City of IF

[Tikanni Corazon]

Warning - contains slight bad language, and suggestion of violence, which in chapters to come, is very likely to become more than a suggestion. ;)


Stalker - Chapter 1


He watched the house, as he had every night for the past two weeks. Melissa Eldridge was stood at the kitchen sink, doing the washing up, the light from the room behind her, framing her slim form. Her dark hair was up in a loose pony-tail, and she was wearing a pale pink tee, with a picture of a cupcake emblazoned upon the front.

"As in 'sweet as a...' right Melissa," he said under his breath, and chuckled quietly to himself. He turned, and looked at the camera, which was sat on the seat beside him. Why did he always bring it along, tempting himself to risk drawing attention to his nightly activities?

"One picture, surely wouldn't hurt," he murmered to himself, and picked up the camera, aiming the lense at the window, where Melissa still stood. "Just one." He heard the click, as he took the first picture, and another as he took a second. He saw her head snap in his direction, and look straight at him. Without even realising he'd done it, he took a third picture, then threw the camera down beside him.

"Why did you do that, you idiot!" he berated himself. "She saw... she saw you taking the pictures. Now what?" He looked towards the window, and saw her, eyes wide and frightened, looked at the car, at him.

"What if she calls the police?" He asked himself. He'd have to stop coming here, stop watching Melissa. "No, I can't do that, I can't not see her." He gazed at the pretty face, that looked at him with such fear. An unattractive smirk spread across his features. "I guess I'll just have to go over there, and explain." He waited until she had gone out of view, then opened the car door, and slipped out. Before closing it, he took the sheathed dagger that he always carried with him, from his glove compartment, and shoved it inside the waistband of his jeans. Then he started towards the house.

~~~

Lissa was stood by the sink, in front of the kitchen window, and had just finished washing up the last of the dirty dishes when she saw the flash. It came from across the street, and as she scanned the area outside, she saw it again, a single burst of light, like that of a camera flash. Lissa gasped. Was someone sat outside, in the dark, photographing her house... or worse her. The thought unnerved her, and she gripped the edge of the work surface, as she tried to figure out what to do. Call the police was the obvious thing, but what if she was wrong. It could just be somebody searching around with a torch, looking for a lost earring or glove... or flick knife. Lissa scolded herself for allowing the thoughts to return to the worst senario so quickly.


She strained her eyes, trying to see if she could identify the mini-van as to belonging to one of her neighbours, but she found she didn't recognise it. She could see the dark form of the person in the drivers seat, but couldn't tell if it was a man or a woman. They sat perfectly still, and she could see the glint of their eyes looking straight at her.

"Stop it!" she hissed to herself, turning away from the window, and rubbing her hands wearily over her face. She took a deep breath. "Just calm down, you're letting your imagination get the better of you. You cannot see any glinting eyes, it's too dark to see shit out there. Just calm down." Another deep breath, and she turned to head into the living room, where her dog Giselle and a unopenned bottle of wine awaited her. As she passed, she couldn't resist a quick look out the window again, at the mini-van, and the mysterious 'watcher'. It was still there, sitting silently on the other side of the road... but it's driver was not. Where the dark shape had been sat in the driver's seat, it was empty.


Panic began to well up inside her, regardless of the stream of logical thoughts that she used to try and push it back down again. It bothered her that one tiny little thing could get her so unglued. Her eyes scanned the kitchen, taking in the meat tenderiser, the knife rack, with its five sharp blades, the cordless phone base, empty of cordless phone... She tried to remember where she'd had it last. She'd been on the phone to her friend Rose, she had wandered into the lounge, then had gone upstairs to run a bath, and she had finally ended the call and left it on the dressing table in her bedroom.


Giselle, her beloved samoyed, appeared in the kitchen doorway, looking alert at her mistress's obvious distress. Lissa grabbed her collar as she headed towards the staircase in the hall. She had to get to the phone, and there was no way she was leaving the dog downstairs, when there was a chance that some psycho might break in. She laughed at herself as she climbed the first couple of steps up to the second floor.

