#Chapter 67: Biggest Fan
Nina
I woke up the next morning after a mostly sleepless night to the sound and smell of someone cooking breakfast in the kitchen. The sun was shining through the slats of my blinds as the birds chirped outside; somehow, I had fallen asleep the night before despite the terror running through every fiber of my being. I knew someone was watching me. Whoever it was had gone so far as to climb up into the tree outside my window and watch me as I laid in bed. This couldn’t go on for any longer –I had to do something.
Despite the fact that I wanted to hide in my room all day after being humiliated by Lisa the day before and likely becoming the laughing stock of the entire university, I knew I would have to venture out today to report this stalker. I climbed out of bed, splashed some cold water on my face, and headed out into the kitchen.
Jessica glanced up from the stove, where she was flipping pancakes, to give me an apologetic look. “Morning,” she said. “Are you feeling better? Ready to talk about what happened yesterday? I saw the pictures on Twitter, and I just want you to know that I’ll kill Lisa if you want me to.”
I shook my head. “No,” I replied. “It’s okay. I’ll deal with it.” Jessica sighed, then pointed to the stack of mail on the counter. “There’s a letter for you “A letter for me?” I asked, confused 1 wasn’t expecting any mail.
I rifled through the pile of mail until I found an envelope with my name on it I opened it and read the contents My heart started racing, and my hands trembled.
“As I’m sure you’re aware, I’ve been watching you… I’ve been watching you very closely, Nina Harper. I know everything about you, even down to the brand of cereal you like to eat in the mornings: Frosted wheats, right? With a splash of almond milk? I know that you’re fooling around with someone who you shouldn’t, too. Let me put it bluntly get away from Enzo Rivers. If you don’t… Bad things are going to happen to you and all of your friends.”
My hands shook as I scanned the letter At the bottom, there was something else written. “P.S. Wouldn’t it be a shame if someone added peanut butter powder to your friend’s pancake mix?”
As I read the last line, my eyes widened. I looked up from the letter to see Jessica cut into her pancake and raise the fork to her mouth. Jessica was deathly allergic to peanuts.
“Stop!” I shouted, lunging forward and slapping the fork out of her hand. “Ow! What the fuck?!” Jessica yelled, dropping both the fork and the plate and scattering pancakes across the floor.
“There were peanuts in that,” I said breathlessly, handing Jessica the letter
Frowning, she snatched it out of my hands, her eyes widening as she read it. “That’s fucking terrifying,” she whispered. “What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to the police,” I said, turning on my heel and storming off to my room to get dressed. I shoved the letter into my bag as Jessica continued to stand in shock in the middle of the kitchen.
I walked into the police station, my heart racing with fear “Excuse me,” I said to the officer at the front desk. “I need to speak to someone about a stalker. ”
The officer looked up from his computer, raising an eyebrow. “Do you have any evidence of this stalker?”
“Yes,” I replied, reaching into my bag.” I got this threatening letter this morning.”
But as I reached for the letter, my hand found nothing. The letter was gone. The officer stared at me with a skeptical expression on his face as I frantically dug through my bag for the missing letter. “Miss, if you don’t have any evidence, there’s not much we can do–”
“No, wait!” I said, grabbing my phone. “I have pictures that they took of me through my bedroom window “I scrolled through my phone, searching for the pictures, for the texts the stalker sent, but they were nowhere to be found, just like the letter. “I swear they were here,” I said, feeling panicked.
The officer looked at me annoyedly “I this is some sort of practical joke-
“But I did have evidence, I insisted.” The pictures were right here on my phone”
“I’m sorry, miss, but without any proof, we can’t file a report, the officer said, not even bothering to look at me anymore. “You’ll need to come back when you have something more concrete.
I felt tears welling up in my eyes as I stammered in front of him. The officer sighed. “I think it’s time for you to go home, miss,” he said “Come back when you have some real evidence .
I left the police station feeling defeated and alone. The stalker had somehow erased the pictures from my phone and stolen the letter from my bag. This was all too calculated, whoever this stalker was knew exactly what they were doing …And they were following me very closely.
There was no way that the police would help me as things stood now. I would have to take this into my own hands. As I walked back to campus, feeling as though I was being watched the entire time, I called Enzo. Thankfully, he picked up after a few rings.
“Hey, Nina. What’s up?” he asked.
“Enzo, I really need your help,” I said, glancing over my shoulder nervously. Can you meet me somewhere?”
Enzo paused for several moments before he answered. “What’s going on?
“One of your fans is stalking me,” I replied, my voice shaking. “I don’t have any evidence because they destroyed it somehow.”
“What?” Enzo exclaimed, sounding puzzled. “That’s insane. Are you okay?”
“I’m scared,” I admitted, tears streaming down my face as I continued to walk.
“Okay, don’t worry,” Enzo replied. I could hear him moving around on the other end; it was comforting knowing that he was here for me. “I’ll help you. We’ll figure this out together Where do you want to meet?”
“The library?” I suggested. “It’s usually pretty quiet there, and no one will bother us.”
“That sounds good. I’ll meet you there in twenty minutes.”
Enzo was waiting for me at a corner table in the library when I arrived. Thankfully, the library was mostly empty. A couple of students gave me dirty looks, but I knew at least that I would be safe from their bullying with both Enzo and the librarian around.
“Thank you for meeting me,” I whispered as I sat down across from him. “Tell me everything,” he said softly, reaching across the table to squeeze my hand.
I explained everything about the strange texts, the photos sent to me, the letter, and the pancakes. When I was finished, Enzo’s brow was furrowed. He had his hands clasped in front of him on the table and looked down at them with a puzzled look on his face
“I know it sounds crazy,” I said, my voice shaking, “but you have to believe me.”
Enzo looked up from his hands then, his eyes flashing red momentarily.
“Of course I believe you, Nina.”
