A silent sigh was heard and she turned in that direction. This time it was closer.
She jumped away, putting distance between herself and the sound, but she couldn't see anyone in that location. For a second, she thought her mind was playing tricks on her. But then she heard his voice.
"Oh my. This is not what I was expecting when I said I wanted to play a game," his voice came out of nowhere. It was painfully familiar for some reason. Anna felt her knees wobble when she was sure who it was. "Your screen is filled with pictures of me, a dead man, and DNA results only experts will understand."
"Are you an expert, Miss Dunn?" he asked. She realized that the voice seemed to change with every sentence that was spoken. The location moved, jumping from one place to the other, but there was no movement inside the room. "Am I right? If I remember correctly, you are also very good at sneaking into rooms."
"That's the power of a college student who loves watching crime thrillers," Anna said, trying to distract him while she looked for his exact location in her room. This was the first time she had noticed that the rooms in this apartment were unnaturally large.
There was no doubt.
It was Ladislas Forester.
But how did he get in?
From what she knew, he was a professor of philosophy with good teaching skills but nothing much else was known about him. But she wouldn't expect someone who could disarm alarms, hide the sound of their movement to be teaching at a University, and acting so suspiciously. Moreover, it was her room he had broken into.
A manly laugh was heard. "Why are you so stiff?" he said, clearly amused by her bouncing from one foot to another and pointing that scissor.
"Show yourself," she demanded.
Clearly not minding her request, he continued. "I see you like to play hide and seek. Aren't I just amusing you?"
She realized that the voice was coming from the corner of her bookshelf, which was now masked by her long curtain. "Why is it that you sneak around? Is it because of me this time?"
"I said what I said," Anna replied, pointing the scissor towards his suspected location. "Reveal yourself or—"
"Or what? You'll stab me from a meter away?" he asked, with a tone that could only be made by a man smirking, too proud of himself.
"You underestimate me. I might have a gun. You think I won't shoot?" She asked. She bent down and pulled out the handy gun she always kept under her pillow. She pointed it towards the direction of his voice and cocked the gun. The sound of tension of the spring latching on a sear was heart all over her quiet room. She made sure he heard it too. "What do you want? How did you come in?"
"I should be the one asking you questions. How did you get a gun? Do you know how to shoot it? Shall we try?"
His voice made her whole body shiver.
She smirked, completely annoyed as to how he thought he could easily play with her femininity through his words. In a swift moment, she grabbed her curtain and pointed the gun at the man behind it. She was startled by how he expertly maneuvered himself to avoid her aim and positioned himself on her unprotected side.
She was quick enough to follow through so that they were now standing, face to face.
"It's easy to get a license in our country. I keep a gun handy so that perverts like you can be kept at bay."
They looked at each other for what seemed like several hours.
Anna stared at his electric purple eyes that lured her in. She noticed how his long hair fell from his face, almost disrupting his line of sight. She felt a momentary lapse of power when she remembered his voice in her ear.
Ladislas was the one who pulled away. "Come on. Fire it. Let your roommate hear the gunshot go off." He gave her a wicked smile. "But then again, it's easy to make realistic-looking toy guns. What is it? A lighter?" he taunted.
Still, he raised his hand until it was near his chest.
Anna was dumbfounded by what he had done. Not knowing how to respond, she remained stock still, her grip on the fake gun tightened. He had been right. She didn't have a gun on her.
Slowly but surely, she felt her hand uncurl and it dropped to the floor with a clatter. She sucked in a deep breath when she saw the predatory gleam in his eyes. He was pressing her against the wall in no time, his face so close that he could feel his breath on her lips.
There was an unbearable pull in his eyes and she felt like she was about to fall into a trance. Her fingers shook as they remained still at her side, unable to move up. His finger inched to her throat. When he gripped it, the intense force when the oxygen in her body rush out. His strong hand held her at her nape and she was pushed into place, unable to escape.
She clenched her eyes shut and the next thing she knew, she felt like she was floating. Her hand was finally able to move up and she grabbed his wrists, trying to loosen his grip around her neck.
"You point a gun at me and threaten to shoot. I found it utterly amusing, so let me reciprocate," he said joyfully.
It was a fight to make him loosen his hand a little. She sucked in a deep breath.
He gave her just enough room to speak a few words. He had been looking forward to them. "Are you going to kill me?" she asked.
"Don't put ideas in my head, Miss Dunn. I might just kill you and resurrect you for fun," he threatened.
The conversation had slowly spiraled into nonsensical gibberish.
"You want to know the truth so badly?" he asked, his voice taunting. "Let me give you a taste of what it really looked like."