Ellen walked briskly, the cold night air making her breath foggy. The tiny hairs at the back of her neck pricked up, and she felt goosebumps all over her body. She increased her pace, but for weeks she couldn't shake off the feeling of being watched. Turning around hastily in an attempt to catch whoever it was,Ellen discovered there was no one behind her.
So what had triggered this fear, she thought to herself. Her life had somehow begun to come together after the incident. It had taken years of therapy and medication to forget the incident and move past the horror. Somehow she had gotten a degree, and then a great job and a year ago Liam had come into her life, knocking her off her feet with his good looks and affection.
“Get it together Ellen, you're safe” She said to herself through gritted teeth. Tonight was a special night for her, it was her 28th birthday, and she had a date with Liam. He was an investigative journalist, so between his traveling to cover stories and her busy schedule as an Editor they rarely saw each other.
“Good evening ma'am” the receptionist greeted Ellen warmly.
“Good evening, I have a reservation with Liam Parker?” Ellen replied.
“Oh, Mr. Parker is seated at table 5, just over there by the vases” the receptionist replied pointing to show Ellen the direction.
Ellen thanked her before heading to the table. The restaurant was one of the most exquisite in town and Ellen felt like a princess as she walked towards Liam.
His face lit up at the sight of her and butterflies fluttered in her belly as they kissed passionately.
“Happy birthday my love” he muttered against her lips before giving her a bouquet of red roses. They talked throughout dinner trying to catch up on weeks of being apart. After dinner, Ellen and Liam decided to walk home to her apartment. Immediately she picked up her bouquet she knew something was off.
She saw white moving dots on it and as she looked closer, she could see they were maggots. A note had also been slipped inside that wasn't there before. Ellen gasped in shock and dropped the bouquet on the floor hurriedly and bent to snatch the note. A thorn pricked her fingers in the process, and she hissed in pain.
As they walked home, the note safely tucked in her bag, Ellen replayed the hours spent at the restaurant in her mind. She had never left the table, Liam hadn't touched the roses after handing it to her. So how had her flower been switched?
“Ellen, sorry about that. I don't know where the maggots came from. Maybe I didn't keep the flowers properly or something” Liam apologized again.
Ellen smiled weakly and gripped his hand. They arrived at her apartment and she opened the door with shaky hands. She moved straight to the bathroom with a worried looking Liam asking if she was really okay. In the bathroom she turned on the tap and sat on the edge of the tub.
‘Beware of heights and sloppy areas. A fall can be fatal. I know you know…’
She sighed as she sank to the floor. A knock on the door startled her and made her yelp.
“Ellen, baby you've been in there for a while. Are you okay?” Liam said through the door.
She hid the note in her bra then hurriedly splashed water on her face and turned off the tap before opening the door to flash a wide smile at Liam.
“I'm good, just a little shaken up” she replied.
Sometime during the night, Ellen jolted upright from a deep slumber. She was shaking and sweating profusely even though the room was cold. Liam was fast asleep at her side, looking content and peaceful. Ellen shuddered as she began to remember the nightmare that had woken her up. She was running down the stairs, her step-brother Paul stalking her like a wild animal with a gun.
Twelve years ago, Ellen's mother Marjorie had married Scout, a drunk and drug addict just like her mother. The house had been a nightmare for young Ellen who was yelled at and beaten repeatedly by Scout while her mother watched too drunk to help her only child. When her mother passed away the abuse had begun.
She gagged with revulsion as she remembered the hands of Scout and his son Paul touching her skin. She lived like that for years until one faithful day, a drunk Scout had walked into her room as usual, she’d watched filled with rage and anger as he approached. For the first time Ellen fought back and ran into the kitchen.
The ensuing struggle had ended in Ellen stabbing Scout repeatedly until she was crimson red from head to toe and a pool of blood had formed on the kitchen floor.
“What have you done, you crazy bitch!” Paul yelled behind her, his blow knocking her into the counter and making her snap out of shock.
