3. Surprise! There's a man at my window.

Dymond.

I have no idea how long I spent frozen in space with terror, just watching the camera with wide eyes, but I am jolted out of my stupor when the telephone begins to ring again.

I jump in shock, heart nearly tearing out of my chest.

Panting, I reach for the telephone, not daring to take my eyes off the camera for even one second, as if it could magically disappear if I look away. Pressing the phone to my ear, I start to speak frantically, 

"Is this the reception? Thank goodness you called, I just found a—"

"Yeah I know, baby. You're looking straight at the camera. Straight at me." A male voice interrupted on the other end of the call, shocking the life out of me.

Worse, because I instantly recognized the voice.The soundtrack of my nightmares and misery.

I yelp, nearly throwing the telephone as far away as possible as if it is on fire, but his voice freezes me in place.

"Don't you dare hang up on me, bitch." He yelled, then his voice suddenly softened into a sickening sweet tone. "Don't make me yell at you, baby. You know I hate doing that. I surprised you did not notice the camera until now, your safety skills must really be slacking."

His voice dissolves into a sadistic and creepy chuckle that made every single hair at the back of my neck rise straight.

I begin to tremble, staring back at the camera. My mind is swirling, unable to form a coherent thought. He found me. The man I have been running away from, all this time, no matter how hard I try, he always finds me.

"When I did not see you step out of that security building, I had thought that bastard rich dude would throw you in jail."

He continues leisurely, like he is talking to a very good friend. "If he had sent you to prison, I would have changed my gender and committed a crime so I would be thrown into a women's prison as well. That way you will not be able to run away from me anymore."

I shudder, tears gathering in my eyes. I choke, "D-did you plant this camera? How did you know I'll be in this exact room?"

It is hopeless to even wonder how he nearly always finds me.

No matter how far I run, or how long I hide, he is always somewhere close. But this is the first time he has planted a camera in a room I was staying in.

He finds my terrified question funny, and barked out a creepy laugh.

"Yes, baby. I will do anything for you, my love. You know that. I love you too much to stay away from you. And yes, I planted that camera while you were eating in the restaurant."

He suddenly giggles. "I could have stayed under the bed, you know, and waited for you to come in and lock the door before revealing myself. It would have been so fun, right?

"You and me, all alone in that room. But I decided to leave you alone just for this night, after all, you were so exhausted from getting captured by those men. I am content with watching you through this camera, just for tonight."

His voice has an ominous tone to it, and I nearly die right there from fright.

I look up at the camera, whimpering, "Y-you can see me…right now?"

"Of course." He answers cruelly. "Your hair is damp, wrapped in that white towel. Your beautiful, delicious naked body is wrapped in that robe as well. And I love the fear in your eyes as you stare at the camera."

I could never wish this on anyone. The sheer despair. The feeling of always being watched. Of always being in danger. Of always having an insane, dangerous stalker following you everywhere you run.

He could kill me.

I know he wishes to kill me for breaking up with him, but he keeps playing with me, tormenting my life, making misery and fear my second name. He wants me to suffer, just like I have ever since I met him.

He wants me to suffer, till he finally murders me in cold blood. And tonight, he had come so close. He had been in this very room I am currently sitting in.

"Why won't you let me be?" I cry, then I raise my voice in pure agony, "Leave me alone, please! I don't want to be with you, anymore! Stop making my life miserable!"

"Shut up, and don't make me angry, Dymond."

"I'm tired of you threatening me and acting like you own my life!" I scream.

"What are you going to do about it, bitch? Why don't you try telling the police like you did before?" He sneers, "Listen, I own you. I own your life, and since you refuse to stay where you rightfully belong, I will kill you."

"Go to hell, you monster!" I sob, scared out of my mind. The red glow of the camera suddenly seems a little too much like his eyes.

Unhinged. Cold. Murderous.

"Now, my love, I want you to calm down." He says. "Don't you dare end this call, or I might change my mind and come into your room again. This time, nothing will be able to save you."

A chill runs down my spine, just as cold tears race down my cheeks.

"Get up from the bed, and walk to the window. The telephone is close to the window, so you will have no problem. Now get up, and do as I say."

