I had completely forgotten about Caroline. She might as well have ceased to exist. She honestly had not crossed my mind once since that night at the party. But now, as I watched her standing in my apartment, every encounter I had ever had with her came rushing through my mind.

There were so many questions flying through my head, so many thoughts that I couldn't place. However, what seemed to come out to me the hardest was the little voice at the back of my head telling me I was in danger.

I couldn't make a run for it. Caroline was standing directly in front of my apartment door, blocking the only exit that I had. I glanced around and saw my phone that was lying on the floor not too far away from where I was. I could grab it and call for help before Caroline reached me.

"Don't even think about it," Caroline said as if reading my mind. I don't know how I hadn't noticed it earlier. The gleam of silver, the sharp edge; Caroline was holding a knife in her hand.

My head was spinning so fast and I began to tremble. My eyes were glued to the knife in her hand.

"What do you want Caroline?" I heard myself ask, but it didn't seem like it was me speaking but somebody else.

"Relax," Caroline said, dragging out the word. She began pacing in front of me, "nobody needs to get hurt. In fact, I don't even want to hurt you that would just cause complications."

Caroline traced the knife in her palm as she began to inspect it. She looked up from the knife, locking eyes with me, and I immediately knew I was looking into the eyes of a Psychopath.

"I'm here to offer you a choice, Muna. But first, let me give you some background context..."

She stopped pacing and now stood in front of me, staring at the ground.

"You see, before you got here, Anastasia and I had a working relationship." She paused and looked at me, "I admit. It probably was not the healthiest of relationships, I recognize that this so-called relationship was majorly 'one sided' on my part, but I managed to accept that. I managed to live with that. It even worked for the both of us."

She had begun pacing once again, dragging the tip of the knife blade down her arms.

My legs shook violently. My throat was parched as I stared at Caroline unblinkingly.

Caroline continued: "All of a sudden you came around and things were different-not in a good way. Anastasia didn't want to spend time with me anymore. The few times we were together, she talked about you for the majority of the time. Did you know that fucking evening you walked in on us in her office was the last time she ever touched me? I mean, if I had known it was going to be the last time, maybe I would have savored it more, but I couldn't even do that because you had to ruin it!"

Caroline's face had gone a bright red and her eyes were ablaze.

I didn't think it was possible for me to still be alive with how fast my heart was beating.

"Anyway," Caroline began again, the tone of her voice was dangerously calm, "I gave the whole thing the benefit of the doubt and just imagined it was Anastasia being...you know, Anastasia. But then she threw that goddamn party for you and I realized I had underestimated you, I realized you were actually a threat. But here's where it gets even better..."

Caroline stopped talking and licked her lips before smiling sinisterly at me and continuing.

"Just yesterday, Anastasia shows up at my house and do you know what she says? She basically tells me she wants nothing to do with me. She had been ignoring all my calls, ignoring all my texts, and she showed up at my house. So here I was, thinking she had finally come to her senses. But what does she say? She says she wants nothing to do with me." Caroline chuckles, her eyes flashing angrily, and she turns to me. "Can you believe that? She said she wants nothing to do with me!"

I was sweating profusely and my brain began putting two and two together. Miss Rose hadn't gone to a meeting yesterday. Instead, she had gone to cut off any ties with Caroline because she wanted to fully pursue something with me.

Caroline was watching me closely, she said nothing for a while, just kept her eyes fixated on me.

"Caroline, please," I said. My voice was shaking embarrassingly as I spoke. I tried to swallow the lump forming at the back of my throat, "you don't have to do this. P-please, we can solve this some other way."

Caroline had a look of exasperation on her face as she rolled her eyes and pulled roughly on her hair. "I already told you Muna, I don't plan on hurting you. I mean, I'm not opposed to the idea, but I do believe there is a less messy way we can go about this." She smiled at me then, her eyes gleaming with sinister intent, "I do plan on hurting those close to you though."

I squinted my eyes at her. What was she talking about?

"Amanda Corey... does that name sound familiar to you?"

I think I died for a second.

"Caroline... what did you do?" My voice was loud, but it still shook dangerously, "I swear to God, if you hurt a hair on Amanda's head-"

"Oh, for God's sake relax," Caroline said angrily.

She looked at me in pure irritation. "I haven't done anything to her... not yet anyway."

I took a deep breath.

"Caroline, what do you want?" I said, reinstating my question from earlier. I had also tamed my volume down a couple notches.

Caroline smiled at me. It was a huge smile revealing her perfect white teeth. The smile slowly morphed into a snarl. "Here's the thing, Muna." She took a few steps towards me and I instinctively took a few steps backwards, "you move across the country for a job promotion. Why? To fulfil your dreams of furthering your education at a prestigious university. But, it appears that you've gotten a little distracted. Think of this as me helping you to get back on track."

I didn't bother questioning how she knew all that.

"Please, Caroline. What do you want?"

She was beating around the bush, and I couldn't take the anticipation any longer. It was obvious that she was thoroughly enjoying this.

"Oh, you haven't figured it out yet, Muna?" Caroline had a look of false sympathy on her face, "well then, let me tell you what you're gonna do." Her tone had changed. It was venomous and laced with poison. "You're going to end whatever thing you've got going on with Anastasia. Call it quits. Terminate it."

My heart stopped beating all together. I should have seen this coming. She wanted Miss Rose, and if she couldn't get her, I sure as hell was not going to have her.

"And what happens if I don't?" I asked, already knowing the reply.

Caroline smiled at me with glee.

"Well, that's where your little friend comes in. I have a lot of connections, Muna. People like me? We have a lot of power: we can make things happen, we can make things unhappen. People tend to do what I tell them too, not necessarily because I like them, but because of what they know I can do to them if they don't. After all, all I had to do was ask your landlord for the spare keys to your apartment."

She had a sickly smile on her face.

"I can make people disappear, Muna Johnson, just poof! Gone!" She lowered her voice, "I can make your little friend disappear. I have people watching her as we speak. All they need is the green light from me."

"I'd do it," I cried. Literal tears were streaming my space, "I'd do whatever you want. I'd end things with Miss Rose. Just please, please don't harm Amanda."

Caroline smiled at me as she watched me cry. I was trembling terribly, and it seemed the tears wouldn't stop rolling down my face.

"Aw, don't cry baby," Caroline said mockingly, "do you want me to call your mummy for you? Oh wait, that's right- your parents disowned you."

Immerse rage and hurt filled me, and I glared at Caroline through my tears. Caroline just smirked at me in return.

"I'm going to head out now, Muna. Don't mention this encounter to a soul, but be sure to know that I will be watching. It was nice having this chat with you and I'm glad we could come to this agreement."

Caroline plastered a fake smile on her face, "ta-ta."

My apartment door opened, and just like that Caroline was gone.

My legs suddenly gave way beneath me as I sunk to the ground.