I'm running through the woods, there's someone behind me. A tall, dark shadow. He has no face, no name. Branches break beneath my feet, a thud, I fall, I scream, my eyes fly open. I scream again, a tall shadow is standing over me in my room. Daniel bursts inside, I scream once more, pulling the blankets all the way to my neck, I bring myself to a sitting position, scrambling to the corner of my bed, knees to my chest.
Daniel grabs George around the collar, George tries to stab Daniel with a knife, but Daniel is quicker. He snatches the knife out of George's hand and is about to plunge it into him, when I scream so loudly the whole room goes still, Daniel glances over at me, George uses the opportunity to take a few steps back, as many as he can in the tiny space,
"Tell him to get away from me!" George yells, panicked,
"What were you doing in my room?" I cry, staring at George with fear and question,
"I fell asleep in the kitchen, waiting for Nina. When I woke up, I thought she must be home. I thought this was her room" he speaks quickly so he can get it all out,
"Yeah right you did" Daniel hisses, he makes it as if to go after George, who pushes my desk in front of him,
"Daniel, don't" I say, I'm still trying to get my head around what actually happened. I was sleeping, I had a nightmare of being chased by my stalker in the woods, and then I woke up to see George leaning over me. Daniel came running in when he heard my scream. But why is George here? How did he get in?
"My room was locked, George" I say,
"It wasn't" George says, Daniel's furious eyes dart to George, "I swear it wasn't!" he repeats defensively. I'd be scared if I was him, too. Daniel looks furious, he's shirtless, barefooted, only wearing sweatpants. His muscles are on show, taut biceps and a very clearly defined six pack. He must have woken up from my scream and ran straight over,
"Is Nina home?" I ask, still sitting up in bed with the blankets raised to my chest,
"I don't know... I thought she was" George says,
"What are you doing in her room?" Daniel demands, "why did you have this knife?" he lifts his hand, holding George's knife up, I look at George questioningly,
"Not to do anything to Sofia! That's insane! I always have the knife handy, in case someone attacks me!"
"You're lying, asshole" Daniel moves towards George, I jump out of bed to stop him, George pulls my desk in front of his own body for protection from Daniel. It all happens in an instant. Daniel doesn't even notice me, but the desk infuriates him further. He lunges forward, I have to stop him for George's sake. So, not really thinking it over, I spring forward, positioning myself in his path, my hands pushing on his chest.
Daniel pauses, he glances down at me. His eyes rake over my body. I'm not wearing a bra, just a close-fitting white crop top and tiny shorts. Now that he's looking at me, I feel naked. And his bare chest is as hard as rock under my fingers. I quickly snatch my hands away, hugging my arms around my upper body,
"Don't hurt him" I say quietly, Daniel's eyes move back to my face. There's that fire in them again. The heat I felt before.
"You had no reason to be in her room" Daniel says finally, looking back up at George,
"I told you, I thought it was Nina's room!"
"But you saw which room I went to when I was going to bed" I accuse,
"I must have been drowsy from sleep, I don't know, Sofia! Surely you believe me?" he looks me straight in the eye. I stare at him for a long moment. The image of my attacker comes to mind. I shake my head. I'm just seeing things that aren't true. Off course I believe him, he's George, my friend, Nina's boyfriend. I've known him since forever,
"But what were you doing standing over me?"
"I was checking if Nina's asleep, I'm telling you, I thought you were Nina. Please, tell him to back down!" I look over at Daniel, he's standing behind me, glaring at George like an angry beast,
"Daniel" I say quietly, his eyes shift to mine, "thank you for coming when you heard me..."
"Sofia, whether you want to believe it or not, he's the stalker. I'm telling you"
"He's not. I was... I was having a bad dream, so when I woke up I just screamed, but... but if I saw it was George straight away I wouldn't have"
"He had a knife on him"
"You said you always carry a knife on you as well" I remind him,
"When I am out on the street. Not to a girl's bedroom for heaven's sake!"
