An Unwanted Gift

Content Warning: Stalking, Gore

Genre Type: Dark Romance Short

this is unedited

Tap, tap, tap. Slowly, I sit up in bed. Heart racing. Hands clammy. I take in a slow, quiet breath. My eyes dart around the darkened landscape of my room, observing the menagerie of items sprawled across its interior. Looking for something, anything amiss. Tap, tap, tap. The noise comes again, causing me to shudder, my body knowing the meaning of that sound even if my brain tries to reject it.

He said he would be coming. I just hoped it wouldn’t be so soon.

I attempt to convince my body to move from the safety of my blankets, but it refuses. My hands clutch the sheets as if they alone had the power to protect me from the beast lingering outside my home. Tap, tap, tap. This time the tinny thuds on my front door are more insistent, louder. As if knowing my hesitation—my fear— has me stuck in place. I take another deep breath and practically throw myself to my feet. They are unsteady, but they hold. I allow my gaze to drift around the room again. They are pulled towards the window. Towards the tiny sliver of moonlight peaking through my heavy duty curtains and making its way towards the edge of my bed.

Could he see through that small of a gap? Was he watching me? I swallow dryly. The light wavers as if briefly blocked by movement outside. Is he watching me? No, he can’t be. The noise sounded like it was coming from the front door… A crash against the door in question causes me to almost jump out of my skin.

My hands tremble as I click on the lamp on my bedside table, the darkness becoming far too much motivation for my racing thoughts. My footsteps echo loudly as I inch my way towards my bedroom door. Pressing my ear to the rough wood, I listen for more taps, but am greeted with only an eerie silence. My heartbeat has now become a drum in my ears. I take a deep breath to try to calm it, and despite the attempt being unsuccessful, allow my hand to slowly turn the knob. My eyes flit back to my window before I exit my room, searching for more movement, but this time the moonlight remains steady.

Turning back, a long hallway greets me. The only real thing separating me from my inevitable doom. The light of my room spills across the space, making sinister shadows in the hall’s low light. I shuffle through the length of it, each step closer causing another thrum of dread to penetrate my gut.

“Do not panic. The worst you can do is panic. Just see who it is. You can always call the cops,” I chant to myself quietly. I bite my bottom lip. Yeah right, like they will be of any help. They’ve had every opportunity to stop this.

When I finally reach the front entryway, I place my hand on the door and pull up onto my tiptoes to glance out the peephole. Then, I blink. No one stands looming on my doorstep. Instead, at its center sits an innocuous looking… present. The box is glittery and red. Its green ribbon silken and tied in a neat bow. I squint at it.

Am I seeing things? Who would leave me a present? Especially at this time of night? I glance over my shoulder, back towards my bedroom. Unless… what would he have….

Before I can think better of it, I unlatch the locks and pull open the door. The wind whips over my skin with a vengeance and I have to grit my teeth against its bite. The snow on the ground mocks my thin pajamas and bare feet as I do my best to quickly nab the present and run back into my house without being caught by the danger I swear I can feel watching me. The door slams behind me and I cringe at the noise as I quickly lock it.

Fuck. If he didn’t realize I left before he sure as hell knows it now.

On quick feet I make my way back down the hall and into my bedroom. Shutting and locking that door as well, before running over to the curtains and pulling them completely closed. Only then do I allow myself to breathe. I stare down at the glittery present in my hands and walk over to my bed. Taking a seat on its soft surface, I allow my curiosity to get the best of me. My hands are still trembling as I pull the silky ribbon loose. Even still as I pull the top off the box.

As soon as I glance at its contents, I still. Placed neatly on pretty pink tissue paper sits a teddy bear and a note.

Next time he touches you. He will be losing more than a finger.

See you soon, my little wretch and Merry Christmas

-X

Sewed to the teddy bears hands, as if to make it look like the bear was holding it in offering, is a bloody, dismembered, human finger.

I think I am going to throw up.

I shut the box and push it off of me, doing my best to erase its contents from my memory as I scramble away from it. Grabbing my phone, I hightail it towards the adjoining windowless bathroom before locking myself inside and hunching low into the bathtub.

The light of the phone illuminates tears I hadn’t even realized were streaming down my cheeks. Fuck it. I can’t wait anymore. It’s time to call Mac.