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17. The Pink Rose

I've never liked to eavesdrop.

But somehow I find myself listening in on Seth's conversation. We were at my house and it's pretty early in the morning. We fell asleep cuddling on the couch, watching movies like Scary Movie, The Devil Wears Prada and Olympus Has Fallen.

I woke up feeling cold. His arms weren't wrapped around me, holding me close and making me like it's just the two of us in the whole world. My eyes slowly fluttered open, adjusting to the dark living room.

"I can't tell her just yet!"

Seth's raspy morning voice boomed through the silent house. Curious as to who 'her' was and who he was talking to, I wrapped the thin orange blanket around my body and silently tip-toe over to where the harsh voice came from.

"It's not that I can't trust her, I would trust her with my life if I had to but this is too dangerous!"

Seth stood in my bedroom, pacing up and down. The door was ajar so I could see him slightly. His hair was disheveled, a few strands of hair fell over his eyes. He didn't have his glasses on so I could see the bags under his dark green eyes.

"I know she can protect herself, didn't she go under full combat and weaponry training when her brother disappeared?"

Are they talking about me?

"I can't risk her life like that. I care about her a lot Eddie. I think... I think I may..."

Is he going to say what I think he's going to say? My eyes grew wide as I slowly walked back into the living room. But with my luck, I stepped on a wooden plank that squeaks a lot.

"...I'll talk to you later."

I quickly turned around and jumped for the couch. Landing with a thud, I shut my eyes, ignoring the fact my hair fell right in front of my face. I could hear Seth's footsteps coming towards me.

"Looks like someone got comfortable."

Turns out when I jumped for the couch, I landed with my arms and legs spread out. Seth picked me up bridal style before laying back on the couch with my head on his chest. His warm breath hit my ear as he started whispering.

"I know you're awake."

I challenged myself to not get caught. I stayed absolutely still. I slowed down my breathing and made it looked like I was really asleep. He started to do the most devilish thing I could do. He started planting kisses all over my weak spots.

"Two can play this game."

He gently pushes my head to the side. Seth started trailing along my jawline which gave me goosebumps all along my body. Then, he started going down my neck at an excruciatingly slow pace. He stopped a few inches away from my collarbone and started to suck on the sensitive part of my skin.

He is evil.

I was given away by a small moan escaping my lips. My eyes shot open and darted over to his green eyes that lit up when he stared back into mine.

"Ughh, I hate you so much. You used that against me!" I punched his hard chest, barely given him any pain.

He chuckled and kissed my cheek, "Oh, you know you love me, babe."

I closed my eyes and hummed in delight, "Whatever floats your boat babe."

I crossed my arms and laid back into Seth's chest, the usual signs of when a child was being stubborn. Seth laughed which causes his chest to vibrate, "Don't be mad babe."

"Okay."

"You're still mad aren't you?"

"Okay."

"I think I'm going to dye my hair pink."

"Okay."

"You look ugly af."

"Excuse me?"

He wrapped his arm around me and pulled me closer to him, "I'm just pulling your leg. You always look beautiful."

"I know," I retorted. Just as I about to go back to sleep, I heard Seth started to speak.

"You might want to put some makeup on your neck. I may or may not have left you a...surprise."

My hand shot to my neck, "Seth!"

✦✦✦✦

"I think I might have to claw my eyes out," Iris cried while drinking a bottle of water.

I kept my eyes on the road as I continued to drive, "We were fully clothed! I don't know why you're freaking out so much!"

She didn't reply, instead, she rolled her eyes and examined the fast-moving scenery beside her. Iris had walked in on Seth and I while we were in an intimate position and well freaked out thinking that we were about to take it to the next level. After nearly an hour of complaining & shouting from Iris, glaring and rude remarks from me and very scared expressions from Seth – who left to get ready for work – I ended up driving Iris to work.

"Hey, have you spoken to Barry yet?" she asked, plugging my phone into the aux cable and then into my car. She unlocked the device with her fingerprint that I didn't even know she had in there and search through my music.

"Iris, it's not awkward if that's what you're thinking! Remember Christmas evening? We exchanged gifts without it being awkward... well that's what I think."

"Well your gifts were really special, he put up all those pictures and even got more from your brother, trust me Barry is no Flash, that must have taken him a lot of time. He wouldn't do that for just anyone..." she trailed off.

I blinked, "He got you a ring."

"That doesn't mean anything!"

I turned a corner as I sniggered, "Yeah, sure."

I stopped the car right outside of Jitters and spoke with a straight face, "Get out."

"Love you too!" she shouted before exiting the car with a slam. I huffed in annoyance because she always does that. I grabbed my phone and pressed the Shuffle button in the music app. I smiled in satisfaction when the familiar opening tune of Lorde's Tennis Court started playing.

Don't you think that it's boring how people talk?

I softly sang along while I drove myself to work. The deep bass boomed through the car's speakers. Stopping at a red light, I took the chance to check my phone when I heard it vibrate.

It's a new art form showing people how little we care.

From: No Caller ID
1 new message

Tennis Court by Lorde, nice choice

RECEIVED 8:47 AM

My eyebrows knitted together as I stared at the text message again. I read it over and over, trying to make sure it wasn't my brain playing games with me but it wasn't. How would this person know what I'm listening to?

Who is this?

SENT 8:50 AM

I locked my phone and quickly pressed my foot down on the accelerator which brought the car to life. My eyes checked the rearview mirror and saw a person in an all black leather suit and matching color helmet riding on their motorcycle dangerously close to the back of my car. It took me a while to realize that the mystery rider was following me. I managed to stay calm and drive faster to work. I hurriedly jumped out of the car with my things and fast-walked into the building.

