26. Twenty-six Freya
Twenty-six: Freya
I was floating in heaven—or whatever was considered to be better than heaven. I was unable to concentrate, and I felt like I was walking around the mall like a cloud. My limbs were light and airy, and my mind was primarily empty—filled with the memory of Kaleb hovering above with his fingers arched inside of me, causing me to unravel until I was a mess.
Hannah, Josh and Ty continued to look at me like I was on drugs as I stared off into the distance mid-conversation, having to clamp my eyes shut to rid my mind of Kaleb’s perfectly thick fingers that had brought me to an orgasm so strong, it had me seeing stars.
“Someone’s a little distracted today.” Ty laughed from next to me, and I blinked, realising I'd been looking at the same T-shirt on the rack in front of me for the past two minutes, not having moved an inch.
“I’ve had enough of shopping,” Josh groaned from next to Hannah, and she sighed.
“Yeah, we’re going to head home. Ty, I know your car is in the garage. Do you need a ride?”
He shook his head. “My house is pretty far out. I’m fine with catching a cab again, but thanks, Hannah.”
We said our goodbyes, and I made my way to my car, shifting in my seat uncomfortably at the sudden burning feeling that spread over the back of my neck. I scratched at it, clearing my suddenly barren throat.
I’d never felt anything like it before, but it was as if someone’s eyes were boring into my soul, and I twisted around to peek out my window. The parking lot was full of cars and people milling about, but nobody appeared to be paying attention to me.
Paranoid, much?
Shoving the feeling aside, I turned out of the lot, heading back towards the house, having picked up some art supplies at the mall. It’d been good to get out of the house, and seeing my friends had ceased the intrusive thoughts that my father needed help swirling inside my head. Again, the police weren't fazed.
Kaleb’s little pottery date had really perked me up, too, and my heart ached that he’d gone out of his way to take me to a place he knew I’d enjoy, even though it was far from his idea of fun.
I shivered in my seat as the same searing feeling spread across the back of my head, and I clicked my neck from side to side and glared through my rear-view mirror. There was a sleek black sports car behind me, and even though it looked as normal as anything, I quickly developed an uneasy feeling.
The windscreen was tinted, so it was hard to make out the driver, but I could tell that whoever was seated behind the wheel was stocky and muscular. They barely fit in the vehicle—it looked almost comical.
The car was a little too up my ass for my liking, so I sped up as I wound down the narrow road, turning right, only for them to do the same. I turned another right, and so did they. A left. They were still right behind me.
The hairs on the back of my neck spiked up, and I immediately took the next turn, cursing when the car copied my movements. There weren’t many houses down this road, and I knew that if they didn’t stop and park outside one of them, then I was being tailed.
I held my breath, connecting back up with the main street. The car hadn’t stopped.
“What the fuck?” I muttered as I attempted to squint through the darkening early evening to identify the man behind, and I gasped as I almost swerved right into a car barrelling towards me. Their horn blared out and caused my bones to rattle inside my flesh, panic hitting me.
I debated parking up along the side of the road and getting out to demand why this man was copying my every move, but that was the perfect way to get myself killed, and it was probably exactly what he wanted me to do. Nobody was going to stab me and drag me into the woods tonight.
Making a few more turns—with the midnight-black car still tailing me—I signalled to head down a slender road to the left, only to swerve and cut off a car coming my way. It disconnected me from my stalker, and I stepped on the gas toward Kaleb’s house.
The car was still stuck at the junction—nobody letting him out—and I breathed a sigh of relief, my blood running cold inside my veins. No longer was the burning feeling pricking the skin at the back of my neck, and I all but sprinted into the house once I parked in the driveway.
Somebody had been following me, but I didn’t know why.