Alysia Liberatore Per. 2

Watched

He watched her. He watched her go to work, he watched her eat, sleep, take showers, and get dressed. He knew her inside and out. He knew the little things she did, her quirks. He knew she liked an apple for breakfast, and that red roses were her favorite. He knew she sang in the shower, and he knew that her voice was terrible. He loved watching her, being near her, smelling the floral sent shampoo she used. He loved her, and she didn’t even know he existed.

He met her six months ago at a local restaurant in Ohio, where she lived in a tiny house that she had just bought with the little money she had. She was meeting her boyfriend for dinner, and he was having one of many drinks at the bar. He was already hammered, and looking for trouble. He picked the biggest guy he could find, and swung a very misplaced right hook into the man’s top shoulder. One punch from the man’s huge hand later, and he was dazed and on the floor. He must have blacked out, but when his eyes finally fluttered open, they met a pair of beautiful, worried blue ones.

“Are you all right?” She said in her beautiful song like voice. He nodded yes, and she helped him up from the ground, and told her boyfriend to get some ice.

“I saw what that man did to you. Are you sure you’re all right? It looked like it hurt a lot.” She said. He wanted to answer, but a steady stream of alcohol and his fascination with this woman was making it difficult to remember how to speak. He just nodded again as her boyfriend brought up some ice.

“There’s some ice. Come on I don’t want to waste any more time with some drunk that starts fight. Leave him alone Annabelle, someone will take him home.” Her boyfriend said with a look of disgust on his face. She looked at him, nodded and handed the ice to him on the floor. Then with a nod and smile, she and her boyfriend started for their table.

“Wait” He called after her, and she went down and raised her eyebrows. “I want to know the name of the beautiful and gracious women who helped me tonight” He said.

She smiled, patted his hand and made the worst mistake of her life. “My name is Annabelle Manning, and I was just being nice. I hope you feel better.” And with that she left him, but not his mind.

And now here he was, waiting for the love of his life to get home from work. And at the usual time, 5:30 pm sharp, her small blue neon pulled into the driveway. He watched her get out, stroll up to her door, and unlock it. He always took the time to realize how beautiful she was, and today was no exception. She was trim, with long auburn hair and beautiful blue eyes. She wore unattractive suits for some reason, but he always assumed they were for comfort while she worked as a teacher at the elementary school. He watched her there most days too, but today he had to be ready. He watched her walk in, and then he went to his usual spot, where he had a clear view of her huge bay window that led directly into the living room and the kitchen. She never closed her blinds, he mused. Maybe she felt safe, that no one would want to watch her, be fascinated with her. Of course, he thought, once she found out he had been doing it, she would be flattered, and he would make her close her blinds. You never did know who was out there, they could be dangerous, he thought.

While she went to the kitchen to begin making dinner, he went over his plans of action for tonight. She would be so surprised, he thought. She would surly remember him as the man from the restaurant, and she would be so glad that someone took the time to notice her for the beauty that she was. Of course it may take some time to convince her, since she was still upset about the recent “accidental” death of her boyfriend. His thoughts took a detour from his plans to her dead boyfriend. Her horrible boyfriend, the same one from that night, didn’t treat her the way he was supposed to. When he first began watching Annabelle, he would hear the fighting, even from where he was. Annabelle wasn’t the one doing the yelling, it was that man who yelled constantly. He would call her worthless, stupid, and ugly. Ugly. Who could call a goddess like her ugly? Who could purposely make her cry, when his sole mission should be to make her smile? This man was given a gift, and he spit on it. So he had to go. How else was he going to make her realize that she was special, and that she belonged to him? He had to dispose of him, the world, and more importantly Annabelle was better off without him. His thoughts shifted back to tonight, when every dream he had for the last six months would finally come true. She would probably be shocked at first that much he could assume. But then she would realize that effort he put into her, and she would begin to feel special. Then he would take her into his arms, and kiss her the way she was meant to be.

And then he would take her away from all of this. Take her up to his secret cabin, and never let her out of his site again.

She finished with her dinner, and walked back into her bedroom to read her book. She did this now, before she would sit with the man and talk to him, watch TV with him. Then she would do something wrong and he would yell. Now she sits, and reads, or grades papers. Finally at nine, she put her book away and began her beauty ritual of removing her makeup, washing her face, and putting on cream. This was his moment, the time to make his move, and he wasn’t going to miss the chance. She would be so grateful, she just had to be. He would hate to see her if she wasn’t.

