CONSUME

08.

CHAPTER EIGHT

It had been a long time since Esther felt good about herself. It had been a long time since she had gotten dressed up and felt pretty. She unpacked her dress with a smile and was quick to put it on. It was black with long sleeves and a mixture between dressed up and comfortable, her favorite mixture. The hours had been quiet and her phone silent as Mia curled her hair and Esther did her makeup. The two had talked about nothing and everything and enjoyed each other's presence as the time passed.

The silence was somewhat worrying.

Her stalked seemed to be an irrational person. For an emotional man, it scared her when he had gone from outraged to nothing. From some people words were better then actions, she feared his actions much more then his words.

She convinced herself that it was in her head, enough so to numb her mind and force everything she had on distracting herself.

She listened as cars began pulling up in the driveway, rushing to the kitchen to hide some of the good snacks for herself. Mia was immediately at the door and letting people in, her calm nature turning social and outgoing in just a swift switch.
It was something that fascinated Esther. She had never been able to find that switch and found herself standing stoic in the kitchen, she desperately wanted to blend in but found her feet unmoving and her head turning loud as she took in the scene. Her mind was trying to comprehend all the noise and all the movement and it couldn't keep up. She felt overwhelmed as she watched everybody enter, recognizing most of them and silently thanking Mia for not going entirely overboard on the invitations.

Esther had never had much interest in alcohol and with a stalker after her she wanted to be in full control of her senses and actions. She grabbed a soda and decided to shadow Mia, doing a half hearted attempt at mingling.

When Seth appeared, she tailed him and watched as his friends began arm wrestling. She had never been good at arm wrestling but it didn't take talking to participate and she gave it her all.

Seth won too easy.

In the midst of the talking and the cheering she was hit with the realization of how weak she was. If he could beat her so easily, her friend, how would she ever survive if she was attacked by a man?

How could she fend off a man with police training?

It was a harrowing thought.

"You wanna play cards?" Seth asked and held up a stack of cards. She nodded, taking his hand as he lead her to the porch.

"It's so loud I can barely hear myself in there" He mumbled and she figured it was his way of explaining why he had lead her to the porch. She knew he had noticed how overwhelmed she was and she was thankful that he had found an excuse instead of asking her about it.

"You know I'm great at cards." She smiled and shuffled the cards. Her eyes wandered over the dark forest, the light from the porch barely providing any light. The eerie feeling of being watched lingered over her. She was worried that he would somehow see her smile at the boy and want him dead, but that was impossible.

His threats lingered in her head and she regretted that she had answered her phone.

He was controlling her in a sense.

"I don't doubt it." Seth spoke and the two smiled at each other. The two played and Esther won twice, letting Seth win the last time.

"You want to go down to the water?" Seth questioned and Esther felt apprehension build up in her chest.

"I don't think it's a good idea, I don't want to wander off where people can't see us." She spoke and watched his smile fade.

"Please? I'll text Mia we're going and if we're not back in ten minutes she should come looking."
Esther felt herself crumble underneath his gaze, she wanted to stand her ground and tell him no. But she feared he would get mad and leave her, or find out that she was actually a boring person and get tired of her. "It's so near and he's not even here, have some fun for once." He continued and she felt the gnawing feeling of peer pressure take over and she nodded.