Stalking a Stranger
by Daniel Beadle - Thursday, August 30, 2007
Stalker sits in his truck, watching the front doors of the Target storefront. He shivers with the cold of the season, eyes transfixed and unblinking. Suddenly, he sees her.A brown-haired girl, being led by the hand by someone who could easily be misconstrued as a boyfriend, emerges from the building. Stalker clenches his teeth and considers smiling, but doesn’t. He watches the couple walk to their car, and after a few exchanges, which cause mirth in both parties, they enter.
Stalker starts his engine and backs out of his parking spot, constantly wary of his target’s movements. The car pulls out of the lot, and Stalker lets them exit first. He tails them as they cruise through the small town. He wants them to know he’s following them, so he stays immediately behind their car.
As they coast through downtown, he can see the male looking back at him through the rear-view mirror. He notices the girl turn her head, and as her hair falls from her shoulder, Stalker remembers his last blowjob. The prey speed up, and a car manages to slip in-between the two cars. Stalker watches them retreat to a side road. Sweet satisfaction washes over the Stalker’s mind.
Michelle and Gary, which could be their names, but probably aren’t, slow down as Gary carefully checks his mirrors, and Michelle looks at the passing traffic of the main road.
“Is he still there? Did he pass us?” Michelle asks.
Gary’s response is slow and uncertain. “I think he’s gone… I don’t see him.”
“How long was he following us?”
“I don’t know. I thought I saw him after we passed that Chinese restaurant.”
“What was he—" Michelle is cut off as the black SUV that pursued them thus far crashes into their left side, pushing Gary into Michelle, who can’t stop screaming. Michelle looks through splintered glass as she sees a thin man in multiple layers exit the SUV with a strong sense of purpose. His straight black hair falls into his eyes, which stare at her.
Michelle begins to panic as she repeats “Gary? Gary?” over and over. Gary’s not listening. Gary’s unconscious. The man, the stranger, the Stalker, peels open the driver door. He reaches in and unbuckles Gary seatbelt. He yanks Gary out of the car and tosses him to the ground.
Stalker then glares at Michelle, and whispers one word: “Stay.”
Michelle begins to whimper as Stalker crouches over Gary’s limp body. She fumbles for the door handle next to her, realizing that the door is still locked. She hears grunts and wet smacking sounds, and suddenly a thud. She screams unexpectedly, crying as she watches Gary’s body, held up against the car, and Stalker, holding him there with one hand and removing something small and shiny from his pocket with the other.
Michelle unlocks the door and opens it. As she shifts her body weight, she’s snagged by the seatbelt. She frantically searches for the release button, wedged between the newly deformed car seat and central console. She looks up at Gary to see blood trickling down the car window. Her following scream is kept between gritted teeth. She presses the release button as she hears a thud, and promptly runs out of the car into the night. She looks behind her before turning the corner, and sees Stalker’s silhouette, unmoving, looking directly at her.
She slows her run slightly as she pulls a cell phone from her pocket. It’s small, and fumbling with the numbers in her panicked state is hard to do, even with fingers that are small and feminine. Stalker remembers the last time a girl touched his penis. She opens her phone book on the phone’s menu just as two hands grab her from behind. One is clasped firmly over her mouth, with a rag, and the other is tucked around her waist, preventing her arms from moving. She bites the hand, but Stalker doesn’t react. He moves his mouth close to her ear and whispers, “I still love you.” She blacks out.
