Swell (Complete)

Chapter Forty-Six (Part Two)

"I need you to save me,
I'm too close to breaking, I see the light,
I am standing on the edge of my life."

....

Adora had a shower the moment she got upstairs. Her dress was hung on the back of her bedroom door and she wrapped her arms around her shoulders as her body adjusted to the post-shower temperature drop.
Her phone beeped on the bed and she moved over and checked the text.
The number wasn't in her contacts and she frowned as she hesitantly tapped the text open.

'I got rid of your rapist and this is how you thank me?! He's done nothing for you! I'd die for you! I've killed for you! How could you?'

Her stomach knotted and she felt her teeth clenching as she forced herself to draw breath.
Underneath the words was a picture of a couple in the sand.
She frowned and zoomed in on the couple and went cold.
Her lips were locked on Will's, they were in the sand at the cove.

'I've killed for you!'

The line blurred into a painful stabbing across her forehead and she put the phone on the bed as she closed he eyes and rubbed her forehead.
"No, no no no no. Please." She hissed as she leaned forward and started to rock.
Was this a warning for Will?
Was Will in real danger instead of just imagined?
Adora felt tears burning down her cheeks.
Should she isolate herself?
If Will was as targeted as this text, was Marti a target just for being her friend?
Dodge?
Iain?
Her mother?
Maybe it would be better if she disappeared, if she wasn't around for the stalker to obsess over then nobody would be in danger right?
"No." She didn't want to hide; she didn't want those intrusive thoughts to plague her head again.
'Better off without me.'
The thought crashed into her mind and she curled up onto her bed. "No."
Adora was paralysed on her bed for over an hour before Agatha pushed open the door and jumped onto the bed.
Flashes of kidnapped pets collided with the intrusive thoughts as Agatha head butted Adora's forehead.
"I can't do this, Aggie." Adora nudged the fluffy head back and sat up.
Her eyes were dry from crying into her doona cover, but she wiped them and moved over to her school bag.
It didn't take long for her to dump her books on her desk and pack a blank notebook, pen and a family photo into the bag. She stood in front of the dresser and frowned; she felt so removed from her reflection she pitied the face staring back at her.
"You're not me."
She bit her lip and looked out of her window into the back yard of the property, she could see Dodge and her mother talking with someone.
She took a deep shuddering breath and kissed Aggie goodbye. "I love you, babe." She whispered.
In the study Adora opened the second drawer from the top on her mother's desk. There were markers, stencils, thread and scissors in sectioned areas. Adora shifted the contents of the draw around slightly and felt the smooth cylinder shape of the hobby blade.
Her fingers wrapped around it and she pulled it out of the drawer and dropped it into the backpack.
A quick look out the back door showed that Dodge and her mum were still engrossed in the conversation. She could sneak around the side of the house and get her bike easily, so long as Edgar was occupied.
But she wouldn't be able to say goodbye to him, he'd give her away with his excitement.
She stood out on the front porch and looked at the black orb over the door. She wasn't going to let anyone else get hurt because some crazy person decided to protect her.
Gus hadn't raped her. He had been forceful, but she was sure he would have stopped if she really said so. Gus was over anyway, the stalker should have known better.
The stalker shouldn't even exist.
A lump formed in her throat and she left the front porch to get her bike from the side of the house.

The wind had picked up by the time she reached the cliffs, the overcast sky left no shadows to hide in, but Adora sat with her bike behind the hedges, her legs over the edge of the cliff.
The cove opened up underneath her and she put the notebook down beside her.
It wasn't the first time she'd written goodbyes.
This time was for a better reason than grief.
This was for love; her family and friends were being hurt and killed, and she couldn't let that continue.
She put the book underneath her backpack and pulled the hobby blade out.
The wind blew her long hair wildly around her head and she took a deep breath of salty air as she popped the lid of the scalpel off. It bounced off the grass beside her and down to the sand in the cove below.
She couldn't tell if she was crying or if the wind was burning her eyes with its icy fingers.
She pulled up the sleeves of her sweater and looked at the faded scars.
She didn't have that many, she'd been to a group once where a girl had more scarred skin than clear skin.
She put the blade into her lap and traced some of the lines. Most were horizontal; across her forearm, these ones would have to be down and much deeper than she had ever managed before.
The loneliness was heavy on her shoulders and she felt her face pinching.
"I'm sorry Dad." She whispered as she picked the blade up again and placed the point on her wrist.
"Don't do it." The voice was calm and familiar.
Her heart stopped and she felt herself gasping for air.
She wasn't alone, the stalker was behind her. "Don't do what?" She whispered shakily, moving the blade further into her hand and away from her arm.
"Don't cut yourself again." A hand landed gently on her shoulder and Adora screamed and turned around, slashing her arm and the hobby blade towards the stalkers legs.