Watching

[Gabby]

A few days ago...


Gabby was gathering up what she would need for the day ahead. It was too early to be so busy but G liked his coffee and newspaper delivered before he went in to work. Part of being someone’s personal assistant was dealing with the awful hours that involved 2am cravings for clam chowder and 6am coffee runs. After shoving a few more things into an already bursting-at-the-seams bag, she stepped out of her room and into the hallway of the second floor of the Golden Ivy. As she removed the keys from her bag to lock the door, her phone rang. Thinking it was probably G calling to place another ridiculous request, Gabby fished her phone out of her coat pocket and answered it; all thoughts of locking the door left her mind as it was now occupied with preparing for the very loud and obnoxious call. All calls from G were the same: he yelled a lot and didn’t understand the finer nuances of phone conversations, so Gabby was usually left confused and with a hint of a headache after each exchange.

“Good morning, Gabby,” spoke the smooth-as-honey voice on the other end of the phone; this was definitely not G calling to place an order. That British accent tinted with malice caused Gabby’s heart to sink into the pit of her stomach. The blood drained from her face, leaving her pale. “I’ve had a lot of time to think about this moment...the moment I would get to hear your sweet voice again. So do please say something to make this moment as glorious for me as I imagined it.”

There was something wrong. That voice belonged to Noah but the words weren’t right. His lazy speech had been replaced with too proper word choices. “Noah,” was whispered out from between slightly quivering lips; he would undoubtedly be able to hear the anxiety in her voice. “What do you want?” Gabby turned to lean her back against the wall, supporting her body as her shaking legs became an uncertain pedestal.

“I just told you what I wanted, my love.” He sounded like a stark raving lunatic. It was more the soft yet chaotic tone of his voice than his actual words. It was the innocence of his words with the underlying hatred that she knew, without a doubt, was there. “I have a gift for you, my sweet. We shall speak again soon. Think of me whilst you wait.” Then there was silence.

Gabby pulled the phone from her ear and looked at the dark screen. Within moments the screen lit up once more as she heard the tinkling sound that indicated she had a text. What she saw made the breath whoosh out of her and she slid down the wall to sit upon the floor with her knees pressed tightly against her chest. She was gazing at a picture of herself looking down at her phone, leaning against the wall of the hallway at the GIT; room number 217, her room number, showed above her head. Noah knew where she was and he had just taken the picture in the few moments after he had hung up.

Gabby whispered as she waited for him to show himself, “What do you want from me, Noah?” There was no answer to that question; a stunned Gabby sat shaking upon the floor outside of her room, waiting for some other sight or sound of Noah. After fifteen minutes she was finally able to move past her paralyzing fear and leave the hallway.

Noah watched as Gabby finally recovered and retreated from the hallway in front of her room; a sinister smile twisted upon his lips. This was only the beginning and he could barely contain the psychotic elation that flowed through his body at the prospect of watching her suffer as he had for so many months. He watched for a few moments after she was out of his line of sight then moved away from the window; there were plans to lay and no time to waste.