Chapter 5 Elodie's POV

The walls were turning a deep crimson , they looked to be melting. But the room felt cold , so how could the walls melt?  I could see my breath as I breathed out. I felt strapped down and I couldn't move. I moved my head and looked down at my body but nothing was holding me down. I just couldn’t move.  I looked around and my eyes caught a mirrored ceiling above me and I screamed , I screamed until my lungs burned. Yet the body that laid still in the reflection didn’t move. Their body wasn’t my own, it was my mothers. She stared blankly up at the mirrors not moving an inch. I glance around again and the walls aren’t melting I realise and the crimson was blood dripping down them. 

Suddenly I bolt up in bed sweating and panting. I panicky looked around the room and I was in my own room. The walls were a warm beige no longer crimson. I was no longer strapped down by something invisible. I was sitting up with the blankets pooled around my waist as my bare chest rises and falls trying to bring much needed air back into my lungs. 

“ Fuck “ I gasp , I turn my head to look at the clock on my night stand. Only three in the morning, I knew now that I wouldn’t fall back to sleep not after a nightmare like that one. Ones that had my mother in always rattled me the most and kept me awake unable to remove the image every time I closed my eyes. 

I throw the blankets off of me and spin my legs off of the bed and bend my head down. I still felt shaky, my hair curtains around my face as I looked down at my bare feet and tried to calm my rising heart rate. Once I felt a little calmer I pushed my hand through my hair and off of my face. Looking up again I stand. I walk out of my bedroom turning the lights on in the hall but nowhere else given I was naked and didn’t want people outside to see me and head through the living room to the kitchen and grab a glass and fill it with water then I  take a deep drink. Placing the glass down I lick my lips. I fill the glass again and walk out into the living room and across to my desk. 

As I do I hear a noise behind me , I yelp and spin around. My eyes darted around the room but I didn't see anything. With a shaky hand on the glass I reach behind me and place it down on my desk and back up into it until my bum presses against the wood. I definitely heard it. It sounds like a step or a thud. It was definitely a bang of some sort. 

“ You're losing it Elodie “ I whisper to myself and turn back around to my desk.  I’m about to sit at my desk when I hear my phone ring from the other room. I frown , confused. Who would be calling me at this time? On unsteady feet I make my way to my room and grab my phone off of the night stand. Blocked number. Shit , my heart once again picks up speed. My fingers tremble over the answer button. I contemplate for a few seconds whether to answer , but that part of me, the one that for some reason doesn't report him, steps in and I find myself answering it and putting the phone to my ear. I don’t speak , and at first he doesn't either. 

“ Elodie “ his voice growls low , quiet like he was trying to not be heard. 

I don’t answer. I just breathe heavily down the phone. 

“ Elodie what demons chase you ? “ He asks quietly again. Almost too quiet. I lick my lips and my mind works over time , what does he mean ? Before I can answer a shadow moves along the bedroom wall in front of me the hall light shining in through my open bedroom door that I had my back to. My whole body goes cold. The phone slips from my hand as the shadow of a man outlines the wall in front of me. 

“ Don’t turn around “ the voice behind me says. 

I whimper , tears sting my eyes. I didn’t dare , for all I knew the man had a gun pointed at my head and I just couldn’t see it. 

The thud , it was him and he rang me to get me out of the living room. It had to be. My training was kicking in , the story , the plot and the walk through of the crime scene was playing in my mind. He had been watching me , my nightmare made him move. He accidentally knocked something and he quickly used my phone to get me to move to a room that wasn’t on a main road. 

“ What demons chase you ? “ He asks again. 

He sounded closer , I closed my eyes tight. Training told me to answer to appease him , don’t make him mad. Stick close to the truth but not the whole truth don’t give too much away. 

“ A nightmare “ I whisper out my voice shaky. 

“ What happened ? “ He asked , his voice was closer again. I lick my lips and look down to the side and he makes a tutting sound. “ Don’t turn around “ he states. I move my head back forward. 

I squint my eyes shut , a tear escapes and slips down my cheeks. I didn’t want to tell him , I felt vulnerable as it was over the fact I was naked. I always slept naked. My arms come up and I cross them over my chest covering my breasts and closing myself in. Sharing personal information with a stalker just didn’t feel right , he was already invading my personal space and never mind my thoughts. 

“ Elodie “ his voice had a warning and it sounded like he was right behind me now. 

“ My mother , I have nightmares about her death. About my own , I dream of sick and twisted ways I get murdered and I dream about how she was murdered “ I whisper, feeling my soul crack open and want to rip itself out of the gaping hole in my bleeding fearful heart. 

He is silent for a moment and then he sighs “ You’re fucking perfect your as twisted as I am “ I frown at that how does he get that from what I just told him ? How was that perfect ?

“ All except the fact you work for the cops “ he adds in,  his words spit with disgust. My body starts to tremble , he knows a lot about me and I don’t know how or why. 

“ What do you want ? “ I ask him. I gasp when I feel something light as a feather touch my skin on my spine and then lightly in a feather touch ghosts down my back. I feel goosebumps erupt on my skin. He doesn't answer. His fingers just trace up and down my spine. 

“ Who are you ? “ I ask, trying to distract myself from his touch. I squeeze my thighs together. It had been a long time since I had been touched by someone else and even he had hardly touched me and even though he was my stalker and it was wrong. I felt a tingle between my thighs. 

“ You’ll find out soon , go back to bed Elodie and invite the demons in. Welcome them and then they can’t hurt you anymore. Once you embrace them and accept who you are they're the ones that keep you sane “ he murmurs. 

Then his hand is gone. I hear his footsteps. He’s walking away. 

“ And Elodie don't walk around naked anymore, not in front of windows. I don’t like others seeing what is mine “ he states. 

I feel my pussy tingle more and dampness leaks from me. I don’t turn to look , I don’t dare move until I hear my door close to my apartment and then my legs give out and I fall to the floor as the realization of what just happened consumes me. He was in my apartment , I was naked in front of him. I told him about my mum and he said I was his. And underneath the fear , there was heat , my body responded to him. Even though my mind trembled with fear my body trembled with something else, something sick given the circumstance.  

I had to do something , I couldn’t carry on this way. He was in my home. I feel tears stream down my cheeks. It was in the midst of my breakdown that a thought strikes me and once it does I can’t think of a reason not to do it. I needed to move out , I needed to escape this situation before it escalated. I had money saved , David’s money. I could buy somewhere and hope he doesn't find me. He seemed to be able to find out a lot about me. If I did it smartly maybe I could disappear from him. 

I wasn’t in denial about the fact I was thinking of uprooting my life to escape him instead of just reporting him. What was it that stopped me ? Maybe I should go to therapy. I cry until I don’t have the energy to even sit , so instead I crawl on my hands and knees to my bed and climb up. I fleetingly thought about getting a knife and keeping it under my pillow but what was the point he had already been in and had willingly left without hurting me this time. He wouldn’t come back tonight. That doesn't fit any profile. He would have just stayed if he wanted something or planned to do something to me. I don’t know why he was here and what he was doing before my nightmare disrupted him. But my home felt invaded now, it was no longer safe.