My Personal Stalker

Chapter 8: Bad News?

It was the first time in years that I had to walk to school alone. When we were younger, Aileen and I always walked together and when she got her drivers license, she started driving me to school. It had only been one day and I missed Aileen already.

Besides, I had this queasy feeling in my stomach because it was the first time seeing Colin again since... you know what.

I walked into the classroom expecting the worst but Colin was nowhere in sight. Mrs. Gregory came through the door shortly behind me. She looked really tensed.

After waiting for everybody to be quiet she started talking. "I'm sorry to inform you that your classmate Colin Miller is in the hospital right now with serious injuries."

My eyes widened in shock. What had happened yesterday? I was seriously worried about Colin even though I knew I shouldn't be.

"Yes, Mister Shaw..."

"Do you know when he'll come back to school?", Noah asked curiously.

"The doctors can't be sure about that yet. But his recovery will take at least one month." Noah seemed satisfied with that answer but I wasn't.

"Do you by any chance know what caused his injuries?" I had to swallow hard before looking up at Mrs. Gregory.

"Legally, I'm not allowed to tell you about that..."  My eyes closed in frustration. "... but it looks like he was beaten to the ground until he was unconscious. That reminds me, if you have any idea who could have done something like that, please report it to the police." I don't know if I only imagined it but Mrs. Gregory seemed to stare at me the whole time as if she expected me to know something.

I bit my lower lip thinking about what had happened to Colin. I knew something. Still, I couldn't call out the person who had rescued me from getting raped. If you think about it, it was Colin's own fault. Or at least I wanted it to be his fault to stop feeling guilty about it.

-

I sat next to Mark at the lunch table silently eating my food when he suddenly turned to me. "Have you heard anything from Colin lately?" I almost choked. "I'm just wondering because he hasn't returned any of my call or messages since yesterday and I haven't seen him around school today either." Mark looked seriously worried about his best friend.

To my relief his teammates came to our table before I could answer the question. "Hey, buddy. Are you going to the hospital today?", Cole asked.

"What? Why would I go to the hospital?" Mark seemed even more confused than before.

"Oh... you haven't heard? Colin got beaten up pretty badly yesterday. He has to stay at the hospital for quite a while."

Mark's eyes widened in shock. "Do they know who did it?" He clenched his fists while looking around.

"Not yet. But the police is working on it...", Noah said shortly looking at me.

"I swear I'm going to find this guy and he is going to pay." This time I really choked on my food. Mark started patting my back while I couldn't stop coughing.

"Everything okay?", he chuckled. The whole group was staring at me.

"Yes, the food is just really spicy.", I said smiling awkwardly.

"Anyway," Mark turned back to his friends. "I'll go visit him later and find out everything I need to know." He seemed truly determined to get revenge for what happened to Colin. If only he knew... Well, first I have to know who hurt Colin like that.

I touched Mark's arm gently. "Do you think I could come along? I'm really worried about Colin", I lied making myself feel guilty.

"Sure... if you think you can handle it." He looked at me uncertainly.

-

It took all of my strength to walk into that hospital building. I felt a lump in my throat only thinking about Colin after everything that had happened.

Mark walked straight up to the lady behind reception. "Hello, we are here to visit our friend, Colin Miller."

"He is laying in room 243."

"Thank you." Without wasting another second Mark rushed towards the elevator. "Chloe, are you coming?"

"Yes, of course" I swallowed hard before following Mark into the elevator.

Colin was laying in a private room with his eyes shut. There were bandages around his head, his arms and his legs. His face had a few blue and red marks on it. Besides, his left eye was swollen.

"Hey buddy", Mark said carefully while touching Colin's arm. I could just stand in a corner and stare at the scene in front of me. I hated myself for feeling sorry for Colin but he was truly a mess.

Colin's eyes opened very slowly. He gave Mark a short smile and then looked around the room. As soon as Colin's eyes landed on me all the colors drained from his face. We just stared at each other for a good 10 seconds.

"Chloe, what are you doing here?", Colin asked obviously bothered by my presence.

"I just wanted to see how you were holding up... after everything that happened." I bit my lower lip trying to suppress the anger that was rising inside of me.

"It's tough but I'll get through it." Colin's eyes turned darker within seconds.

None of us dared to move a muscle until Mark decided to speak up. "I have no idea what's going on here but still, we came to find out what actually happened to you. Since the police doesn't seem to be doing their job properly. I'll take matters in my own hands."

"I don't think that it's necessary to do anything at the moment. It was just a stupid fight." Colin's eyes were still fixated on me watching my every move.

"I think he's right. We should just let the police do their job and stay out of it.", I said trying to convince my stubborn boyfriend.

"Are you serious? I need to know what happened!" Mark was starting to lose his temper and you really don't want to know what he's capable of once he has lost it.

"He's right. Mark deserves to know the truth, doesn't he? Chloe?" Colin couldn't be serious. Would he tell Mark that he was trying to rape me? Or that he wanted to get revenge for Mark's behavior towards him?

I was clenching my fists ready to shut him up if he only said one wrong word.

—

Author's Note:
Hey loves, I will be going to Australia in a few days. So I don't really know how much I will be able to update over the next few weeks. I hope you will still stay tuned and have some patience if I can't update as much as I want to.

What do you think happened to Colin? And who did it?
Will Colin tell Mark the whole truth?
And how will Mark react to it?

If you like this story so far please vote, comment, add it to a reading list or share it with your friends. It would mean a lot to me ♥️