Chapter 2

I know what you did.

The bold typed words were staring back at her  from the screen of her laptop as they have been in the last five minutes. She hadn't moved since she opened the email from an unknown address. 

 I know what you did. 

Those were the words entailed in the email. 

The last time she saw those words, she’d been forced to do something really dreadful. 

Every water she had drowned that evening was with a motive of quenching her thirst, still her throat went suddenly went dry after every gulp. 

She couldn't blink. Couldn't think. The only thing she could do was reread the words... again and again... and over again. 

What could it mean? What could the person know?  Those were the thoughts running through her mind. 

That night, she didn't sleep. She stared wide-eyed, folded under her duvet, even though beads of perception were rolling down her brows from the hotness of the weather, she couldn't bring herself to let go of the duvet that seemed to be the only form of protection she had from the person. 

This person has succeeded in making her life a mess again. This person that had her followed, or had followed her. This person had sent her an email from an unknown address. 

What could the person probably want? Perhaps her fretted state and lack of sleep would be enough for whoever it was. Her eyes widened in fear the more every time her lids seemed to close in tiredness. Every minute that passed, she'd bring her phone up to her face to read the email again, and again.

What could it mean? What could the person know? 

That night, she didn't sleep. She stared wide-eyed, folded under her duvet, even though beads of perception were rolling down her brows from the hotness of the weather, she couldn't bring herself to let go of the duvet that seemed to be the only form of protection she had from the person. 

This person has succeeded in making her life a mess again. This person that had her followed, or had followed her. This person had sent her an email from an unknown address. 

What could the person probably want? Perhaps her fretted state and lack of sleep would be enough for whoever it was. Her eyes widened in fear the more every time her lids seemed to close in tiredness. Every minute that passed, she'd bring her phone up to her face to read the email again, and again.

As morning came, she numbly stood up from her bed, immediately going to brush her teeth and taker her bath. She dressed up in a black skirt and white button-up long sleeve. Putting her black braids in a band, she hoped to look her brightest. 

No one had to know she didn't blink throughout the night, or that she didn't eat breakfast as she had no appetite, or that someone had followed her the night before and proceeded to send her an unsettling email? 

No. No one had to know. Not even her best friend, Anna, who she had come to trust these seven years of her life. To the world, she was okay, except for the one person that probably had her in his palms. 

"Good morning!" Elena chirp, feigning happiness as she walked by Anna. 

"Hey B!"

Settled in her office, she sighed relieved that Anna had been caught up working, and hadn't involved her in a conversation. It had taken everything she had to feign that load of her happiness when she greeted earlier, she knew definitely that she couldn't feign the happiness for long. Not when she had seen a notification for a new email as she parked her car in her office garage. 

She opened her Mac book, boosting it up, before picking up her phone to check her email. Hopefully, it wasn't from the unknown address, or hopefully, it was, with an apology that last night's email was a mistake, but she could only wish... of course such wishes only came through in dreams, and in Elena's nightmare of reality, it was indeed an email from the unknown address. 

If last night's email was dreadful, then the one she'd just received was most dreadful and she knew deep within her, that it wasn't the worst to come. 

The email she opened wasn't in words, it was in emoji pictures— knife, a man, and blood. That only proved further whoever the unknown sender was, he knew a lot. A lot much more than Elena had hoped. 

She couldn't work, nor could she stay not working. For the remaining hours of the morning, she remained in a single paragraph. Telling herself she was reviewing the case when all her brain could comprehend was the email she had been getting. 

She jerked, startled as a notification came from her phone, again. Oh no. 

To her horror, it was another email, this one instructing her to go outside where a package awaited her. And she was going, almost at the door, she realized she was going outside on the instruction of a stranger who could be deadly dangerous for all she knew. A person that had such great information on her and wasn't relenting one using it to unsettle her was just as dangerous as they come. 

As she stepped out, she expected to see a movement, or someone, maybe the hoodie guy? But there was no one outside her office except a gardener, who she presumed Anna had called to trim the fast-growing flowers she had planted a year ago. 

