CHASE
15

My mind was on a rollercoaster ever since Chase. I couldn't get the images out of my head.. he'd kissed me and I'd let him. It felt right at that moment, everything had disappeared. There was no Whitley Psyche Hospital. No psychopath. No crazy past. Just me and him. He had made it seem like everything was ok and now, now I couldn't get these thoughts out of my head. What I was feeling towards him was beyond explainable. I didn't know if I had just completely lost my mind too.

An uneasy feeling crept over me as I got out of the elevators and headed for my door. The air in my lungs suddenly becoming thick and the walls closing in on me. My fingers trembled around the key, I couldn't understand why I felt so strange all of a sudden. I'd been happy, very happy and now it felt like that happiness wasn't going to last very much.

My bag dropped to the floor and my hand slapped over my mouth as I scanned my living room. Everything was ripped apart. The furniture, the wall papers, the carpet. Everything was slashed. My heart was pounding in my chest. I stared at the big red writing on the wall.

'Stay away, I'm warning you.'

I fell to the floor and sat with my heart in my throat. What did that mean? Who was in here?Reaching for my phone, I dialled in 999. I wasn't safe here. I knew that staying would be a risk but I wasn't going to run away. This was my home.

After the police left I lay in my bed, not wanting to look at the mess in the living room. The police informed me that there were no fingerprints, no DNA, no evidence of breaking and entry in my apartment. So technically, It was hopeless, they couldn't tell me who had done it.

Letting the warm water melt down my accelerated heart beat, I stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around me. Wiping the fogged up mirror, I stared at my own reflection, I didn't look like myself. My skin had paled, the fear was visible in my hazel orbs. I wasn't brave no, as much as I wanted to be, I wasn't. But I did believe that I could be brave, that I could try. Whoever was in my house could come again and I'm not sure if I was ready for it.

Scanning my bedroom before I walked into it, I felt relieved that there was no one there but my relief soon was washed away and replaced with a panic when I saw a note left on the nightstand next to my bed. How had I not seen that before?

'For every visit, there's a punishment, Bella.'

Ripping the paper apart, I sat down on the bed, swallowing the lump in my throat. Why did it sound like.. Chase? From his first warning 'Stay away' to his second warning 'for every visit.' It sounded very much like Chase. I could practically hear him saying it to me. But why? I know that he tried to push me away many times but this? This couldn't be him. I had to be going crazy. He'd kissed me less than twenty four hours ago, why would he do this? And how in the world would he do this? He was locked up in a four walled prison and clearly had no clue where I live. So, how? Or most important of all.. who?

BELLA—

Coffee in hand and my hair a mess tied up in a bun, I walked straight to Chase's room. I'd spent the entire night awake, thinking of all the possibilities and came to no conclusion whatsoever. I even considered spending the entire day in bed but I knew better than that. If I wanted answers I had to go back, I had to see Chase. If he was behind this, I wanted to hear it from him. I didn't want to make it obvious that I'd caught on, I just wanted to see his reaction, to see if he seems suspicious.

'Good morning.' I set my coffee on the table and watched his sleepy form stretch, his shirt forever none existent which made it even more harder to concentrate on the task at hand. 'Early.' He glanced at the clock which read 8:00am. Lifting himself up, he sat with his elbows on his knees, his head tilted up and looking at me.

'Yeah.' I mumbled, not even sure how to go about it. It seemed a good idea at the time to drop by and drill him with questions but now I even considered running out the door, changing my identity and moving countries.

'Where were you last night?' He looked at me like I had 'stupid' written on my forehead as I blurted out the question at him. 'Oh I don't know Bella, I was partying with Michael Jackson probably.' He was mocking me. I know that I must've sounded stupid but if he was the one that broke into my house then he would've known why I was asking the questions.

'Have you ever left here? Like.. do they ever let you leave?' He looked even more irritated now. Running a hand through his hair he turned his attention back to me. 'Really Bella? It's 8am, give it a rest.' I didn't understand why he was acting strange. I was only asking him questions, yeah obviously they wasn't going to let him leave these walls but it could be possible.

