Unseen Strings

Chapter 1

Angelina

"Angie?" My mother called.

"What?!" I shouted down the stairs.

"There's something here for you!" She shouted back at me.

"Can't be! I didn't order anything!" I stood up and started down the stairs.

"It's a letter you dumbass." My older brother, Ramon,
passed by me passing me the envelope.

"Ramon!" My mother yelled after him, "¡Cuida tu lenguaje! (Watch your mouth!)"

I just rolled my eyes as I took the letter from him. I felt my brows furrow as I looked down at it; it had no return address, and the only word on the envelope was "Angel," written in calligraphy. I yanked it open and pulled out a simple sheet of paper. It had been neatly folded.

I walked back up the stairs and unfolded it as I went. As I shoved the door open to the room I shared with my older sister, Carmen, she was no where to be seen. I slumped on my bad and peered at the paper listlessly.

"Hello Angel," it read. "It's lovely to meet you, I hope we can be best friends."

There was no signature, no nothing, so I simply threw it away and turned over to fall asleep.

The image fell away, and was replaced by a man, all in black, with a mask covering his face. I stood there, frozen as he stalked toward me. My heart raced, and as he reached out for me, my eyes shot open. I flung upward and felt a cold sweat on my body.

It had been four years...four years of letter and gifts and creepy things.

I am called Angelina Rosalina Morales Ruiz...such a mouthful...at home I was always Angie; at school I was Rosa; and to my best friend, Stella, I was Rosie.

To him...I was always Angel...and I grew to detest the name.

Stella Walker had been my friend since we were 16; she had been through everything with me, and I relied on her support. She knew about my...little problem...

She had been with me one of the nights he had decided to peak in my window. She had seen his shadow, and her scream scared him off...my scream never did.

Stella Hae-Won Walker, born to a Korean mother and an American father, I had met her in school, it was her first year and her entire family had brought her to our private school on her first day. She was utterly embarrassed and it wasn't made any easier by her mischievous older brother. He teased her constantly and was a good bit older than her.

Stella was over the moon when we got into the same college, and we decided to go together.

Sadly, her parents would only agree if we lived in the same apartment building as her brother.

Stella loathed him, while I was simply indifferent.

I didn't know his real name, just that Stella called him JJ. She complained about him more than anything else, and yet she also idolized his looks. JJ was tall, perhaps nearly 6FT, he was lean, with coal hair and eyes. His features were angular, and he kept his hair cropped short, yet a bit spiked. He was full blooded Korean, and on that note, Stella cried often. Everyone liked her older brother, but not many liked her. She was 5'2, with dark brown hair and brown eyes to match. Her face was rounded a bit, and she was skinny. Most boys she tried to date called her plain.

As I walked to the bathroom and turned the light on, I couldn't help but look upon myself. I was 20 years old, and yet I seemed much younger. My brunette hair was down to my waist, my eyes were dark like the earth, I had a body that curved like an S, and my skin was light, with a slight tinge of color. It was perfect, and yet I did not dare try to do anything different.

I was all too aware of myself...as my little problem often wrote me about it...ever since I turned 18, the problem had made it very aware to me that he was male, and that not only did he want to be my best friend, but he wanted to have his way with me.

Stella said that it was something called "escalation." It was when a person gained more confidence in what they are doing and thus began to do more. Another reason she was happy to move to college with me was because we could live together, she was terrified tbag the escalations would culminate into something much worse.

In four years however, nothing worse ever really happened. I got letters, occasional gifts, I had seen some shadows by my window a few times, and nothing else.

Stella had been happy with me in our apartment, she was happy to be free of her parents, and for a time, free of her brother. I remembered when we first came to the apartment,

"That's the last box," Stella called as she dropped a light box onto the ground. The door stood ajar behind her.

"Hey!" JJ called, pushing the door open.

Stella shrieked.

"The fuck you yelling for?" He spoke nonchalantly.

Stella just averted her eyes.

"Look, I know mom and dad sent you here because they want you to be close to me or whatever because your girls or whatever, but listen here," he put his hands on his hips, "I work and I don't have time to be a damn babysitter."

Stella just shook her head, his eyes cut to me.

"Yes yes! I understand." I shook my head at him.

He then took his leave.

"What exactly does he do?" I asked her.

"I don't know," she rose up, shaking off her less than enthusiastic encounter with JJ. "Something that makes a decent amount of money." She shrugged.

We barely saw JJ from that day on. He was like a ghost.

My little problem continued the entire time...letters and gifts a plenty. Always outside the door. There were times I thought it would end or times when I thought he had finally lost interest.

The longest period of time I did not hear from him was six months....I thought I was safe, I even started to open my blinds again and let the wind into my room...until one day, when I got home from school, there was a white rose on my bed, and beside it, an envelope with the name "Angel" scrawled on it in calligraphy.