Bounty Hunter

Zinnia

I woke up with a splitting headache, and it didn’t help with the sun rays reflecting directly into the room and hitting my face. I squinted my face, stretching out my body and gradually opened my eyes to adjust to the sunlight.

With a groan, I ruffled my left hand through my hair, whilst my right hand reached out to grab my phone from the bedside cupboard. I knocked something down that made me sit up with a frown.

“What in the-” I murmured at the pill on my bedside cupboard. My eyes dart to the note next to the pill. I adjusted myself on the bed and pulled the covers over my body before reading the note.

‘You’re awake. You must be having a headache. Drink this’Property of Nô)(velDr(a)ma.Org.

Suddenly, memories of the previous day came floating back to my mind like a bottle on the shore, and that only increased the pounding in my head.

I remember leaving Alex’s house, walking up to the intersection, getting into a car and the next time I opened my eyes, I was tied up in a room, face to face with my stalker. He teased me, only to leave me high and wanting, and then I passed out again.

The only logical reason would be that he drugged me. He must have followed me to Alex’s house and lurked around until I left.

However, I willingly got into his car.

The fact that he drugged and abducted me should make me scared for my life. I still didn’t know what he was capable of. Somehow, part of me wanted to know if it meant having to feel his touch on me once again. The grin on his face, the smugness in his voice and his touch on my skin were imprinted on my mind.

‘Oh, Zinnia! You’re fucked!’ I groaned internally.

Sighing, I quickly popped the pill into my mouth, ignoring the bottle of water on the ground and walked into my living room.

I gasped at the figure rummaging through my empty fridge. It wasn’t my stalker, I would recognise his silhouette even if I just woke up from sleep.

More so, the figure looked too feminine. Regardless, crazy women are roaming the streets. It doesn’t hurt to be cautious.

I swallowed a gulp and gradually picked up the bat I kept behind my bedroom door and tiptoed towards the figure. Just as I raised my bat aiming for their head, I came face-to-face with Alex who screamed and dropped whatever she’d taken out from the fridge, making me scream too.

“Alex? What are you doing here?” I inquired, gradually coming down with the bat.

“Jesus, Zinnia! You scared the fuck out of me. And what do you mean what am I doing here? You asked me to come over remember?” Alex replied with a frown on her face, stooping to pick up the apple that had fallen. She walked past me to the sink.

“I did?” I furrowed my brows, following behind her as she walked over to my tattered couch. Alex plunged into the couch with ease, unburdened by its state.

“Yes, you did. I read your note. I thought of calling but I remembered I don’t have your number, and I hoped we’d meet at work. But you sent me a message telling me you weren’t feeling too good and asked if I could come over” Alex explained and the more I listened to her, the more I got confused.

“Why do you look surprised?” Alex tilted her head and gazed up at me, taking a huge bite of the apple.

“It’s just… It’s just I can’t remember sending you a message,” It was true. I remembered the events of yesterday and I know for a fact I didn’t send Alex any message. Unless…

“Obviously. You were passed out when I came. With all the fuss I caused, I wondered how that didn’t wake you up. By the way, do you always leave a spare key under your mat? That’s the least safe place to keep it. Anyone would’ve guessed it.” Alex blabbed on while I tried to make sense of whatever she was saying.

My stalker must have sent Alex that message, that was the most logical reason I could come up with. That, or maybe I’d begun sleepwalking. But why? Why would he ask Alex to come over?

If he sent that message to Alex, that would mean he found compromising pictures of me.

Dammit! I excused myself and walked into my room to grab my phone. I first checked my messages. He’d erased everything. I checked the recycle bin and realised he’d done the same.

I sighed and checked my gallery. There was not a single picture of me. He’d deleted my entire album and made sure to leave only aesthetic pictures I downloaded from Pinterest of what my dream house would look like. The fact that he deleted the pictures kind of set me at ease.

I threw my phone on the bed and ruffled through my hair, uncertain of what to do.

“Zinnia? You good in there?” I heard Alex call out.

“Uh, yeah.”

“Well then, get your ass out here. We’re spending the entire day together and then we have to go to work. Anthony would eat my ear off if I don’t check in today.”

I didn’t reply to Alex’s statement and rather walked into my bathroom to freshen up. Once done, I curled my dark brown hair to give it more volume. I had no plans of fixing my hair or putting in any makeup before leaving for work.

I stared at my reflection in the mirror, Hazel eyes staring at me. From what little I could remember about my childhood, people always told me I looked like my mom. But now that I stood in front of the mirror, something I seldom do, I couldn’t see that resemblance. Maybe those people said that to compliment my mom as she was their supplier.

Taking one last look into the mirror, I sighed and walked back into the living room. Alex was curled up on the couch, dipping her hands in a bag of chips. I frowned and she gazed up at me.

“Oh, don’t worry. These aren’t from your pantry. Well, now it is. When I came over, your fridge was empty and nothing to snack on in your pantry, so I rushed to the supermarket to get some groceries,” Alex answered the question that was roaming through my thoughts.

“Oh, uh, thank you. How much did you spend so I can refund you,” I was thankful to Alex for stocking my fridge and pantry, but I hated that she didn’t ask me first. The money I had left had been budgeted and now I was about to use it for something else.

“Nonsense. Zinnia, this is what friends do. Now, come here you big baby. I can tell you need cuddles,”

A friend. She considered me a friend. I’ve never had that.

As I lowered myself into Alex’s arms, I could feel the walls I’d built over the years slowly crumble.

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