Follow Me to Death

Trigger Warning: Violence, Sexual and Physical, Kidnapping,

I see him following me. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see him. He’s stalking, about 6 feet behind me. I want to run, but I know he’d be able to catch me. He’s been following me for 15 minutes. I won’t call the police because I know he’ll hear me. I’m tempted to call my friends, stay on the phone with them until I’m back in our apartment, but lord knows that wouldn’t stop him. I know Lauren’s tracking my location, watching my little dot ping closer. Keeping my head trained on my phone I continue walking, taking turns that are the long way back to my apartment. I get lost in my phone while making these turns when I feel a hand on my shoulder. The hand spins me around and I’m face to face with the man that was following me. He grabs my phone and puts it in his pocket. I finally get a good look at him. He’s got dark hair, stubble, and dark eyes and he looks like he could be a movie star. That’s what scares me the most. I know he’s attractive which means he probably gets away with things. 

“Good thing I caught you.” He says quietly, holding me tight against him. 

“Who are you?” I ask, wriggling in his grip. 

“Doesn’t matter, does it?” He holds me firm. 

“It does, who are you?” I ask again. I want to keep talking, keep him in the same spot hoping someone will walk past and help me. 

“You talked to me at the club. Remember?” He looks at me. His eyes seem cold and dead. 

“I haven’t been to the club in weeks!” I say loudly. 

“Oh I know, I’ve been following you for weeks.” He brings his voice down to a whisper and moves to talk in my ear, “And I know where you live, so getting home won’t get you away from me.” He lets out a little chuckle. 

Then I remember him. He was in the corner and my friends told me to go talk to him and get him out on the floor to hang with us. It worked but we left him at the club once my friend got too drunk to function. 

“You’re scaring me.” I say. I manage to get out of his grip for a moment but he grabs me again. 

“That’s no way to treat a friend.” He smiled at me. His teeth were perfect but the smile stretched too far. I shudder at his words. 

“We are not friends. I met you one night when I was drinking.” I say. His face turns to an immediate pout. 

“You’re my friend.” He says. He starts to drag me, pulling my body toward him and back the way we had come. 

“Let me go!” I yell. I struggle against his arms but he doesn’t loosen his grip. I try to go slack, like a dead body, and let all of my weight press down on his arms. He just readjusts me and continues walking. I haven’t seen another person since I left work and I know he knows that. I try to scream fire, but nothing. There’s no one around and even if someone heard me they wouldn’t care. It’s the city. They’d probably think I’m some crazy homeless person. I eventually just give up. 

“Good girl.” He says. I look up at him and see he’s got the creepy smile on his face again. He gets to a car and throws me in the backseat. I sit up and stare out the window. 

“Please, let me go home.” I say, tears falling down my cheeks. 

“I can’t do that, I love you too much.” 

“You barely know me!” I say loudly, my voice catching. 

“I know everything about you, Carly.” Hearing him use my name makes me want to cry out and makes me feel gross. He starts driving his car, making so many turns I’ve lost count. I want to fall asleep but I will myself awake, praying he crashes the car and I make it out. If he does crash, I hope I survive and he dies. Because if I die, God only knows what he’ll do with my body. If I can resist him, at least I know I tried. He pulls the car to a stop outside of a little townhouse. I realize we’ve 100% left the city and I don’t know how far out we are. He gets out of the car and opens my door. 

“Please, sir, let me go.” I plead one more time, hoping he will. He doesn’t say anything and grabs my wrist, pulling me inside the house. Once inside he shuts the door and drags me to a master bedroom. I haven’t seen a bedroom this big since I left my parent's house. He throws me on the bed and stands at the end. 

