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My legs shake with relief as I continue, my hand wrapping around the door handle and pulling it open. Stepping through, my eyes take in the bustling bookstore as students shop for books, apparel, and other supplies.
After successfully finding my textbooks, I send a text to Vanessa, letting her know I picked up her books. Setting my heavy basket of books beside my feet, I wait impatiently in the long line. When I’m finally unloading my books on the cashier’s countertop, I swallow the lump of guilt as I swipe Vanessa’s card. I still can’t believe she’s paying for my books, or rather, her parents are. I bite my lip, looking around nervously when I have to scribble her dad’s signature on the electronic machine. When the clerk smiles at me and puts the receipt in one of my bags, I breathe a sigh of relief.
No one has arrested me for fraudulent credit card use yet. Now I need to get the hell out of here before they do.
Snatching my bags from the counter, I give the cashier a fake smile, then proceed to the store exit.
There’s a nagging worry that sits heavy in my stomach, beneath my fears of getting arrested for using Vanessa’s credit card.
Why would I think I saw William Anderson? He was so vivid like he was really standing there. After all this time, it doesn’t seem like a random hallucination that I’d be having.
Did I really see him? Has William returned to terrorize me again?
Chapter five
Irelynn
August25,2018,4:00p.m.
I push through the exit, then let my body sag against the bookstore wall. The bright sun pounds relentlessly on my overheated skin.
Straightening, I set my bag of books down, pulling my camisole top away from my sweaty back. Gripping my bags by the handles, I pick them up and resume my trek across campus to the parking lot.
Ambling along the sidewalk, I head to the commuter parking lot where my vehicle is, taking in the light blue sky with the cotton candy clouds lazily floating across the sky and the various flowers and bushes surrounding the campus. Nostalgia grips me that summer is coming to an end, despite autumn being my favorite season.
I pass the enormous, gothic-looking Madison Art and Humanities Center. Beside it sits the newly renovated Richards Science Complex. I catch a glimpse of the campus greenhouse behind it.
Continuing onward, I spot the Booth Business college to my right, the most modernized campus building, with three sets of stairs leading to the entrance. My eyes study the crisp lines of the building, enjoying the peacefulness of walking on the sidewalk without being jostled by throngs of students or having someone stop right in front of me.
In fact, it’s so calm and quiet, I haven’t spotted anyone.
Suddenly, arms grip me, squeezing me tightly against their body. A whimper comes out of me as his familiar smell wafts over me, spice and wood.
He drags me from the sidewalk, my feet tripping and stumbling through the grass, as I struggle against him.
Whirling my body around, he pushes my back against the rigid, unyielding brick building. The bag of books in my hands crashes to the ground with a solid thud. Hands grip my upper arms tightly, bruising my skin.
My limbs tingle, and it feels like time slows down as I come face-to-face with the man who has repeatedly haunted my nightmares.
William Fucking Anderson.
His flaxen blond hair is short and cut stylishly. His ice-blue eyes are sharp beneath his long lashes, regarding me with a smirk on his full, pink lips. He’s wearing a white button-down shirt and a pair of expensive black trousers that probably cost more than I spend on clothing in a semester.
He’d be as handsome as sin if he wasn’t fucking psychotic.
“Hello, Goldilocks. So nice to see you again.” He leans close to my face, making me nauseous.
My heart pounds in my chest as I’m frozen in place, fear and anxiety warring for dominance. I’m unable to speak, staring at him like he’s a ghost, all the color draining from my face.
I want this to be a horrible nightmare that I will wake up from at any minute.
Digging my nails into my palms, the pain convinces me this isn’t a dream, but reality.
“William, let me go!” With every ounce of strength I possess in my body, I fight against him, yet his hands don’t loosen. Not even a little bit.
I try kicking his legs, but he dodges it.
William bares his teeth at me, malice in his gaze. “Stop fucking trying to kick me, Irelynn.”
