Ice & Prejudice

Chapter 72

Ria's POV:

The warm spring weather greeted me as I walked across campus, my sneakers tapping softly against the pavement. It was the last week of March, and the campus was beginning to wake up from its winter slumber, with students milling around, some heading to class, others lounging on the grass, enjoying the first hints of warmth. Last week, I'd celebrated my 21st birthday, and it had been perfect-probably the best birthday I'd ever had. The memories of that weekend still lingered, bringing a small smile to my lips as I fingered the delicate necklace around my neck, a gift from Nik. He'd gone all out, spoiling me with books I'd been dying to read and this necklace, a simple silver chain with a small pendant that I hadn't taken off since he gave it to me.

I pushed the door to my cognitive psychology class open, the familiar scent of clean floors and old wood hitting me. The room was mostly empty, as it usually was this early before class. I liked getting here ahead of time, to settle in and claim my favorite seat. Today, though, I was alone. Layla had caught some kind of virus, so she wasn't here to chat with me before the lecture started. I made a mental note to check in on her after class, maybe make her some soup. She had mentioned adoring tomato soup with grilled cheese.

I walked to my seat, the familiar creak of the chair welcoming me as I sat down and crossed my legs under the desk. Absentmindedly, I played with my necklace, thinking about Nik and how he always managed to make me feel so loved, so cared for. He'd gone out of his way to make my birthday special, and even though it had only been a week, I still felt like I was floating on a cloud from all the joy and warmth.

But that warmth vanished the moment my foot brushed against something under the desk. I froze, my heart skipping a beat as a cold shiver ran down my spine. Slowly, I looked down, dread pooling in my stomach.

There, nestled against my foot, was a Starbucks cup. No.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no.

My breath caught in my throat, and a wave of nausea swept over me. No. Not this. Not again. Please, don't be what I think it is. Please. I didn't want to reach for it, didn't want to touch it, but my hand moved on its own, trembling as I picked up the cup. The plastic felt cold against my skin, and I could already feel the panic clawing at the edges of my mind, threatening to pull me under.

I looked inside. The scent of the matcha latte hitting me in an instant.

My favorite.

I turned the cup, to see if a name-my name, was written on it. And surely enough.

Ria.

It felt like the ground had opened up beneath me, like I was free-falling into an abyss. I couldn't breathe. My chest tightened, and the air around me seemed to thin, growing heavier with every second. I stared at the cup, my vision blurring as tears welled up in my eyes. This couldn't be happening. It just couldn't. I was supposed to be safe now. He was supposed to be gone, locked away where he couldn't hurt me, couldn't find me.

But he had. Vlad had found me.

I stood up so quickly that I nearly stumbled over my own feet. The few students in the room looked up, startled, but I didn't care. I needed to get out. I needed to run. My body was on autopilot, moving before my mind could catch up. I shoved the cup away, letting it clatter to the floor as I grabbed my bag and bolted for the door. My heart pounded in my ears, drowning out everything else as I pushed past the other students, ignoring their curious stares and hushed whispers.

The hallway outside was a blur as I rushed through it, my footsteps echoing off the walls as I ran. I didn't know where I was going; I just knew I needed to get away, to escape. My chest was tight, my breaths coming in short, shallow gasps as I pushed open the doors to the building and stumbled out into the open air. The sudden cold hit me like a slap, but I barely felt it, my mind racing with fear and panic.

I didn't stop running until I reached my apartment, the familiar sight of my front door grounding me enough to fumble with my keys. My hands shook so badly that it took three tries to unlock the door, but when I finally managed to push it open, I slammed it shut behind me and leaned against it, trying to catch my breath.

My phone pinged in my jacket pocket, the sound sharp and jarring in the silence of my apartment. My heart pounded in my ears as I pulled it out, dreading what I was about to see. The screen lit up with a notification-a message from an unknown number.

I didn't want to open it. I knew what it was, who it was, but I couldn't stop myself. My thumb hovered over the screen for a moment before I tapped on the message, my stomach twisting in knots.

Unknown: I hope you liked the matcha and Dutch sour mats. They used to be your favorite, after all.

The room spun around me, and I had to grip the edge of the counter to keep from collapsing. Dutch sour mats. He remembered. I hadn't had those in years, hadn't even thought about them, but he remembered. He knew. He'd been watching me, following me, studying me all over again, just like before. My hands were shaking so badly that I nearly dropped the phone. He was back. Vlad was back. And he was here. He'd been at my birthday, lurking in the shadows, watching me in my red dress, just like three years ago when all this had started.

He had been watching me for weeks.

I couldn't breathe. My vision blurred as panic tightened its grip on my chest, and the room seemed to close in around me. I had to do something. I had to make him stop. With trembling fingers, I typed out a response, the words barely making sense in my frenzied state.

Me: You.

It didn't take long for his reply to come through, each word like a punch to the gut.

Vlad: Me.

And then, almost immediately after:

Vlad: Miss me?

I stared at the screen, my blood turning to ice. He was taunting me, playing with me, just like he always had. I could almost see the twisted smile on his face, the cruel glint in his eyes as he typed those words. He was back, and he wasn't going to stop. He was never going to stop.

My legs gave out, and I sank to the floor, the phone slipping from my grasp as I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to hold it together. My mind was a whirlwind of fear and paranoia, memories of the trial, the public humiliation, the relentless bullying that had driven me out of the state three years ago. I could still hear the jeers, the insults, the whispers behind my back as people called me a liar, a slut, a manipulator.

And now he was back, ready to tear apart everything I had tried so hard to rebuild. Every shadow felt like him, every stranger's glance like a threat. He was everywhere, and I couldn't escape. Tears streamed down my face as I rocked back and forth, the panic clawing at my throat, threatening to choke me.

I couldn't do this again. I couldn't go through this all over again. But there was no way out. Vlad was here, and he wasn't going to let me go. I was trapped, suffocating under the weight of his presence, his control.

And no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't shake the feeling that this time, he wouldn't stop until he had destroyed me completely.