Just then, I heard my phone ding, notifying me that I got a text, the name reading, “(***) *** **** unknown.”
I opened the text, it reading, “Guess who? xx”
I knew then exactly who it was because I had only given out my number once and that was to Lee, but I decided to play around a bit by saying, “Is it Santa Claus?”
I sent the message, lying flat on my back now. Seconds later, my phone dinged again. This time text message reading, “If you want then yes. xx”
I didn’t really understand the “xx” but went with it anyway. “I think I like Lee better ;)”
Not even two minutes after sending, it I had a reply. “How do you know my name?! xx”
I could tell he was messing with me so I went along with it. “How’d you get my number?”
He replied, “How about dinner tomorrow night my place? xx”
Once I read the message, I read it over and over not believing that he would ask that right out of the blue.
“Random much?” I sent it, wondering why a man, like Lee, would want me over at his house.
“Maybe a little but no, what’s your answer, ma’am? Xx”
I thought about it, did I really want to go to a stranger’s house? No, not a stranger’s house but yes to Lee’s. Was this a bad idea? Probably. But what’s holding me back? Nothing. So I replied with, “Sure sounds great! What time?”
And he answered with, “seven, see ya then xx”
So I was now having dinner with a total complete stranger who happened to be smoking hot. Wonderful.
Chapter 43
It was currently 6:15 pm, and I was just now starting to get ready.
My hair was wrapped up tightly in a blue towel while it air dries a bit. I decided to start my makeup, just barely applying foundation under my eyes then moving on to my brows. I’d always had full brows so I just brushed the big bushes out and moved on to the eyeshadow.
I did a smoky eye and applied a thick black line above my lashes and on my waterline. After one coat of mascara, I was done and moving on to my hair. I blew dried it, my natural curls falling loosely right above my breasts. I put some oil on my hair to make it shine. It seemed to do the trick. Now I just needed to find something to wear.
I walked over to my small closet, which was in need of a light because you can’t see anything in here. I ripped out dresses and lace tops, everything seeming not good enough for this little date I was going on in less than ten minutes. My royal blue dress stood out from the rest so I picked it up, taking it off the hanger and slipping the silk-like material on. It hugged my curves then flared out at the bottom which ends a couple of inches above the knee. I took out a pair of black flats, since me and heels do not mix.
There’s a knock on the door, and I knew exactly who it was. I walked to the entrance, taking my time so I don’t seem too eager. I opened the door to find Lee standing there in all black with the front of his shirt unbuttoned down to the middle of his stomach, where tattoos are visible.
“Well, don’t you look stunning!” he complimented me, my cheeks turning red.
“You too,” I said back.
“You ready for a night with Stiles?” That sounded wrong.
But I just brushed it off saying, “styles?” I was confused.
“Yes, Stiles. My last name is Stiles,” he filled me in.
So, Lee Stiles. I felt like something was just missing there, but I pushed the thought aside and grabbed my coat, locking the door behind me.
Lee opened the passenger door for me and I slipped in his old truck, buckling my seat belt. He did the same and started the vehicle, and it roared to life.
“So, where to?” I asked, glancing over at him.
“It’s a surprise,” he answered.
I didn’t try and get the answer out of him, knowing we’d be there soon enough.
Ten minutes later, we pulled up to a cute little restaurant that is located between two brick buildings, the name reading, “Cobbler Cafe.” We got out, walking side by side to the door.
It was incredibly small but very cute. Only a few tables lined the walls, pictures hung on the brick, and the smell coming from the kitchen was amazing. We took a seat by the door, us being the only people in here. A waitress with short brown hair came, walking over with two menus in hand.
“Hello, I’m Missy. Welcome to Cobbler Cafe. Can I start you off with something to drink? Maybe a coke or sweet tea?” the bubbly girl asked, her ray of happiness bringing my mood up a notch.
“I’ll have a sweet tea,” I answered the young girl.
“And I’ll have the same,” Lee added.
Missy ran off to the back, leaving me and Lee to scan the menus for something good to eat. Everything looked great, to be honest.
“Would you maybe want to share a large, thin crust pizza? I’ve had them before and they’re fantastic!” He smiled widely at me.
“That sounds great,” I agreed to the pizza.
Lee ordered our food when Missy came back with our drinks.
“So tell me about yourself,” he asked, staring at me.
I thought for a moment. What would interest him? There’s really not much to me since he already knows where I work so I had to think hard on this question.
“Honestly, there’s really not much to me,” I answered, giving up on what I could tell him.
He looked at me thoughtfully. “There must be something you can tell me.”
“There really isn’t anything. I’m twenty-three years old, I enjoy my job as a therapist, and I have a younger brother who is fourteen, named Ben.” That’s all I could think of on the spot. Boring, yes. But at least it’s something.
“Well I’m twenty-six, I currently work at this little music store in the mall, and I have no siblings,” he told me.
“It must have been boring growing up with no brothers or sisters.”
I don’t know what I would have done without Ben. I loved taking care of him when he was a baby.
“Actually, I had a younger sister but she died.”
I instantly felt bad for asking, that must have been awful.
“Oh, I’m so sorry.”
