Page 12 of Trick me. Treat me

I stop dead, my gaze flying around the space. How the fuck⁠—

The windows. He can see me through the windows. I look toward the living room from the step I’m on. Nothing. I can’t see anything through the open kitchen either, or on the deck outside. Where the hell is he?

Unknown

Keep going.

My fingers tighten around the railing. “Fuck you,” I whisper.

My phone buzzes.

Unknown

Maybe later.

My mouth falls open. A hot flush racing over my entire face. “Oh my fucking God.”

Another message.

Unknown

Downstairs, Violet.

I hate myself, because I keep moving. Slowly, one step at a time until my feet reach the bottom. I raise the pepper spray, my heart doing its very best to escape through my throat. The front door is ten feet away, yet nothing happens. Five seconds. Ten.

“Okay.” My voice trembles. “I’m downstairs.”

A message arrives almost instantly.

Unknown

We can see that.

We. My stomach plummets. Not he. WE. I spin toward the windows where I first saw him, but there’s nothing there. “Who the fuck is we?”

My phone buzzes.

Unknown

Turn around.

Every instinct in my body screams at me not to. But I turn anyway, looking straight into the kitchen. A mask is pressed against the window. Black with two huge neon pink Xs painted over the eyes with a bright pink stitched mouth. I scream and the man jerks back as though I’ve startled him. Then his shoulders begin shaking. He’s fucking laughing at me.

“You asshole!” The words burst out before I can stop them.

He lifts one hand and waves. My heart is going so fast I’m dizzy. He taps one finger against the glass, then points at me, points toward his own eyes, then points back at me. Watching you.

“Fuck.” I breathe, backing away.

My phone vibrates.

Unknown

Pretty.

I don’t know which one sent it, and that somehow makes it worse.

“Leave me alone!”