Earn My Trust

Part 1

MC bristled and hurled her phone against the wall and watched it bounce off and fall onto bed.

She didn't even care if it was whole.

She was so fed up with his attitude.

She didn't even know where he was getting it from.

She was sick of his egoism and lack of consideration for other people.

For her.

She was so very done with his audacity, with the way he believed he could make crucial decisions for her, even those concerning her, without as much as consulting her.

And, to his misfortune, she knew, or at least believed she did, where he was hiding at the very moment—because of COURSE he didn't trust her to stay in her own house and not run off to Duskwood. Even after he'd made her promise, again, against her will, not to go. He had to have found a hideout near her own living space and had to keep an eye on her like on a little child.

It annoyed her to no end.

She wasn't a little kid to be watched like that.

She wasn't to be played with like that.

And she wasn't to be controlled like a mindless doll.

It had been an accident, really, her finding out about his hideout. There was a house across the street, one that was never occupied. He believed the very last tenants were there when she was little. Nowadays, the windows were always dark, there was no smoke coming from the chimney in winter. There was never anyone entering nor leaving the house, no cars coming, no deliveries. So, she was rather certain it stood empty. After all, she had a clear view at it from her window. She tended to look out at it whenever her thoughts were too much, absentmindedly observing her surroundings.

It was calming in a way, seeing a building so peaceful and so serene.

Yet, she starts seeing signs of life inside it.

The first few times, she'd thought it was a trick of her mind or an illusion. After all, she'd only ever caught movement in the corner of her eye. I could have been anything: a stray cat, a bird flying by her own window...

Or her paranoia.

With the threat of carnage from the Man without a Face and the fear it induced, it was possible, right?

But then, she saw a silhouette of a person. She was certain there was someone in there; in fact, that someone was standing in the window on the second story, and her gut was telling her they were facing her. However, a mere blink later they were gone before she could take a closer look.

Still, paranoid it really had been a someone, not an illusion, she'd closed the curtains for the remainder of the day.

The only reason she hadn't called the police was that if it really had been Jake... she would've handed him over on a silver platter. And, no matter how angry she was at him...

She didn't want that.

In the beginning, though, she had no idea who it might be. Maybe a homeless person looking for shelter? She would have understood as it was getting colder. However, she started to have suspicions as to who it might've been when the hacker started asking her very odd and specific questions, like:

MC was taking out the trash and, on her way back home, she tripped and fell over a child's toy. In surprise, she jumped back up and saw her elbows were bloody. With a hiss, she moved her arms and felt them sting.

"Miss! Are you okay?" A child's voice rang in her ears and she turned to two small boys. They seemed frightened and were staring at the blood like hypnotized.