The Oracle Has Spoken

1

I have a stalker.

He has been following me since last Tuesday.

I don't know him as anything other than a stalker.

I go to NYU, and during my free time, I am either putting together some sort of charity or art function. There is one other thing though, I work for a psychic hotline. Maybe that's why he started following me.

I never noticed him before but after a while, I started to notice a skinny, blonde man in my peripheral vision. Just enough for me to know he was there. He either was a complete novice when it came to stalking, or he wanted me to know he was there. Either way, he made me feel uneasy. He didn't look like much but somehow I could tell that he was someone who I didn't want to mess with.

People think that psychic hotlines are a load of s**t . . . . To be honest, I haven't met one person who actually struck me as a legitimate psychic. They are all phonies. We are told to pick a "Pin Name" so that no one will come and try to find us if our predictions don't end up coming true - I've never had a problem with something like that, until now - mine is The Oracle.

But it doesn't matter now because he was following me again, I guess the pin name didn't work in my attempt to hide my identity. It probably wasn't that hard to figure out who we were though. With the tv show that comes on at midnight featuring the top psychic for the week, he could have seen me at any time.

I turned the corner and stopped abruptly. Standing in front of me now, rather than behind me, was my stalker. He had an eerie smile plastered on his face and several headless teddy bears tied around his waist. For some reason, the teddy bears did not make me feel like he was a very nice person.

"Oh, Rachel Griffin! Or shall I call you the Oracle? Either way, I have longed for this moment!"

"Uuuuuummmm. Hi?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. My name is Lucian Augur, and I am your biggest fan. It is so good to finally meet you in person." He had a weird vibe to him; it caused goosebumps to run up my arm and a shiver to run down my spine. "I dabble in the art of psychic readings myself. Not to the extent of you; however, I'm not nearly as accurate. Not to mention my  . . . unusual  . . . methods," he said as he looked up and down my body, a decapitated teddy bear in his left hand.

"How did you find me?" I asked as I took a step back wanting to create distance between us.

"I've been tracking you for while. I knew it was you the moment I saw you leaving NYU." He said as he took a step toward me. "I've been waiting for this for a very long time."

A sinister smile crept up his face as he reached behind him. Panic rose in my chest and I took off before he could pull whatever that was out of his pocket. I ran as fast as I could, never stopping for fear of him catching up to me.

As I got closer to the college I froze, I don't want him to know which dorm room is mine. So I changed direction, going to the only place I could think of.

                                                                                 ***

I knocked hard on the door until a black-haired college student with blue eyes opened the door.

"Rachel? What are you doing here?" Oliver asked with brows furrowed.

"Oliver, help me. Please. Someone is following me. I know we haven't talked since we broke up years ago but I couldn't think of anywhere else to go."

"Oliver, who's there?" I hear the voice in the distance as a messy black-haired kid comes to the door. He stares as me with deep brown eyes full of curiosity. "Who's this?" He asks as he looks me up and down.

I hold my hand out to shake his and introduce myself. "Hi, I'm Rachel Griffin. Oliver and I use to date. You must be his boyfriend, Raven."

Oliver whispers in Raven's ear and he nods, "Hi," he says as a bright smile plays across his lips. "Oliver invite her inside." He rolls his eyes and gestures for me to enter.

                                                                                 ***

"I think I know who it is following you," Oliver says. "His name is Lucian Augur, right?" 

I nod. "Apparently he knows what school I go to and everything." 

"He talked to me one day while he was there," Oliver says with guilt in his eyes. "He said he was looking for someone. Didn't say who. But when he saw them I noticed red hair." He nods indicatively to mine.

"I couldn't expect you to be able to tell what he was thinking," I say trying to assuage Oliver's guilt.

"But I knew what kind of person he was. He's sketchy. I should have told him to leave the girl alone."

"If you know what kind of person he is then you should know that he probably isn't the type to give up on an infatuation," Raven says beside him. "Cassie has never liked Lucian so I know plenty about him. I don't know why he's looking for Rachel but I know it won't lead to anything good."

"You can stay here for the night if you want, " Oliver says as he pulls blankets and pillows from the hall closet. "I promise Raven and I will keep it down." He winks at me and I fake puke at his innuendo.

Raven laughs and says, "Don't worry he won't be getting anything from me tonight."

Oliver leans towards me and whispers, "As if he can say no to all of his." I burst out laughing and Raven shakes his head before he pulls Oliver into their bedroom.

Oliver pokes his head back out and says, "There's an alarm set on the house so don't worry. You're safe here." 

I lay down and sigh contently as they turn the lights off and close their bedroom door. I drift off to sleep as I hear the sound of the city from outside.

It's three in the morning when I'm startled awake by a crash of breaking glass and the sound of the security system wailing throughout the house. He's here.