Page 43 of Psychotic Nightmares

And yes, that woman got fired.

So watching her smack the door again and again screaming at Julian to open the door, this is a side of her I’ve never seen, but boy do I want to see it again. Julian needs to be put in his place by someone other than the people who work under him. Yes, we can get Big Boss involved, but that normally makes things a lot worse. Natalie groans in frustration, throwing her hands up in the air and starts walking back to us.

“I think so, bud.” Why did he follow us here? He knows she is safe and I won’t let anyone harm her. Unless he lost all trust in me now.

Fuck, did he find out about us?

“Can you take me back to my apartment please.” Natalie growls after fastening her seatbelt. I give her an apprehensive look. I don’t know if I should or not after last time. Her expression softens. “I promise I’m not going to do anything. I just don’t want to be around him right now.”

I stop outside her apartment building, she says a quiet thank you before running, literally running, through the door and up the stairs. Just as we see her get to her floor, Julian sprints past the car and gives chase.

Fuck, fuck, fuck. What should I do?

twelve

Natalie

He seriously followed us to breakfast. What am I, some sort of child that needs to be watched over twenty-four fucking seven. I told him I needed my space and he doesn’t respect that. Well enough is enough. Today I am going back to my apartment and he can’t stop me.

“Open this fucking door, Julian.” I sneer through the part openwindow when I try to open the door and discover it’s locked. He shakes his head, refusing to look my way. What a fucking child. I hit the door, again and again, enough times for my palms to sting and redden. I get some looks from strangers in the street, but I ignore them as I try to get a masked Julian to open the door. “Fine.” I go back over to Dante’s car and jump into the passenger seat. “Can you take me back to my apartment please.”

As soon as Dante parks up outside, I get my keys ready and run through the doors, up the stairs and into my home. Making sure to put the chain across the front door and locking the fire escape. I’m not making the same mistake twice.

I don’t make a sound as I start smashing up the cameras. A loud crash comes from the front door. But I carry on with what I have to do, going from one camera to the next.

“Let me in.” He growls.

“No.” I shout back. Silence followed. Did he actually leave? Glass shattering breaks the silence, I guess not.

Sprinting to the front door, I slide the chain across and make my way back down the stairs. Since seeing what he did to Howard, I’m taking his first threat seriously. The threat of making all my nightmares seem like dreams. I forgot about it until he reminded me when he told Dante that I knew what was going to happen. And now I’m no longer in a hospital bed, I guess he’s making good on his promise.

“Natalie.”

I ignore his calls and make it to the exit of the building. Dante is still parked there, but he has Nico with him. I can’t put the child in any type of danger. He leans across to open the door but I shake my head, gesturing toward Nico in the back. He tenses his jaw, but nods in understanding. I slip off my shoes, and start to run down the street. I get all of maybe ten feet before I’m being lifted. “I warned you.” Julian growls.

“And I told you I needed space. So I guess we both broke our promises.” I spit out angrily.

“You tried to kill yourself. I followed you while you were on a date with another man, there’s a difference.” People are starting to stare at us, yet no-one tries to help me. I guess I’ll have to help myself. I start to smack his back, telling him again to put me down. My palms were already hurting from hitting the car, but now they’re extremely painful. I start hitting him with my heels instead. The sound of leather and wood hitting against his thin tee makes me wince, but I have to get him to put me down somehow.

This side of Julian is different to the one I am used to. This side is scary and dangerous. This side doesn’t want to protect me. This side wants to hurt me.

“Julian, we aren’t together. So why would you care if I was on a date or not.” He opens his car door and throws me in. I catch my head on the door frame as he does, but instead of asking if I’m okay, he slams the door on me. I try to open it but can’t, he doesn’t wait for me to put my belt on before driving away. “Okay, I’m sorry for going out this morning.” I try to soothe his mood. “I’m sorry Julian.” Silence.

Looking in the mirror at the small cut on my head, I notice Dante is following close behind us.

Shit.

I take out my phone to message him telling him I’m okay, only for it to be snatched out of my hand and thrown out of the window. “Are you fucking crazy?” I scream. “Why would you do that? What if I need to get hold of you in an emergency?” More silence. “Julian, this isn’t right. You can’t keep me hostage.”

“Wanna bet? Now shut up and be still. You’re distracting me while I’m trying to drive.”

Stay still.

Be quiet.

Be a good girl.

Stay still.