'So I guess you was here last night?' I wanted to believe that he was, that he wasn't the one that broke into my house. He wasn't the one that tried to scare me off him. I just didn't understand why he couldn't just tell me it to my face if he was the one behind all of this.

'Are you on drugs?' He stood up and walked over to me, clearly questioning my sanity as I stood there awkwardly trying to maintain a safe distance between us. I wasn't usually afraid of him but for some reason I had this nagging feeling in my gut that I wasn't safe and I couldn't quite pinpoint if I wasn't safe with him or someone else..

'What? No!' I frowned, insulted that he thought I'd be on drugs or even considered that I even take drugs. I took a step back and let my spine rest on the door behind me as he strode closer, his face held no expression as usual and as usual I couldn't tell what he was thinking or feeling. His hand lifted and he pushed a strand of my hair behind my ears, his face too close for comfort as he leaned down and stared me in the eye.

'You're scared.' He whispered against my lips, his hot breath more than burning my skin. I'm sure he could hear the sound of my heartbeat by now. 'No.' I contemplated coming straight out and asking him if he broke into my house but then again I knew if he wasn't the one then I'd sound crazier than him.

'You sure?' His fingers found their way to my jaw, holding my face still as he brushed his lips against mine. I turned my head to the side, in hopes of showing him that I wanted him to stay away, instead, he yanked on my chin and pulled my face towards his, before I knew it, he was kissing me. His fingers digging into my jaw, it almost hurt. I pressed against his chest, trying to push him away but he kept my mouth sealed with his. His free hand roaming my body as he traced it down my side and wrapped it around my waist, pulling me against him.

The more the kiss deepened, the foggier I felt. I hated the affect he had on me. I didn't want to feel so weak when near him. Finally letting go, he let out a deep breath and watched me, I couldn't form words or even thoughts, I was too confused by my own feelings.

'I was laying in bed thinking about the things I want to do to you.' He finally answered my question, his voice groggy, his posture tense. I closed my eyes and let out a long sigh. A part of me still on fire from our kiss before and his skin crawling answer and a part of me confused as to who then it could've been that broke into my house.

After visiting Chase, my mind was on a rampage. I wasn't ready to go home so I stayed at my parents for a while. Once they gave up on trying to make me stay there I decided it was time to leave, it was already almost midnight so I planned to go straight home and straight to bed, but someone had other plans for me.

I had to have checked my mirror about thirty times already, there was a car following me. I considered it being all in my head for a while but when the car continuously followed my directions I knew I wasn't being paranoid. The rainy weather wasn't helping either, I could barely see through the heavy rain and the fog, I felt even more under pressure that I could possibly lose control of the car.

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I tried to take short cuts and confuse the person following but only managed getting myself lost. Panic had found its way to me and I felt like I couldn't breathe. I had no idea where I was, I could barely see the road and the car behind me wouldn't budge. Deciding that I had enough, I hit the gas and sped up, trying to lose the person without losing control of the car. My heart thundered in my chest as I came to a sharp turn and the tires skid, causing me to momentarily lose control of the wheel.

I was panting by the time I got my car to work with me, but the driver behind, he wasn't giving up. In all honesty, I was about to have a heart attack. I even considered pulling over and asking the driver what the fuck was their problem or trying to see who it was and why they were following me but I decided against it.

Red traffic lights came into view on the empty road and my hands trembled against the steering wheel. I couldn't stop, but I had to. It was either me or the traffic lights, closing my eyes for a split second I accelerated and ran the red lights, checking the mirror, the car hadn't stopped either, in fact, it had picked up speed and was now flying towards me. Blindly reaching for my phone on the passenger seat, I ended up knocking it and it fell to the floor.

'Fuck!' I groaned out, trying hard to focus on not crashing while I leaned down and looked for the phone. Excitement ran through me as I caught it in my hand, I was going to call the cops but that came to a dead end as the car behind hit into the back of my car causing the phone to fly back out of my hand. I clutched the steering wheel with both hands and tried to maintain a normal driving but I was already slipping on the road, before I knew it, I had lost control.

My heart flew into my throat as I swerved off the road and went right into a tree. The last thing I remember is, the loud sound of the crash that exploded into my eardrums. After that.. I was gone.

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