𝐅𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐝𝐨 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐦 | 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐨𝐧𝐞 |

| 5 | Moonlight ☾

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I went out and bought the necklace for her today. I want to give it to her now, but I should wait. I wonder if it would be more special to deliver this gift in person. Maybe that's too soon for her. I need her to know I'm here first, make her paranoid, and make her check under her bed and in her closet for monsters before going to bed. But I'm the monster that's watching her, waiting for the perfect moment to devour her. She doesn't know it yet, but she's mine.

I took today off so I could keep an eye on her, she talked to her friend about me, I know she did, the way she was obviously afraid but brushed it off like it was nothing. she'll learn.

She and Charlotte went out to a bar after their shift, I didn't like this. but I had to force myself to stay back and observe. After a while, she began talking to this guy, Max Underfield. I knew about him from work—some guy who likes to put on the nice guy act and use his good looks to manipulate women into sleeping with him, and then he abuses them and blackmails them into keeping their mouths shut. filthy bastard.

I see them talk, and the more they do, the more angry I get. The thought of him treating her like everyone else he does and using her makes me want to cut his dick off and feed it to him. He leans in and says something to her, and she responds with a nod. He puts his dirty hands around her waist and helps her down from the bar stool. He's going to pay for touching her.

Seeing her so clearly a victim to his charm makes my blood boil. She has no idea who this guy is or what his motives are, and she's trusting him.

They stand there, and he kisses her on the cheek and walks out the door. The anger that boils in my skin when his lips touch her cheek is something that I've never experienced before. I hate it.

I want to kill him, and I will.

After he walks out and gets out of the way of the people he calls someone, I can faintly hear his conversation. He's talking about "finding another one," saying how hot she is and how naive she is. I can't stop myself. I stalk over to him and rip his phone from his hand and throw it onto the street behind us. "What the fuck, bro!?" He says it angrily as he sizes me up. I know what he's thinking, wondering if he could take me. by the look in his eyes, he knows he couldn't. I'm taller than him by a few inches, and I'm definitely bigger than him. He's a relatively fit-looking guy, but I outsize him by a good amount.

"Listen, dude, I don't know what your problem is, but I have somewhere to be," he says as he tries to push past me, but I put my hand on his chest and stop him. "I don't think you do," I say in a low tone. His muscles tense up, and he looks at me like he wants to kill me. My lips curl into a smirk at his expression. I lean down and say in a low tone, my words dripping with malice, "You chose the wrong girl, Max." He furrows his brows and scoffs. "That's what this is about?" he asks, and he continues, "She's just some random slut, there everywhere. find another one." He says, and rage builds in my chest. I grab the collar of his shirt and push him against the brick wall behind him. "She is mine, you will regret your decisions tonight" I say through gritted teeth before I look around and see that there are too many people to witness. I can't deal with him here.

I call my friend Flynn and have him come pick him up so I can make sure Marceline gets home safe. After about 10 minutes, he arrives. Before he leaves, I take a pen and write her a note to leave for her later. I take a knife from my pocket and slice a small cut through Max's palm, dip my pen in the blood pooled in his hand, and sign the letter with my initial 'A' I folded the letter and stuck it in my pocket.

After Flynn left, I went to a nearby flower store, it's not hers, but it's the only one open, and I'll make it up to her later. I buy a pink tulip, go to her apartment, and leave the note with the tulip on her doormat. Just out of curiosity, I try to open her door, it's unlocked. I shake my head. Marcy, you really need to be more careful. I say to myself as I walk into her apartment and see the tulip I left her last night on the counter. I want her to know I was here. So, I found a small flower vase in a cabinet and filled it with water, then placed the flower inside and left it on the counter where it was.

I sigh and walk out of her apartment and close the door behind me. I don't lock it because I want her to know that she left it unlocked.

I leave the apartment building and get back on my bike. I drive back to the bar, and she's still waiting for this douchebag. I idle nearby and wait for her to leave, once she does, I follow her carefully so she doesn't notice me. After about 25 minutes, she arrives at her apartment, and I watch her walk into the building. I wait outside until I see the light from her bedroom turn on through the window. Knowing she's safe at home, I leave to go deal with Max.

Max is annoying, to say the least. I have him tied to a chair in the middle of an empty room in my basement. "What were your plans with her?" I asked in a low tone. I figured out the gist of it, but I might as well get him to tell me as much about his plans as I could. "I think you already know what I was going to do. I mean, you saw her." He says and smirks, I take my pliers and rip off one of his fingernails, and he yells and curses at me. "Plans," I repeat before adding to my sentence. "and next time, it won't be just a fingernail." I threaten, and he understands and waits a moment before speaking. "There's a group of guys who look for girls like her, they pay high money for them." He admits, and it takes every ounce of effort in my body to not kill him right there. "You planned on selling her?" I ask through gritted teeth, "Yes, among other things, obviously, but yes." He continues, and I inject another question: "What happens to the girls you do this to?" I hate knowing, but I hate not knowing and not being able to help because I didn't know even more. He sighs before continuing.

"The guys who want that girl pay for her, she gets passed around to whoever paid and wants her, and then she gets taken to the ones who didn't pay and gets ran through, and eventually the last person to have her decides what to do with her. Sometimes they keep her, sometimes they sell her further down the line, but most of the time they kill her." He explains, and with every word that comes out of his mouth, Anger boils in my chest, and the urge to kill him grows.

The way he speaks carelessly about women and these poor, innocent girls who deserve so much better than this is sickening. These men will all rot in hell, and I'll make sure they suffer before they get dragged to the pits of hell where they belong. I walk closer to him, wrap my hand around his neck, and cut off his air supply. "You were going to put her through that?" I ask, I don't expect him to respond since he can't. Anger boils in my skin, and I ask one last question: "Who runs this 'group'?" I ask impatiently and let go of his neck, causing him to cough and heave, trying to catch his breath. "I don't know who's at the top." He says as he coughs, I grab the knife from my pocket and walk closer. "Wait! Wait, I do know someone closer to the top than I am" He says in a panic, I don't know if I believe him, but either way, I get the satisfaction of killing him.

"Who?" I bite out, "Logan Croft." He says quickly, "Good," I say as I put the knife back, and he lets out a relieved sign. I've heard the name before but thought he wasn't a big threat, apparently, for once, I was wrong. I've decided that I've gotten all I can from him, so now I get to do what I've been wanting to do since I saw this creep talking to Marceline.

I take advantage of his relief and quickly take my knife and stab him in the ear, shoving it as far as I can until there's resistance. He screams in pain, and a shiver of satisfaction covers my skin. I pull it out and let his screams and cries echo through the room and bounce off the empty walls. "I'm just getting started," I say, my voice filled with malice, and tears stream down his face. so pathetic.