1.

Raimi slammed the door to his apartment, pressing himself against it. He couldn’t remember the walk- no, the run- home. He stood, just breathing, staring into the void of his living room. He couldn’t help but imagine the silhouette of the intruder in the corner, watching. Oh, Sarah... he rubbed at his eyes.

“Raimi?”

He jumped. Merissa was standing in the hallway, just wearing a shirt, her hair up. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine,” he let out one long breath and came to her, pulling her tight against him, an anchor. Her arms wrapped around him and it was like he’d finally woken up. What happened out there was a dark fantasy. A part of the game. He kissed the top of her head, taking in the faint scent of her shampoo. “How was work?”

“It was fine,” she pulled back just far enough to look up at him. “You look like you saw a ghost, where were you?”

“I just stepped out to grab a drink,” he said. “I finished that article and felt like something celebratory.”

Her eyes lit up. “Oh! Good job, hon!”

“I think it’s gonna be big,” he said. They walked to their room and it was like everything had only been a scary movie. The credits had rolled and now it was done. “You want to read it? I need another set of eyes on it.”

“Of course,” she smiled. She took a seat on the bed while he sat at his desk, flipping his laptop open. He’d have to wait to post to the forum. He pulled up the draft and handed the computer off, leaning back in his chair to watch her reaction as she read. He puffed from his vaporizer. Merissa hated the thing but she was too engrossed in the piece to say anything.

By the time she was finished she was smiling, her hands clasped together. “Yeah, that’s really good,” she said. “How long do you think it’ll take to edit?”

“Not long,” Raimi waved a hand. “My editor works pretty fast. I should have it out by tomorrow or the day after.”

She came over and sat on his lap, placing the laptop on his desk. She took his face in her hands, kissing him softly. “Well, you definitely had a reason to celebrate.”

He placed a hand on her lower back, kissing her more, feeling the heat of her body. “I think maybe we could celebrate some more, don’t you?”

She nodded. “I do.”

And he

Thud

lost himself

thud

inside her.

2.

He woke up alone in bed in the morning. The world was still that soft blue-gray, the sun not yet fully hung in the sky. He stared at the ceiling, awash in catlike content. Merissa was gone, probably out in the living room, getting ready for the day.

He thought he might propose.

It was something that came up often between them. They’d been together long enough, my mom keeps asking, my friends are all getting married. That sort of thing. Of course he wanted to be with her. He loved her. But it never felt like the right time. He traveled often, sometimes to tour and sometimes for an article. It couldn’t have been easy for her, but she stuck by all the same. But with the article done, it felt like everything had clicked into place.

He got up, shimmying on some boxers. He could smell coffee brewing. He wouldn’t mind a hot cup. He walked out scratching his belly, yawning, and froze in the entry way. Merissa was sitting on the couch watching TV. The morning news was on, the grizzly aftermath of a home invasion. Sarah’s apartment. Merissa looked over her shoulder, frowning. “Have you seen this yet?”

He shook his head, unable to speak, walking stiltedly up to the couch. He put a hand on her shoulder, mostly to steady himself, and she grabbed his hand, gentle. “Police are unsure as to the exact nature of the crime,” the pretty newswoman said. “There were no signs of forced entry, no DNA evidence besides the victim’s own blood, and the only lead being the message written on the window,” they cut to a shot of the window. OUY EES I. “It’s a chilling case, isn’t it?”

“It is indeed,” the gray haired anchor said. He adjusted his glasses. “Later in the program we’ll be bringing in a home security expert to discuss what you can do to better protect yourself from home invasions like this...”

Merissa turned the TV off, turning to face Raimi. “Do you think we’re safe here?”

“Yeah, of course,” but he wasn’t sure he sounded that confident. “Uh, is that coffee ready?”

“Sure is, help yourself,” she stood up, heading for the bathroom. “I’ve gotta shower, if you want to join. I’m only working till seven today, what do you say we order in something and have a night together?”

He nodded and she shut the door behind her. He poured a cup with a shaky hand. The message couldn’t have been written for him, could it? He had been watching, but how could the thing have seen him? It had no eyes. How it existed at all, how it had gotten inside, gotten to her, didn’t make any sense either, but surely it hadn’t seen him. It must have been some vague threat. A serial killer leaving his mark. And he had been far away enough, the intruder could’ve just been wearing a mask. He shook his head. Maybe they had a reason to leave Chicago sooner than later.

