crave | 16+

XX

JOSIE

I WAKE UP TO a pair of arms embracing me. I welcome the warmth by scooting closer, a lazy smile coming onto my lips. Elijah and I have been walking in and out of each other's apartments the last few days, so it doesn't scare me at all.

"How'd that meeting with your brothers go?" I ask in a hazy voice. I don't expect myself to stay awake to hear his answer, honestly, and Elijah doesn't reply, which is fine by me. I feel his arms embracing me tighter and my smile widens. My eyes close again, and I ready myself to go off to sleep, but the sound of my phone ringing wakes me up.

I don't see who it is, I just answer it and put it up to my ear. "Josie Moore speaking."

"Why so professional, love? It's only me," Elijah says into the phone.

My eyes fly open and my breath gets stuck in my throat. The arms around me falls limp.

"Meeting went to shit. I ended up having to beat some sense into Zakaria, but otherwise it was fine. How about you? How was your day?" he questions me, and I'm too scared to even move an inch. If Elijah is home, who the hell is in my bed? A tear falls down my cheek as I fear for my goddamn life. Someone is in my bed, with their arms around me right now.

Elijah laughs on the other side of the phone. "Did you fall asleep, darling?" he asks. I pinch my eyes closed, hoping he doesn't hang up. I'm awake, I am awake, I scream in my head. But it doesn't take long before I hear three beeps and the sound of my boyfriend disappears. I stay in bed, completely still, not knowing what the hell to do. If I move, the person will one-hundred-percent kill me.

A sigh can be heard from behind me, and I jump in shock.

"He is so dull. I will never understand what you see in him," a familiar voice says, right in my ear. I feel the weight in my bed shift over and suddenly I'm lying in it alone. I can hear footsteps walking in and out of my bedroom, walking around in my apartment. My closet door opens. Shelves open and close. The footsteps come near me.

The person is dressed in all black. I watch as the figure crouches before me, wearing a mask. I gasp at the face so close to me, and a sob escapes my mouth. It's pitch black in my room. My eyes catch the alarm-clock on my bedside table and I read the time; 4am. I scoot away from the figure and sit up on my headboard. The man reaches for the switch for the lamp on my table, and turns on the light.

I take a minute to adjust, and stare right at the man. He has dark skin, and beautiful captivating black eyes. And dreadlocks. Blonde dreadlocks.

"Zakaria?" I question. I see the smile in his eyes. He removes the mask from his face, and reveals his teeth in the smile. I feel the hairs on my neck rise. "What are you doing here? In my bed? In my home?" I ask him, growing frantic. "Why are you dressed like that?"

But he doesn't answer me. He just keeps staring at me, kind of like he did that time in the parking cellar. I try to reach for my phone on my bed, but he grabs my hand mid-way. I gasp and more tears well up in my eyes. "Zakaria, you're scaring me," I admit. This only makes his smile grow. He averts his eyes from mine, and inspects my arm, looking at it, touching it. At one point he brings it up to his face and smells it.

"This isn't personal at all, angel," he finally says. My heart drops to my stomach. Something about this feels so insanely wrong.

"What do you mean?" I ask, trying to hide the fear in my voice, but to no avail. A deaf person could hear how scared I am, right now. Zakaria's eyes fly up to my face, and he moves closer till we're almost sharing the same breath. His pupils are so wide, one would think he was on drugs. Which with the way he's acting, it wouldn't surprise me.