Presence Ch. 01

"Obviously with good reason."

He laughed and moved towards me, but I squirmed away again.

"I think we should call it a night right here."

I walked over to the door.

"Oh, come on," Benny sneered. "Don't get all prissy just because I happen to have a girlfriend. Why do you care? This is just a one-time fuck anyway."

"I know that..." I said and held up the door for him, "...but I really hate cheaters."

He didn't move.

"Come on, I know you want this as bad as I do. "

"I'm not in the mood anymore. Good night, Benny."

He buttoned his pants, then picked up his jacket which he had dumped on the floor and moved towards the door. He stopped and glared at me.

"Your loss. Fucking cocktease."

I rolled my eyes.

"Whatever. Nice knowing you, Benny."

He grabbed a hold of the door and slammed it on his way out. I slumped down on the couch and sighed, wondering how come I attract so many assholes. I groaned when there was a knock on the door. I stomped towards it and jerked it open. I was about to yell: "What?! Did you forget something or did you just want to call me a cocktease again?", but I silenced in surprise when I realized the face I was looking at wasn't Benny's.

The man seemed vaguely familiar, but before I could try placing him he pushed his way into the apartment and with a quick movement he locked the door behind him. A reflection of light caught my eye, and I gasped and backed away as I noticed the knife in his hand.

"Please..." the guy held his empty hand out. "Don't be afraid."

"Who are you?" I croaked. "What do you want? Money?"

The guy sure didn't look like a robber. He looked neat and tidy. He had thick, short auburn hair, had a medium build and wore a black coat and pale jeans. If he hadn't just forced himself into my apartment and pulled a knife on me I probably would have found him attractive.

"No, no..." He continued, smiling at me, revealing his teeth. A wide smile like that, on the face of a man threatening me with a knife, made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

"I don't want money," he continued. "All I want... all I've ever been waiting for in my whole life... is you."

Oh, crap.

I swallowed nervously.

"Are you the one who's been leaving me roses?"

His smile softened.

"Did you like them? I wanted to do something for you... show you how much you mean to me. So I started leaving the roses and the cards. But... I realized that it wasn't enough, so I wrote this latest card with my own blood, so you would understand how serious I am."

I took a deep breath. This could get really ugly. This guy was clearly unhinged. And not only that, he was much bigger than me and if it came down to a struggle I probably wouldn't be able to take him. I would have to stall while I thought of a way to get away.

"What's..." I swallowed, and tried to keep my voice from betraying how scared I was. "What's your name? You never signed the card with your name."

"It's Ryan... Ryan Patrick."

I smiled shakily at him.

"That's a nice name... So, uhm..."

My mouth fell open. I suddenly realized where I'd seen him before.

"I remember you... you're the photographer! From the exhibition."

He looked so ecstatically happy when I said that, it was almost funny.

"You do remember! I knew you would!"

Several months ago, a museum put together an exhibition featuring the talent of young, local artists: a comic book artist, a graffiti artist, a tattoo artist and me. It had been a pretty big success, and received some attention from the press. There had been several photographers on opening day, but there was one who kept coming back to take pictures of me and my work.

Ryan Patrick.

He took a step closer to me.

"I was so excited that day. I had loved your art for quite a while and I really wanted to meet you. And then..." A tear trickled from the corner of his eye. "I will never forget the moment that I saw you. You were so beautiful... like some sort of dark angel. I felt so inadequate. So unworthy. But then... when I was about to take your picture, your eyes met mine and that look in your eyes... It was so intense. It gave me hope. So I tracked you down, and ever since then I've watched you come and go... waiting for the right time. I was going to wait just a little longer, but..."

His eyes suddenly flashed with anger, and I automatically took a step back as he raised the knife a little.

"I was so angry," he growled, "when I say you with that guy tonight." He ran his thumb over the blade of the knife. "I was going to come in here and teach him a lesson for touching what's mine, but then you threw him out. I understood then that you didn't really want to be with him. You were just lonely. Because you were waiting for me. Right?"

He took another step closer, pointing the knife at me as he kept rambling.

"Isn't that right? Even if you didn't know who I was you could feel me out there... You were waiting for me to come to you so we could be together. Right?"

Too scared to say anything, I just nodded. He took another step closer, then fell to his knees at my feet.

"I knew it," he whispered. "You don't have to wait any longer. I'm here now. We can be together forever."

I took my chance. I swung out my leg, kicking him hard in the chest. He dropped the knife as he bent over, coughing. I ran for the door. I unlocked it with shaking fingers and was just about to open it when I was pulled back. Ryan had already gotten back on his feet and had gotten hold of my shirt. I struggled, trying to pull myself free as I yelled for help, but he wrestled me onto the floor and pinned me down.

"WHY?!!!" he roared, spraying my face with spit, his eyes wide and furious. "Why are you running from me?! I thought you understood! You said you understood! You lied!"

Staring up at his deranged face, I expected to feel his hands close around my throat any second, but they didn't. Instead, he glanced over to where he dropped the knife. Letting go of me with one hand, he reached for it. And that's when I raised my head and bit down on his neck.

He screamed and struggled, and I could literally feel my teeth break through skin and flesh. Blood dripped into my mouth, causing me to choke. I released him and crawled away, coughing and spitting. Getting on my feet, I tried to get to the door, but he threw himself in my way.

He had already managed to get up, and he had retrieved the knife. He stood staring at me, dripping blood on the floor, unmindful of the damage I had done to his neck.

"You're not what I thought you were," he said, his voice hollow. "You're a fake. You tricked me." He glanced at the red droplets on the floor. "I'm bleeding for you. You will bleed, too."

He made a sudden move towards me, raising the knife. Holding out my arms to protect myself, I felt a sharp pain on my right arm as the blade slashed it. He raised the knife again, but I caught his wrist and tried to hold his arm back.

At this point, I was pretty sure that I was going to die. The crazy bastard was so strong; there was no fucking way I would be able to overpower him. My heart was pounding, and I was terrified, but I sure as hell wasn't going down without putting up one hell of a fight. So I did the only thing I could think of.

I kicked him in the balls.

Because I was struggling with holding on to his wrist the kick was at an odd angle and not very hard, but it was hard enough to make him drop the knife and bend over, groaning, hands between his legs.

I snatched the knife from the floor. As I did, he lunged towards me with a furious roar... and then he stopped. His face twisted into a pained and mildly confused expression. I looked down. The knife was deeply lodged in his chest. He had thrown himself straight at it.

I let go of the knife's handle. His face was white and he kept staring at me as blood poured from the wound in his chest and started forming a little puddle on the floor. Taking a shaky step back his knees buckled. He fell backwards onto the floor and then lay completely still, eyes closed.

Shaking uncontrollably, mind reeling, I stared at his lifeless body.

"Oh god, oh god, I've killed him... The phone, I have to get the phone and call for help..."

Forcing myself to move, I took a shaky step towards the phone. Suddenly, Ryan's hand shot out and he grabbed my ankle, making a gurgling sound as blood sprayed from his mouth. Screaming, I tried to shake him off, but I stepped in the pool of blood and slipped. I fell down, and my head struck the floor.

Everything went black.

To Be Continued...