How long had he been following me, taking these pictures? Why hadn't I seen him, he literally must have been following me all the time. The ones that scared me the most were the ones of me or Clay at our apartment, there was even one taken from the street outside where Clay was closing the drapes in just his boxers so he must have been ready for bed. That meant that Blake was camping outside our apartment at night with a damn camera just waiting and knew that we lived together.
I felt lightheaded and my lungs were starting to burn because I just couldn't remember how to breathe. Every inch of the wall was covered in photo's, but why would he take Clay out of the pictures? And in such a violent way too, did he want to hurt Clay? Oh God what if he comes here without the police and Blake goes crazy? He has totally lost his mind so he could literally do anything.
He was looking at me, obviously waiting for some sort of reaction and I didn't know what to do. How could I pretend this was normal? How could I put on a fake smile and pretend like this didn't make my blood run cold in my veins? I couldn't, my reaction was already starting and I had no control over it at all.
I felt the scream trying to force its way out so I clamped my jaw tight so all that came out was a little whimper. Oh crap, oh crap, OH CRAP! My hands were shaking, my legs felt weak and all I wanted to do was run from the house screaming for Clay to run as far away from here as possible so Blake didn't do anything to him.
"This one's my favourite." He moved me forward, closer to the sick shrine on the wall as he rubbed his hands up and down my arms softly, making bile rise in my throat. He pointed to a picture of me sitting on the bleachers on a game night, I was laughing at something, you could see I was wearing Clay's jersey but I had a jacket over the top so that's probably why he didn't scratch off Clay's number or something. There was another photo of me overlapping this one, obviously cutting off who I was sitting with but I knew it would be Rachel, I always sat with her at the games.
"You look so happy here, I love it when you smile. It lights your whole face, makes you look so damn hot. Actually I love all the pictures, but that one's special." he whispered, his breath blowing down my neck as he pressed his chest against my back.
"Because Clay isn't in it?" My voice broke when I said his name as I tried desperately not to have a full blown panic attack. As soon as I said the words, I immediately wanted to punch myself for mentioning his name. Why? Why did I say that? Wow I'm so stupid!
His hands immediately tightened on my arms, his fingers digging into my skin making me wince. He made an angry snort. "That f*cker ruins all the pictures; I never get a nice one of you on your own. Little $hit. You need to stop hanging around with him Jailbait!" he ordered looking at me hard and accusing.
How long had I been here now? It was literally only a few minutes since I'd called Clay, how long would it be before the police turned up? Surely they hadn't seen this freaking shrine on his wall otherwise they would be taking my complaint more seriously.
The pain in my upper arms started to get worse as his grip tightened on me. "Blake you're hurting me," I whispered as my eyes filled with tears.
He frowned angrily and let me go running a hand through his hair, his eyes not leaving mine. "Why do you have to hang around with that asshole? Why not someone else? A girl? Any other guy than Preston!" he growled angrily.
Wow he had such a problem with Clay, what one earth is this about? "Blake, why do you hate him so much?" I whispered as I turned away from the wall of photo's, I couldn't look at it anymore it was making me feel lightheaded and I didn't want to pass out with him here and leave myself vulnerable.
"He took everything from me! He took the only things I've ever cared about, he's living my f*cking life!" he shouted, making me flinch from his anger.
What? What had Clay done to him? "What do you mean?" I asked trying to keep my voice calm hoping to calm him down.
He growled in frustration and slammed his hand down on the dresser. "When my parents died the only thing I had left was football," he stated.
I nodded, he'd told me that before that he got injured and Clay took his spot while he recovered and then when Blake came back they had to share the running back position.
"So when he took my spot on the team I had nothing, I was in such a bad place and that was the only thing keeping me sane and grounded, but that as**ole stole it from me! I missed the talent scouts because coach decided to play Preston instead of me on the day they came, so I didn't get any college offers. I got stuck in a dead end job, earning $hit money and no hopes for anything because of him. Everything's his fault and now he's trying to steal you! You're the only girl I've ever liked and he wants to take you away from me too!" he shouted, he was clenching his jaw so tight I'm surprised his teeth hadn't cracked and broken from the pressure.