He returned to his desk and busied himself with e-mails. He shot the article off to his editor, a good friend of his he paid to keep things in check. After he was done, he’d send it off to his web designer, and she would make it all nice and pretty for him to put out to the world. He drank and smoked, considering what he’d do for the day. He had nothing scheduled. Given everything that happened, maybe he deserved a day off. He could bust out some of his weed, maybe, eat some junk.

He scrolled through social media, not really paying attention. He hated the necessity of it. It was all vapid, mindless talking, none of it much substantive. But if you didn’t have one, you couldn’t reach your viewership. So there he was, eyes glazing over a wall of tweets and reddits and blah, blah, blah. He glanced over his shoulder, listening to the distant sound of water running.

He sunk into the chair, exiting his web browser. He chewed his lip in thought. His mind felt muddled, and when his thought strayed he could only see the intruder. He shook his head, and went to the bathroom. The room was steamy, warm, and he could make out the shape of Merissa through the shower door. Here it was safe, and her body routed all thoughts from his mind.

3.

After seeing Merissa off, he returned to his desk and to The Stalking Game. He scrolled through the discussion happening on his thread. Now here was something with value. The first wave of posts were all abuzz with excitement. The users had known Raimi was planning on finishing with Sarah. But all the current posts had shifted in tone. Talk about maybe he had been got, that he’d lost the game. O’, ye of little faith. He was about to throw them quite the twist ending.

“Fellow players, I apologize for my absence, but I promise you it was for good reason. No, I have not lost the game. While I cannot say that last night went how I thought it would, it is the end of things. I have witnessed something unprecedented in the history of the game: murder. I won’t get too graphic, but be warned, it isn’t pretty.

“Our dear Sarah was attacked by a home invader before she could meet with her man. I watched it go down. It was... brutal. He beat her to death against her window and I had the best seat in the house. I couldn’t move, or think. I watched it all and when he’d finished I left. I ran. I will say, players, I considered breaking Rule One. I thought about helping. But I believe in my own safety first, and the integrity of the game, as I’m sure you all understand.

“It was not the ending we expected. I feel like we were all hoping for a sweet, sappy love story. What we got was a horror. Some of you may think that I should have interfered. But you must remember that we play this game to watch, to peek in on lives that we would never have intersected with otherwise. In thinking of it another way, Sarah would have died yesterday whether I was there or not. In my mind, I think that at least she didn’t have to die alone.”

He pushed back from his desk. It would certainly cause quite the stir. He shut the web browser, deciding he would just check the responses later. He rubbed his face. He needed some fresh air. Raimi stood, grabbing his wallet. A stroll down to the corner store would be good. He needed a sugary drink. He walked outside into the warm air, stretching beneath the sun.

He went down the sidewalk and by the time he’d reached the gas station he felt refreshed in a strange way. He walked over to the drinks, grabbed a cold pop and placed it on the counter next to a crisp fiver. The Indian man behind the counter began to ring him up and as Raimi waited he glanced around. There were newspapers and he picked one up. As he flipped through he came across a write up of Sarah’s death.

“The police have a suspect, though they declined to comment any further.”

Well, wasn’t that a relief! He sat the paper down, grabbed his drink and change and sauntered out. If they were on to someone, then it wouldn’t be long before the perpetrator was caught and everything would be settled. The bastard who’d cut Sarah’s life short would be behind bars and it would tie a bittersweet bow on the whole thing.

He climbed the stairs of his apartment, up to the level his home was on. He froze at the top.

The door to his place was open.

He stared, bottle perspiring in his hand. Had he left it open? He must have. He inched to the door, peeking in. The living room was quiet, placid. Nothing seemed out of place. He felt at his pockets. All he had was his wallet. He stalked through, placing his drink down. He grabbed a knife from the kitchen. He didn’t hear a single sound. He prowled down the hallway, staring at the door to his bedroom. It hadn’t shut all the way. He didn’t see movement inside. I SEE YOU. His hands were sweaty.

He jumped and burst through the door, letting it swing into the wall.

The room was empty.

He sighed and his body sagged. He sat the knife down, laughing at himself. He went back and shut the front door, then came and plopped onto his bed. Maybe he’d take today to read something, just take his attention away from his own thoughts. He shot a text to Merissa, hoping she’d be able to chat, and pulled a book off of his shelf.

But after reading for a few minutes, he got up and locked the door to his room.

Next Chapter: Chapter 3