Serena's Secret (Primrose Valley Series Book #1)

Chapter 5 - Serena

     It was a Saturday morning and Serena was spread out on the living room floor; papers spread everywhere while she caught up on her marking for school. She was sat in her yoga pants and a vest top, her hair in a messy bun on top and a pencil behind her ear. Her eyes were looking at the paper in front of her, but her mind was far away.

    A million things were going through her head and not all good.

    Of course, Ethan dominated most of her thoughts.

    Over the last couple of weeks since their first date, Ethan made sure to take Serena out at least once a week. He said he wanted to show her off every chance he could. They went bowling, ice-skating, rock climbing he even took her fishing with his German Shepherd Monster. The fishing trip ended up with her soaked from falling into the river and needing to be rescued by Ethan diving in after her. She was a pretty good swimmer, so she figured this was an excuse to jump in with her. She found it amusing that Monster had just sat in the boat and watched them both without batting an eyelid.

    She had met his mum, Mary, the week before. She was such a lovely woman, immediately Serena had felt happy and welcomed with her. The three of them had dinner together and Serena had been shown all Ethan's baby photos. There were images of his dad everywhere and she had seen the resemblance between Jack and Ethan.

    After every date, he would give her a panty-dropping kiss, watch her lock up and then drive off. She was grateful he was patient with her. She wasn’t sure she was ready to take it any further yet. She wanted to, but she didn’t feel ready. He didn’t seem to mind though, which made her want him more.

    Her thoughts drifted to when she had told her parents all about him over Skype - she had left out the panty-dropping kisses part - she was sure her parents didn’t want to hear that. They were excited for her, pleased she was happy. She told them he knew of her past and how safe she felt with him. She told them a little about the Chloe situation and how supportive he had been afterwards. He seemed to respect her and was quite happy to just spend time with her and not push. “I think I’ll like this man.” Her dad had said a huge grin on his face and her mum had tears in her eyes the whole time.

    But as well as all the good and happiness in her life at that moment. She was a little freaked out. The past few weeks she'd received more prank calls, the hope that whoever it was would grow bored of their game had all but disappeared. She refused to mention it to anyone as she couldn't be sure it was anything but a kid pranking her.

    It wasn't just the calls that had her freaked out.

    She couldn't escape the thought she was being watched.

    Sometimes when she came home something would look different, or an ornament would have moved across the room. She had no recollection of moving anything but there were no signs of a break-in.

    Then her car had just stopped working. She'd turned the key but there was just no power to the vehicle. She'd put off getting it sorted and it was currently sat in her garage going nowhere.

    The weirdest thing was a few of her photos from her albums had been removed. It was possible they had fallen out before, but she couldn't be sure. She gazed around and spotted the wall where she had spotted an empty frame a few days after her first date with Ethan.

    A knock at the door made her jump slightly; giving herself a mental shake she put down her pen and stood to answer the door.

    She peered through the eye hole and recognised the postwoman. She opened the door and smiled warmly as she took her post from her. She signed for a parcel and tried to remember what she had ordered.

    The door closed behind the postwoman and she took her seat back on the floor by the coffee table and all her paperwork. She went through her mail, smiled at a postcard from her parents and placed a few bills to one side to look at later. Her eyes fell on the parcel and she frowned. "I'm sure I've not ordered anything..." She carefully peeled back the tape as she examined the cardboard box. The returns label was for London, but she didn't know anyone in London.

    She opened the box and gasped. Looking up at her were hundreds of pictures of her from when she was in high school. The ones that had gone missing. They had been cut up into pieces, but she could make out her face in the pieces. She dropped the box and scurried backwards away from it.

    Who would send her pictures like this?

    Her heart pounded in her chest, and she had to take several deep breaths to calm herself down enough to think clearly.

    When she felt calmer, she inched closer to the box and looked through the photos, aware that her hands trembled slightly.

    At the bottom of the box was a newspaper. It looked old and as she pulled it out, she felt as if she had been punched in the gut. There he was. The man who had featured heavily in her nightmares as a teenager. Mr Devon.

    The teacher who made two years of her school life hell.

    The teacher who did unspeakable things to her.

    The teacher who was locked away for what he did.

    She snatched up the box and dashed into her kitchen intent on throwing the whole thing into the bin, as she lifted the lid, she paused then closed the lid and placed the parcel on the side carefully, as if it contained a bomb.

    With shaky hands, she managed to make herself a glass of water, which she downed quickly and then splashed some on her face.

    She closed her eyes and began to count backwards from ten as her therapist had taught her years ago. It was the only technique that had ever seemed to calm her down. Until Ethan.

    Ten, nine, eight, seven. She took deep breaths with each count. Six, five, four. As she passed halfway, she felt her heart slowing and her panic fading. Three, two, one.

    She opened her eyes and turned her back on the parcel and focused her attention back on the papers in her living room. She pushed all thoughts of that evil man from her mind and took her seat back at the coffee table.