“I didn't mean to, he…” she began, shaking uncontrollably.
She watched in horror as Elliot brought out a gun and aimed at her. She bent low and ran into the night, then the hunting had begun. Ellen was lucky to have survived, bullets grazed her thighs and shoulder. Elliot chased after her relentlessly, but she forged through the dark finding herself at a ravine.
She hid nearby and watched until Elliot stood at the edge before coming out to plead for her life. Her pleas fell on deaf ears as Elliot aimed the gun at her, the will to survive gave her strength and she ran into him making him lose his balance and he fell, she watched as he lay still, the water below lapping at his body…
“Good morning sunshine” Liam said beside her. Startled she turned to gaze at him and realized that the alarm was ringing, and it was morning already.
But the ensuing incidents made her wish she had been left alone to wallow in her thoughts forever. The feeling of being watched grew stronger every day. She got to her office to find a properly packaged rotting bird waiting for her with another note:
‘The past and the present are one and the same. You might soar like a bird and be gunned down by a hunter’.
Tears welled in her eyes and she felt a headache coming on. After two more weeks of sinister letters and repulsive gifts, Ellen was going crazy. It was a relief to her when Liam got assigned to a case and had to travel. She was getting tired of faking her happiness for him, and she needed time to figure out who was behind this.
It was clearly someone from her past or someone who knew about it and was deliberately scaring her. But why now? For all she knew she had been the only survivor that night and surprisingly the police hadn't charged her for anything. Her body had been enough evidence to confirm it was self-defense. Rounds of therapy and anxiety medications had helped her regain her life back.
Two months on paranoia had set in. Ellen was jumpy and alert, she was forced to take a leave as the idea of going out frightened her. Her only solace was her daily phone call with Liam. Ellen realized her only option was to involve the police or tell Liam, and she scolded herself for not doing it earlier. She decided to write down all her thoughts and go to the police next day.
For the first time in a long while, Ellen slept peacefully and woke up feeling thirsty. A glance at her clock showed her it was 2am, lazily she got up from the bed and headed to the kitchen. Ellen grabbed a glass and filled it with water, then headed back to her room.
“Hello Lillian” a voice said from the shadows in the living room.
Ellen dropped the glass in shock, her blood ran cold and the instinct to flee set in. She could recognize that voice anywhere, after all she heard it in her dreams every night for years.
“No! You're dead! It can't be…what… Paul?” Ellen whispered shakily, filled with dread.
A lamp came on, and she stared into the face of her stepbrother. He was older and missing an eye and one part of his face was scarred.
“Foolish Lillian, do you like the scars you gave me and my messages?” he asked laughing manically.
“How did you find me? I moved to this country and I changed my name!” Ellen asked looking towards the door and preparing to run.
“Relocating and changing your name was pointless. You killed my father and tried to kill me, you devil. I searched for you for years after my recovery, but social media made things easier” he said grinning evilly.
He told Ellen he'd seen a photo of her and Liam on Instagram on the phone of a guest he’d taken on a fishing trip back home. He recognized her because she was the spitting image of her mother, only she wasn't a drunk or junkie. With the Instagram name, he had fished her out, and he was here to finish what he started years ago.
Paul stood up and walked towards Ellen, who backed out of the room and ran into the kitchen to grab a knife. Paul chased after her, wrenching the knife from her hand and tossing it away. He dragged her back to the living room and punched her in the stomach, Ellen doubled over crying with pain as the punches continued all over her body.
She was weak and whimpering when she felt Paul's hand circling her neck. Ellen closed her eyes, crying for her short time with Liam on earth, but just before the darkness overtook her, she felt Paul being pulled away from her. She opened her eyes to find Liam kneeling beside her while Paul lay unconscious.
“It's okay baby, you'll be fine I'm here now. Thank God I came here directly from the airport, I wanted to surprise you” Liam said stopping her when she tried to speak.
Ellen heard the sound of sirens drawing closer and began sobbing uncontrollably as Liam gathered her in his arms and headed out to meet the ambulance and police.