THE DARKNESS BETWEEN

Where horror meets romance.

Could it still be love?

'You looked pretty today' the note read. It's been a few days now since she started receiving these tiny little notes from who exactly?! She had no idea!

Maria looked round the hallway to her apartment in hopes of finding who placed the note this time around but she found no one. She hurriedly pulled her phone out of her bag and dialed a number. The phone rang for a few seconds and the receiver responded with the conventional 'hello'. "Jessie! They were here again." Maria's voice was shaking. "Calm down Babe. Would you come over to mine?" Jessie asked. "I'm on my way" 

Ding! The notification sound made her stop in her tracks. She pulled out her phone from her bag eager to check the message that just dropped. 'You shouldn't wear yellow. It contrasts your fair skin.' The text was from an unknown number. Maria felt chills down her spine, she looked round to see if anyone was watching her but nobody was. 'You wouldn't find me by looking around. I'm just a harmless admirer' the second message came in and she was sure the person wasn't harmless.

She slipped her phone back into her tote, brushed her hair back with her hands and continued her walk like nothing happened. 'Who could it be?' 'How did they get my number?' 'Where did they get to know me?' Her mind was in a frenzy and her vision was getting clouded with tears. The phone piped up again but she was too afraid to pull it out of the bag. The notification sound went off again and she hurriedly pulled it out. 'Don't cry. It's bad for your skin' the first text read. 'Don't hesitate to read my texts. Hesitation could be very dangerous'. Maria's legs moved on impulse and she started running, running from whoever was watching her or so it seemed. 

The next weeks went by without her receiving any texts from the number, the relief she really needed. "Mrs Jones, see you tomorrow" Maria called out to her boss. "Bye, Mari" Mrs Jones' voice sounded a little distant. The time was a little after 6pm, longer nights and shorter days had the sun setting at past 6 in the evenings.  Maria stepped out of the diner she worked and took a deep breath before starting her journey. The Weeknd's Take My Breath blasted through her headphones as she walked down the street. Within minutes she approached the alley that led to her apartment building, the street lamps were dimly lit and she saw a dark figure behind her. She didn't pay any attention to it until the figure started taking every turn she took, figure looked huge and she wasn't going to risk anything.  She started walking briskly and figure caught on, it slid into a different alley leaving Maria alone. Seeing this, she ran as fast as her legs could carry her all the way to her apartment building, she ran through the stairs and turned into her apartment's hallway; the number 302 appeared on the door and she stopped running. Panting heavily she put in her door pass code and entered the apartment but she swore that she saw the black figure at the end of the hallway as she slammed the door.

"So you say that someone's stalking you" the police officer turned to Maria. "Yes, it started with tiny little notes at my doorstep, to texting me my every movement and last week I swear that they followed me after I left work" she was acting paranoid, constantly looking over her shoulder to see if anyone was behind her. "Miss?" "Maria Fischer" she looked at the police officer. "Miss Fischer. There's nothing much we can do unless you identify who the person is" the police officer said the one thing Maria was afraid of. Identify? How on earth was she going to find out who they were? "But I gave the number they used in texting me" she tried to play it cool. "The number wasn't linked to anyone,  it seemed to be a burner sim" the police officer sounded non chalant. "Okay thank you. I'll be back maybe when they try to attack me" she said slamming her hand on the table before walking out of the Police Station. Ding!  Maria's phone lit up as soon as she walked few metres away from the police station. She was skeptical about the notification until another one dropped, she opened her phone and read the texts; it was from the unknown number

'I see you went to the police, dangerous idea if I must say' the first text paralyzed Maria; she couldn't move for the next few seconds. 'Like I said, hesitation could be very dangerous' . Her finger moved instinctively to her phone's keypad; 'Who are you?' She replied the text. 'Someone that loves you to death' the final text sent chills down her spine.

To be continued 

See ya

XOXO 

Adétólá ❤