    All of her kids seemed to be excelling since career week. Every one of them had turned in an excellent paper about their future. Even Chloe once she was back in school and with everything that was going on had managed a fantastic essay. Chloe hadn’t spoken much about what had happened and Serena understood she was probably trying to get her life back together. She seemed much happier now she knew she was no longer in any danger from Keith.

    The school had been on high alert since, just in case he came to the school in search of her, but so far nothing had been seen of him. According to Chloe’s mum, the police were building their case against him but that it would take time. Keith had been out on bail for a few weeks already but had to stick to the restraining order and report to the police every day.

    Within the hour she completed all her marking and stacked all the papers together on her coffee table. She felt a bit of tension in her shoulders and knew it was because of the package she received earlier. To try and relieve the tension she decided to head out for a run before lunch. A quick jog around the park sounded like a good idea.

    She quickly put on her running shoes, pocketed her phone, put her earphones in and locked the door behind her.

    As she jogged down the street, she listened to Spotify, making sure it was on shuffle, so she got a huge mix of her favourite songs. When she was halfway to the park her phone rang. She continued to jog whilst she took the phone from her pocket, groaning when she saw the number was withheld. “Not again.” She rejected the call and put it away, ignoring the constant buzzing in her pocket.

    The calls had been constant over the past week and a half. It was always the same thing, the phone would ring, she would answer and then there would be silence on the other end. It was getting bothersome.

    She resisted the temptation to check her phone until she reached home again.

    There were seven more missed calls from a withheld number. Frustrated, she was about to throw her phone on the sofa when a text came through from Tina.

T: Lunch? xox

S: Perfect timing. Where? xox

T: Joe’s Joint? xox

S: Sure, give me twenty minutes. xox

    She rushed to have a quick shower and get changed. Ten minutes later she left the house again. Her hair was still wet, so she had clipped it back with a butterfly clip, and she was in her favourite outfit. She had on her favourite yellow cropped pants with lace trim on the pockets, and a long-sleeved, white off the shoulder, cowgirl style top.

    Joe’s Joint was only a short distance, so she decided to walk. She crossed a couple of streets and ended up cutting through the park to cut some minutes off her journey.

    Her mind wandered to Ethan. Tonight, they had another date and he wouldn’t tell her what he had planned. Scrolling through her phone to re-read the texts for the hundredth time she tried to work out what he had planned.

E: Make sure you wrap up for our date.

S: Wrap up? Why?

E: That would be telling. I can always keep you warm though I suppose ;)

S: How is it you can be on the other side of town and STILL make me blush?

E: I love it when you blush : )

S: Any other clues?

E: Nope. Pick you up at seven.

    Wrap up? Keep me warm? They had already been ice-skating so he wouldn’t need to be so secretive if they were doing that again.

    Automatically she answered the phone as it rang, without checking the ID.

    “Hello?”

    Silence.

    “Whoever this is-.” She began but was cut off by a raspy voice that made her blood run cold.

    "Did you like your present?"

    "W-what?" She squeaked in a whisper.

    “You should have kept your nose out.”

    “Excuse me? Who is this?” That prickling sensation of being watched crawled up the back of her neck. It caused her to shiver and she looked around sharply.

    “You’ll find out soon. I’d watch your step in the park.”

    Then the line went dead.

    Serena sharply scanned the park again but saw no one that she thought would cause her any harm. A couple of kids were playing in the play area, and there were couples wandering hand in hand through the flowers and bushes. But no one she saw caused her to panic.

    The prickling sensation of being watched was still there though.

    She moved faster through the park and across the road to Joe’s Joint. She ducked inside and looked around.

    Joe’s Joint wasn’t a typical cafe. It was small with about twelve tables and it tailored to the health-conscious. No grease or oil was used in the cooking there. The food was mainly sandwiches and wraps, a bit like a deli. They had a large selection of different smoothie blends and flavoured syrups to choose from if you wanted a sweet kick.

    She spotted Tina at a table in the corner; there were already two sandwiches on the table with their usual orders. Tuna mayo salad for Tina and Chicken Tikka salad for Serena, and they both had a mixed berry smoothie. When she sat down, she gave Tina a small smile. Then Tina tilted her head to one side.

    “What’s wrong Rena?”

    She wondered what to say but knew better than to lie to Tina.

    “That withheld number rang me again.”

    “Still? Have you told Ethan yet?”

    Serena shrugged. “What could he do? The numbers withheld T, there’s not much that can be done without a number.”

    “That’s not the point. They’re ringing and saying nothing. It’s not normal.”

    “Well actually…”

    “What?” Tina eyed her suspiciously.

    “It’s a man. I answered the last one by mistake and he said, ‘You should have kept your nose out’ and when I asked who it was, he said ‘You’ll find out soon. I’d watch your step in the park.’ Then he disconnected the call.” She avoided mentioning the parcel from this morning. She hadn't even told Tina about all the odd things she had noticed lately.

    “s**t… you need to tell someone, the police maybe? You should definitely tell Ethan. It’s getting ridiculous.”

