Chapter 9

CHAPTER NINE 

The Manipulator

ELSA

I looked at the finger again; Nathan wore that ring today at dinner. This was Nathan’s finger. Everything we ate at dinner appeared back in my throat. I rushed to the toilet immediately and bent to throw up; my stomach was hurting so badly.

I took in a deep breath before flushing, then washing my face and hands in the sink. Why was this happening to me? I haven't done anything bad to anyone; I can't even call it karma.

Maybe I should move out. My brain mentally reminded me that the stalker first sent me a message when I was in Ohio, prom night. There was no escaping him.

I went back to the room; the finger which was covered with blood was still on the ground, making the room stink badly. Tears filled my eyes looking at it. Nathan went through this because of me, because I hugged him.

I used a tissue to put the finger back into the box and disposed of it the only way I knew how. I was going to apologize and cut ties with Nathan. It was for his safety, at least until I knew how to deal with the stalker.

I washed my hands again with soap and every cleaning agent I could find. Keys rattled from the hallway to my room. I jumped on the bed and picked up my phone, doing nothing in particular, but there was no way Rose would know I just disposed of a human’s finger. Right?

A small knock came first, and then the door opened. Rose came in all smiley and giggly.

“Someone is in a good mood.” I turned to her, and she cleared her throat. She felt like a child just caught stealing candy.

“Hey… I didn’t know you’d still be up.” She took off her coat and dropped it on the chair next to her vanity.

I took in a deep breath. “Yeah, I didn’t know I’d be up either.”

“And about the pen and Mac pad…” She sat on her bed and then focused on me. “I asked my mom, and she said her company made it but it was customized, and only one of it is in existence.”

“Customized which means someone asked specifically for it, an electronic drawing pen that calms the nerves?”

“Technically, yes. She said the customer paid twelve thousand dollars for it.”

I gasped. I just stared at her like she was insane, but maybe she was. I mean, she just called a pen for twelve thousand dollars. “Is she sure? That sounds absurd. It’s just a … pen.”

Her brows came together in a frown. “The only one of its kind in the world…” She let out a sigh and removed her black hair tie, letting her blue hair fall freely on her shoulders. “There’s something else…”

My eyes trailed up to her. “What? Did she tell you who purchased it?”

She shook her head negatively. “She said it was too confidential, but she did tell me to stay away from you.”

“From me? Why?” I sat up from my bed; fear gripped my body. Her mom knew more than she was letting on.

“I have no idea. You know parents and being paranoid.” She laughed before going into the bathroom with a towel.

I didn’t need more evidence to know who sent the first gift. It was obvious, even from the way the second box was packaged. Asshole.

I felt my phone vibrate almost immediately. I opened it, and it was a text.

𝑨𝑵𝑶𝑵𝒀𝑴𝑶𝑼𝑺: 𝑫𝑶 𝒀𝑶𝑼 𝑳𝑰𝑲𝑬 𝑴𝑌 𝑮𝑰𝑭𝑻, 𝑲𝑰𝑻𝑻𝑬𝑵?

Anger filled my body as I stared at the message. I imagined the smile on his face right now. I changed my number; how on earth did he get this one too?

He messed with my friend, and he was going to pay for that. I couldn’t control my hands as it flew through the keyboard.

𝐌𝐄: 𝐈 𝐖𝐈𝐋𝐋 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐓 𝐓𝐈𝐋𝐋 𝐈 𝐌𝐀𝐊𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐏𝐀𝐘 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐘𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐘𝐎𝐔'𝐕𝐄 𝐃𝐎𝐍𝐄. 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐌𝐄 𝐊𝐈𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐍, 𝐈 𝐇𝐎𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐋𝐘 𝐇𝐎𝐏𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐊𝐍𝐎𝐖 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐘 𝐒𝐂𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐂𝐇 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐁𝐈𝐓𝐄.

I poured out all my anger in that one text. I felt a bit better after pressing the send button. For a second, it didn’t show he was typing. He must have finally gotten the idea of everything. It finally pinged again; he had dropped a text.

𝑨𝑵𝑶𝑵𝒀𝑴𝑶𝑼𝑺: 𝒀𝑶𝑼'𝑳𝑳 𝑪𝑹𝑨𝑾𝑳 𝑨𝑵𝑫 𝐁𝐄𝐆𝑻𝑶𝑶

I threw my phone on the wall next to my bed; my entire body was burning up with anger. I immediately opened the drawer where I had placed the Mac drawing pad and pen; I grabbed it and threw it into the trash can. He was rich; only someone rich could pull such strings and also afford this. An idea popped into my head. I knew it was a bad idea to mess with him, but at this point, all I wanted to do was hurt him for what he did to Nathan.

