The Stalker (Elvis Presley Story)

Chapter 14

The company left for Braxton shortly after eight the next morning. Melissa dosed in the bus, waking once or twice to gaze down at fields of wheat and roadside vegetable stands.  She was tired and groggy, but glad to be on the road.

She'd said goodbye to jimmy white for the last time, she hoped. He was back home by now, with miles of highway between them. As the bus rolled along, Melissa felt better and better. Jimmy white was history.

"I don't believe it!" Toni said loudly.

Melissa jerked awake. The bus was pulling into the parking lot of a small, two-story cinder-block motel. Across the two-lane road was a junk shop and a telephone booth.

"Look!" Toni said, nudging Melissa in the side. "We've got a pool."

"Are you sure this is our motel?" Melissa asked, looking at the large pool of bright blue water in front of the building.

"You've been sleeping," She said to Melissa. "The bus has already dropped everybody else off at their motels. This one is definitely ours, and we've got a pool!"

"Now let's hope we've got air-conditioning," Steph added.

The room was larger than the last one, and the air-conditioning was cold enough to bring goose bumps out on Melissa's bare arms. She and the girls dumped their luggage in their ground-floor room, then took their dance bags and left for the theater. Gray had called a ten o'clock rehearsal.

"As soon as we're free, I'm going back to jump in that water," Toni declared. She lifted her hair off the back of her neck as they walked the quarter-mile to the theater.

"Maybe we can have a party," Melissa suggested. She was already thinking of inviting Elvis. It would be great to swim with him. Lie in the sun with him. Too bad they weren't staying at the same motel. There hadn't been enough room for the whole company.

Their walk took them past a small strip mall with a 7-Eleven, a beauty parlor, and a video rental store. Past that was a graveled drive leading up to the Braxton theater, a huge white building shaped like a barn.

On the marquee, in big black letters, were the words "Grease, A 50's Rock Musical.  Regional theater company. "

The girls followed the drive around the back, where the company truck was pulled up to the open stage doors. Crew members were still unloading painted flats and racks of costumes.

Melissa looked for Elvis, but didn't see him. Probably inside, she thought. She pushed her hair back and smiled in anticipation.

"Okay, Everybody!" Vic, the stage manager, shouted as most of the cast gathered backstage. "Dancers! Girls' dressing room is number two, stage right, downstairs.  Guys upstairs, stage left. Gray wants you onstage in fifteen minutes."

As vic pointed out dressing rooms to the principal actors, Melissa and her roommates headed downstairs.

"Another hole in the wall," Steph complained as they walked along a narrow, cement-floored hall to their dressing room. Toni rolled her eyes at Melissa.

"When you're famous, steph, you can have your own private dressing room. With a jacuzzi."

"It can't happen soon enough," Steph grumbled, opening the door marked 'number two.' 

It was a narrow, windowless room with a long counter bolted to the wall. A long mirror ran above the counter, surrounded by bare lightbulbs.

"Look!" Toni cried, pointing to a small pile of envelopes on the counter. "Mail!" Toni dived for it and started handing it out. "Steph, Me. Melissa." She glanced up. "Melissa?"

Melissa took the letters Toni gave her, but didn't look at them. Her eyes were riveted to the far end of the dressing table, where a single rose stood in a green glass bud vase. A small white card was taped to the side of the vase.

"Oh, no," Toni breathed, following Melissa's gaze. "I can't believe it."

Melissa couldn't believe it either.

Another rose.

Another sweet-smelling, blood-red rose.

"I thought it was over," Melissa said, her voice shaking. "I thought it was...dump it!" She cried. "Just looking at it makes me sick. Somebody throw it in the garbage!"

"Wait a second!" Steph said, as Toni picked up the vase. "Maybe you're not curious about what he has to say, but I am."

Steph snatched the vase from Toni and ripped the little card off. As she read it, her mouth curled in a strange smile. "Yeah," She murmured. "This belongs in the garbage, all right."

Melissa took a shaky breath. "All right, tell me. What'd he say this time?"

"Melissa," steph read. "Can't get you out of my mind. E."

"E?" Toni asked. "Oh! Elvis!"

"That's Elvis's style, all right," Steph said, turning away. "He's setting you up for a fall, Melissa. Take my word for it."

But Melissa Barely heard  steph's  warning. The rose was from Elvis. Laughing with relief, she took the roses from Steph and set it on the dressing table, then started changing her clothes.

During a break in rehearsal, Melissa went looking for Elvis. She finally spotted him high up on the scaffold, repairing a rip in one of the pieces  of scenery.

Quickly, she climbed up one end and poked her head over the top. "Hi, there. Got a second?"

Elvis grinned and scooted on his knees to the end of the scaffold.  "For you? I can probably spare ten seconds."

Melissa laughed. "I came to thank you for the rose. It was really sweet of you. Freaked me out at first, but...."

"Freaked you out?" Elvis interrupted, confused.

"I thought it might be from some strange fan or something like that. But this rose, I like." Melissa stretched up and kissed him quickly. "Gotta go get a new shoelace. Gray wants us back in five and one of mine broke. See you later!"

Smiling to herself, Melissa walked downstairs and into the dressing room. Her smile froze as she glanced at the mirror.

Then her lips twisted. Her mouth opened. She tried to scream, but no sound came out. All she heard was her heart, thundering in her ears.

Scrawled across the mirror in blood-red lipstick - her lipstick - was a message:

Miss me yet? I'm closer than you think. We'll be together, Melissa. Soon.

"No!" Melissa shouted, furiously.  "You're sick! Sick!" She grabbed her lipstick and flung it at the mirror. Then she threw her chair aside and wiped the message with her hand until the glass was smeared and her hand looked like it was covered in blood.

Terror replaced rage as a shadow suddenly caught her eye.

Melissa spun around, her gaze darting to the costume rack on the other side of the dressing room. The costumes hung straight and still.  No one crouched behind them. The room was empty.

Cautiously, Melissa moved to the open door and peered out into the hallway. Empty and quiet. Frighteningly quiet.

I'm closer than you think.

Was he waiting for her in another dressing room?

Don't stay down here, she told herself. Go. Run! Get out of this dungeon!

Swallowing hard, Melissa took a deep breath and raced for the stairs. As she put her foot on the first step, a shadow loomed in front of her.

Melissa's scream echoed off the cement walls as the shadow closed in.

A bit of a longer chapter for you guys. Hope you enjoyed! And thanks for reading! xoxo