Annabelle sat at her mirror, taking off her makeup. She didn’t wear much anymore, not since Danny died. He liked her to wear more makeup, he had said, it made her look pretty. Well as pretty as she was ever going to get, he would add. Why she was with him all those years, she had no idea. Well she did now; she deserved someone just like him, because the un-pretty girls needed to settle for a little less, that what her mother had always told her anyway. So she had, and then he died. Five months ago he had that horrible hunting accident, and she was left alone. She didn’t miss him; she just didn’t know where to go from here.

She had tried dating, but who wanted a girl with long, horribly thick reddish brown straggly hair, and with dull blue eyes? She wasn’t even attractive; at least Danny had given her that much in the time they had been together. Now she was just content with living her life, one day at a time. She had the kids in her class to keep her company, and that was enough for her. Long ago she had given up the dream of one day having her own family, so they were, for six hours a day, her children, and she gave them all she had.

She was so lost in thought that she didn’t notice the floor squeaking as a man approached her room. She was so lost in her own thoughts that she didn’t hear her bathroom door open until she saw a reflection of a man in her mirror, holding a large object and aiming for the back of her head.

She awoke hours later, to hear the soft humming of a man’s voice. For a moment she thought it might be Danny, about to yell at her for sleeping to long and not making his breakfast.

“God Annabelle, is it really that hard to get up and have my breakfast made in the morning? I’ve done so much for you, and you can’t even be bothered to do this one little thing? Try and make me happy will you, because trust me, once I’m gone, there wont be a thousand men banging your door down to take my place.” Danny said to her. He was always reminding her of how ugly she was, and this morning was no exception.

“I’m sorry. It will be ready in a second.” She said so lowly one might mistake it for a whisper. But she had to talk that lowly around him, she was afraid to raise her voice.

“Oh good, your awake.” A voice said as it cut through her memory. She forced her eyes open, but everything was blurry. The memory of what had happened hit with a force. The man in the mirror, all black. He had something in his hand, and then her world had gone black. She forced her eyes opened more, and rubbed them to clear away the clouds. He was smiling at her. Smiling! This man had just assaulted her, was in her home, and he was at the foot of her bed now, smiling! It must be some horrible dream, Annabelle concluded, some weird, horrible dream. She tried to move her hands to pinch herself and wake up, only to find them tied to her headboard. She looked up at her attacker with wide eyes, and now, definite fear.

“How are you feeling? I’m sorry I had to do that, but I had to make sure you were going to listen. Gosh, you are beautiful.” He said, still grinning at her.

Beautiful? Oh god, she knew what that meant. She had seen enough TV to know that if a man, who has you tied up and helpless, was calling you beautiful, he only had one thing in mind. Oh please, no she thought. Just when her life was getting back on track, he was going to come in and take it from her? She couldn’t let this man use her like that, she had to stop him.

“Please don’t hurt me. I’ll give you anything. I have some money. Anything you want. Please just don’t hurt me.” She pleaded with him. She would give him the little money that she had, as long as he wouldn’t do…that.

“Annabelle, I would never hurt you. You have to believe me, you never have to fear anything from me.” He said.

But she did have something to fear from him. He was in her home, holding her against her will, while she lay totally helpless and defenseless. And he knew her name.

“How…how do you know my name” She stammered.

“I’ve been watching you for a long time Annabelle. I know a lot about you. I know your favorite color is red. You love mystery novels, especially the ones by Agatha Christie. You always come home at 5:30, and you love cats. Plus you have this really cute habit of biting your bottom lip when you’re nervous or bored. Is that about right?” He said, as he began to come closer and sit next to her.

She stared at him in horror. How could someone she never met know all those things about her? He had been watching her he had said. Watching her? From where, she always locked her doors at night. And then it dawned on her, the blinds. She hated shutting the blinds, the morning sun never got in that way. He had been looking at her….no, that was impossible. Why would someone want to look at her? Maybe they had met, or maybe he had been a friend of Danny’s, and he had told him these things. That still didn’t explain why he had her tied up, but at least he wasn’t…stalking her.

