At first there was only one, the one that was sent to me the day we found Karley's pictures. Now? I would get one every other day.
The messages always came from the same private number, and were usually patronizing somehow. I never responded, but I wasn't ignoring them either. Every cryptic message I got, I used to help solve the killer's identity. So far I wasn't close, but at least I was getting something.
I was in the gym with Connor that morning, I feel like that was the point where everything took a turn. For the better? For the worse? I still didn't know.
"Are you still getting those messages Ann?" Connor and I had finished our session in the ring and were packing up.
"Yea, I got one yesterday, they asked me what I liked getting from the coffee shop"
"Oh, that doesn't seem so bad"
"Yea except for the part where I had literally just walked into the coffee shop when I got the message"
"So, he's following you?"
"More like stalking, but yea I think so"
I started noticing the odd coincidences between the messages and where I was right away. I would get in my car, and they would text "safe drive", I walked into the gym and a message would say "Again? That's the 4th time this week. Careful not to pull a muscle".
Also, the night he broke into my house, he knew the police had shown up, he was definitely there. Or he had a police scanner, but the way things had been going I was betting on the former.
"This guy seems like a coward, he just follows you around and texts you? Never showing his face?" Connor was sitting on the bench and stuffing towels into his bag, I was pacing in front of him with a towel at my shoulders, drinking water. Connor's words made me stop.
"He isn't though"
"What" Connor looked up at me then.
"He isn't a coward, he snuck into my house, stalks me and messages me almost every day. He's brave... and it's perfect"
The idea had struck me when Connor had said the killer was a coward, and as I thought about it, I realized how perfect it all was. Connor had looked at me like I was crazy, his eyes were slightly bulging and were glued to me as I chuckled to myself.
"What?"
"Think about it Connor, he's stalking me, he knows about everything I do. The people I see, the places I go, he texts me so that I know he's there." Maybe I had gone insane, maybe I had become desperate for answers, or maybe I was finally tired of sitting still and waiting for him to strike. I had a plan. Was it a relatively terrible plan that might get me and Connor hurt?... Yes. Was I still going to try it?
Definitely.
"Connor you trust me right?" We were walking towards the entrance of the gym and into the parking lot. I wasn't sure how it was going to work exactly, but I figured we could iron out the details later on.
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"Absolutely not" Connor and I had driven to my house and were currently in my room, I had begun giving him the details of my semi terrible plan, and he was not having it.
"It's the only way to catch him right now." I didn't completely understand why Connor was so against my new plan even though it involved using myself as bait. I knew it was a dangerous plan, and a lot of things could go wrong, but like I said before, I was desperate.
My plan was simple...ish. I would find a way to lure the killer out of the area by getting him to follow me out of town. Then I would set up a situation where I was alone so that he would be too tempted to make an appearance, and when he shows up we trap him and I kill him.
Like I said, simple.
"Annie this is stupid, and very dangerous." He sighed and rubbed his palm down his face, he looked stressed in this moment and ….oddly attractive.
His hair fell forward into his eyes as they looked at me. We stared at each other for a moment and the air in the room became thick. His eyes seemed to change from their usual emerald to a darker hunter green. The sudden change had me confused, and when he stood from his seat my breath caught.
"What can I do to convince you to change your mind?" He stalked towards me slowly, he resembled some animal in the way he walked, a predator on the hunt.
Every step he took from my desk towards my bed where I sat had me heart beating just a little faster. I schooled my features making sure my face was blank so that he wouldn't know how his presence had affected me. He would probably laugh at the idea of his best friends little sister finding him attractive.
He stood directly in front of me, towering over my siting form and bent over, placing both of his hands on either side of my hips on the bed. Our noses were almost touching and his lips were a breath away. The air in my room was so thick with tension that it seemed to cloud my mind. Everything was hazy now, with him so close I could smell his cologne, it drove me further into whatever spell he put on me. His breath was minty, and his lips were a pale pink.
He looked at me like I was… a woman, not his best friends little sister, he looked… hungry. Every cell in my body told me to lean into him, to give in to the temptation and though I had so many questions and doubts about what I felt, none of that seemed to matter in this moment.
He leaned closer, brushing his lips over mine. My breath caught, and I struggled to exhale as his lips touched mine. In the small touch there seemed to be tiny sparks that exploded from the contact further clouding my mind. I could've sworn we were talking about something important... I didn't remember.
Was this wrong? How was this happening? When had our relationship changed, it definitely had, but how? Questions had run through my mind for at least a few seconds before I decided I didn't care.
The way my body felt right now was uncontrollable, I needed to touch him, to feel his warmth and fix the ache that I felt in odd places in my body. Just as I was about to lean further and actually kiss him he leaned away. He looked slightly hurt, and I wondered if he had taken my hesitation as rejection.
He backed away as if he had been startled and turned around his back facing me. He cleared his throat and hung his head before sighing.
I was a complete mess, even though nothing had happened I felt disappointed. Like I had been built and wrung up, only to be left high and dry. Him pulling away had been like a bucket of ice water over my head. I snapped out of my daze instantly, and now I was...lost.
I would need time to process how I felt about him now, since our relationship had obviously changed, but right now wasn't the time. So I waited.
We just waited there in awkward silence before he spoke again.
"Listen, even if I agreed to help you, how would you get him out of town? You'd need a good reason, or it would be suspicious, this guy seems smart" Connor had turned around to face me, and looked at me oddly as I smiled, I had the perfect idea.
"I'll plan a birthday party"