“Welcome home Carly, you’re mine now. I’ll keep you safe don’t worry.” He crows as he walks to the door and shuts it. I think this is the end. I’ll never get to see my parents again. Instead of coming to me, he goes to the ensuite bathroom. I take a quick look around the room to see if there are any weapons. To my dismay, there are. I catch the shimmer of the metal on a couple of guns and even a samurai sword on the wall. I was going to try and make a run for it. Looking around the room, I see even more terrifying things. Like pictures of me. Some from my bedroom window, while I’m getting changed, others at the club the first time we met. There are even a few from my work while I’m talking to my friends and boyfriend. Oh god. Will I ever see him again? 

I hear the toilet flush and water rushing. The bathroom door opens and he walks out in nothing. I scream. He looks confused. 

“Let me go!” I yell, “I don’t like you! I have a boyfriend, he’ll know I’m gone!” The man turns his head to the side. 

“Boyfriend? But I’m your husband.” And my jaw drops to the floor. This man thinks we’re married. 

“I’m not married to anyone!” I yell.

“No, but you will be, once you’re dead. Then I can preserve you forever. You’ll be mine. And you’ll be perfect” He looks terrifying. Just then, I hear a knock outside. 

“Who—” But he cuts me off. Within seconds he’s on top of me, taping my mouth shut and tying a gag around my mouth. He throws on a pair of shorts from the floor and walks out of the bedroom. I hear the door handle jiggle. He locked it. I look around. He’d left the weapons. He knew everything about me but not that I knew how to use a gun? I grab one of the guns off the wall. I won’t let him touch me. 

“Who are you?” I hear my best friend, Lauren, call, “And why is Carly at your house?” I start screaming under the gag and tape. I hope I’m loud enough. 

“Who are you? Why are you at my house? Carly is my wife.” The man says. 

“Oh hell no!” Lauren yells. I hear a struggle then hear her calling my name. I try to keep yelling until I hear her voice go silent. 

“Lauren?” I call muffled. The bedroom door opens and the man is standing there, Lauren unconscious on the floor behind him. There’s a pool of blood near her head. I can’t tell where it’s coming from.

“Your little friend is a problem.” He says. He doesn’t register that I have a gun behind my back. He slowly unties my mouth and pulls the tape off. I pull the gun out from behind my back. 

“Let me leave, with Lauren!” I say. The man nods silently. 

“You don’t know how to use that.” He says. I shake my head. 

“I’ve had years of firearms training. You should know that.” He puts his hands up, “Get my phone please, I need it.” He goes to the bathroom and grabs my phone out of his pants pocket. 

“Don’t call the police, I just love you!” He says. 

“Yeah sure, I won’t.” I huff. I set the gun down, putting my phone in my pocket to pick up Lauren's arm. She’s slack but I can feel her heart beating. I start to open the door and the second I’m outside, I pull my phone back out of my pocket. I begin to call 911 sitting on this man’s front step, holding my unconscious friend. I leave Lauren on the step to run and get the address and get back to her as quickly as possible. The police and ambulance arrive within minutes. The second the officers get out of their cars, they lock eyes with me. I jerk my head toward the open front door and they go inside. The EMTs take one look at Lauren and me, covered in blood, and take her from me. She’s still slumped over in their arms and I really hope she survives. I hear a struggle inside the house and try to stand. 

“Stay still ma’am. We’re checking you for injuries.” One of the EMTs is holding a stethoscope and the other has a little flashlight. They listen to my heart, flash the light in my eyes, then finally help me stand. I almost fall over. One of the EMTs steadies me and helps me walk to the ambulance. As I’m getting in the ambulance, I hear the man yell.

“Carly! Don’t let them take me away from you.” He’s struggling with the police and he’s got a new bruise on his face. 

“Leave me alone! I don’t even know you!” I yell back. The EMTs shut the back door of the ambulance and I watch out the tiny back window as the ambulance pulls away. The police shove the man into a cop car and drive in the opposite direction. I take a deep breath. 

“Your friend will survive.” One of the paramedics says. I look at him with a grateful smile. 

“That’s good to know, I don’t know if I would’ve survived without her.” The paramedic flashes his kind eyes and begins to check my blood pressure.