The Heartthrob's Dark Obsession

Chapter 43

Chapter 43:

Nori needed something to wear. Her wardrobe was incredibly limited as Theo enjoyed seeing her in various states of undress. She put on one of his oversized shirts. It hung down to the middle of her thighs, like she was a child playing dress up. She rolled up the sleeves so she could work.

She heard the door swing shut. Imogen should be gone. Nori put on the thickest socks she could find and took the only pair of jeans Theo had brought for her. She slid them up over her hips and they yearned to fall down. Her curvy figure had become incredibly gaunt. For an already thin girl she had lost too much weight. But she didn't care. She was escaping today.

She was certain the coast was clear so she pressed the four digits into the door. They key pad on the door blinked green. She was finally getting out of here.

Nori scurried to the front door. She wiggled the handle. It was locked. From the inside. Theo wanted to make sure that Nori was trapped. She knew there was a chance she would have to pick the lock. But she figured it was so unlikely that she hadn't bothered to get the bobby pins.

She quickly went back to the bedroom, then the bathroom. Right on the counter were the pile of Bobby Pins. She grabbed two. She knew she'd need them to pick the lock. But just to be safe Nori put a few extras into her hair.

She typed in the code again and went to the front door. Nori took a quick look around the apartment. It had a beautiful kitchen with a huge center island. And right on the counter was a block of knives. Theo never kept knives around in London. And so far in New York they only had take out. And yet...here they were. Her first viable weapon.

She hoped to be long gone before he got back. But just in case she took a knife and stuck it into the belt loop of her far too loose jeans.

She squatted in front of the door. A sudden noise broke her concentration.

"Mum!"

It was Imogen. Nori crawled behind the kitchen island to hide. She thought Imogen was gone. She'd heard the door slam. What was happening.

"Mum, I have to go...Fine, I'll say hi to Theo for you...Mum, it's weird that you have a crush on my best mate and boyfriend...I love you, too. Now I really have to go. I want to enjoy the most of my trip to New York."

Imogen approached Nori's hiding spot. She crawled around the other side of the island praying to whatever deities were out there to keep Nori safe.. Imogen stopped for a moment and unlocked the front door.

Nori stayed planted. She wasn't going to risk getting caught. And she certainly wasn't going to attack Imogen to make her escape. She wouldn't be able to live with herself. Even if Imogen deserved it.

The door slammed closed and she heard the lock click.

She'd make her escape in due time. Once her heart stopped trying to beat out of her chest she finally walked to the door and studied the lock. It just looked like a standard key lock. The only weird thing was that the door locked from both sides. She bent open two Bobby Pins. She may not have ever picked a lock but she knew the basics.

What movies or books always got wrong was showing that you could do it with one pin when in reality you needed two pins to pick a lock: one to position the inner workings and one to turn the lock. She started moving the pins inside. She hoped this worked.

****

"Janice, I know you still have Theo's address," said Derek.

"And I told you I don't. Richie and Beth took the receipt," said the young girl with a pop of her gum.

"Are you sure you didn't take a picture of it?"

"And what if I did? If I gave it to you what are you going to do? Beth said you're lucky you weren't arrested the other night."

"She's right, Der," said Beth, who popped out from the back. "Janice, go help Pablo. I need to talk to Derek."

"Okay," said Janice.

"And spit out that gum. You know the rules. It's about a dozen health violations."

Janice rolled her eyes before spitting her gum out. She walked into the back room.

"It's actually only like two health violations. But still, it's gross."

"What do you want Beth? Are you going to scold me? My parents already did that."

"Derek, you are lucky the Tonight Show only kicked you out and didn't call the police."

"Beth, you should have seen the smug bastard. He knows what happened. He has my girlfriend. He was trying to intimidate me."

"I saw him on TV. He's very charming. There's no way that guy could hurt a fly."

"Yeah, well Nori's smarter than that. She won't be charmed by the likes of him."

"How sure are you that he has her?"

"I'd stake my life on it. Tell me, Beth, what did he order?" asked Derek.

Beth pulled a receipt from her apron. Her face paled. "A large pizza with extra pepperoni, two diet cokes, and an order of garlic knots extra crispy."

"You know that order, Beth. That's Nori's order. Has been since our first date."

Beth tapped her fingers on the counter and thought for a moment. She put down the receipt and turned away. "If anyone asks you stole the address when I wasn't looking. I'm not going to bail you out of jail."

"Thank you!" Derek picked it up and snapped a quick picture. Then he put it back down and ran out the door toward the address. "I'm coming for you, Nori."

****

Nori was almost ready to give up. She had been trying to pick this lock for hours. Why did movies make it look so easy? What was she doing wrong? All the videos made it sound so simple.

It probably would have been easy if she knew what she was doing and wasn't functioning with knowledge from a video she saw on Facebook several years earlier.

"Alright Nori you can do this. You're gonna escape and go to the police and find Derek. And you're going to get Theo put in jail."

She looked out the window and could see flakes of snow. She shuddered at the thought of going out in that nightmare. But she had to.

Nori was determined. She was going to get out. Minutes passed. She didn't care if she'd been at it for hours. She was escaping.

"I'm coming for you, Nori. Hang in there." She felt like she could hear Derek's voice. He was her driving force,

Suddenly, the door clicked open. Nori excitedly jumped up and pulled the door. The wide eyes of Derek greeted her. He held up two Bobby Pins and so did she. She didn't know which of them had succeeded in picking the lock and she didn't care.

"Derek!" she exclaimed.

"You're here!" he shouted. His arms wrapped around her. "I knew he had you!"

"You found me! You actually found me." She felt overwhelmed by her emotions. Tears poured down her face and for once they were tears of joy. She was finally free. She actually did it.

Derek's lips descended on hers. She fully leaned into his arms, ready to let the weight of the world melt away.

Bang!

The loud sound pulled her back to Earth. Her happiness faded as Derek crumpled. He fell to the floor as a gasping scream excited his mouth. Crimson blood seeped out of his chest.

"Derek!" cried Nori. The tears of joy turned to tears of anger and fear.

Her eyes locked onto the gun in Theo's hand as he charged toward her. She ran as fast as she could. She needed to escape. She needed to help Derek. She needed to kill Theo.

A guttural cry was the only sound she could make as she launched her body at Theo.