"Blake, none of that is Clay's fault! He didn't ask to take your spot, he didn't ask to be played on those games when the scouts were there!" I cried, swiping at the tear that fell down my face. How could he hold Clay responsible for that?
"I don't give a $hit if he asked for it or not! Everything he has should be mine, he has everything and he takes it for granted. He doesn't even care what I went through, not once did he say sorry to me, not once!" he stepped closer to me and I instantly flinched back from the anger on his face. "Well he's not taking you away from me. You and I are meant to be together Riley and I won't let him ruin it." he stated matter of factly as he brushed his hand across my cheek, wiping my tears. I pressed back against the wall trying to squirm away from him.
"Blake please, you need some help. Something's not right and you need to talk to someone about it. They can help you." I whispered desperately.
I just prayed that Clay was listening to this through my cell phone so he would know not to come in the house on his own. If he was hearing how crazy Blake was talking right now then he should just stop the car and wait far far away, because Blake sounded like he really wanted to hurt him. The thing that broke my heart though is that I knew Clay better than that, I knew he would come for me and if he got here before the police did then he would burst in here on his own.
Blake laughed quietly before bending down and kissing my cheek lightly, "I don't need to see anyone silly. I just need to spend some time with you, you'll see I'm not such a bad guy. Just give me another chance and I'll prove to you what a great boyfriend I can be." he stepped closer to me and pressed his body against mine lightly.
I felt sick; my whole body was shaking as his hands moved to grip my waist softly. He smiled and pressed his forehead against mine as one hand slipped down to my ass and the other went around my waist holding me in place. I whimpered and bit the inside of my mouth hard enough to draw blood, just so I would have something else to think about other than the lust I could see in his eyes.
"Let's just put the past behind us and start over. Please?" he whispered, his lips brushing against mine as he spoke. Oh god please don't let him rape me, please! "Please jailbait? Give me another chance, I promise I can make you happy." His hand tightened on my ass, pulling me closer and I felt the bile rise in my throat.
"Ok Blake, sure. We'll start over." I whispered knowing my voice would break if I tried to speak properly.
He grinned and pressed his lips against mine making me whimper, I turned my head to the side quickly. I felt sick that he'd done that, I was married and he'd just kissed me. I felt dirty, but I guess that was nothing compared to what I would feel like if I didn't get the hell out of his bedroom.
He almost growled in frustration as he pressed me harder against the wall. "Kiss me then for f*ck sake."
I grasped at anything I could say to change the subject and get his mind onto something else. "Blake, I'm hungry now. Do you think we could go downstairs and make something for dinner?" I asked quickly as he gripped my chin, pulling my face around to his again.
He sighed and frowned, obviously annoyed that I was making him wait. He looked at me for a long time, it felt like forever and finally he smiled. "You're hungry?" he teased playfully. Oh my god he really is bi-polar!
I nodded quickly, "Yeah, are we going to get a takeout? I could go get one while you choose us a DVD or something to watch." I offered hopefully. Please say yes and I could get the heck out of this house!
He smiled, "I'll cook something, I like to cook actually. I might even impress you with my culinary skills." He took my hand and nodded for the door. I smiled gratefully and felt some of the tension leave my body just because we'd be further away from a bed. Hopefully we'd be in the kitchen for a while cooking and that would give the police time to arrive.
When we got to the kitchen he headed straight for the fridge, I hung back looking around quickly for the door. It was off to one side, could I discretely go check to see if it was unlocked or would that totally give me away? Just as I was inching my way towards the door he turned back and smiled making me stop quickly.
"How about I make chicken stir fry?" he offered holding up a packet of chicken.
I nodded quickly, "Yeah sure, you can cook that?" I asked wanting to keep him talking as long as possible so it would string it out.
