Page 8 of Little Darling

I slowed my pace, my instincts ringing a warning bell in my body telling me to be alert. The hairs on my nape stood on end, and I knew—fucking knew—whoever had been stalking me before was doing it right now.

He was watching me.

Everything felt so sinister at that moment, and I glanced around, but there was no one else in the vicinity. The sun hadn’t quite set yet, but the light was fading quickly. I knew I had to pick up my pace and get to the safety of my home.

The little gate in front of the cottage came into view when I rounded the corner, and I walked faster. But just as I reached out to push it open, a sharp prick at the side of my neck made me gasp, the sound loud even to my own ears.

I barely had time to react, to reach up and touch the spot where the sting settled before a wave of dizziness crashed over me. I stumbled and braced my hand on the wooden gate as the world tilted. My bags slipped from my fingers and fell to the ground as I stumbled.

My vision blurred, my grip on the fence faltered, and I felt myself tipping toward the ground. This all happened in a matter of seconds, I was sure, but God, it felt like the world stopped, and everything moved in slow motion.

Panic surged through me because my body was no longer my own.

My mouth opened and closed like a fish struggling to breathe out of water. Instinct told me to cry out, to call for help. But my lips and tongue wouldn’t work, and I couldn’t form any words.

The last thing I was aware of before I just submitted to the numb darkness and the nothingness that was rushing up quickly was enormous hands wrapping around my waist, hauling me upright, and being cradled to a firm, powerful chest.

8

DOLLY

Iwoke up to a throbbing pain in my head, the kind that made everything fuzzy around the edges and had a moan escaping from my too-parched lips.

God, why did my body feel so heavy? I wanted to place my hand on my forehead in the hopes it’d ease the ache, but my limbs felt weighted down, too heavy to even lift them. Another painful noise came from my mouth, and I clenched my teeth as the sound vibrated my skull.

I relaxed and sank into the mattress, just breathing through the discomfort. But the longer I laid there, the more panic rose in my chest as I struggled to remember where I was and what the hell was going on.

I wracked my brain for what happened that lead up to this awful feeling.

The last thing I could recall was heading home after shopping, passing by a tourist group who were snapping selfies outside the church. After that… nothing.

I tried to open my eyes, and after a few seconds of a grainy feeling and the grogginess fading, I tried to sit up. Everything felt so sluggish, my body unresponsive.

It was after long seconds of me getting my bearings and things finally settling around me that the genuine horror rushed through my veins.

Because I wasn’t alone.

He sat there just watching me. Shadows created by darkness and moonlight surrounded this stranger making him glow ominously, evil even.

We didn’t speak, and I sure as hell didn’t move—not just because I felt like shit but because I was terrified.

Panic and sheer terror filled me because Iknewhim.

The man I’d seen several times, wondering if he was watching me. Hehadbeen following me. And the way he observed me made it seem as if he knew exactly who I was.

He didn’t move, didn’t speak, and just kept staring at me, as if waiting forsomething.

Fear gripped me like a cold, suffocating weight atop my chest that made it even harder to breathe.

Who are you? I realized I only whispered those words in my head.

I tried to push myself up again, my hands trembling as I forced my body to obey because I’d be damned if I was going to be helpless lying on this bed. But before I could move more than a few inches, he leaned forward, and I froze.

The air seemed to thicken, charged with something dangerous and unsettling. And it all emanated from this man.

“What do you want?” It felt so stupid saying those words given that it was clear he’d broughtmehere… whereverherewas… because I was the thing he wanted. It was for what exactly that I didn’t know.

“I saw you,” he finally replied, his voice low and deep and the scariest thing I’d ever heard.