“I know this is all new to you sweetheart, but you’ll understand. I would never hurt you, and I watched you because you were so beautiful and I couldn’t keep my eyes off of you. Remember the night we met?” She just stared at him. She didn’t remember him he thought. That did sting a little, but logically he did look different then, with a beard and his clothes were dirty form drinking. She just needed a reminder was all.

“Remember La Bistro six months ago? Some huge guy hit me, and you got me ice and helped me?” He said, knowing that now she would have to remember the biggest moment in his life. He saw the light bulb go off inside her head, and he knew she remembered. But her reaction was startling to him, because instead of feeling elated that it was him, she looked almost…disgusted.

“The dirty drunk man at the bar? The one that started the fight with some big guy and then got knocked around? That was you?” She said. She couldn’t believe it. He had been dirty, and unshaven sitting on that ground. Now he was an attractive man. No not attractive, she chided herself for even having the thought. Here this man was, telling her he had been watching her for the last 6 months, who had her tied up and helpless, and she was thinking he was a hunk? He must have hit her harder then she thought.

“Yes. But you got my life back together when you helped me. Because of you I stopped drinking, and you became my main focus, you saved me Annabelle. I came here today to tell you that, and that I love you.” He said with an odd look in his eyes. Annabelle could only describe the look one way, the love of a crazy man shone through his cold black eyes.

“How could you love me? You can’t love someone if you’ve been stalking them” she said. She wished she could take back the words as soon as she said them. Stalking was obviously not the right choice of words, and she saw the anger flash in his eyes instantly. Amazingly though, she could see the anger drain out of him, and he looked at her with compassion once more.

“No Annabelle, I was not “stalking” you, I was watching. I had to see who you were before I came to get you, and I fell in love with you. I fell in love with your beauty, your laugh, your smell. Everything about you enticed me, and now your mine. Don’t you see, I will take you away and appreciate you the way you deserve. You’re the love of my life, my one and only. You might not see it now, but soon, when we get to the cabin, you’ll love me just as much as I love you.” He said with determination.

He’s crazy, she thought silently to herself. This man is a crazy stalker, and he has me tied up. He’s going to rape me, strangle me, and leave me in a ditch somewhere. Then when he thinks about me, he’ll tell himself he did it out of “love” for me, she thought. And what’s this about a cabin? Think, she thought. What did all those cop shows say about kidnappers? Never let them take you to the second location she remembered. All she had to do was stay here, get a way to get help. He was looking at her with that “love” look again, like he expected her to jump for joy. What was she supposed to say? Thanks?

“What cabin?” was the only thing she could think of to say.

“I have a small one out west, you’ll love it. Oh Annabelle, I’m going to give you everything you ever dreamed of. A home, children, and me of course. I’ll treat you the way you deserve, with love and respect. I’ve been dreaming about it for months now. You’ll finally feel beautiful, and we’ll live happily ever after.” He said.

Maybe it was the bump on her head, or maybe Danny and her mother had made her feel so low and lonely in her lifetime, but at that moment, this crazy man’s offer of a home and children and happiness was not looking like the worst possibility. Maybe this man wasn’t so bad after all, and he really didn’t mean her any harm. If he wanted to hurt her, wouldn’t he have done it already? She had never heard of a rapist or murderer who had taken the time to sweet talk their victims before killing them. Maybe he did love her, but just had an odd way of showing it.

Lord that bump must have done something to her. Go and be with the guy that kidnapped her, hit her on the head, and tied her up? But even as she tried to discard the idea, it began to take shape in her mind.

“Your really not going to hurt me right?” She meekly asked.

He laughed because the look in her eyes told him that he had won. This was going better then expected he thought. He assumed he would have to hit her a few times to get her to comply with him, to be with him. He thought at least for the first year she would cry and beg to go home, but then he would make her love him. He never dared to dream that it would be this simple.

“I promise, I will never hurt you blue eyes. Can you trust me?” He asked as he untied her hands and took one into his.

She wanted to say no, she knew she should. Every moral part of her body wanted to scream no and get away. But for lonely, sad, and helpless Annabelle, he was giving her the world. Sure it was odd, but maybe they could tell the grandkids one day of how they got together?

She nodded her yes, and they began to pack her clothes for the cabin.

Her last thought of a warm, cozy place filled with children and laughter.

His last thought was at least now he didn’t have to kill her.