He laughed and threw the ingredients on the side, grabbing noodles and vegetables from the fridge. "Like I said I'm a pretty good cook. Michelle's terrible so I do most of the cooking." When he had everything he wanted, he pushed some mushrooms towards me and a chopping board. "Want to help?" he asked grinning happily.
I gulped and nodded, how could he just be so casual about all of this? He really was freaking crazy and I don't think jail time would help him at all. He needed to talk to someone and maybe have some sort of medical help, because something was wrong with him. Maybe losing his parents like that had done some damage to him inside and no one knew. Maybe it was some sort of attachment disorder or something, which is why he seemed to latch onto me and get so possessive so quickly. I actually felt a little sorry for him, if he was ill then this wasn't actually his fault, maybe he was a nice guy but just couldn't help it because he was sick.
He smiled and stepped closer to me, his side brushing against mine as he started cutting up the vegetables. I reached for a knife from the block and wondered if I should just turn around and threaten him with it, demand he open the door or I'd stab him or something. I had a feeling that wouldn't really work though, I wouldn't be able to stab someone and that would probably be evident on my face as I spoke the words.
No, I'd just stick to the original plan and keep him talking until the police arrived. I flicked my eyes to the clock on the wall, it was almost five now, I'd called Clay about fifteen minutes ago so hopefully it wouldn't be that much longer. He hadn't hurt me and I don't think he would if I just played nice and pretended everything was ok, if I freaked out or something there was no doubt in my mind that he would hurt me if he got angry.
I forced myself to make small talk with him while he cooked, I just made sure to position myself as far away from him as possible without being too obvious. When I'd finished cutting the mushrooms I'd slid my knife over to the edge of the counter and put a dish cloth over the top of it. If I needed it I knew where it was, but I was praying it wouldn't come to that, the police would be here soon so that was just a precaution. The thought of hurting him made me feel slightly sick, he needed help there was definitely something wrong with him.
After another five minutes or so there was a knock at the door. I held my breath and flicked my eyes to the clock, it had been twenty minutes since I'd called Clay so that had to be the police and not him, he said that the school was half an hour away from Blake's house so it was too soon for it to be Clay.
Blake frowned, his eyes flicking to me for a couple of seconds. "Stay here and watch the food for me, I'll get the door." He nodded towards the pan on the stove.
I smiled sweetly, "I'm not too good at cooking, I'll probably burn it. How about I just get the door?" I suggested as I walked towards the hallway quickly.
He grabbed my hand and yanked me to a stop, he pulled me to him making me slam against his chest roughly. "Watch the food jailbait, I'll get the door." he said sternly. He pushed me back towards the stove and I tried not to show any reaction, maybe as soon as he left the room I could run out of the backdoor. I nodded and he smiled turning and heading out of the kitchen to go and answer the door.
As soon as he was out of sight I ran to the back door trying the handle, but it was locked. I groaned and looked around for the keys, I spotted a little key hook just off to the side with a set of keys dangling there and I felt my heart skip a beat as I grabbed them quickly. My hand was shaking as I tried to look for the most likely key. I could hear Blake fumbling with the lock and chain on the front door, so I knew I needed to be quick. Just as decided on a gold key that looked like a door key, I heard a loud crash and someone groan in pain.
I felt the breath catch in my throat as I looked towards the hallway door. Did the police have him? Could I just walk out of the front door now instead? I could hear sounds of a scuffle coming from the hallway so I fumbled with the key deciding I just needed to get outside. I tried desperately to get it in the lock but my hands were shaking too much.
Just as the key slid in, I heard someone shout.
"Where the f*ck is she?"
I felt the colour drain from my face as my blood ran cold in my veins. That was Clay's voice! I pushed the key into the lock so I wouldn't have to find the right one again just incase we needed to make a quick exit, and then ran to the hallway door so I could see what on earth he was doing here. I just prayed the police were here as well; please don't let him have come on his own, please!