The rain
Nadia Vale had stopped sleeping months ago. Not completely, just enough to function.
Enough to drag herself through her Law School classes with perfect eyeliner and a sarcastic smile. Enough to laugh when people expected her to. Enough to pretend she wasn’t looking over her shoulder every time she walked home at night.
She hid the bags under her dark blue eyes with concealer, hid her thin frame with clothes that didn't cling to her body, and hid the sadness in her face with her long, black hair.
Nobody noticed that something was wrong.
That was the thing about pretty confident girls: people assumed that confidence meant safety.
But nobody knew that her ex-boyfriend Derek was terrorizing her to the point of complete and utter terror. After Nadia found her ex in bed with another girl, she broke the relationship off immediately. She never thought that would be the worst decision of her life.
Derek was making her life miserable, and it didn't make sense to Nadia why. He clearly didn't want her, judging by the perfect-figured blonde she had found him in bed with. He clearly didn't need her; he was a filthy rich trust fund kid with influential parents, anything he wanted- he could have.
He was irrationally mad at her for ending their relationship 8 months ago. Nadia tried to keep herself safe: she told the police about the calls, the threatening messages, the rocks thrown at her window, and the banging on her door.
But her reaching out for help was simply pointless. The officers told her that since there's no proof he did anything violent, they couldn't do anything. It also didn't help that Derek's uncle was a Sergeant.
Nadia was trying to survive her ordeal.
Her apartment was silent except for the humming of the refrigerator and the rain tapping softly against the windows. 2:17 AM glowed from the microwave across the kitchen.
Nadia sat cross-legged on the couch in one of her oversized hoodies, laptop on her thighs, while a crime documentary played quietly in the background, but she wasn’t watching it.
Her eyes stayed glued to the message that popped up on her laptop screen.
UnknownUser17: Still awake?
A tiny smile pulled at her lips before she could stop it.
She had found her online friend on a forum. Derek had managed to isolate her from everyone around her, but he couldn't invade her anonymous online space.
Nadia: Guilty. I can't fall asleep.
UnknownUser17: You should try harder.
She snorted softly.
Nadia: Wow. Such great advice. Have you considered becoming a therapist? I need a new, affordable one, as you well know.
UnknownUser17: You’d hate me as your therapist.
Nadia: What abt you? Why aren't you sleeping?
UnknownUser17: I have a lot on my mind.
She leaned back against the couch cushions, rubbing her tired eyes. They’d been talking every night for almost three months now. Although Nadia didn’t know his name, or his age, or what he looked like, somehow he still knew her better than anyone else. Talking to him brought her peace and excitement at the same time.
Her phone buzzed beside her suddenly.
"Please, God, not him again" Nadia whispered.
Unknown Number: I’m outside.
Her stomach dropped instantly. Cold panic flooded her chest so fast it made her forget to breathe. Why did she have to look? She knew it was Derek again, felt it in her bones.
Nadia locked her phone without answering. Her fingers trembled slightly.
The messages started immediately after.
Unknown Number: I saw your light on.
Unknown Number: Ignoring me again?
Unknown Number: After everything I did for you?
Unknown Number: How dare you?
Unknown Number: You'll regret this.
Unknown Number: Let me in now and I promise I won't lay a hand on you again.
Unknown Number: Come downstairs and let me in like a normal fucking person, or else I'll make you even more miserable. You have no idea what I'm capable of.
She slowed down her breathing carefully, the way her therapist had taught her, back when she could still afford the appointments.
UnknownUser17: What happened?
Nadia frowned.
Nadia: Nothing.
Three dots appeared instantly.
UnknownUser17: Lie better.
Her throat tightened.
Sometimes he scared her a little, because he noticed things nobody else did.
Nadia stared at the rain-covered window near her couch. She lived on the third floor, so from here she couldn’t see the parking lot clearly. But she knew Derek was down there.
Nadia: My ex is outside again.
The response came so quickly it almost felt like he’d been waiting.
UnknownUser17: Did he touch you last time?
Her jaw tightened.
Nadia: No.
A pause.
UnknownUser17: You hesitated.
She swallowed. Because he did.
The documentary continued playing softly in the background while thunder rolled outside angrily.
UnknownUser17: Did you lock your windows?
Nadia: Yes.
UnknownUser17: Check again.
Nadia: You’re paranoid.
