," Mason nodded.

I fist pumped the air knowing I was going to eat good tonight. Out of the both of us, Mason's hands down the better cook. I can make a few things, but Mason can make masterpieces. He's just naturally gifted at cooking but doesn't like to show it off.

The feeling of the crumpled warning in my hand brought me back to my distorted reality.

Maybe my stalker lied just to see me on edge. Maybe...

"Alright, I'm gonna go take a piss, get that pasta water boiling," I instructed.

Mason rolled his eyes and went back to scrolling on his phone. Walking upstairs to the bathroom, my mind kept wandering. Things aren't adding up. The tone of the note seemed to be very 'I say I do.' People do tell lies and hold things above their heads just to see them squirm though, without going through with exposing their secrets. Maybe my stalker's a little more lenient.

I pushed the bathroom door open and yelled, jumping back. All over the bathroom were post it notes repeating things of the same nature:

'Your sister is a whore.' 'Your best friend doesn't respect you.' 'Luna and Demetri are going behind your back.'

Some of the notes went into vivid detail about the things Demetri and I have done. I couldn't stop the tears welling up in my eyes as my throat was constricting. My breathing was so erratic I was starting to get dizzy.

"Irmã," I heard Mason running up the stairs. "Are you ok?"

I ran into the bathroom at lightning speed and pulled the door shut before Mason could look inside.

I cleared my tightened throat, trying to calm down the shaky tremors in my voice.

"I-I'm fine," My trembling hands swiped at the tears coming down my cheeks. "Turns out, it is that time of the month."

"Do you need me to go out and get you tampons?" Mason asked.

"No no, I'm g-good. Thanks irmão," I replied

Mason's shadow from underneath the door disappeared and I let out the longest breath. Whenever I'm upset, I always forget to breathe, I go seconds at a time without doing so.

Breathe Luna breathe. It's going to be alright. Wipe those tears and start taking down these notes.

I was probably in the bathroom for a good twenty minutes slashing at the post it notes on the walls. I'll never be able to look at another post it note the same again, that's for sure. I snatched the last one off the toilet seat and threw it into the trash bin. To make myself look less suspicious, I took the trash bags from the bathroom, my room, and Mason's room and took them outside.

Mason was in the zone standing over the stove so he didn't question me. While Mason cooked, I searched the rest of the house, checking every nook and cranny to be sure there weren't any yellow pieces of pasted paper hiding anywhere.

Unsatisfied with my thorough search, I fell into my bed and stared at the white ceiling.

If Mason didn't have anyone over, how the fuck did he or she get into my house?!

I shivered as a breeze of cool wind flew through my window. My eyes darted straight towards it.

"Shit," I muttered.

I always forget to close my window before I go to school. It's hard to climb up the side of the building and up to the small roofing connected to my window, but not impossible.

My feet moved on their on accord to the window and I slammed it shut.

I'm an idiot. It's my own fault this happened. Not only did I give my stalker easy access but I gave him or her dirt on me to report on in the first place.

Maybe I should just kiss Demetri and get it over with. The tattoo wouldn't be so bad...

No. I'd be marked by him for life. You know how'd that look?

What else am I supposed to do then, ignore him? I've tried, countless of times. It never works. Even if I fulfill the deal with him early, who's to say my stalker won't be there watching taking pictures when it happens. And even if whole deal hadn't happened, would the stalker use an even scarier bit of my life to hold of my head and blackmail me with?

Is this what happened to Aaron West? All those other victims? Do they have to go through the tortuous notes before meeting their doom? Am I going to die? I have people who depend on me, what will happen to them? Is their anyone who has survived an attack from the killer that I can speak to about this?

The dim lightbulb in my head went off.

