Stalker...

Chapter 1

Maria Peschlot's eyes fluttered open to the bright lights of a hospital room. Her brother, and her cousin were standing by her side. Maria looked different. Her long, thick, black hair was a tangled mess, strewed across her pillow and over her shoulders. Her once dark and cold eyes were now bloodshot and evasive to everything but her hands resting on her legs. She looked up at her cousin who was talking quietly on the phone with his back turned to her. Her gaze locked on her brother, who was rubbing his eyes.

"Hi Dima." Maria whispered.

He looked up at her, "Hi little sis. How are you feeling?"

"I'm sore. That guy kicked the crap out of me. Have you heard anything about Persy yet?"

"She's doing better, but you need to rest. Doc says they might hold you one more day."

Dima Peschlot was a cold eyed, rude person to everyone but his family. His eyes are dark like his father's. A piercing stare that cuts through your soul like a red hot poker in a bucket of ice. His hair is as dark as coal with a personality to match. His dark humor contradicts his behavior around his family. When he's around his family he's charming, funny, and protective of his little sister. That's about the only thing that carries over into both his personalities. He's a tall, athletic boy, only 16 years old and the head honcho for one of the biggest drug dealers in the world. (But that's a secret, shh!)

Their cousin, Mikhail Lange, had just moved to Texas with them from Frankfurt, Germany. His dirty dark brown crashed over his eyes like the waves on a sea. His eyes were as dark as Dima's, but his humor was lighter, something that only Maria would really understand. He may have only been Maria's cousin, but she treated him like a brother.

The doctor knocked on the door lightly. "Hi Maria. Surprise! All your tests came back negative and your shoulder is almost fully healed so I think you're able to go home."

"Alright."

The doctor got all the iv's and heart rate monitors off of Maria. A nurse took her to the ground floor in a wheelchair. The hallways and elevator were cold, painted an unfeeling shade of gray. Dima helped her into the backseat of their father's dark green truck. She felt so powerless now that she had been beaten by a total stranger. If only her father had let Mikhail go to school that day. He was like her bodyguard when she got bullied.

They arrived at Mikhail's apartment building where he and Maria were staying. As Mikhail opened the door a burst of cold air was let out from the lobby. They stepped into the elevator and went up to the fifth floor. Maria's gaze was once again fixed on her hands, which were now twitching in the front pocket of her black sweatshirt. Mikhail slipped his arm around her shoulders, "Maria, are you alright?" She blinked hard and looked up at him, "yeah, I'm fine. Just sore."

"Well you can sleep it off when we get to my apartment, okay?"

She nodded in response. She tapped her foot impatiently and ran her hand through her hair, moving it to one side. The elevator beeped as the doors opened to the fifth floor. They started down the long hallway towards the door to the apartment. Mikhail unlocked the door and let Maria in. She shuffled over to the couch and curled up near the edge with a blanket and her half-read copy of The Iron Heel by Jack London. Her eyes were getting harder and harder to keep open after reading only a few pages. Her phone shrieked, signaling that her brother was calling her. She was too tired to answer, so she just sent it to voicemail. Mikhail sat next to her, encouraging her to fall asleep by messing with her hair. Maria felt herself finally give in, and she fell asleep.

Hours went by before Maria woke up. She looked over at the clock on her cousin's desk. It flashed 2:45am. Wait a minute, she thought, I'm not on the couch anymore. She was in Mikhail's room. He carried her in after she fell asleep so his friend's wouldn't wake her up. She walked out to the main room of his apartment. His girlfriend, Rina, two of his friends, and her best friend, Jake, were sitting on the couch. She didn't like Mikhail's friends that much, as the boys always hit on her.