Total pages in book: 51
Estimated words: 48087 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 240(@200wpm)___ 192(@250wpm)___ 160(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 48087 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 240(@200wpm)___ 192(@250wpm)___ 160(@300wpm)
But my anxiety never waned. In fact, I felt it growing stronger with each passing moment.
Chapter 21
Liliana
I wasn’t sure what had woken me, but it felt like ants were moving over my skin. I rubbed my arms and sat up in bed, looking around.
After finishing three beers, I’d climbed out of the cold bath, dropped into bed, and blissfully let the beer whisk me to sleep.
It was still dark, the muted glow of the streetlight across from my apartment building casting a sliver of light through the part in the curtains. The clock on the nightstand said it was only three in the morning.
An idle thought that he’d come for me played through my head. But it had been weeks since I left Matteo, and he hadn’t reached out to me.
I felt like I was being watched countless times but played it off to my new surroundings. There always seemed to be a tingling on the back of my neck whenever I went out.
I lay back down and stared at the ceiling, watching as the headlights from passing cars occasionally moved across the room. But I couldn’t shake the feeling that something just wasn’t right. I reached under the pillow, the knife tucked safely underneath my head, and curled my hand around the handle.
After ten minutes of not being able to fall back asleep, I got out of bed, threw on an oversized sweatshirt, and grabbed the knife to take with me into the kitchen.
I stood by the sink and sipped a glass of water, the small clock that hung on the wall ticking down the seconds.
I looked out the kitchen window and felt that tingling on the back of my neck again, that tightening on my arms. And then I heard shuffling, maybe scratching, down in the alley right below the window.
Investigating what made that noise was something only a fool would do, the kind of person who was the first to die in a horror movie.
Fuck that. Not me.
I took my knife, went back to bed, and didn’t sleep the rest of the night as I stared at the ceiling because I knew I wasn’t alone.
Chapter 22
Liliana
The next week, I was in a fog, a bubble of going to work and coming back home. I didn’t go anywhere aside from places like the store or laundry mat, and, instead, sequestered myself away like a hermit.
I’d created a self-imposed prison.
It was a monotonous life, and the longer it went on, the more I hated it. The last month had made me feel as if I were living in someone else’s life, walking in their shoes, trapped within them, and able to see everything. And through it all, I couldn’t react.
It was a Saturday night when I clocked out and headed home, my purse slung over my shoulder, my hand in the bag.
Although I still had the knife with me, I also had pepper spray, my finger pressed over the nozzle just in case and always at the ready.
Nobody really bothered me, not aside from that one college douchebag. But I hadn’t seen him since. I’d stayed away from the pub after that incident, but being cautious meant little.
The streets were busy for the weekend, college kids milling around, older people enjoying their drinks on the outside patios at the little, chic bars.
I glanced at the street to see cars passing. A dark SUV with tinted-out windows caught my attention. There wasn’t anything special about it. It looked like any other vehicle that I saw. But as I stared at it, I felt this strange tingling in the pit of my belly.
My mind instantly went to Matteo. I wanted so badly to believe it was him. Foolish, stupid girl, my mind whispered.
Wanting to play with fire even though I knew I’d get burned was apparently a new trend with me.
I rounded the corner and glanced over my shoulder at that SUV once more. I swore I felt the driver watching me even if I couldn’t see through the dark windows.
When I faced forward once more, I ran into somebody so hard I stumbled back and had to brace a hand on the building beside me. He cursed out a juicy and lewd comment.
“The fuck. Watch where you’re going.” His voice was deep and raspy, a little lazy because it was clear he’d been drinking.
I only gave him one quick look before mumbling an apology and continuing to walk.
Fuck this. I was going to move to the mountains. I’d find a little cabin in the middle of nowhere. If I was going to feel alone amongst crowds of people, I might as well feel the same way by myself without these fuckers invading my space.
Go to Matteo, my mind whispered. Demand he be honest with himself and you.
I was making a change tomorrow. Fuck this place. I’d pack up my bag, head to the bus station, and pick a city far away. And when I got there, I’d do the same thing. I wouldn’t stop until I was in the middle of nowhere.