"Um, okay. It was the summer after I graduated from college. I was only twenty so I was still at home that summer. I took a lot of AP classes in school before you ask. Anyway, I got this text one day when I was with my boyfriend, Paul. It was a picture of just me with no other text after. It was a picture of me at home, sitting at my desk that's near my window. I know something was wrong but maybe it was one of my friends playing a prank. So I showed Paul and we just laughed it off.
Then, after a few weeks of continuously getting pictures sent to me or notes, Paul and I got into a fight over it. He didn't take me seriously and basically said I was crazy for wanting to go to the police about it, that it was just someone pulling a prank. We didn't talk for two weeks after that. During those two weeks though, I got letters every day. No more texts or pictures just letters. But they weren't just letters talking about nothing. They were love letters talking about how whoever was stalking me knew I would end it with Paul for them. This is how they knew we were meant to be.
Later that night, Paul came over and we talked about it. We decided that I would go to the police the next day. He ended up staying the night and after we spent some time being....intimate, he fell asleep while I was on my phone. I got a text from the stalker and it was pictures of Paul and I, being intimate. The only word that followed after the pictures was betrayal. Me, being the stupid person I was, I texted them back for the first time and told them that tomorrow I was going to the cops and they were going to catch their ass.
The next morning I woke up in a pool of blood. Paul's blood. His throat had been slit while I was asleep and someone wrote with his blood on my wall the word MINE. After that I moved away as fast as possible to here, New York. I was hoping they wouldn't be able to find me since I didn't tell anyone where I was going, not even my parents. But somehow, someway, they found me."
Detective Styles listened to every word I said and didn't seem like he thought I was crazy when I was finished. We sat in silence for a little bit while he finished writing whatever he was writing. Probably about me and my story.
"Do the cops in your hometown have files about what happened? Pictures of the crime scene, the texts, the letters?" He finally asks me, setting down his pen. I nod silently, crossing my arms.
"Okay, that's good. Give me a couple days to contact them, okay? I'll find whoever's stalking you." He says, putting a hand on my shoulder.
"Thank you for taking me seriously." I say, relaxing with his touch. He gives me a warm and genuine smile. I watch him put the papers he was writing on in a folder before standing to his feet.
"I'll walk you out, alright?"
Detective Styles walks with me all the way to the subway station. He gives me his card and I put it into my purse.
"If you have any trouble, call me or come see me at the station."
"Thank you again."
"It's no problem, Ms. Waters. It's my job."
I nod before saying goodbye to him. I watch him walk away and disappear out into the crowds of people. I sit on a bench, waiting for my train to arrive. My phone vibrates and my body tenses up. I brace myself for something horrible before turning it over. I let out a sigh of relief when I see it's just my mom calling me back. Is this what it's going to be like again? Watching over my shoulder and tensing up every-time my phone rings? I hope Detective Styles is good at his job because I don't think I can live like this for the rest of my life.
