Forest Lake

Chapter 61

Emma POV

I heard everything that was going on around me. I was aware of every word and every movement. I just couldn’t make myself talk and move. I couldn’t.

Do you know that sickening feeling at the back of your neck when you just know that someone you are afraid of is standing right behind you? Do you know that shiver that goes down your spine when you know that person is going to touch you?

I couldn’t stop feeling that way. I couldn’t stop the shivers going up and down my spine. My stomach was twisting painfully, and no matter what I did or told myself, the feeling wouldn’t go away.

I had a constant feeling that he was right behind me. I had a constant feeling that he was going to grab me at any second.

I knew it wasn’t true. I felt Mason’s hands on my back and on my head. I knew I was with my brother. I knew I was sitting in the car, and the only thing behind me was a passenger seat. I knew all that, but I still couldn’t stop feeling like he was here. I could picture his hands wrapping around me. I could picture him trying to pull me away from Mason. I could picture myself screaming and trying to hold on to my brother.

But no matter what I did, he managed to pull me away.

I could hear his voice inside my head.

I told you that I would be out of jail soon. I told you that we would be together again.

I wanted to scream, but the only sound I managed to make was a quiet whimper.

Mason flinched and tightened his arms around me immediately.

“I am here.” he told me again. “It’s okay, Emmy. I am here. You are safe.”

I knew that he was here. I knew that Chris was sitting next to us. I knew that detective Perry was driving and that detective Peters was sitting in the passenger seat.

I knew that we were diving away from the station and toward the port. I knew that we were about to board the ferryboat. I knew that we were going back to school.

Yet I still couldn’t move or lift my head. I was afraid that I was going to see him running after the car. It felt like he was everywhere.

I felt the car stop. I could hear the doors opening. I felt the cold breeze on my skin when Mason stepped out of the car, holding me in his arms. He never complained. He never tried to put me down.

“We are boarding the ferryboat, Emmy.” Mason said softly. “We are going back to school. You are okay. Everything is going to be okay.”

But what if it won’t be okay? What if they let him out of prison? What if he escapes? What if he really comes back for me?

My stomach twisted painfully, and I had to gulp down the bile.

I can’t see him again. I don’t want to see him again.

Before today, I didn’t even realize how obsessed he was with me. The detectives told us his story. I knew everything he did, but it just didn’t seem real until I saw him today. It didn’t seem like it was about me. It felt like it was happening to someone else. When I helped the detectives catch him, I convinced myself that it was about Annie. I was helping Annie, and I somehow managed to convince myself that I didn’t have much to do with it. I looked like Annie, but that was it.

But after today, I knew it was about me. I didn’t look like Annie. She looked like me. Everything he did was about me. Was it because of the color of my eyes? Was it because of the color of my hair? Was it because of my skin? He said that he missed it. Why was it about my skin that he missed so much?

I couldn’t wait to go back to my room. I wanted to take a shower and scrub every inch of my skin until there was nothing left. Maybe he wouldn’t want me then. Maybe if my hair was a different color or maybe if I wore contacts in a different color, he wouldn’t want me anymore. Even if he managed to get out of prison, maybe he would just let me go if I was different. Maybe he wouldn’t take me away from Mason.

I shut my eyes tightly, trying to stop the wave of nausea that washed over me.

But the combination of my thoughts, the feeling of him being just behind me, and the rocking of the ferryboat made it impossible.

I let go of Mason abruptly. He was shocked by my sudden movement and he let go of me immediately. I managed to jump up. My legs were hurting from being in the same position for I didn’t even know how long, but I didn’t have time to focus on that.

“Emma?!” Mason called my name, but I didn’t have time to tell him anything.

I looked around, searching for the bathroom, and ran toward it when I noticed the sign.

From the corner of my eye, I could see Chris and the detectives standing up and looking at me worriedly. Chris wanted to follow me, but Mason stopped him.

“Stay!” Mason yelled at him as he followed behind me.

I opened the bathroom door and ran toward one of the stalls.

I reached the toilet just in time.

“Oh, shit.” Mason mumbled, grabbing my hair and moving it away from my face.

I didn’t eat much today, so I didn’t really have anything to throw up, but the violent spinning of my stomach just wouldn’t stop.

“It’s okay, Emmy.” Mason said as he rubbed my back soothingly.

I wanted to tell him to leave. I didn’t want him to see this. But I just couldn’t make myself speak.

My stomach spun around violently a few more times, but nothing came out.

Mason grabbed the toilet paper and handed it to me. I took it from him and placed it against my mouth. I reached out and flushed the toilet.

I wanted to sit down on the floor, but Mason pulled me up immediately.

“Come on.” he said softly. “You can’t sit here. It’s dirty.”

He led me out of the stall and toward the sink. He had another piece of toilet paper in his hand. He turned the faucet on, wet the toilet paper, and placed it on my forehead. He stood behind me and made me lean on him. He kissed my temple as he gently tapped the wet toilet paper on my forehead and cheeks.

I closed my eyes and tried to take a deep breath. It was hard. It felt like something heavy was sitting on my chest.

“Does anything hurt?” he asked me. “Does your chest hurt? Should I call doctor Chase?”

I shook my head. The feeling in my chest wasn’t because of my heart. It was because I was terrified.

Nobody can touch you, Emma. You are mine. I will be out of here soon, and I will come back for you. I promise. Nobody can have you. Not even your brother. You don’t belong to him. You belong to me.

I remembered his words and a quiet sob escaped me.

“No, no, no, Emma.” Mason said immediately.

He threw away the wet toilet paper and turned me around. He wrapped his arms around me and kissed the top of my head.

“I am here.” he said quietly. “Nothing will happen to you, Emma. I will never let anything happen to you.”

But what if Mason couldn’t help me? What if nobody could help me? What if he took me away?

“Will he take me away, Mason?” I managed to ask.

Mason froze for a second. I wasn’t even sure he heard me. My voice was very quiet and raspy.

“God, no, Emma.” he said, tightening his arms around me. “He will never take you away. I will never let him do that. He will rot in jail for the rest of his life.”

I hoped that Mason was right. I hoped that I would never have to see him again.

But a scared voice inside my head was screaming at me that he would find me and take me away. It was screaming at me that I couldn’t escape him. It was screaming at me that, no matter what I did, he would always find me.