The Love He Stole

The flowers were in full bloom after a fierce winter and the air was finally pleasant to the lonely college senior walking through Washington Square Park. Lily Reid was heading to the Elmer H. Bobst library after a grueling day of classes and a leisurely stroll through the park with her wavy brown locks blowing behind her in the gentle spring wind. She cradled her textbook filled with note papers scattered throughout the pages in her right arm like it was her cherished newborn, holding it close to her thin frame. She made no time for parties or drinking, boys or their silly games, or friends for that matter. She put all her focus on her studies ever since her mom passed away shortly after her eighteenth birthday. She couldn’t bring herself to care about anything else. Now twenty-two and on the cusp of graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, Lily was hopeful to get into a good Master program somewhere that wasn’t New York City. She had lived there all her life and wanted to be some place quieter, calmer. Without her mom, she couldn’t take all the life happening at once and she could no longer understand the people there. She was determined to become a therapist, maybe to heal her own brokenness but that would require admitting to one’s own scattered pieces. My pieces are fine, she told herself often. They are held together by the hope of helping others through their grief. What time did she have for her own? There was studying to be done, and planning, and anything else to keep her mind off her inner wounds. She passed by a couple in the park showing off their romance. The man was on one knee, proposing right by the fountain and the girl was so blissfully surprised and kissed him with an excited yes. Lily melancholically wondered if she’d missed out on all the romance she could have had in the past. She reminisced about the boy who gave her a coffee freshman year at NYU. She remembered how sweet he was handing her the cup and inviting her to dinner. The look of hopeful anticipation in his eyes and how it all disappeared the moment she said no. Truthfully, ever since her mom died, she didn’t want to talk to anyone over dinner. Not when she could no longer go home and gush about it with her. She was Lily’s best friend and confidant, she could tell her mom anything. Now she only told her journal about these things. She was twenty when she finally allowed herself to hookup with a guy from her Ethics class. He had asked for her number after class and wanted to study with her. She actually accepted and met him at his Bushwick apartment, mostly because she thought a study buddy could be useful and he lived pretty close to her apartment. He leaned in for a kiss during lightning round flash cards and she decided it was probably time to lose her virginity. It didn’t seem to matter much to her anymore. She never spoke to the guy again despite the few texts she received asking for a date or hangout. She wondered if she could have fallen in love with him, if only she gave him a chance. She pushed the thoughts from her mind as she entered the library. She made her way up the stairs to the upper study areas. She had to do her work here to avoid her peppy, prying roommates back at her noisy apartment. The smell of old books and the sound of pages turning, pencils writing, and keyboard clicking made her feel at ease. She went straight to an empty table and quietly set out her textbook and notes and got to work. She’d been doing well in all her classes and finals were coming up soon. It was the only thing in her way of graduating and she was dead set on acing them. She shut out the entire world as she prepared. An hour and a half zoomed by as she relentlessly read and self quizzed, her thick eyebrows furrowed in concentration. But she suddenly got that weird feeling you get when you know you’re being watched. At first she ignored it, she was in a busy library after all. She set her mind back to work but after ten minutes of uneasiness, she looked up and scanned the room with her deep brown eyes. Everyone was busy studying and reading except for one man seated alone at a table 15 feet away, and he was staring. He had no books or supplies in front of him, just his hands clasped together on the table. She looked away for a moment to see if he’d stop but he didn’t break eye contact for even a second. Lily’s blood went cold. She held that eye contact for longer than she was comfortable with and he smirked at her discomfort. There was something otherworldly about him. His clothes were plain and black but they looked homemade. His eyes were bright and awake and his beard unruly and jaggedly cut, in contrast to his clean shaved head. Lily grew more uncomfortable with each passing second and she had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach, so she nervously gathered her things and hurried toward the exit. She rejoiced in the crowds of people outside and quickly headed back into Washington Square Park. Every so often she’d check behind her to make sure she wasn’t being followed. She let out a sigh of relief each time she only saw oblivious strangers enjoying the beauty of the landmarks and landscape around them. She knew her route home by heart and picked up the pace to the 14th and Broadway subway station to catch the L train. She caught her train and spent the whole ride reminding herself she was safe. She allowed herself to breathe but still checked all the faces around her. Who was that man and why was he staring at me? Did he even have a reason? Or was he just some random creep who hangs out in libraries to people watch. The man was nowhere to be seen, for which she was grateful. She thought perhaps she overreacted to the whole situation and wondered if her finals would suffer for it. Her roommates back home were too distracting to properly study around with their constant music blaring in such a small space. She decided she just had to be ready for Monday’s test regardless but maybe she could try to find time over the weekend to study after her shifts at the bookstore. She exited the train and climbed the stairs up to the streets of Bushwick and began the final leg of her half hour long daily commute. She rounded the street corner with two blocks still to go and she noticed there was no one else around, an odd sight. Another deep pit forming in her stomach, she had no choice but to keep going. A sudden gut feeling told her to look behind her and then she saw him, the man in all black with a bald head and a beard. A chill ran down her spine as adrenaline started pumping through her veins. She quickly took an unnecessary turn to try and lose him but as she turned the corner, he was unexpectedly there. She nearly slammed right into him and her heart was pumping faster and harder with each breath she took. This creepy man was staring at her again with a smile. “Hello,” he said in a calm, baritone voice. “Why, you’re even more beautiful in person…My lord will be most pleased.” Before Lily could scream for help or turn and run away, he placed a hand on her arm and the world began spinning and falling out from under her feet. It was like skydiving without a parachute. And then, it all went black.