Chapter 18 Me And My Stalker
Celene's POV
There was something about him I just could not put my finger on.
Something that told the sensible part of my brain to run. He looked like he existed in black and white while everyone else was wrapped in color.
I didn’t understand why, but a chill still ran down my spine, goosebumps rising across my skin.
I caught myself mid-stride as I followed him outside.
What was I doing?
I looked down at my feet like they might explain themselves. Like they would confess why they were betraying me so openly. Why they were moving without my permission, carrying me after a man who scared the hell out of me.
He turned into another hallway.
And I followed.
My heart slammed against my ribs, panic mixing with a strange thrill I didn’t want to acknowledge. This was reckless. This was stupid. Oh father in heaven above, this was dangerous.
He hadn’t noticed me yet. He was on his phone, talking to someone, his voice low as he turned the corner. I could have sworn I heard him let out a tight laugh before he disappeared from view.
Then my shoe decided to betray me.
I stumbled in my feet, my shoes letting out a loud squeak that echoed too loudly down the empty hallway.
I cringed, my head snapping up immediate ti mske sire he did not hear me. I waited for him to turn around, but he didn't, meaning he was deep into whatever conversation he was having.
Relief rushed through me so hard my knees almost gave out.
My legs were going to get me killed one day.
“What am I doing?” I whispered, squeezing my eyes shut. “Calm down, Celene. You’re not a creep. This is just a coincidence. This hallway isn’t his private property. You have class around the corner anyway.”
Satisfied with lying to myself, I opened my eyes and stepped forward.
And walked straight into a wall.
No. Not a wall.
A chest. A broad, hard, perfumed chest wrapped in a soft cotton turtle neck shirt.
I gasped and looked up, my neck craning until my eyes locked with his. A sound somewhere between a squeak and a strangled noise escaped my throat.
He caught me.
Up close, he was overwhelming. Bright green eyes. Sharp cheekbones. Tattoos covering every inch of skin I could see. His dark hair fell past his shoulders, brushing his back. He looked unreal, like something carved instead of born by a human woman.
How could someone so beautiful be so terrifying? Was he really the one following me around? What if he wasn’t and I had just followed this handsome angel around like a sex offender?
Worst still, what if he was the stalker and now he had just caught me following him in a dark hallway where no one would hear me scream.
I prayed silently. Oh God, I'll volunteer, I'll feed all the homeless and hungry people in my street, I'll do anything if he would just let me leave in peace.
“Following me, Celene?” he asked.
My heart dropped.
He knew my name.
“No,” I said quickly. “Absolutely not.”
“You’ve been following me from the cafeteria.”
"Me? Following you?" I laughed awkwardly, racking my brain ti figure out what I could say that would set me free. "I dontneven know who you are. I don't know your name. Why would I be following you" I said, sounding like a kid struggling and hoping she gets her way. Jesus take the wheels.
"It's Cole. Cole Ryder" he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm and darkness.
“Listen, Ryder,” I said, forcing my voice to work. “I have to go. I have schoolwork to do.”
I turned to leave.
“Are you running away from me?”
I stopped in my tracks, my shoulders stiffening.
“Celene,” he said. “Turn around.”
His voice was cold. Flat.
My knees knocked together as I turned slowly. I couldn’t bring myself to look at him.
“Look at me.”
I didn’t.
“Look at me, Celene.”
The sharpness in his voice startled me. I looked up before I could stop myself.
“I really have to go, Cole Ryder,” I said. “For real.”
I shifted nervously, my heels scraping against the floor of the dim hallway.
“I love how my name sounds from your lips,” he said.
He lifted his hand toward my face and I flinched.
He froze, his fingers curling into a fist before he dropped his hand.
“Do I scare you that much?” he asked quietly. “Then why follow me?”
“I told you,” I said, my voice shaking. “I wasn’t following you.”
He tilted his head, studying me. Then his hands were under my chin, lifting my face up to his. He towered over me, and my thoughts scattered completely.
“You don't know me, yet youre already quivering in my presence. What would you do if i showed you who i truly am? What i can do? I don’t know what you’ve heard about me,” he said, cutting through my stammering. “...and I can’t change completely.”
Something in his tone shifted. Darkened.
“I’m a demon spawn, after all. I am pure evil, poison to precious souls like yours, but I’ll try. Only for you.”
I stared at him, stunned.
“Only for me?” I asked. “Do you even know me? Because I don’t know you.”
Something was very wrong with him. They had ro be something wrong with his head.
I pulled away and tried to leave again.
He grabbed me, pulling me back against him, his hands gripping my waist.
“Stop trying to walk away from me, Cee,” he said. “I won’t let you.”
I forgot how to breathe.
Who was I? Where was I? My mind went blank.
I blinked hard. My name was Celene. My name was Celene and I needed to run.
His presence stole the very air from my lungs. I realized I’d been holding my breath and i forced myself to let it out.
“I know you, Celene ” he said. “I know everything about you. Your favorite color. Your worst toothpaste. When you wake. When you sleep. Even the color of the ceiling in your wardrobe.”
The vein in his neck stood out like he was restraining himself.
From what? I didn’t know.
He cupped my face and I inhaled sharply.
He smelled like rain and expensive wood.
“I was going to give you time, Kitten,” he said. “I was going to watch and wait. But you came to me.”
His forehead rested against mine.
He was insane. Completely unhinged. A stalker. A psychopath.
And yet his face was calm. So empty, so controlled.
I wasn’t special. I knew that. I wasn’t extraordinary. I was average. Dark skin. Round face. Soft eyes. Writing was my escape. Creating worlds because I didn’t belong in this one.
So why me?
My heart pounded wildly, betraying me. His breath mingled with mine, making it impossible to think.
He lifted his forehead away from mine.
I took one steadying breath. Thanking God that the worst was over...
Then he crashed his lips to mine.