LIA'S STALKER

X takes it to the next level

Lia hadn’t enjoyed the movie. She spent the whole time in the cinema looking around, trying to figure out if someone was watching her. Her search yielded nothing and she stuck to her sisters like glue afterwards at the pancake shop, she was so terrified that something was going to happen to her or the girls.

In fact, she’d been so upset that when she got home from the movies, she’d ended up vomiting in the toilet, her stomach was such a wreck. Throat burning, body trembling, breath coming in short, sharp gasps, Lia had sobbed on the floor in the bathroom, her mouth tasting of vomit, her long strands of hair filled with her stomach acid.

Her had mum stroked her back and tried helping her, thinking that she was merely unwell. Food poisoning, she blamed it on. Lia knew that wasn’t the case. She felt terrified, sick and unsafe.

Her home had always being her safe spot. Her parents were reasonably wealthy and they lived in a large-ish house. The younger girls shared a bedroom and the boys shared a room. They had a solar-heated pool in the backyard and a tennis court. Lia had always loved her house.

But now it felt violated. It felt wrong. Her room was no longer her sanctuary, it was invaded and horrible and she just couldn’t bare it. In fact, she couldn’t sleep in her room. It felt horribly violated, so she borrowed blankets from her sister’s room and slept curled up on the couch.

Lia felt desperate. Desperate to know if the mysterious person who had labeled themselves X actually meant what they had written- would they kill her?

This was crazy, she thought, desperately, this sort of thing didn’t happen to her! She was an ordinary girl! She was a straight A student, reasonably pretty, acceptably popular and she loved her life.

And who in god’s name was X? Whose life had she ruined? She was a pacifist! She had never hurt anyone, was nice to everyone and treated everyone equally. She had never ruined someone’s life! Never, never, ever!

Lia was currently on the couch, trying to make sense of her crazed thoughts. It was almost two in the morning, and she couldn’t get back to sleep. Gradually, she managed to doze off, after another hour or two of tossing and turning.

Lia was running. Her legs were hitting the earth with dull thuds, her breath was loud in her ears and her arms were pumping desperately by her sides. She could hear the heavy footsteps of the person chasing her, gradually growing closer and closer and closer and closer… Tears were streaming down her cheeks, almost blinding her, and she couldn’t help the scream of terror and fear as her foot caught on a tree root and she thudded into the earth. Hands grabbed her and shook her. “Mine!” hissed the person. Then they began to shake her harder and harder and harder- Lia was screaming as her eyes shot wide open.

Her mum was shaking her, looking worried. “Wake up Lia!” she kept saying, again and again. Lia took in deep, shaky breaths, and leaned into her mum, sobbing. Her mum cradled Lia gently, rocking backwards and forwards slowly. “You okay baby?” asked her mum, gently.

Lia shook her head, still trembling, tears still streaming down her face. “Want to tell me about it?” asked her mum. Lia shook her head, frantically.

“No, no, no, no…” she whimpered. Her mum rubbed soothing circles on her back,

“It’s okay Lia, it’s okay,” she said, again and again.

Lia’s tears finally slowed and she took a few more deep, soothing breaths. “I’m okay. I’m okay. I’m okay.” She told her mum who leaned forwards and gave her a big hug.

“I love you, gorgeous.” She told Lia, who nodded. “Baby, is there something you need to tell me?” she asked Lia, seriously.

If you tell anyone… Millie will meet the same fate as the little boy from IT… her arm torn off and drowned….

“No.” Lia said quickly, shaking her head, “just a scary dream.”

“Okay baby. Do you want to go back to your bed?” Lia looked around slowly and registered that she was still on the couch. No wonder her back felt a little stiff.

“No I’m… I’m good.” She told her mum.

“Why are you sleeping on the couch?” frowned her mum.

“I...” Lia scrambled in her head for a good excuse, “my friends and I are having a competition. Who can go without using their rooms for the longest.” She told her mum. Her mum laughed, unexpectedly.

“Brittney is going to fail drastically.” Lia forced a smile on her face.

“Yeah. I’ll so beat her.”

“You okay if I go back to bed?” asked her mum. Lia nodded.

“I’m good.”

Lia watched her mum stand up and leave the Living Room, and she snuggled her blanket around her, and she yawned and rolled over. Something poked into her arm and she looked over at her left and sucked in a deep, horrified breath. A square piece of paper.

Dear little Lia,

You think I can just reach your bedroom? How wrong you are… I can reach you WHEREVER you are. You will never be safe from me. And Lia? You look beautiful when you sleep. I can’t wait to cut that pretty little face up. I think tomorrow we can begin the process of making your life a living hell. I’m going to really enjoy this, bitch.

X

 

Lia inhaled, and exhaled, trying to calm her breathing. X had been right here. Right next to her. X had been close enough to actually touch her. And… and X could have easily gone after the little ones.

Lia felt oddly relieved that she hadn’t told her mum anything. If X had been in the room they would have been able to hear her tell her mum AND would have had enough to go up and kill Millie. And that… Lia shuddered, fear making her stomach go cold.

If X had hurt Millie or Courts or Billy or Linc… she would have never been able to forgive herself. But she couldn’t help the tears rolling down her cheeks. She was scared, hell- she was terrified. Petrified. Horrified. Distraught. Sickened. Shocked. Appalled.

Why her? She was just an ordinary girl with an ordinary family. She’d never hurt anyone. What the hell was X talking about? She’d never ruined anybody’s life. She was a pacifist and was always telling of Brittney for picking on people, though she had to admit they kind of deserved it, as most of the girls Brit picked on were the ‘Populars’.

“Please… whoever you are… I’m sorry… I don’t know what I’ve done… please stop!” sobbed Lia, before untangling herself and scrunching the note in her fist and jogging up to her room. She opened the door and crossed over to where she’d hidden the other notes to slide the note in with the others.

However, she noticed another note, this one on red paper, with the other notes. Ice filled her veins. Peek A Boo Lia

“No!” sobbed Lia, “stop it! Stop it!” tears streaming down her face, she ran to the bathroom and locked herself in. The bathroom was the only room with a lock and there was nowhere where a person could hide.

It had a shower, a bath and a toilet. Lia sat on the toilet seat and pulled her knees to her chest, and trembled. She didn’t get back to sleep for the rest of the night.