Extra Credit

Plot Twist

Mark and I made love off and on throughout that night. I wondered where he got all of that energy from and how I was able to withstand it. I didn't get to sleep until almost four in the morning. As for Mark, he was still awake as I fell asleep so I had no idea what time he went to sleep. It was real nice being able to lay my head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat as he caught his breath. It was the warmth of his body being close to mine that eventually put me to sleep.

Around 10 o'clock the next morning I opened my eyes to the bright sun shining though Mark's windows. I rubbed my eyes and stretched my arms out above my head before looking to my right. Disappointingly, Mark wasn't in the bed with me anymore. I sighed and sat up with a frown, wondering if he was out in the kitchen. To feed my curiosity I got up and walked to his drawer so I could put on one of his shirts. Once I slid it over my body, I headed out of the room to look for him.

A feeling of worry set in when I walked out into the living room and didn't see anyone there. However, there were newspapers, pictures, and torn letters laying all over the floor. I looked around the room again for signs of Mark before walking over to the mess. As I stepped into the living room, a bold headline from the front of the paper caught my eye. When I got closer to it, I saw that it was dated back to the night my mom died. Her picture was on the front of the paper too along with a photo of the paramedics carrying a body from a house. I also saw my father holding me tightly in his arms and crying hard. I didn't understand why Mark would have all of this until I read the bold headline…

"Obsessed Man Kills His Best Friend in Cold Blood and is still on the Loose." I dropped my gaze to the paragraph and read the story out loud.

"On Thursday April 27, Dave Bautista walked into his fiancé's home to pick up their 4 year old daughter, only to find his fiancé lying face down in the kitchen in a pool of her own blood. Her daughter was sitting on the floor crying her little heart out and telling her father that her mommy wouldn't wake up.

"I was terrified." Said Dave, "It wasn't something I was expecting to see at all."

"Dave went on to say that he had just spoke to Arica only 20 minutes before and that her friend 19 year old Mark Calaway had just stopped by for a visit. Mark's fingerprints were not only found on the knife used to stab Arica in the chest over 15 times, but they were found on her daughter's arms and legs as well. Mark Calaway is still at large and is considered to be armed…and dangerous. If anyone has any idea where we may be able to find him you're asked to give Richmond police headquarters a call."

My heart started pounding as I let the newspaper fall to the ground. That couldn't be right could it? Did Mark really murder my mother? I took a deep breath and dropped to my knees, picking up the photographs and letters all over the place. Most of the letters were poems…poems from a stalker like mine. I then looked at some of the pictures and saw that they were of my mom and dad, taken at a distance. Last, I caught sight of an old yearbook photo of my mom in cheerleading. There was a red circle around her body and the word, "MINE" written next to it.

"Oh…Oh God no…" I whispered.

"Yes actually."

My eyes widened upon hearing Mark's voice. I glanced in the direction it was coming from and saw him standing in the doorway of the bathroom. I stood up slowly without taking my eyes off of him.

"Mark…what's going on? What is all this?"

He smirked and slowly walked into the room. "Isn't it obvious baby girl? You've been seriously misguided…"

I swallowed the saliva that pooled in my mouth before backing into a wall. He kept approaching me slowly with a sinister grin on his face.

"Your mom was so beautiful to look at Aria…and she loved to tease me with her charms. I thought we had something at one point but…then she went and got pregnant to your pitiful father."

"That's why you killed her?" I asked as a tear fell from my face.

"That's why I had to doll face." He said.

I began to tremble as the space between us became gradually smaller, "So…you're the one who's truly been stalking me then?"

"You got it toots." He said.

"But I thought Bill and Chris-"

"-Bill and Chris are my right hand men…Bill knew the entire time that I murdered your mother…and agreed to help me since the bitch wasn't really his blood anyways."

More tears fell from my eyes, "And what about Tracy and Kane? Are they in on this too?"

"Of course not. Tracy only heard that your mom was killed by your father, but she never thought to look up the facts. If she would have she'd be dead too. As for Kane, he's too hung up with his new girlfriend to keep up with me and my plans."

"I can't believe this." I whispered as I dropped my gaze from his close presence. He grabbed my throat tightly, scaring the hell out of me before lifting me off my feet. I grabbed a hold of his wrist with both of my hands and gasped for air.

"Well believe it baby girl because you and I are going to be together for a real long time. I didn't get that happy ending with your mother, so you'll do just fine."

I could feel my body shutting down as he squeezed my throat even tighter. I dug my nails into his arm before swinging my leg and kicking him in the balls. He grunted before letting me drop to the ground. I held onto my throat and coughed before making a run for it.

"Aria! If you walk out of that door I'll hunt you down and gut you like a fish!"

That threat would have stopped me back when I was a scared little child, but it didn't stop me now. I grabbed his car keys and booked it out of there with him in pursuit. I didn't bother to scream as I made my way to the parking garage and found his black pickup truck.

"Come here you little bitch!" He yelled as I unlocked the door and hopped inside. I quickly shut the door and pressed the automatic lock to seal the doors shut. He ended up making it to the driver's side and punched a hole through the window.

I screamed and bit down on his arm before putting the key in the ignition and getting that sucker into drive. Before he could pull me out of the truck, I slammed my bare foot on the gas and rode towards the entrance of the parking garage. He was holding on at first but when I turned the corner he released his grip. I smiled a little as I glanced in the rearview mirror and saw him just staring at me. I needed to get as far away from this maniac as possible…and I knew exactly where I would go