"Christ, will you pack it in!" she ordered herself. "There is no psychopath sat outside, planning to break in or otherwise. It was just someone looking for something in their car. There was no camera, no one it taking pic..." She stopped mid-rant, as she heard a noise she had just been trying to convince herself that she wouldn't hear. The handle on the back door grating, as someone tried to open the door... and succeeded.

"Shit!" she breathed, panicked. She had forgotten to lock it, when she'd gone out there to feed Hamble, her angora rabbit. Giselle let out a low growl, and Lissa wasted no more time. Giselle would never growl at a friend, so this person was obviously not one of those. She pulled the dog up the stairs, ran across the landing to her room, closing and locking the door behind her.

She looked around for a potential weapon. Her eyes fell on the phone, lying on the dressing table, and next to it, amongst a jumble of cotton spools and lengths of ribbon and material, was a pair of dress-making scissors. Not the best of weapons, but they would have to do. She snatched up the phone, and dialed 999, and was about to ask for the police, when she realised that that battery was dead. The phone was useless. She'd just replaced the phone on the table, when she heard footsteps treading heavily along the landing, outside her door. She grabbed the scissors, and watched in horror, as the door handle began to turn. Giselle barked threateningly at the door, her hackles raised and her teeth bared.

"I've called the police!" she yelled, her voice quaking and betraying her overwhelming fear. "They'll be here any minute, so you'd better just get out of here!" She got no answer, but the handle stopped moving, and all went quiet. She knew that he or she was still there, but obviously they were pondering their next move. Lissa glanced towards the window, and hope filled her. The porch was right beneath her bedroom. If she climbed out onto the porch roof, she could drive over to one of the neighbours houses.


Her lexus was parked in the driveway, right next to the porch, and she felt the keys that she still had in her pocket from earlier. Everything was perfect, if she could just get outside without this nutcase knowing. She listened, and could hear nothing. Was he or she even there still? Maybe they had gone, the threat of the police being too much of a risk. She pressed her ear against the door, but jumped back with a scream, as the person on the other side began to pound on it, ramming their weight against it, trying to break in. Any minute, they might break through.


She ran to the window, and opened it, the fittings creaking as she did so. The banging instantly stopped, and she could tell that the person on the other side of the door was listening, listening for her next move, and getting ready to run back down the stairs to catch her before she could get away.


Panicked, she looked from the scissors in her hand, to the open window, to the dog at her feet, who she would never leave behind. What was she to do?


Dp is just that, what does she do? Thanks for reading! :)

[Thunderbird]

he heh

Throw the dog out onto the roof and hope it scrambles down to the porch. Meanwhile hide in the closet and wait to stab the guy if he gets too close. (Ok, I know the dog is indispensable...)

Hmm... lets see... if the dog can shut up, throw shoes down the roof to the porch to lure the guy outside, then when he comes out down there wave to him and act like you're running down to the back of the house, double back around and flee across the porch! Fake him out somehow.

[Ingrothechundyer]

Hmm...

I'm not sure what she gains by taking the dog with her. It seems that if she is drawing attention to herself the dog will be fine left in the room.

Does she keep the car locked? How close is her window to the car? How long does it take to get to the car the normal way?

Somehow it doesn't seem that staying in the house is a good idea but if the van driver can get to the car faster then going that way isn't much good.

Going to the neighbors house is probably asking to get caught as if she keeps her doors locked the neighbors probably do as well...

[Lebrenth]