“It’s fine, really. It happened a long time ago.” He frowned.
It was silent till our food came. Missy happily set the pizza on the small table, and we ate in silence, neither one of us knowing what to say. I regretted ever asking him about siblings.
Lee got up and paid Missy for the food. I walked out to the car, knowing the ride home would probably be awkward as well. He came walking towards the car saying, “Let’s go for a walk.”
I agreed, following him down the vacant walkway, the night cool breeze piercing through my thin coat. I should have brought something warmer since it was November.
“I’m sorry for making dinner so awkward. Just... When my sister is brought up, it just brings back bad memories.” He finally spoke up.
“Cassie, I think you’re the most beautiful, smart, and kindhearted girl I’ve ever known and I just want you to know that.”
My heart melted at his sweet words, my cheeks blushing. “Thank you, Lee. And I think you’re a very wonderful man that I can’t wait to get to know more of.” He smiled at me. Not just any smile but a true, genuine smile.
“Thank you, Cass.”
We walked hand in hand in the small park with only the moon and the occasional light pole. It was peaceful out here, so quiet.
“I hope you’ll go on another date with me,” Lee said after the silence.
“Well I believe I get to pick the next place,” I said smiling at him.
We stopped on a bench in front of a water fountain, the liquid frozen from the winter air. Lee looked deeply at me, putting one hand on my cheek, caressing it. He leaned in and I panicked. Was he really going to kiss me?
No, he couldn’t. I pulled back, standing from my sitting position.
“Well, it’s getting late. We better go.”
“Oh, okay.” We walked back awkwardly.
Why did I have to do that? I bet he kisses amazingly.
We get in his truck, the ride home silent. He walked me up to my apartment and stopped at the door saying, “I… I,” he began to speak but couldn’t seem to finish what he was going to say.
“Cassandra—Dang it,” he cursed at himself before grabbing my face and pushing me against my apartment door.
Chapter 44
I was shocked at first as his warm lips move against mine. His lips played with mine as I stood there, limp from shock. My brain finally kicked in, telling me to kiss the man back. I put my left hand on his chest and my right somehow got tangled in his curly locks. We kissed for a good twenty seconds before we both pulled away. Lee rested his forehead on mine as our breaths collided. His eyes locked with mine before giving me one last quick kiss before leaving without a word. I stood there in utter shock as I was left alone outside my apartment.
Did Lee really just kiss me? Did I really get a kiss by this smoking hot man? The way his lips moved with mine was unlike anything I’d ever felt before. The tingly feeling that his lips left on mine is a feeling I wouldn’t mind having all the time.
A gust of wind brought me back to reality. I unlocked my door and headed for my bedroom. I took off my coat, throwing it on my duvet. When it landed, a small folded-up piece of paper fell out of it. I tilted my head at it walking over to my bed, picking the thin white slip of paper up. I unfolded it and read.
“Let’s do this again sometime — H.” I read it over and over.
“H?” Who’s that? Lee must have put in it my pocket because I hadn’t been with anyone else today; so instead of going to bed, I grabbed my laptop off of my decks and pull up Google People. I typed in Lee Stiles. About two hundred people popped up. I looked through them, none of the men being my Lee.
There’s a website that lets you describe the person you’re looking for so I clicked on it and filled out the entry boxes. Once done, I read over what I had written. “Male, brown curly hair, green eyes, height around 6'3.Name: Lee Stiles." I pushed enter, and the website was now loading.
New men with that description popped up, only twenty men showed. I read through them. Some were obviously a no or their age didn’t match Lee’s. After going through all of them, the website soon changed and sent me to a newspaper article with the headline reading, “Hunter Lee Stiles charged with kidnapping of Cassandra and Ben Lowe.”
My mouth dropped as I saw the photo placed below. It’s a picture of me and Ben at a gas station with Lee. It’s obvious that the picture was from a security camera. I finished reading the article, my head full of all sorts of questions. This couldn’t be Lee, it just couldn’t be! He was so nice and sweet.
“Oh, God. I let the man who kidnapped me and my brother kiss me.” I couldn’t believe what I was saying even though I knew it was true.
I pushed on another link which leads me to yet another article about him. “Hunter Stiles sent to prison for six years was released today, November 21.” The day he was released was also the day he showed up at my work, he came straight to me.
“Hunter Stiles went into prison as a kidnaper and possible murderer, further crimes are not being said requested by Mr. Stiles himself. The guards at the prison say he came out a changed man, you would never thought he had done all those awful things,” the reporter said as I watch a short YouTube video.
“Cassandra’s family was contacted earlier today before his release, warning them that he was out. We asked how Cassandra was, wondering how she is doing. They replied with, ‘She’s doing great. The car accident she was in with Mr. Stiles caused her some memory loss so she doesn’t recall a thing about the kidnapping with her and her brother.’”
I couldn’t believe all these years I’d been wondering what happened to me and Ben and I finally find out but this way? Really? An article?!
Were my parents ever going to tell me? Is Lee coming after me again? Is that why he’s trying to get close to me so he can just kidnap me again? So many questions were spinning in my head, I just didn’t know where to begin.