For a moment, I hesitate, but remember that I had locked the windows, so I am still relatively safe. Trembling like a dead leaf in a storm, I get out of bed and slowly walk to the window. My heart sounds like a earthquake in my chest.

"Good girl. Now, open the blinds." He instructs.

It is a bad idea, but I have no choice. With shaky fingers, I hold the blinds and pull it open. My room is dim since I had turned off the lights to see the camera, so it means I can also see outside my window clearly.

And the sight that meets my eyes the moment I pull the blinds open, triggers a blood curdling scream that tore tight out of my throat.

He is right there.

Standing right outside my window, his hand against the glass, and a phone on his hand. His face is something so gruesome, so fear inflicting, so filled with lunacy that I almost passed out. He is grinning madly, as our eyes meet through the glass.

"Surprise!" His lips say, and it is a picture of raw horror.

The telephone slips from my hand and clatters to the floor as I back away. I cannot stop screaming. Hearing his voice, and knowing he is watching me, is different from seeing him face to face, with only a thin sheet of glass between us.

He can so easily murder me right now.

I stumble away from the window, stumbling to the floor a few times. My screams must be pretty loud because all of a sudden, my door swings open and a couple of hotel staff members hurry in.

Before I register who they are, I instinctively get frightened, ready to defend myself,

"How did you get in?! How did you get in—?!"

Someone turned on the full lights in the room.

"Miss! Are you alright?! We heard screams from in here…"

"We came in with the master key card, it's okay. Please, tell us what's wrong…"

I am still panicking, pointing at the window. Two men hurry over to the windows and drew the blinds, peering outside. They could not find anything amiss. My heart is racing so fast that I am on the verge of a panic attack.

They turn back to me, "The windows are locked, and there's nothing strange out there. What exactly did you see, Miss?"

A woman places a hand on my shoulder, softly trying to calm me down. "I get it, you were startled. If only you can tell us what the problem is, we will fix it immediately. We do not currently have a spare room, or I could have suggested switching rooms just to calm you down."

I try to regulate my breathing, staring at each of them with distrust. If my ex boyfriend had been able to get into this room, then one of the staff could have helped him, right? I am not sure of my suspicions, but I can not trust any of these people.

Besides, they will think I am crazy if I mention that someone was right outside my window.

It is not the first time people labelled me as crazy when I tried to get help in the past. So I just clear my throat and wipe the tears on my face.

"There is a camera in the ceiling lamp." I say tiredly. "I have a bad case of paranoia, so when I realized the camera was there, it triggered my panic attack and I could not stop screaming."

I do not mention anything else.

They all look shocked, exclaiming and looking at each other as if trying to find explanations on how the camera got in there.

They begin to apologize profusely, as one of the men moved to remove the lamp from the ceiling, removing the camera along with it.

They keep asking me if they can make up for this inconvenience somehow, but I manage to get them out of the room and lock the door again. The windows are locked, the lights are all on, and the camera is gone.

In a bout of paranoia, I move to disconnect the telephone before it starts ringing again.

I still do not feel safe, because the staff are in possession of the master key card, meaning that creep can still get into my room as easily and silently as possible. So I move into the bathroom, and lock the door. It has a manual lock, so no one can get it open, but me. 

It is uncomfortable, but I lower myself against the door and pull my knees to my chest. There is no use trying to sleep, because I know my eyes will refuse to close tonight. Not because of I'm hiding on the cold tiles of the bathroom, but because there's someone lurking out there, trying to kill me.

When it is dawn, and the night sky has turned a dark blue, I get up from my spot on the floor and hurry out of my robe.

The only clothes I have to wear, is my dirty dress and worn sneakers, but I slip them on without wasting time. I cannot waste precious time on brushing my hair, so I roll it into an haphazard bun and move out of the bathroom. 

I am going to get out of this city right now. Not even to the outskirts of the city, but to another city, even if it is in another state, I do not care. I have to get as far away from here as possible. It is so early that most people will not be awake, so before my stalker will realize I'm gone, I will be on a train to another city entirely.

With a pounding heart, I open the drawer where in had kept the envelope of cash, relieved that it had not somehow disappeared while I was hiding in the bathroom.

As I stuff it deep into my pockets, I find myself looking around the room, as if someone was lurking in the corners, watching me and waiting to pounce.