Page 32 of Mortala
I reach for the note, unfolding it slowly, my pulse pounding so hard I can feel it in my throat.
“Does her pussy taste as sweet as it smells?”
I stare at the words,my fist tightening around the torn piece of paper. He was in my apartment. Again. The locks were fine. Nothing else seems out of place, but the note tells me all I need to know. He’s been fucking watching us.
My jaw tightens at the thought of him seeing Maddie and I scan the apartment once more—bed, couch, kitchen, every open corner. There’s nowhere to hide here. The open layout of my apartment should make me feel safer, but right now, it feels like a damn trap.
I move through the space, checking the windows, the door, even under the fucking furniture. I know I won’t find anyone here, but the feeling crawling up my spine won’t let me ignore it.
The worst part isn’t that he was here. It’s that he left without a trace. No forced entry, no mess. Just the note. The words are seared into my brain, and I can feel my anger tearing through me. I’m going to find him, and when I do, I’m going to fucking kill him.
12.Madelyn
“I thinkI need to find a job. Clothes are ridiculously expensive these days, and my parents barely give me any money,” Kaitlin murmurs.
I glance at her over the top of my textbook, raising an eyebrow. “Shouldn’t you be studying? Are you seriously online shopping right now?”
Our professor announced on Monday that we have an exam this Friday and I hadn’t ever cracked open my notes until now. Ever since Miles dropped me off Monday morning, I haven’t received any other weird messages from whoever thisunknownperson is, but I keep getting the feeling that I’m being watched, which leaves me on edge.
“Shhh!” I look over at the guy sitting at the table behind me and notice the annoyed look he’s giving me. I realize that we’re sitting inside a library, but he doesn’t have to be so rude.
I give him a kind smile, shrugging my shoulders and whisper, “Sorry!” trying to kill him with kindness. The guy just rolls his eyes at me and continues reading.
Kaitlin giggles quietly and shuts her laptop in front of her.
“I already studied for the test yesterday. I just figured you probably didn’t want to go to the library alone after all those messages you got from your stalker.”
I haven’t told Kaitlin about the other messages I received when I was with Miles at his apartment. It’s bad enough that Miles saw the message about my mom. I don’t need Kaitlin knowing about it too.
“I don’t have a stalker. It’s just…I don’t know.” Kaitlin gives me a knowing smile, and I cringe a little. “Okay, fine, I have a stalker. Fuck, I just don’t want to call him that. It makes it too real.”
“It is real, babe. And you need to treat it as such. It’s the people whodon’tthat get murdered and I don’t want to see you on the news.” she states a little too loudly, and the guy sitting at the table behind me shushes us again.
“Oh, fuck off, dude. If you don’t like it, go read somewhere else.”
The guy scoffs, slams his book shut, and pushes out of his chair. He walks past us, giving Kaitlin a look of disgust, but she just smiles at him as he walks by. I try to hold it in, but as soon as Kaitlin looks back at me, we both start laughing, holding our hands over our mouths as we try to keep quiet.
“You’re going to get us kicked out!” I giggle, and she just shrugs her shoulders.
“Fuck it. If we get kicked out, we get kicked out. It’s not like they can ban us from the campus library. We’re students, where else are we supposed to study?”
I don’t know how much of that is true. Even if we’re students, I’m sure if you cause enough trouble, they can ban you from anywhere on campus.
Shaking my head, I try to focus on my notes again, but it lasts all of five seconds.
“So,” Kaitlin says, lowering her voice, “have you gotten any more messages from your stalker?”
I glance up at her and see her staring right at me before I drop my eyes back to my paper, slipping my confident mask on before I look back up at her.
“No, nothing yet.” I shrug like it doesn’t bother me. “Maybe he won’t send anymore. It was probably just someone being stupid and trying to scare us at the party.”
Kaitlin studies me for a moment before nodding. “Right, yeah, I don’t know if I believe that. Those messages seemed serious. Have you gone to the police?”
I stiffen, not wanting to answer her question and lose all train of thought. I open my mouth, scrambling for an answer, but before I can say a word, the guy who was sitting behind us walks back over to us with the librarian and we both look up at them.
“Hello ladies, this gentleman here says that he asked you multiple times to be quiet, and that you yelled at him. Unfortunately, I’m going to have to ask you to leave at this time. You are welcome to come back tomorrow.”
Is she fucking serious? I look over at the guy and he’s just smirking at me, a little too proud of himself for getting us kicked out. What a fucking doo-doo head.