The dog can easily survive a 1 story drop, with or without the porch roof. The woman could do it too if she doesn't land wrong. Even if the man figures out she's jumped out, he'll be at least 5 seconds behind, either because he still has to break through the door or run downstairs, unlock the front door and get out. If her Lexus has a remote that can unlock the doors that will help. A panic button will help too since the stalker doesn't want attention. For that matter, Melissa should be shouting her head off for help. If she can get even one more person's attention she'll be a lot more safe.

Basically, while screaming for help, jump down and drive away in Lexus.

[Tikanni Corazon]

Thanks for the suggestions guys! :)

@Ingro - The car is parked to the side of the porch, which is directly under her window, so pretty close. I'm going to say yes, she does keep the car locked. Considering that she keeps both doors to her house locked in the evening/at night, I figure she's pretty cautious about these things.

As for how long it would take to get back to the car the normal way... I figure there wouldn't be too much difference, if one was running. Possibly a teeny bit longer, but not by very much at all.

I'll leave it open for a little while longer before putting up the poll. Thanks again! :)

[Crunchyfrog]

A little different from your previous SGs, and well written. I think the best suggestions have already been taken. It sounds as if, the guy on the other side of the door is trying to anticipate her moves. If he hears her come close, he tries to get in, if he hears her retreat to the window he stops, ready to run downstairs and catch her outside.

I was about to suggest setting the dog on him, but I'm glad I googled samoyed before I did. :? Not an option then!

Throwing the dog out of the window seems the obvious thing to do, and then hide in the closet with the scissors.

[Ingrothechundyer]

Hmm in that case unless she has a remote like Lebby suggested I don't think going for the car is a good idea. It's too easy to start to fumble with keys when you're in a hurry or a panic.

Of course if she has a remote she can use (and is willing to leave the dog behind) it's a slightly different story... The dog is problematic though...

Throwing the dog out the window sounds tempting but I wonder if she would be willing to abandon her dog outside with as much as she seems to care for it :?

So I guess after rambling around I am leaning towards locking the dog outside on the porch roof and hiding in the closet to do something useful while the stalker is trying to harm her dear little dog through the window :)

[Lebrenth]

I suppose she could probably jump down with the dog as well. Maybe running to a neighbor's house would be better than the car, if she trusts her neighbors and she can get in quickly.

[Ingrothechundyer]

Lebrenth wrote: I suppose she could probably jump down with the dog as well. Maybe running to a neighbor's house would be better than the car, if she trusts her neighbors and she can get in quickly.

I agree. Emphasis on the "can get in quickly" part though :/

Also if she knows the neighbor is likely to be home. If the neighbor is out with the doors unlocked she is mostly back where she was to start with ;)

Possibly a working phone and possibly a better weapon then a pair of scissors.

[Lost Omega]

She can stab him in the eye with the scissors and while he's writhing in pain, she can grab the dog and escape. Also, this allows the bad guy to walk around with a cool eyepatch. ;)

[PopeAlessandrosXVIII]

Well....WE know he has a knife....She don't... And with her attitude I'd agree with attacking the guy. If she taught her dog to bark on comand, I'd set it on ther bed to divet attention, while sneeking aroundbehind, but not in the way of, the door, and tell the dog to bark so he can't hear her.

But then again, most people arn't that sneaky, so buu on her! I wonder what kind of stalker he is...

Good writing Tikanni-chan! Looking forward to more from you!

[Tikanni Corazon]

Thanks for the suggestion Pope, and for reminding me that this SG is here. I'd completely forgotten about it. :shock: I'll have to try and get a second chapter out soon.

And thanks for all prior suggestions of course. All much appreciated! :)

[PopeAlessandrosXVIII]

*Nudge* *Nudge* Just makin' sure people will come look at this fine piece of work. *Sits and gazes in rapt attaention*

[Tikanni Corazon]

*giggles* Sorry pope, I'll see about getting a new chapter up in the next couple of weeks. Have almost finished chapter 11 of SS, so shouldn't be too much longer until I can make a start on this one. :)

Hmmm... I suppose I should probably put a poll up first though. ;)

[Tikanni Corazon]

There we go, poll is up! With alot more options that I thought there would be. :)

[Crunchyfrog]

Had almost forgotten about this one! :shock:

Well I didn't vote for my suggestion but woaaah, it's in the lead!