Nathan must hate me right now… Rose came out with a white towel tied to her hair and body. Her eyes went to the brown envelope in the trash can.

“You threw it away?” Her eyes widened and went back to mine.

“Trust me, it’s the best thing for everyone.” I looked at it; it would have been nice to use it to get back into drawing, but knowing he’s the sender, never.

“Okay.” She proceeded to dry her hair.

“Do you know how to hack an account or do you know anyone who does?” She paused and turned to me before nodding. I love my new roommate.

***

Nathan wasn’t in class today; they said he wasn’t at his hostel either. He had to go home after ‘an accident’ he had.

Rose and I had the same class together, so we walked and sat together. Besides, we had an after-class event to execute.

“And that was how everything was in 1793; of course, the earth still had the same shape as now, but it was less contaminated.” Mrs. Rivers, the college history professor, stated, drawing the shape of the earth on the whiteboard.

Some girls were laughing behind me, probably at something they said. It was so easy for them to laugh and be free without feeling like someone was monitoring them. Must be nice.

“And that marks the end of our session.” She closed the textbook before everyone stood up and began walking out.

Rose and I took a cab to the orphanage distribution center worldwide. It was a small office that connected all orphanages. A middle-aged woman greeted us politely.

“How may I help you, Miss?” She asked from the other end of the counter.

UNKNOWN

I watched her all through last night; her expression as I texted her, her frustration when she received the last message before throwing her phone against the wall. Her asking her chicken-like roommate for a hacker.

I strictly told the school not to give Elsa Reed a roommate. I might have to give them a visit soon. She threw the Mac and pen into the waste bin; her chicken roommate picked it up while she was asleep. I hacked into her room camera, and I’ve been watching her since the first day she stepped foot into that dorm room.

I’ve stayed awake at night so many times just so I can watch her sleep. I’ve kept men around her and in her school, protecting her in case any of my enemies decided to sign a death wish. But they all have limits; get more than a hundred feet radius to her and get a fucking bullet to your head.

A hurried knock came on the door to my camera room; I switched it off. No one gets to watch Elsa or her empty room aside from me.

“Come in,” I replied, and the door clicked open. My bank manager rushed inside; he looked like he was in high panic, and he was sweating badly.

“S… Sir.” He shivered before trying to adjust his tie. I trailed in my chair as I looked at him. “Your account has been hacked sir, Some fraudster took out 100 billion dollars, and we were able to trace the transaction; it all went to hundreds of orphanages.”

A laugh I couldn’t stop passed through my throat; my manager shivered, and he stared at me with confusion. “That’s not a hacker, Richard.” I crossed my legs. “That’s my Little Kitten trying to get my attention.”

My phone pinged, and I picked it up; it was a text.

𝑬𝑳𝑺𝑨 𝑹𝑬𝑬𝑫: 𝑰 𝑹𝑬𝑨𝑳𝑰𝑺𝑬𝑫 𝑻𝑯𝑨𝑻 𝑺𝑰𝑵𝑪𝑬 𝒀𝑶𝑼 𝑫𝑰𝑫𝑵'𝑻 𝑬𝑿𝑨𝑪𝑻𝑳𝒀 𝑮𝑹𝑶𝑾 𝑼𝑷 𝑾𝑰𝑻𝑯 𝑯𝑶𝑴𝑬 𝑻𝑹𝑨𝑰𝑵𝑰𝑵𝑮, 𝒀𝑶𝑼'𝑫 𝑩𝑬 𝑮𝑬𝑵𝑬𝑹𝑶𝑼𝑺 𝑬𝑵𝑶𝑼𝑮𝑯 𝑻𝑶 𝑫𝑶𝑵𝑨𝑻𝑬 𝑻𝑶 𝑻𝑯𝑶𝑺𝑬 𝑻𝑯𝑨𝑻 𝑫𝑰𝑫𝑵'𝑻 𝑯𝑨𝑽𝑬 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑶𝑷𝑻𝑰𝑶𝑵 𝑶𝑭 𝑯𝑨𝑽𝑰𝑵𝑮 𝑨 𝑯𝑶𝑴𝑬 𝑶𝑹 𝑭𝑨𝑴𝑰𝑳𝒀.

And… blocked. She blocked the number; I couldn’t help but laugh. I felt so proud of her.

Now that’s my little kitten’s rage.