Out of Left Field

Chapter 22 - Caller Unknown (Sloane)

Sloane

My phone buzzing on the nightstand pulled me out of my sleep. It was dark now, the house silent with one exception: my phone.

I rolled over to silence it, flipping it around and squinting at the bright screen.

CALLER UNKNOWN scrolled across my phone screen.

I felt my heart sink, the room growing frigid. I just knew. I knew it was him.

The phone kept ringing but I refused to answer, staring at the screen until the call stopped and my phone faded to black. My breathing stilled as I waited for another call to come through.

I laid my phone on the bed next to my pillow, knowing there was no chance I was falling back asleep now. It was past midnight, Chris was sleeping peacefully next to me, and the night was quiet. But the sinking feeling in my stomach told me this wasn't over.

Twenty or so minutes later, I was still staring at the black screen when it came to life, lighting up the entire room. Quickly, I lowered the brightness and swiped to open the text message.

It was a picture.

Of my parent's house.

He's outside of  my parent's house.

I moved to wake up Chris when another text message came through.

Unknown: Your apartment. 20 minutes. Come alone or I will send someone to your parent's house. Don't test me, Sloane.

This was a bad idea. I could feel it in my bones. My bruised neck was proof of why I shouldn't go.

Before yesterday, there might've been a small part of me convinced that regardless of his attempts to scare me, he would never seriously harm me if he did happen to get me alone. But now, I knew that wasn't the case.

There was no telling what would happen if he actually got you alone.

Unknown: 19 minutes, Sloane. Your parents seem like nice people. Don't make me hurt them.

My stomach sank and I quietly sprung into action, slipping out of Chris's grasp and tiptoeing into the connected bathroom. Dodger's head perked up, tilting in my direction as I closed the door.

Me: I'm on my way.

I swallowed my nerves, quickly changing into a pair of leggings and a hoodie, and stepping into my tennis shoes. There was no plan of action, no thought process, I was acting on pure adrenaline and fear.

He could do whatever he wanted to me, but messing with Chris and messing with my family brought out a protectiveness I didn't know I was capable of possessing.

As quietly as I could, I slipped out of the bathroom, keeping my eyes trained on the bedroom door. If I looked at Chris, the guilt that would consume me would be enough to make me stop and think, and right now, it didn't feel like I could afford that.

Stu was at my parent's house. And I needed to do whatever I could to lure him away, even if that meant using myself as bait.

Thankfully, Cami and Dom were upstairs so sneaking out would be easy enough. It was the patrol car out front I was nervous about.

I quietly snagged my keys from the kitchen island and turned to make my way out of the front door, entering the code to the house slowly to unarm the house. Chris is going to be so pissed at me in the morning. So unbelievably pissed.