Loving the Stalker Under my Bed

Chapter 8 – The Intruder

Chapter 8 – The Intruder

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The bathroom – no.

Bed – no. Under it – no. There is not even a living body on top of it.

There is not a single soul inside my house. All I could see was a space that I left as is. Nothing changed, not even the lock that I intentionally left diagonally.

If it was John or someone who knew me personally, then there is no doubt that they were aware of my little quirks.

It was just a little test, but I could somehow see them fixing that error and straightening the lock to match my character. Much to my dismay, not even that little surprise was touched by my intruder.

He is an intruder at this point since a stalker would never go this far for me.

After confirming that no one had visited me that day, I turned off my phone and started the work which Ana gave me. Her kindness has its own limits once she found that I’m not taking this job seriously.

Finding a new job on top of looking for a new apartment is just the worst combination that I don’t want to have right at this moment.

My fingers went through the items as neatly and fast as I could.

And before I knew it, my day ended fruitfully in Ana’s shop. Unlike last Friday’s sale, we barely made it today and were only able to meet the quota after Ana answered yes to our hagglers.

By the narrowest of margins, we almost suffered a loss after the conclusion of our day. If not for the profit that we made last week, then there is no doubt that we couldn’t make a breakeven on today’s record.

Selling is a lot harder than normal people could think of, and I could somehow understand Ana’s sigh as she computes the bills that she needs to pay.

I could only pat my boss’s back as a way to say that I am with her. And with a heavy heart, I walked out of the shop and prayed for a bigger sale tomorrow.

My night turned into another eventless episode. I was able to take a nap, but my consciousness remained active the entire night.

Every drop of water and any unusual sound opened my eyes. Time and time again, what my eyes will witness next is the utter darkness in my room.

I am entering the state of being paranoid, I know, but I still can’t help it.

Alone in this dark room. The only source of strength that I have is the fact that I am alive and free. An intruder won’t be able to take that away from me.

And as I thought of how I would confront my stalker, a loud noise coming from my alarm clock echoed throughout the room.

It was already too late to regret my sleepless night. My body could only lazily get up from bed. The annoying alarm clock rang off louder and louder, triggering a nasty headache that I would never have wished for.

I hurriedly picked it up to shove it under my pillow. Relief instantly followed as my surroundings became free of that annoying sound.

Just like any other day, I started this one without much enthusiasm.

Realizing that I was probably wasting my time with all these shenanigans weakened my knees to a certain degree. My plan to move away was put on hold since my mind and heart cannot meet a consensus.

It feels like a waste. My time and effort are being rendered useless.

And the same emotion dawned on me when I checked my phone.

It was the same small room without a single person in it. Everything was left as is. The bathroom, my bed, the mini kitchen, and the bedtable are all in place.

Perfectly placed items the way I arranged them.

I closed my phone and went back to my lunch. The first bite of the sweet and spicy pork distorted my face in an instant. It awakened every cell of my body, since a whole pepper stuck in my teeth.

The spice scattered throughout my mouth, making me look for the nearest water that I could drink. This kind of surprise awakened me better than my alarm clock.

A-Alarm clock?!

I put down the bottled water and picked up my phone once again. Forget about the spice that is still torturing my mouth, I need confirmation more than anything else.

A gasp escaped my mouth when the surveillance camera showed me into my room. The alarm clock! The damn alarm clock is on top of my table, back in its rightful place.

That can’t be! I might be in a daze this morning, but I am sure that I shove it under my pillow. There is no way that an inanimate object will walk back to where it belongs whenever I’m not looking.

Thud.

The fork that I carelessly put on the table fell to the ground. My fingers are shaking as I zoom into the video caught by the surveillance camera.

It was there. As clear as day and the taste of pepper in my mouth. My alarm clock is sitting prettily on top of my table. I feel like my heart is about to explode after confirming it.

“Ana! ...”

My boss takes care of the shop while I’m on break. Today is another idle day for us since not a single shopper made it to our store. And I couldn’t be more thankful that we are in this situation.

“…Let me take the rest of the day off. Please!”

Never in our working relationship did I ask Ana to let me off like this. I could see in her face how shocked she was by this sudden request.

“Go on. We are not busy anyway.”

My feet did not waste any more time. I ran as fast as I could towards the station. A single minute wasted is the same as saying that I am letting that perpetrator go.

There is a big possibility that he is no longer in my apartment, but I at least wanted to confirm it with my own eyes. Nothing could stop the trembling of my body except for the verification that this adventure could bring.

Big, fast steps followed after I got off the taxi. I did not even look back at the angry driver who was complaining about the way I closed the door of his car.

Nothing matters now except for the final destination that I wanted to reach.

“Oh, Ada. You’re early.” Greeted by Lucy, my landlady.

“Emergency.”

I ran past her and was thankful that I still managed to say a word. What I gave her is more than enough reason for me to behave like this.

And as I reached the door of my apartment, my trembling doubled, and my sweat started to leak out of my body disgustingly.

What will I do? What should I do? What if John is still inside my unit? What if he returned after I checked my camera? How should I approach him?

Now that I made it to my door, the stupidity of my action finally dawned on me.

Satisfying my curiosity has been my number one goal, instead of securing my safety. Indeed, it was nothing but a foolish action that I can no longer regret now.

However, since I had already reached this point, the only action that I could take is to enter my room and get this over with.

Thud.

A sharp sound could be heard when I opened the door. The fresh smell of mint made it to my nose and the eerie silence turned my sweat into a much more disgusting liquid.

After all, what I saw inside my apartment is something that I don’t even want to think about.