I dropped my things onto my table, sat down, folded my arms and rested my head on it before closing my eyes. Inhaling for four seconds and exhaling for another four helped slow down my heart rate. Why would someone want to stalk me? What if it's just a joke? What if it's not...

"Daniella! You are 10 minutes late! Why haven't you sent in the photo you took yesterday already! You are going to cost me this front page!" The sound of a living and breathing demon boomed from the other side of the room. I shot my head up towards the screeches that came from Mason. My eyes danced around as I watched the faces of my fellow colleagues fill up with pity and fear for me. Others showed pure relief that it wasn't them getting a scolding from Mason. My eyes narrowed on his smug-faced expression and evil glint filled eyes. Something sparked in me when I saw the smirk on his face.

My teeth gritted, "I'll get right on it Mason... Just please tone down on the bitchy–"

"Sorry, Mason! Seems like someone hasn't had their daily dose of cappuccino," Seth came out of nowhere and pressed the side of my face against his chest, knowing that would calm me down. Mason shot back a snarky remark but my ears were focused on Seth's heartbeats.

"Are you okay babe?" Seth softly asked when I lifted my head off his chest. I looked around and spotted Mason terrorizing a poor intern.

I sighed, "Yeah, I guess I'm just paranoid. I was on my way to work when I got this creepy text from a private number... But it's nothing."

Seth's face went pale, "Creepy text? Do you have any idea who it might be?"

I chuckled at his worried expression, "It was probably just a sick joke from Oliver. He's done it before. Nothing to worry about."

His face turned hard, "Tell me the next time you get a text like that."

"Okay," my voice came out meek. I spun on the heels of my black knee-high boots and strolled to my desk, switching on my laptop. I fiddled with the hem of my navy-blue cashmere dress as I watched the Apple sign appear on the screen. It was chilly this morning so I had to wear a pair of black leggings with the jersey. I started editing the photo I took but couldn't help but let my mind wonder about Seth's reaction to the weird text message.

I came to the conclusion that he was just being a worried boyfriend and finished up the photo. Satisfied with the outcome, I emailed it straight to Mason. As I hit 'send', Linda set a cup of what looked like coffee on my desk.

"I heard you didn't have coffee yet and nearly went ape-shit on Mason so I thought I would bring you some," Linda smiled taking a sip out of her own cup. She pulled up a chair and sat down next to me at my desk.

"This is why you are amazing," I quickly muttered before taking a sip out of my cup. Linda laughed when I moaned at the delicious taste of the coffee on my tongue.

"I know," her eyes scanned my laptop which was opened on the Central City Picture News website we had, "Did you hear that the 'Pink Rose Killer' is back?"

My eyes widened at the news, "What! That's terrible. I thought the police got him."

"Nope," she placed her cup on the desk before leaning forward and searching for 'Pink Rose Killer' articles on the website," Apparently he's back and has already kidnapped four teenagers. All of their bodies have been found in near several ditches."

The Pink Rose Killer, or PRK for short, is a notorious kidnapper and rapist that stalked Central City for nearly three years. He would stalk teenage girls and get them paranoid. Once he thought he has had enough fun, he would kidnap, rape and then murder them before leaving his victims bodies in places like ditches or abandoned houses. A few weeks before I moved to the city, the police had caught and arrested him but apparently, they caught his accomplice and now the real killer is back to his mind games. He got his name because he would leave a single pink rose on the body. He also would scratch the victim's name with one of the thorns on the flower.

"That's horrible," I commented, placing the now empty cup on my desk. Linda and I talked about other stuff before she had to get back to working on her latest article. The rest of the day seemed to drag on as all I really did was help other photographers edit their photos and even sat in some meetings for the future of the newspaper. Arriving back home, I decided to jump right into a hot shower. I stayed in there for 10 minutes before I felt like I needed to get out. I wrapped my towel around my body and brushed my wet hair back.

The peaceful silence was interrupted by the sound of my phone ringing. I took my phone off the charger but paused to see that No Caller ID was calling me. Gulping slightly, I answered the call.

"Hello?"

No one replied the faint sound of someone breathing was the only thing I could hear from whoever was in the other side of the phone.

"Hello?"

Nothing again. I was about to end the call when the person finally started talking.

"Hello, Daniella."

I didn't recognize the voice.

"Who is this? How did you get my number?"

"You ask a lot of questions."

"Oliver? Is that you?"

"No, it's not your brother. You don't know me but I know you. And may I saw that you are very beautiful."

"Listen to creep, whoever you stop calling this number."

"I don't think I can see you have been in my mind for a long time now and I don't think I can get you out."

"Who the hell are you?"

"You'll know in due time. But before I go, can I just say that you look beautiful even if you are just in a towel."

The line went dead.

The stranger sent a picture of me in my towel. It was taken from the back but you could tell it was me due to the decoration and bedroom. I threw my phone on my bed and hurriedly put on some clothes. I went to my drawer and pulled out one of my knives.

Walking out of my room and down the stairs, I began to lock all the windows and doors, leaving the front door for last. As I approached the door, the handle started to jiggle. I paused in my step and hid behind the door, cursing at myself for not bringing more knives.

The intruder opened the door the same time I jumped out and threw the knife. It pierced through the air and landed near the intruders face.

"Daniella! What the hell!" Iris shrieked. The knife landed near Seth's face, a few inches from his left ear. A few inches right and it would have gone right through his cheek.

"Shut the door!" I squealed, pulling them in and locking the door. I sighed and turned around to see the horror on their faces.

Iris cleared her throat, "What's wrong Dani?"

I swallowed, "I think someone is stalking me."

✦✦✦✦

WOAHH

Who else got goosebumps?

Short chapter, I know.

I'm sorry.

Don't forget to vote, comment and even follow me.

Who do you guys think is the stalker.

Until next time

Ore Adesanmi x