A Gripping Tale

Date: March 12th, 2023

I always thought I was an average person. There’s nothing too interesting about me after all, I make sure of that but today…. proved otherwise. 

Just like any other day I walked home after school. If you've been paying attention to my entries, you know I'm avoiding ‘The Person’. Unoriginal I know, but I suspect I have a stalker. My reasoning? Because of the constant rustling I hear when walking home. That and hearing tapping on my window. I don't know who would stalk me. Like I said I'm an average girl and have no social life whatsoever...unless you count Lucy who I'm sure only hangs out with me for charity work. Anyway, they're following me and for whatever reason they won't stop.

I'm getting off topic though. The point of this entry was to explain who it is because yes...I've finally found out who it is...or who it might be.

Like I said, I was walking home from school, phone clutched to my hand when I heard the rustle of a bush. It didn't faze me in fact it's the same bush every time. I continued my walk. Then *click*, I froze. The Person took a picture. My heart thudded; this had been going on for about a week now but never had they had the balls to take a picture of me. I fiddled with my phone trying to dial 911 with my shaking fingers, stepping closer to the bush before someone interrupted me.

"WOOF!" I turned to see a cocker spaniel and his owner. A tall guy who looked a few years older than me. He was lighter than me with a puffy afro and a diamond stud in one ear. He smiled which sent an uncomfortable shiver down my spine. "Hey there!"

"911, what's your emergency?" I hurriedly clicked off the phone, turning my attention to him. "Who are you?"

"Well, I'd think you'd remember me." He chuckled his sharp teeth

glistening, "I'm Eric. Your neighbor, Sara-Lynn's son."

His explanation did no good for me as I had only seen the woman in question once or twice. Sara-Lynn was an old woman anyway so the idea of her having a son so close to my age seemed suspicious as well.

"Gotta say, it's nice to see more of our people around here. Y'know what I mean?" It was that statement that made him appear familiar in a very skin crawling way. I had heard it before about a week ago when someone knocked on our door, introducing themselves as Mr. Sayim. Mom wanted me to greet him, and I had walked right past, mumbling one as I tapped out a text to Lucy. Then just days ago when she was over, looking outside my window I heard her mutter, "There's a lot of good-looking people in your neighborhood." I stood to close the blinds but not before catching a tall figure with the

same cocker spaniel Eric had right now.

I think the one mistake people make in situations like these is the ‘brush off’. I call it that because instead of analyzing the event they brush off what could've possibly saved their life. Like a neighbor who might very well be my stalker.

Yes, that's right. It's him. Eric Sayim is my stalker.

Date: March 13th, 2023

Despite my paranoia I love when the 13th falls on a Friday. Everything about it just feels right. Unfortunately, that isn't the case for today. I still feel the same about Eric as I did in my previous entry, how could I not? After our reintroduction he offered to walk me home with the ominous statement that "girls left unattended are at a major risk". Anyone else probably would've laughed nervously at that and turned a blind eye. Well, I'm not blind and I know what he means by that. Walking with him to my house I found out a lot of information on him. Eric was actually Sara-Lynn's adopted son and that he was visiting while taking his gap year as a sophomore in college.  It seemed like he had plenty of free time, so he mainly just spent time with his mom helping around the house or volunteering at the library. I know this because I ran into him today while there.

It's funny how stalkers will conveniently find ways to surround themselves with nothing but you. How they feed on every little action. 

After school mom texted me that a book she ordered was ready and that I needed to pick it up.  When I was done getting the books, renewing mine and grabbing mom's, I ran into Eric. He was coming in and me going out. He bent down to pick up one of the books I dropped, a twitch on his lips as he read the explicit title. "Now I'm not one to judge someone's reading pleasure but aren't you a little too young for this type of content?"

His statement made me cringe internally. The one thing a man shouldn't do is note how young a girl is. It automatically sets a target on your back. I took the book without a single word, then said unimpressed, "It's for my mom."

He grinned, "Right. Of course." Eric opened his mouth again but before he could I moved past him hoping to get away quickly. I didn't. He ended up walking me home.

You see, that's another thing about stalkers. They never know when to quit. You could give them signs that you're not interested, you can even tell them in bright yellow highlighter, they still won't listen. The problem with stalkers is that they believe you want them. They believe without a shadow of a doubt that without them you won't survive. Typically, it's because you resemble someone they once knew. Other times it's random selection because of something you did or said. I was betting on the former option. Maybe it was a girlfriend or an old crush. Possibly a biological relative he hasn't seen in forever. Regardless, Eric was drawn to me, and I didn't want to find out. I just wanted proof.

Date: March 16th, 2023

I apologize for the delay on my past two entries. Nothing much has happened since my run in with Eric. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad one. It's been the normal activity, him walking me home, tapping at my window. Today though he did something different. Flashing. Not in the sense you might think. Let me explain first.