"George, can you go, please?" I ask, my eyes pleading him to listen to me,
"If he lets me pass"
"Daniel please let him go" I say,
"I'm not letting him leave" Daniel hisses, I gently grasp his wrist, which is so thick that my fingers can't even enclose half of it. But he allows me to pull him away from the bedroom door, towards the bed. George uses this opportunity to run for the door. We watch George leave the apartment, slamming the door behind him. Daniel's dark eyes move back to me,
"Thank you" I say quietly,
"You're making a mistake trusting him" Daniel says,
"George wouldn't do something like that"
"I sure hope you're right" he says, his eyes roam over me once more, like he's thinking something over, then he raises them back to mine, "good night" he says and leaves my room, shutting the door behind him.
Finally alone, I quickly lock my bedroom door. I could have sworn I locked it before. There's no way I can go back to sleep tonight. No way. George really scared me. I thought he was the stalker come to life from my nightmare. I try to remember what the stalker looked like. He was really tall, like Daniel, or George. They're both very tall. But the stalker was nowhere near as muscular as Daniel is, Daniel's muscular body from moments before comes to mind, no, the attacker was definitely not like that.
His shoulders were narrower, though it was how to tell his physique because of the bulky jacket. I realise the stalker always wears a bulky jacket when he follows me. Not so much with Lara. She saw him in a hoodie that time he attacked her. What else do I remember about him? His teeth. They were white and square-shaped. What are George's teeth like? I lower my head into my hands, what am I even doing doubting George, of all people?
At some point I do fall asleep, when I wake up the sun is high. The weather is getting warmer, I pull on a pair of light blue jeans and a white short sleeve blouse. I gather my hair up into a bun. When I exit my room, I find Nina already awake.
"When did you get home?" I ask, giving her a hug,
"Just a few hours ago" she yawns "but have class this morning. I know you do, too. Wanted us to go together"
"George was here last night"
"I know. He told me"
"Did he tell you-"
"He did" she interrupts, "he's so sorry he scared you like that"
"It was weird, Nina. I was just having a nightmare of the stalker coming after me, I woke up to George standing over my bed"
"He says Daniel thinks he's the stalker" Nina comments, looking at me with a bit of accusation in her eyes. She's upset about it all too, I can tell. George is her boyfriend, she trusts him unconditionally, so it must be hard for her that his character keeps being questioned,
"Don't worry, I'll talk to him again" I glance at the watch, "we're late" I say, we take our bags and head out. On the way there I tell her all about last night, the gym and the boxing. I downplay how Daniel made me feel, I don't want her to jump to conclusions when I know Daniel doesn't even look at me in that way.
A few hours later, I am back at the apartment, finally with enough energy to figure out what to do with Emily. I've re-read her client descriptor so many times that now I refer to the whole assignment as Emily, my teachers would be proud. A knock on the door, I jump up from the sofa, staring at it. I'm expecting to see an envelope being pushed beneath the door, or even worse, for the stalker to start breaking in. Nothing happens, I hear shuffling from the outside, then a second knock. Maybe it's not the stalker at all? I tiptoe to the door, and look through the peep hole. There is a very pretty and young blonde girl standing in the corridor. She's stunning. I recognise her immediately. She's the girl I saw on the photos I found in Daniel's room. I open the door,
"Hi?" I greet,
"Uh, hi, does Daniel Rusu live here?" she asks,
"Yes, he does"
"I'd like to talk to him"
"He's not home right now"
"Do you know where he is? Or when he will be back?"
"I'm really not too sure"
"Oh..." she glances to the ground, thinking, then looks back up at me with her bright blue eyes, "and you don't know when he comes home?" I shake my head no,
"But you're welcome to come in and wait for him inside?" I offer,
"No, no... I better not. I will come back another time"
"Okay. I can tell him you were here, what was your name?"
"Oh, no! No, please don't. I'd rather surprise him, if you don't mind"
"Okay"
"Uh, before I go, can I ask one question?"
"Sure"
"Are you his girlfriend?" she asks bluntly,
"No" I respond, imagining she must be pretty happy to hear that,
"No?"
"We're just roommates"
"Really?" she asks, I don't respond verbally, just nod, "Okay. Well, thanks in any case" she turns and leaves without another glance my way.