It’s probably nothing…right?
Each second that I stare at that window, the harder my heart beats, and I feel like I could jump out of my skin right now. But there is nothing, only darkness and my own reflection. Giving up, I chalk it up to my eyes playing tricks on me as I start to lift my shirt again. Slowly, almost like in a dream, a face appears in the glass. Yelping, I drop my shirt back down my body and take a step back as the face inches closer to the window. I want to scream but it’s stuck in my throat, the fear choking me. Every breath that I take rings in my ears as tears fill my eyes, and I take another step back, hitting the wall.
The man raises a hand and presses it against the window like he’s trying to touch me and smiles up at me, a sinister little grin that seems to reach into my body and fill me with terror. Oh, God, I need to call for help but as I open my mouth, nothing comes out. Where is Logan? He has to be coming in here soon. Right? He drops his gaze down my body, and I sink down the wall, pulling my knees into my chest. As I shake on the floor, he steps closer, his face almost pressed against the glass, and his grin widens as he mouths, “My Ali.”
I can’t speak.
I can’t move.
I’m powerless as I stare into a face that is so familiar and yet, so foreign.
I know him.
Where do I know him from?
Where have I seen him?
I stare at him and all of the sudden it hits me.
He looks like…
“Logan!” I scream as loud as I can, tears streaming down my face, and my heart beating against my ribcage like it wants release. The face in my window disappears seconds before Logan bursts into the room, gun drawn. His gaze wildly flies around the room before landing on me, huddled up in a ball on the floor. Quickly tucking the gun back in his jeans, he crouches down and pulls me into his arms.
Kodiak and Smith burst into the room, looking around for the danger as I start to hyperventilate, gripping Logan’s shirt like his mere presence will keep me from spiraling into the abyss of my fear.
“Go search outside,” he barks at them, clutching me tighter, and I sob into his neck. “I’ve got her.”
The guys rush out of the room, and Logan rubs his hand down my back, trying to calm me, but nothing is working. It’s one thing to know that someone is following you but to see him actually staring in your window and feeling that powerlessness is another thing altogether. It feels monumental in this moment. How will I ever come back in this room? How will I ever look in a window again without my heart kicking in my chest? I’m consumed by the fear, shaking uncontrollably in Logan’s embrace.
“You’re okay, Kitten,” he whispers in my ear, kissing my cheek gently, and my sobs gradually settle into hiccups as a few more tears streak down my face. “I’ve got you.”
I don’t know how long he just holds me, whispering soothing words in my ear, but eventually Kodiak and Smith come back into the room with grim expressions. My stomach knots. “There are boot prints in the mud outside Ali’s window but other than that, nothing.”
“I need one of you on each door. I’m taking her to the clubhouse as soon as I can get her calmed down.”
They both nod, and Smith claps his shoulder. “You got it, Brother.”
When they leave, Logan cups my cheek and pulls my gaze up to his. “What happened, Baby?”
I start to breathe heavily again as I replay those sixty seconds in my head. God, was it really only that long? Tears form in my eyes again as I try to tell him. I can see it so perfectly in my mind, each tick of the clock exaggerated by fear and the adrenaline coursing through my body, but I can’t seem to get the words out.
“He’s gone, Gorgeous. We’re not going to let anything happen to you. I love you.”
I peek up at him and take a deep breath. “I started to get undressed, and when I turned toward the window, I thought I saw someone there but then I thought I was just imagining things.”
“Okay, and?”
“I was about to turn away to get in the shower, and then he was there,” I say, tears starting to fall again as my body trembles against him. He nods and leans down, gently kissing my lips, and surprisingly, it helps.
“Did you get a good look at him, Kitten?”
I nod, my lip trembling.
“What did he look like?”
I start shaking again, my eyes watering as his face appears in my mind once more. “He kind of looked…like you.”
He blinks and pulls away from me, his brow furrowing in confusion as he gazes down at me. “What?”
“He looked like you. The same clothes, the same haircut, same hair color, and even had the same scar but it looked fresh,” I say, touching the thin scar that runs through his eyebrow. “Except his eyes were all wrong. They were brown and lifeless.”
“And there wasn’t anything else?” he asks, and I shrug, my mind blanking.
“I don’t know.”
“Okay,” he says, pulling me close again and tucking my head under his chin. “We’re going to go to the clubhouse, and I don’t want to hear any arguments. It’s safe there, Baby.”
“I’m scared,” I whisper, feeling small as I admit my feelings to him.
“I know but I’m never going to let anything happen to you.”
I pull back and look up at him, wanting to look in his eyes when I say this. “I love you, Logan.”
He nods and cradles my face in his hands as he leans in and kisses me gently. “I love you, Ali, and I’m going to end this, I promise you.”
* * * *
“Sweet, Ali,” the voice says, echoing off the dark barren room, and I spin around, looking for the source, but all I see are reflections of myself. Taking a tentative step forward, I reach out and press my fingers to smooth glass.
Mirrors.
They’re all mirrors.
They surround me. Everywhere I look, my own terrified face stares back at me, and I don’t know which way leads to my salvation and which leads to my demise. The voice laughs, a chilling sound that creeps down my spine and raises the hair on my arms.
“I’m not there, my sweet, Ali. Come find me.”
“No,” I whisper, my head whipping back and forth as I search for the voice.
“Yes.”
“No!” I scream out into the space, my voice magnified by the echo, and he laughs again.
“I’ve missed you so much, Sweetheart. Why would you leave me?” Pain overshadows his voice, and I look around, feeling like I’m losing my mind.
“I didn’t leave you. We were never together.”
The sound of glass shattering swells around me, and I spin around, looking for a broken mirror, but I can’t find one anywhere.
“Why do you do this to us? To me!” he roars, and I spin again, searching for him as my skin prickles from his gaze. He’s here. And he can see me but no matter how hard I search, I can’t find him.
“You’re delusional. I was never yours.”
“Lies!” he screams, followed by the sound of more breaking glass, and I back up, my paranoia overwhelming me. “What we had was special, and you just threw it away.”
“I don’t even know you,” I spit, my eyes flying wildly around the space but he’s still hidden from me. My gaze lands back on the mirror directly in front of me, and I back up as his face appears.