UnknownUser17: Humor me.
Something unsettled her enough that she actually stood. The apartment floor felt cold beneath her bare feet as she crossed toward the bedroom. Everything looked normal in her room: her ginger cat sleeping on the bed, a half-empty cup of tea on the desk, closed window. Then she froze. The window latch wasn’t locked. Nadia froze in the doorway. She always locked it. Living alone in a not-so-good neighbourhood as a girl was dangerous, she always locked her windows and door. It was part of her routine.
A chill crawled down her spine. Nadia quickly slid the latch shut before stepping back.
Her laptop notification chimed from the living room. She sat back on the sofa.
UnknownUser17: Locked now?
Every hair on her arms rose. Nadia stared at the screen. Her fingers hovered uncertainly above the keyboard.
Nadia: How did you know it was unlocked?
The typing bubble appeared. Disappeared. Then appeared again.
UnknownUser17: Lucky guess.
Bullshit.
Nadia’s heart started pounding harder. She looked toward the bedroom window again instinctively. There was nothing outside, but she couldn't shake the feeling that her caring friend might be closer than she thought.
The thought excited her.
Then her phone buzzed again.
Unknown Number: I can stay out here all night.
Nadia pressed her lips together hard. She knew what was coming next: apologies, pleading, then he would get angry and bang on her door, or find some other creative way to keep her from having a good night's sleep. Yesterday, Derek had waited in the hallway for Nadia to come home and pushed his way in.
Unknown Number: Come downstairs so we can talk.
Unknown Number: I know I hurt you, I'm sorry.
Unknown Number: I didn't mean to push you so hard. Please, just come talk to me. Please.
She couldn't believe his manipulation. Yesterday, he didn't just push her. He grabbed her by the hair and threw her into a wall. His grip on her hand left bruises. It was only when Nadia's neighbor, Zoe, a middle-aged woman, came in threatening to beat Derek with a bat that he left.
Nadia gently touched the cut above her bruised eye, then her split lip, then her aching wrist. Tomorrow was Monday, she would have to go to her classes as if everything was normal, cover her injuries like a skilled artist. Derek had never been so violent before. In that moment, with her face pressed against the wall, she thought she wouldn't get to see another day.
She tried to get rid of him after their breakup, but no matter how many times she blocked him, Derek always found another number, another account.
A new notification interrupted her thoughts.
UnknownUser17: Don’t go downstairs.
Nadia: You know I won't.
UnknownUser17: Good.
Something about the single word made heat creep strangely up her spine. Her mysterious friend was safe, protective, possessive. All the feelings she had were too intense for someone she’d never met.
But God, it felt nice. Maybe that was pathetic. Maybe loneliness rewired people, but she didn't care. She needed all the comfort she could get.
Outside, headlights suddenly flashed through her rain-covered windows. Then shouting. Nadia startled, confused.
Did Mike get into an argument with some random person? she thought
A car door slammed. Another sound followed, dull and violent.
She hurried toward the window, startled, and carefully pulled the curtain aside. Two figures stood near the parking lot entrance. One of them was Derek, but the other man she didn't recognize. He wore all black. He was tall, with broad shoulders, but she couldn't see his face, as it was hidden beneath a hood.
Before Nadia could process what she was seeing, the hooded man grabbed Derek violently and slammed him against the side of a car. Derek shouted something she couldn’t hear through the storm. The hooded man leaned close enough to say something into his ear, then punched him hard enough to send him collapsing onto the wet pavement.
The man disappeared from her view, but Derek was still on the floor, cradling his face in his palm.
Nadia stumbled backward from the window immediately. What the hell was happening? Her laptop chimed again.
UnknownUser17: Looks like he finally left.
Nadia’s blood ran cold. She turned toward the glowing laptop screen. The room suddenly felt too small for her panic.
Nadia: Who the hell are you?
No response.
Nadia: Answer me.
UnknownUser17: Someone who worries about you.
Fear should’ve been the only thing she felt, but underneath the panic, she was relieved. She didn't have to worry about Derek tonight, and she could feel herself get incredibly sleepy all of a sudden.
As she collapsed on her bed, she couldn't help but think about her friend, her protector. A wave of goosebumps took over her delicate skin, and as she fell asleep, she was thinking about her protector next to her in bed, and all the dirty things she wanted him to do to her.