Caitlin.

~~~

I wasn't even chewing on the pasta noodles Mason made, I was swallowing them. My plate was consumed in record time. Afterwards, I told Mason I was going to walk to Kendall's house and he said to have her give me a ride home if it gets dark by the time I leave.

I was off. St. Peter's Hospital wasn't very far from here, only about a thirty to forty five minute walk. By the way I was speed walking, I'd get there in double the time.

Caitlin and I never really interacted much before. If she was with Peyton, we'd converse and that's as far as our interactions went. She was a spunky red head with freckles all over her face. I don't know much about her other than being Peyton's best friend and also being a dancer like Serena.

Over the years, I've been paying to much of a blind eye to these killings. It's like this whole town has become desensitized to it. The saying's true, it's all fun and games until it happens to you.

None of this makes sense. Why am I being targeted? Why was Aaron targeted? Or Caitlin? What do any of us have in common?

I couldn't be any more different from them. The extroverts with a buzzing social life and an the introvert with some serious mental problems are somehow stuck in the same boat.

My eyes squeezed at the thought of how alive Aaron was just a few months ago. And now he's gone. It reminds me of...

No. Don't you dare go there!

The sound of footsteps coming from behind me brought me out of my thoughts. I didn't turn my head back, I only picked up my pace. The person behind me started matching my speed. There's no doubt I'm being followed.

My feet broke out into a full run, hitting the ground at a speed I didn't know I had in me. When I felt the person touch my shoulder, I stopped and whipped out my pepper spray from my crossbody bag, spraying the person in the eyes.

Demetri stopped and shrieked, covering his eyes with his hands. My fear turned into blazing hot anger.

"What the fuck Luanna!" He exclaimed, wiping his eyes.

This idiot.

"Demetri are you stalking me now?!" I yelled. Because I already have one and don't need another.

"No, I was following you, there's a different. Agh," His eyes were bright red. "Since when did you start carrying pepper spray?!"

Rolling my eyes, I guided him over to sit on the curb. I ripped a tissue from my tissue packet and poured some water over it.

"Here, hold still," I instructed.

I took his face in my hand and started dabbing the wet tissue over his eyes. Demetri did his best not to flinch, but I could tell my grade A pepper spray was doing a number on him. With Demetri's eyes closed, he almost looked peaceful. No smugness, no smirks, no anger, no negativity, just calmness.

Demetri's cheekbones and his well defined jaw clenched as I went to dab out the other eye. Being this close to his face, I got to see all the imperfections. The blackheads, the small little pimple on his forehead, even a birth mark on his cheek. It was a bit of a relief to know even people as good looking as Demetri had imperfections. And even then...

He was stunning.

My thumb skimmed the side of his face as I dabbed and his eyes shot wide open. They were dark and warm, like melted chocolate. I swallowed and retracted my hand, putting some distance between us.

"Why were you following me?" I asked.

Demetri stood up, pulling me up by my hand with him.

"You were acting so weird earlier. Then you just rushed out of your house like that," Demetri explained. "I didn't have anything better to do so, here we are."

I'm going to behead Demetri one of these days. He's comparable to an annoying mosquito who keeps biting you at the beach.

"Can't you mind your business?" I asked. "This involves personal matters."

"Freshman year personal matters?" Demetri raised an eyebrow.

My pulse skyrocketed. Demetri's only ever asked me once about freshman year. It's alarming to see him bringing it back up.

"No," I answered honestly. "But-"

"Then it's not completely off the table," Demetri said, smirk returning. "So where are we going?"

"You are going home," I stated firmly. "And I'm going to St. Peter's."

Demetri grimaced, his face sinking.

"I hate hospitals."

"Good, then I'll see you later," I said, starting to walk but Demetri latched onto my shoulder again.

"But," Demetri pulled me back towards him to face him. "I'm willing to make an exception. I want to know why'd you lie to your brother about going to a hospital."

"Who says I lied?"

"Knowing you, you probably said you were going to my prima's house like always," Demetri eyed me. "So why are you going to the hospital?"

I chewed on my lip. I could give him a bit of information without giving away the whole picture. I've become a master at that. But would it convince him? Demetri's the master at calling out my bullshit.

It's worth a shot.