She looked down on her doorstep and saw a parcel in a brown manila envelope. 

"Hey," she called to the guy who looked really good to be a gardener. "Did you see anyone put this here?" 

He smiled, giving a polite shake of his head. "No ma'am." 

As she turned to walk back into her office, squeezing the envelope at the sealed part and almost tearing it. 

"I'd be careful if I were you. Could be a letter bomb," she heard the gardener warned as she closed the door, ignoring the warnings of the gardener. 

For all she knew it could be a letter bomb or something even worse. Something that contained information that could ruin her and that was what the paper that was contained inside the envelope was. The paper was written in bold prints, the address she'd recognize any day. 

The address to the scrawny deserted home she'd had a meeting she was forever going to dread. At the bottom of the address was written 

Yeah right. I know.

She shook started, as a knock came on her door.. she started too much lately. But who could blame her?

"Hey, Ele." Anna paused at the door raking her eyes up and down Elena's person. "I figured I'd come in since you didn't bother to answer me. Let's go across the street for launch. "

"I can't Anna." She forced a smile, she was almost successful in faking it, almost. 

Anna eyed Elena warily. "Are you good?" She asked genuinely concerned. Only that, Elena was going to reply to her with ingenuity.

"Yes Ann, I'm good. Are you?" She forced a smile.

"Course I am. See ya!" And then she was left on her own.

What was she going to do? What did the person what? If all the person wanted was to reel her up then she'd prefer that the person demanded an amount because she couldn't afford to live her life on the edge. 

She laid on her lazy resting chair more relaxed than she had been in the past two weeks. It had been two weeks since she got any unsettling email from the unknown or the now known email address. 

If the name of the email address, '7ight' wasn't weird enough, it was also untracked, like it didn't exist. She had tried to reach it. She had tried to send a reply, demanding to know what the person wanted from her, but she had nothing, the email address didn't allow replies. At least after two weeks of silence, she could hope the person had decided to play with some other victim. 

At the ringing of her doorbell, she went to answer the door. She looked through the peephole and saw a guy in a plummeting uniform? He had a face she knew she had seen before, but couldn't place. 

"Good morning ma'am," the guy greeted with a grin. He was way too handsome to be a plumber. 

Her brows wrinkled as she tried to place his face and then her mouth formed an 'o' as she remembered. "Just how many jobs do you do?"

"Ah! I see you remember me. I do any available jobs. Any available job means more money." He smiled happily, way too enthusiastic for a person that only worked for the purpose of making more money. 

"I see." She clicked her tongue at the back of her teeth. "But I didn't call for a plumbing job."

"Oh no, you didn't. Your landlord did. I just finished the 3 flats and it's yours remaining. It's a big and beautiful house here I must say."

"Well thank you. But you could go, there's no problem with my bathroom."

He chuckled like she had said something funny. "There isn't got to be a problem before a plumber is needed. Your landlord wanted a change of water taps in all four kitchens." 

"Oh. I see." She nodded, thoughtfully. "Come on in." As she held the door open for him to enter, he missed his step and had to cling on to her for support. 

"I'm so sorry," he apologized and looked down. She followed his eyes to see a pocket knife, almost the size she had used for that meeting. Her eyes widened in fear. "I'll get this." He picked up the knife and returned it back to his pocket where it seemed to have fallen from. 

She stood still at her door, not bothering to know if the plumber had found his way to the kitchen. She wanted to tell herself that she was just been paranoid and that the knife and the odd air she got from the guy wasn't any related to the strange emails and parcels she'd been getting, but then she actually was scared. Very scared. Her fear made her almost fall to her veranda as a notification came from her phone. 

Should she run from her apartment? Should she screams for her neighbors to come? 

She took a deep breath, he's only a guy that came to work... I'm being paranoid. She closed the door behind her, making her way to the stool behind her resting chair and picking up her phone. Her heart raced twice as fast as she saw it was a notification for a new email. Holding her breath, she unlocked her phone to read the email. All the breath she had held came out of her in a rush as she read the email:

Black shorts and a sweatshirt? Nice outfit. I love dark after all.