When I came home mom wasn't there, something about having a book club which I can only assume is translation for smoking weed with her cousin. Now I'm not being rude or disrespectful, that's just me calling it how I see it. Which is her coming home smelling like weed. But of course, I would never say this to her face. That's the difference between me and other kids who look like me. Always quick to say something, always having an attitude. Mom never let me surround myself with other Black kids. She said I was better than that. Maybe because my dad was White, I'm not sure. Anyways she enrolled me into majority White schools, and we moved into this majority White neighborhood specifically for that reason. Something she constantly hangs over my head.

I'm going off again, sorry.

Mom went to her "book club" so it was just me in the house. I went to my room and finished my homework and by six it was getting dark. Mom had ordered me a pizza, so I went to get that but when I came back, I noticed a flickering coming from outside. I peeked from the curtain and saw him. He was just standing there, turning on and off the lamp in his room. I glared in his direction. Normal twenty-one-year-olds went out drinking, I'm sure. Normal twenty-one-year-olds came stumbling home around two or three am. Eric was no normal twenty-one-year-old. He would stand outside with his dog for thirty minutes with a clear view of my window. He would stand in front of his window looking through a camera all day with no shirt on. I was sure he would do this on the days I didn't hear the tapping.

I was about to go back to my pizza when I saw him stop and look directly at me. I jumped letting go of the curtain fear causing me to shiver. Something in my head whispered empty hopes that he didn’t see me but it was hard to believe that with his light brown eyes. The ones that drew you in. The ones that stared deep into your soul. 

In an attempt to shake the nerves, I scarfed down the pizza while watching TV but there was that feeling still. That lingering feeling. I’ve mentioned this before, but I’ll tell you again. I’ve never felt like I’ve been watched. I’ve only known I’ve been watched. Up until this point the eerie feeling that eyes followed my every move was a dormant one. Now though, all I wanted was to hide under the covers until mom came back. Then just as I was about to do exactly that, *ding dong*, it reverberated the lone house. My body shook one step at a time as I made my way to the door. 

Even though I knew who it was I decided to look through the peephole. I shook the nerves off, pressed the record button on my phone and opened the door. 

“Hey,” Eric showed his sharp canines, “you here alone or…?” 

“It’s my curfew.” As fast as I could I closed the door but not before he stopped it. 

“Come on, I’d hate myself if you were left alone. Don’t you want someone to keep you company?” 

“Not really.” I stated plainly, “I’ll be sleeping.” 

“Right, well at least let me-” 

“Thank you, Eric, but I really need to go to bed, I have a big test tomorrow.” I lied, pushing the door closed. After that, I made sure to lock everything and close all the blinds. 

I couldn’t take any chances. If he was willing to be this persistent in letting himself in…who knows what else, he was capable of. 

Date: March 20th, 2023

My entries have been coming in less and less. It started as an everyday thing but now… well I can’t blame myself. Eric makes it hard to find any proof of him stalking me and after today I can’t be sure he is. 

Being wrong is a hard pill to swallow for me. I’m a straight A student and no not the 90s 91s A. This may be the first time I’ve actually been wrong. 

Today he was waiting there for me. Eric Sayim. Right outside the school building. I took a picture of him amidst the crowd in case I needed to use it later. Small evidence was greater than no evidence.  

“Ready to go home?” His smirk caught the sunlight and my lunch began to turn over. 

“I’m waiting for my mom.” Another lie but I wasn’t going to walk with him. I couldn’t. 

“Your mom came by and said she had something to do. She wants me to take you home.” 

My heart started racing. I fumbled with my phone to see if this was true and to my dismay it was. For a moment I just stood there hands in a fist until I spotted Lucy out of the corner of my eye. 

“I’m actually walking with Lucy today.” 

“Well let me join you two.” 

He was good, I’d give him that. I grabbed Lucy’s hand and the three of us began walking the route home. Beside me Lucy whispered her confusion as I tried to silence her. Then I heard it. The soft rustle of a bush. Immediately I stopped, heart pounding. I shouldn’t have heard it. Eric was with me so why did I hear it? And yet there it was again. The sound of movement behind bushes. I was trapped. Stuck between observing and- 

“Hey Cleo, we’re meeting in ten.” Justin’s head could be seen beyond the woman’s enormous pile of manuscripts and cover options. 

“Right,” she read over her work, grabbing a sticky note and jotting the last few ideas down so she could come back to it. 

“Another bestseller?” Justin asked with a grin. 

Cleo chuckled, “I can only hope.” 

“Let me guess, another thriller?” 

“Actually, this one’s a mystery.” Justin perked up at this. After convincing his friend for so long to branch out she finally took his advice. “So what’s it about?” 

She walked into the conference room and said in a low voice, “A stalker and the girl they’re stalking. She’s trying to catch them.” 

“And will she?” 

Cleo laughed while sitting next to her other coworkers, “That depends on her next entry.”