"I want to talk to Caitlin," I told honestly. Taking a deep breath, I spoke. "Demetri, are you scared of the back slasher?"

"No," Demetri said almost immediately. "There's no fear I can't concur."

Not what I was expecting. That's far from realistic.

"Including a homicidal maniac?" I asked in disbelief.

"I dare that psycho to come after me or someone I care about," Demetri commented. "They may be smart and cunning but I'm persistent and ruthless. If you haven't noticed, I usually get what I want."

Wow, he must have cracked open a thesaurus recently. I shook my head at him.

"Your arrogance blinds you. He or she is dangerous and amazing at covering their tracks," I stared down at my feet which matched Demetri's walking pattern. "If they went after any of us, we wouldn't have a chance."

"On the contrary," Demetri started. "It's a teenager. Rarely an adult has died, and I think the only reason certain adults die is to throw the police off. And if it is a teenager, they think more on impulse. We'd have a shot."

"Or it could just be a random guy living in Staten Island with a dead teenager fetish," I commented.

"Why do you care so much anyway?" Demetri asked, lifting a brow.

I had an excuse already planned in my head.

"It's only a matter of time before one of us gets targeted next. I want to know what Caitlin went through, if there were any similarities between her and Aaron. Why they've both caught the killer's attention. Then again it could be random."

"Nope, there's always a pattern with serial killers. At least that's what Hazel tells me," Demetri sighed, pushing his dark hair back. "Luanna, now's not the best time to be playing detective. You shouldn't be snooping into stuff that'll get you in trouble."

"And what are you doing right now?" I narrowed my eyes at him

Demetri paused.

"Snooping into stuff that could get me in trouble."

"Exactly."

"Except I'm not digging into homicides," Demetri stressed. "Your chances of survival going up against this person are low Luanna. Be careful."

I smiled smugly, glancing at Demetri.

"Careful there pest, it almost sounds like you care," I smirked.

He glared at me.

"You think I want to hear Mason wallow about his dead sister and my cousin have PTSD over her dead best friend?" Demetri claimed. "Your death would be inconvenient."

"And you'd miss me."

"Only because you're my favorite person to annoy."

I nodded unconvinced.

"I don't plan on digging so deep. Only to find a connection, and a way to prevent what happened to Caitlin and Aaron and all those other kids, from happening to us."

Demetri exhaled, looking genuinely concerned. It was an odd look for him.

"You're going to need to start carrying a lot more than just pepper spray in your bag from now on Luanna."

Demetri and I arrived at St. Peter's just as the sun was setting. We went up to the front desk and told the receptionist we were here to visit Caitlin Ortiz.

"She's very weak right now," The receptionist mentioned. "Try not to overwhelm her."

She gave us visitors stickers that we slapped on our chests before walking to the elevator. The floor Caitlin was staying on wreaked of sickness. I could hear so many moans and groans, people throwing up, heart rate monitors beeping.

It hit me like a knife to the gut, I haven't been inside a hospital since the incident. Suddenly I was the one that felt sick and wanted to turn back.

Stop stop stop. You can't do this now.

My hands were trembling again, and my breathing picked up speed.

No. Cry and panic later. You have a job to do, suck it up.

I stuffed my shaky hands in my pockets, purposely pinching at the skin of my hands really hard so I could focus. Demetri was blank faced next to me.

"Did you talk to Caitlin at Krypt?" I asked Demetri.

"For a second, she was pretty wasted," Demetri lips thinned.

We finally got to Caitlin's room and I peaked through the window. Her body was attached to so many tubes and machines. It was horrifying to look at. Her eyes were opened and she was staring at the white walls probably driving herself crazy.

I took a deep breath and opened the door, Demetri following behind me. Caitlin's eyes followed to the sound until they landed on us.

"Luna? Demetri?" She asked, her voice was almost a whisper. It was sand paper dry and drained of life. "What are you doing here?"

I came over to Caitlin's bed while Demetri stood against the wall. Her skin was so pale and her lips were crusted. It looked like she hadn't had a good night's sleep in days.

"W-We just wanted to come check on you and ask a few questions," I pinched at my skin harder to remind myself to stop stuttering. "Did your surgery go well."

"It did, I'll never be able to dance again though. Not like I used to," She frowned. Sadness took over all her features.

My heart went out