Haunting-Adeline
It’s not un l a er I take a hot shower and se le into my bed that I readhis message.UNKNOWN: The more you disobey me, the harder yourpunishment.“I’m going to find this li le dick prick,” Daya declares angrily, prac callyslamming the keys through her laptop as she types god knows what. I justfinished telling her the details of last night.I take a sip of my drink. It’s not enough, so I take another. And then endup chugging the whole thing.We’re both doing our respec ve work, but she didn’t want to leave mealone in the house now that my shadow is star ng to interact more.“Dick and prick are the same thing,” I say. She looks up, her facereflec ng my exact thoughts since last night. What is wrong with you?I shrug a shoulder. “I’m just saying. You just called him a li le dick dick.”She rolls her eyes, ignores me, and starts typing on her laptop again.Probably hacking into something. Though I can’t imagine what she couldpossibly be hacking into. Be er not be my phone. I have nudes on there.My face pales. Oh, god, what if he hacks into it and finds them? Iscramble to pick up my phone, delete every single racy picture, and thendelete them a second me from the Trash folder.Some of my anxiety eases, but not all of it. He could’ve already hackedinto it for all I know.I’m going to be obsessing over this for the rest of my life now.No cing my internal crisis, Daya focuses on me, her brow pinched withconcern. “You okay, girl?”I clear my throat. “How likely is it that he can hack into my phone andfind my nudes?” Her lip twitches and I’m two seconds away from smackingit off her face.“Baby girl, that man has probably watched you get naked in your room athousand mes now.”My eyes widen further, having not considered that yet, either.
“Oh my God.”“Why do you ask?” Daya asks, her voice full of suspicion.I roll my lips together, deba ng. At this point, the only thing holding meback from telling Daya about the texts is her impending anger.Finally building up the courage, I rush out, “Would you be able to tracean unknown number?”Her eyes slant. “Did he text you from one?”Shame creeps in. I should’ve told her this sooner, but I had a weirdprotec ve need to keep the texts to myself, just like with the police officer.Now, I realize how stupid that is when Daya is one of the best hackers inthe world. Or so she says, at least.I nod sheepishly and hand her the phone, the thread already pulled up.She snatches it from my hand, shoo ng me a heated glare, and readsthrough them.Her eyes draw back to my own, fire licking at her pupils. “You’re just nowshowing me these?”I groan. “I know, I’m a stupid bitch. I just… I don’t know, Daya. I honestlydon’t. Can you trace them?”“I don’t forgive you yet, but let me see.”I don’t worry about her anger. Daya could get bit by a snake andimmediately forgive it. She’s just playing hard to get right now.What looks like frustra on se les over her face. Her lips curve down,and as the seconds pass by, her frown deepens. She leans closer to thescreen, s ll typing a mile a second.A er a few minutes, she slaps her palms on the granite and leans back,obvious anger now on her face.“Untraceable,” is all she says.My anxiety resurfaces. “So, this man can hack into my security cameras,override them, and can clearly text me from an untraceable number.Which means he probably hacked my phone and got my nudes.”She looks up at me, and I already know my answer.“It’s possible,” she says, though her tone conveys that it’s probable.I drop my head to my laptop, surely pressing a bunch of keys, but I don’tcare right now. A creepy ass dude poten ally has my nudes. Worse, heprobably has video footage of me naked. I suppose it’s not the worst thing
- Page 94 and 95: I pull into the driveway leading in
- Page 96 and 97: looks as if he went five rounds in
- Page 98 and 99: Cracking my neck, I take another de
- Page 101 and 102: Chapter 10The Manipulatorave you he
- Page 103 and 104: He waves a hand in acknowledgment b
- Page 105 and 106: “I don’t know what to do, Daya,
- Page 107 and 108: “Honestly, Daya, I’m a li le re
- Page 109 and 110: I aim for it, sliding the door open
- Page 111 and 112: due to insufficient evidence.A lot
- Page 113 and 114: This was undoubtedly a crime of pas
- Page 115: I find myself curling deeper into t
- Page 118 and 119: Another flash of movement causes me
- Page 120 and 121: fear. But also from something else.
- Page 122 and 123: My strangled scream pierces the air
- Page 124 and 125: I roll my eyes. “Because I manipu
- Page 126 and 127: “Addie, he could s ll be here. We
- Page 129 and 130: Chapter 12The Shadowhere’s anothe
- Page 131 and 132: ones aren’t iden fiable. I imagin
- Page 133 and 134: But no one is there, despite the pe
- Page 135: The video restarts. I snarl, the cr
- Page 138 and 139: Rushing over, I grab the swinging s
- Page 140 and 141: Switching to the other note, it tak
- Page 142 and 143: I li my hand and flip him the bird.
- Page 146 and 147: in the world to happen—my body is
- Page 149 and 150: Chapter 14The Manipulatoraya put so
- Page 151 and 152: They treat it like a concert to avo
- Page 153 and 154: release a shaky breath.I have a cho
- Page 156 and 157: Chapter 15The Manipulator’m compl
- Page 158 and 159: I gasp, my eyes widening and snappi
- Page 160 and 161: “Mm,” he growls in delight. “
- Page 162 and 163: the hallway I came from.I bolt thro
- Page 164 and 165: the balls for it, but I couldn’t
- Page 166: Above him, the stars are twinkling
- Page 169 and 170: “Do you know what these mean?”
- Page 171 and 172: seeing. What I’m feeling.Slowly,
- Page 173 and 174: rips through me.I’m screaming. I
- Page 175 and 176: I can never let Daya see those mark
- Page 177 and 178: “No,” I say finally, refraining
- Page 179: “They’re going to be a problem,
- Page 182 and 183: She doesn’t know I’m hiding in
- Page 184 and 185: me she gets scared, my li le mouse
- Page 186 and 187: Chapter 18The ManipulatorNKNOWN: Yo
- Page 188 and 189: The phone lights up with an incomin
- Page 190 and 191: As if I wasn’t already burning up
- Page 192 and 193: “Fuck. Off!” I shout, enuncia n
It’s not un l a er I take a hot shower and se le into my bed that I read
his message.
UNKNOWN: The more you disobey me, the harder your
punishment.
“I’m going to find this li le dick prick,” Daya declares angrily, prac cally
slamming the keys through her laptop as she types god knows what. I just
finished telling her the details of last night.
I take a sip of my drink. It’s not enough, so I take another. And then end
up chugging the whole thing.
We’re both doing our respec ve work, but she didn’t want to leave me
alone in the house now that my shadow is star ng to interact more.
“Dick and prick are the same thing,” I say. She looks up, her face
reflec ng my exact thoughts since last night. What is wrong with you?
I shrug a shoulder. “I’m just saying. You just called him a li le dick dick.”
She rolls her eyes, ignores me, and starts typing on her laptop again.
Probably hacking into something. Though I can’t imagine what she could
possibly be hacking into. Be er not be my phone. I have nudes on there.
My face pales. Oh, god, what if he hacks into it and finds them? I
scramble to pick up my phone, delete every single racy picture, and then
delete them a second me from the Trash folder.
Some of my anxiety eases, but not all of it. He could’ve already hacked
into it for all I know.
I’m going to be obsessing over this for the rest of my life now.
No cing my internal crisis, Daya focuses on me, her brow pinched with
concern. “You okay, girl?”
I clear my throat. “How likely is it that he can hack into my phone and
find my nudes?” Her lip twitches and I’m two seconds away from smacking
it off her face.
“Baby girl, that man has probably watched you get naked in your room a
thousand mes now.”
My eyes widen further, having not considered that yet, either.
Change language