    “They won’t be able to do anything. What would I say? I’m getting strange withheld calls from someone. Nope, they never said anything until today when he warned me about walking through the park? No, I didn’t recognise the voice officer. Come on Tina.”

    Tina didn’t look convinced so she distracted her by asking for suggestions on what her next date would be and what she should wear. It worked. Tina seemed to forget all about the call and animatedly started throwing out random suggestions of what their date was going to be. The more they talked about Ethan, the more Serena realised she was falling for him if she hadn’t already. She wondered if he felt the same for her. It was still early to think along the lines of forever, but when she thought of her future, she could see no one, but Ethan stood beside her.

    Once they finished eating, Tina insisted on driving Serena home. But instead of her home, she pulled up outside the firehouse.

    “T,” Serena groaned.

    “No, Serena. Come on.” Tina parked the car and climbed out without another word.

    “T, I don’t think it’s that big a deal,” Serena tried and cursed when T ignored her and led them in through the reception. Serena didn’t miss the huge grin she had when Garrett looked up at her.

    “Well, if it isn’t my two favourite ladies. What are you doing here?” He grinned and got up, walked around the desk and pulled Tina into a hug and then Serena.

    Tina turned to look at Serena with her eyebrow raised. The look she gave her said ‘Are you going to do it, or am I?’ When she said nothing, Tina rolled her eyes and turned back to Garrett and opened her mouth to speak.

    “Can you get Ethan? I need to speak to him,” Serena blurted out before Tina could.

    “Yep. Give me one second.” He disappeared and within minutes returned with Ethan.

    “Hey Pixie, hey babe.” He kissed Serena gently then smiled at Tina and laughed at her pissed off expression. She hated that nickname, but it had sort of stuck now. “Garrett said you needed to talk.”

    Biting her lip, she wasn’t sure where to start.

    “For heaven’s sake!” Tina cried. Garrett looked shocked at Tina’s outburst. “She’s getting those calls again.”

    “What calls?” Ethan looked at Tina and then back to Serena. “Baby, what calls?”

    With a sigh and a glare at Tina, she said, “That withheld number. It’s still calling me.”

    “What? I thought it was just a kid messing about. How long has this been going on?” He cupped her face gently, making sure she looked into his eyes.

    “A couple of weeks now.”

    “Why haven’t you said anything?” He pulled her into his arms, his tone showing a hint of frustration.

    “I had nothing to tell. The number is still withheld. I have no idea who this person is. He never said anything before today.” She leaned her head into his chest, her arms wrapped around his waist.

    “He? It’s a man? What did he say?” Garrett asked sharply and stepped forward.

    She looked over Ethan’s shoulder to look at him.

    “I’ve been rejecting all the calls. I answered the last one by mistake and he asked about a parcel I received this morning and said. ‘You should have kept your nose out’ and when I asked who it was, he said ‘You’ll find out soon. I’d watch your step in the park.’ Then he disconnected the call.”

    “Why did he mention the park?” Ethan pulled away to look at her again, looking more alarmed.

    "What about a parcel this morning?!" Tina screeched. "You never mentioned that before!"

    “I cut through the park on my way to meet Tina for lunch… I think he was watching me.” She ignored Tina's outburst. As she said the words aloud, she realised she was stupid for not saying something sooner. Even with nothing to go on she should have at least mentioned it to Ethan. “I’m sorry I didn’t say anything. I just didn’t want to bother you over something like this. I thought it was just someone messing with me." She frowned as she thought back to her strange delivery this morning. "I received a strange package this morning too...”

    "What was the package?" The three of them said in unison.

    Serena quickly informed them of the package that was delivered and what was inside. She also told them about feeling like she was being watched and how little things had felt off in her home.

    Tina looked horrified. Garrett and Ethan both looked angry yet concerned at the same time.

    “I’ll make a call to Eric and see if there’s anything we can do,” Garrett said. He stepped away as his phone went to his ear.

    “Who is Eric?”

    “A detective we know from the police station,” Ethan said and pulled her back into his arms. “We’ll figure this out.”

    After Garrett finished up on the phone, he told them that Eric couldn’t do much without the number; however, he did agree to put a trace on her phone. This would help if he called again as they would be able to try and at least triangulate where the call was coming from. They could also potentially get a recording of the man’s voice to try and identify him. "He also wants to have a look at that package you received so he's going to send someone round to your house later today to collect it and take a statement from you."

    Shortly after that, an alarm came through and he and Ethan had to go. Serena and Tina stood back as they rushed around to get out.

    “Be safe, baby.” Ethan kissed her then climbed onto the truck.

    Once the truck was out of sight, they got back into Tina’s car and headed home.

***

He watched from the bottom of the street as a police car pulled up to the house.

The b***h allowed them to enter the house whilst her little friend stood behind her.

He couldn't help the smirk that spread across his face.

They'd never know it was him.

He was very careful.

He would enjoy playing this game.

It was half an hour before the pigs left the house.

As they drove off, he turned and left contemplating what his next play would be...

***