His Obsession

1: good night



¤¤¤

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Please read the warnings before reading this book! This book is very dark. It is not your usual kidnapping book. If you cannot handle it, that's okay. Find another book.
♡♡♡

¤¤¤

"The Phoenix Police Department are looking for suspects in the murder case of Abigail Smith. If you have any information you are encouraged to call the number at the bottom of the screen. Authorities have no current leads"

Another missing woman. The fourth to be exact, well as far as we know. Phoenix has another twisted individual on the loose, should I be afraid? Maybe. I fit the description of all four of the previous victims. But, in this city this is common place. So instead of letting fear over take me, I do what I always do and start my day.

If only I knew how scared I should've been.

After exiting the bathroom I make my way into the kitchen to start my daily addiction. No, not coffee. Tea. I couldn't live without it. Well, maybe I could. But why would I want to? And here I go rambling about tea. After it's finished I add my honey and go to find my other honey. A golden lab. She's a sweet old girl and the only part of my old life I have left. I find her asleep in her bed, and decide to not wake her. Instead I give her a pat, fill her food and water bowls, then head out to start my day.

Putting my headphones in to try and enjoy the walk to the bus stop in the scorching heat.

If only I paid more attention to my surroundings..

The bus luckily arrives on time today. I do a silent cheer knowing my boss won't be yelling at me as soon as my foot steps in the door. I work at a Café while doing online schooling. Unfortunately I get stuck with most of the work, and the over time I don't get paid for. But I try not to complain as I desperately need this job. I remind myself that once I finish school, I will be somebody. Nobody will scream at me over coffee and a bagel again. My manager won't brush past me just so he can touch me. Ill be able to afford clothes and shoes without holes. I won't be looked down on. Most importantly, I will be helping people. Which is something I longed for growing up.

My bus ride ends, I thank the driver and hop off making my way inside the Cafe. I slip my apron on, heading to the register to greet costumers. I am in the process of taking a woman's order when I feel eyes on me, normally I would ignore such a thing. People stare, ya know? But this didn't feel like a normal stare. This one made goose bumps pimple my flesh, and sent a shiver down my spine. My eyes quickly look up, only to see nobody there besides the typical angry woman, waiting to order.

*snap snap*

"Excuse me, miss, are you listening to me?" The woman in front of me states.

"Yes ma'am, sorry about that. Can I take your order?"

She huffs in response and orders, mumbling under her breath about how unprofessional I am. This is the type of thing I am looking forward to no longer putting up with. Society thinks servers are beneath them, that they can take their frustrations out on us. I guess they don't realize without us they wouldn't have their coffees, bagels, and anything else unless they got off their ass to make it themselves. Can you imagine these people having to do that? Cause I cannot.

But, until I can quit this place and never look back, I do what I always do. Apologize, smile, and work through it.

It was almost the end of my shift when a man came in, much to my displeasure as the machines had already been cleaned, the counters in the process of being wiped down.

Without glancing up I greet him, asking for his order. The deep, gravely voice that comes out makes me freeze. I slowly look up, and feel the goose bumps pimpling my flesh again.

"Hi, Layla. Black coffee, large."

Such simple words, so why is my body having this reaction? I couldn't tell you if this man was attractive. He is tall, and built but the sunglasses and hood covering his face make it hard to see anything else. Yet, my body feels strange. Almost as if danger is lurking, yet also yearning to ignore the signs and let it take me.

"Yes Sir, it'll be right out"

He smirks at this, walking to the end of the counter. I mentally scold myself not knowing why I am behaving this way. It's just a regular man wanting a coffee, Layla. Pull yourself together.

I make the man his coffee, heading to the end of the counter. I can feel his eyes burning into me. He must be really desperate for this coffee. Why else would he be staring at me so intensely?

"Here you go Sir. Enjoy your night."

He again smirks. Does this man not know how to smile normally? Or say thank you? He heads towards the door, turning back to look at me.

"This will be a very good night." He says quietly before opening the door and stepping out. I raise my eyebrow and stare at the door. That was odd. But, do I dwell on it? No. I just want to get home. I start cleaning the machines, again, might I add while humming to myself.

I should've been paying attention to the dark figure outside the window...

I finish up, remove my apron, and grab the keys. The bus isn't running this late, since I got stuck closing the Cafe, as usual. I wouldn't mind as much if my feet didn't feel like they were going to break. But what's a girl to do? Buy a car? Hah. With the 50 bucks in my bank account? I don't think so. Locking up, I begin my journey home. Putting my headphones in, I hum to the beat, kicking rocks as I go. Slowly approaching the end of the street, then taking a left down the alley to make it home quickly.

Half way down the alley, I hear crunching behind me. I keep walking normally, figuring this is only another person trying to get home. That is until I hear the feet picking up their pace, and the feeling of dread punches me in the stomach. Nausea working it's way through me. What would a normal person do? Pick up their pace. Maybe run. What do I do? Freeze.

I fucking freeze! How stupid could you be Layla? I turn my head quickly to see who is behind me, only to see the man from the coffee shop a breath away from me.

"Uhm.. Sir? Can I help you?" I mumble while staring at him.

He breaks out into a huge grin, the kind of grin you see on little kids when they get their favorite toy.

He reaches out to me, and I start to fall backwards trying to move away. He latches onto my elbow, pulling me into his chest. He inhales deeply, mumbling something I can't hear. Before everything goes black.

"This is turning into a good night after all.."

End of Chapter One.