I put my laptop away, no longer wanting to see any more about this. I lay down in bed with my clothes still on but at this point I didn’t care. All I could think about before I fell asleep was, whatever I do, don’t fall for Hunter Lee Stiles.
* * *
I woke up to the sound of my phone buzzing on my desk beside me. I grabbed it, answering before I even look at the name. The voice on the other end spoke with a deep rasp, and I knew exactly who it was.
“L-Lee,” I stuttered his middle name.
“Cassie! Good morning! I’m so sorry for running off so quick last night,” he spoke shyly through the phone.
“Oh, it’s alright,” I said.
“Well I thought, maybe, we could hang out later?”
I knew I couldn’t say yes but how could I say no? “I, uh... Hunt—I mean Lee. I don’t think we need to talk anymore.” I was screwed. I heard movement on the other end before the slam of a door.
“I’m coming over.” And with that he hung up.
I hurried off of my bed, knowing I was in deep shit. I grabbed my baseball bat and my bottle of pepper spray and waited on the couch for him to arrive.
Chapter 45
I sat quietly on the couch alone, playing with my hands still not believing that Lee, I mean Hunter, kidnapped me and Ben. I wished I could remember more of the day he came into my life.
I knew it was the last day of school and I was mad at my mother because I had to watch Ben while they were going to Ghana. I remembered them leaving and my mother asking me if I could handle being alone with Ben. Of course I just rolled my eyes replying with a “yes, mother” but after that I couldn’t recall the babysitter ever showing up.
I had been having these dreams, vivid ones about me at some kind of big building with girls in little to no clothes and men shouting as they beat a young girl. When I wake up from these dreams, I’m drenched with sweat and shaking. Last night it was different, though, this time I was in a car with a man. He had dark hair with big brown eyes, he was gorgeous but he seemed almost mad? Crazy? Maybe, I really don’t know what was wrong with him but someone was chasing us in a car and that’s when the dark-haired man drove us over the bridge, and right when our car hit the water, I woke up to the sound of my phone ringing.
It’s silent for a while. I myself was having trouble thinking of anything to worry about, but soon there’s a knock on the door, more like a banging.
“Cassie, let me in!” I heard Hunter’s voice yell through the hard wood.
I slowly rose from my sitting position on the couch and walked slowly towards the door.
“Cass, I’m not going to hurt you. I promise.”
I was almost to the door now. “I don’t believe you!” I yelled. Tears started to build up.
“Please, Cassie. Give me a second chance. I won’t hurt you, you know that, right?”
My hands were shaking and my breathing was far from normal. “How can I trust you? You’ve hurt me and my family so much! Why should I trust you?” Tears were on the verge of pouring down in my face even though I hadn’t even seen the man that caused them today.
“I know it’s hard but you just have to trust me,” he pleaded. “Please, Cass.”
I sat the baseball bat down and laid the pepper spray on the table beside the door. My hands came in contact with the lock, slowly undoing it until a click could be heard. I turned the knob hesitantly and stepped away from the door, turning my back to him before my eyes came in contact with his. I heard footsteps, then a door shutting. The floor creaked as his weight balanced between boards. A hand placed itself on my shoulder but I flinched away from it softly saying, “Don't touch me.” The hand removed itself from me and then the clearing of a throat sounded.
“Cassie—” Hunter spoke, resting his large hand back where I just said to remove it from.
“I said, don’t touch me,” I spoke, trying to keep cool and hold back the tears
which were still trying to pour down my face.
“Cassandra, please listen to me!” he pleaded, turning me around by my shoulders.
I refused to look him in the eyes though.
“Look at me. Please,” he spoke softly. I kept my gaze on the hard wood.
“Fine,” he breathed out, gently grabbing my face to make me look at him. My hair cascaded over my pale skin as my green eyes locked with his for a mere second before I closed them.
“I know there is nothing I can say or do for you to forgive me—”
“You’re right, there isn’t. So leave. I don’t want you here,” I said, barely holding back the tears. I pulled away from his grasp only for him to grab at my waist.
“Stop touching me! Don’t you see you’re not wanted here?” I yelled, turning to face him. My breathing was heavy and my face was probably red from anger and hurt.
“I—”
“You lied! You hurt me and my family. You took away my brother’s leg!” I screamed at him but I didn’t care, not one bit. He deserved it.
“Cassandra, listen to me!” He grabbed my shoulders, shaking me. “I’m sorry—”
“No, you’re not—” I stopped mid-sentence as his hand raised from his side coming right to my left cheek. My eyes widened and so did his, but right as he was inches away he stopped, and that’s when the tears poured.
I broke down, crying as everything slowly started to come back. The way he hit me and Ben and yelled at us for nothing, when he shot at us in the woods and he missed me but hit my brother, when we tried to escape fr60 him by crawling out the back window when the car broke down, and the warehouse where girls were forced to entertain and have sex with men they’d never met before. Everything came back in one big flashback.
“I wasn’t going to hit you,” he said in panic as he noticed the horrified expression I had plastered on my face.
I just turned away from him, running over to the door, but he grabbed me by the waist, pulling me to him.
Psycho Sitter: Mystery/Thriller Page 14
