Chapter Ten

Bella

Things went from bad to worse as we ignored Tim when we saw him and turned away the meals, flowers, balloons, and chocolates he sent day after day. At first it was little things, like missing pages of lecture notes, and sour milk in the refrigerator. But as the weeks went on with no sign of the deliveries stopping I found chairs in classes collapsing, door handles covered in grease, broken windows and then what looked like bloodstains, but thankfully turned out to be red paint, on our door.

"He's getting really annoyed Bella. I saw him today and he mimed pulling a gun on me."

"If you're that worried let's go to the police in the morning."

The next morning there was a note stuck on the fridge door,

"DON'T."

That was all it said but we both knew what it referred to and that Tim was not only listening in to our conversations but also getting into our rooms while we were asleep which freaked us both out.

She rang Aaron and he came to stay for a few days, sleeping on the couch. The first night was quiet enough but the second there was a terrible smell outside our window and we found someone had piled rotting garbage outside. The next night we got a phone call from Tim demanding to know why Aaron was welcome to stay while he wasn't and making coarse suggestions that we were having group sex. I wanted to call the police but Abbie was reluctant, that was until two days later.

It was right after Aaron had to leave when we heard gunshots and then a bullet hit our window showering us both in broken glass. That's when we understood just how dangerous Tim really was. When the police arrived they checked the area but couldn't find anyone and while they were taking statements from us Tim rang all concerned. He told us he had heard about what happened and offering to come and stay over for a few days. Of course, we refused but it did look odd when we were telling the cops we suspected he was responsible for the shots.

For a couple of weeks, everything died down, no meals or presents and no phone calls and we decided Tim had decided he had gone too far shooting at our window although we added a security chain and pepper spray to our security. I wavered over whether to speak to Charlie about Tim but decided it would only worry him unnecessarily and as the peace continued we both relaxed a little. Of course, I guess that was just what Tim was waiting for because a week later I got a call from the clinic. Abbie had been injured by a hit and run driver and broke her leg. She couldn't identify the driver, the glass had been heavily tinted, but we had our suspicions, especially when the next day there was a huge bouquet of flowers from Tim with a Get Well Soon card and the police found the car, a stolen vehicle, burned out on the edge of town.

Aaron turned up along with Abbie's mother who stayed with us for a couple of weeks while the police continued to make inquiries but when they checked out Tim he simply didn't exist. There was no drivers license, social security card, nothing in his name and when they checked with his ex-landlady they found he had paid in cash up front.

"If you see the guy again you ring us immediately girls."

We nodded only too happy to have the police at last believing our concerns. Aaron felt guilty at introducing Tim to us and when Abbie told him what Tim had alleged about his father he was fuming but telling the cops they said it might be helpful, he might have projected his own past onto his friend although we never heard any more about that.

Finals came and went and we both passed with honors, this despite a constant nagging worry that Tim might reappear. To celebrate, Abbie's father paid for flights to Florida where we were going to stay with Renee and Phil before going off our separate ways. Abbie got on great with Renee who pulled out all the stops to make it a great holiday for both of us and to my delight Charlie flew down for a couple of days as well. On our last day, Abbie and I borrowed Renee's car to drive to the beach but when we parked up and took the picnic basket Renee had prepared from the trunk we found a card laid on top. Opening it I expected it to be from my mom but it was from Tim!

"Hi girls,

Looks like you've been enjoying yourselves. Hope you haven't forgotten me. XXX"

We contemplated driving straight back but then decided we weren't going to let the creep ruin the last day of our vacation and tried to put him out of our minds. The beach was fairly crowded so while he might be there watching us he couldn't try anything, there were just too many witnesses. By early evening as the crowds thinned we were relaxed again. If Tim had been here he had left us alone and we were going to drive straight back to Renee's and wouldn't stop for anything, that was safe enough surely.

We were wary putting things in the trunk, but no one was hanging around and once on the road we relaxed again.

"Let's see if I can find some driving music, Bella."

Abbie turned on the radio, but there was a CD in place and turning the radio on started it up. The first track was I Drove All Night and we sang along, but then we heard Tim's voice.

"Now girls, did you really think I was going to let you get away with treating me like a fucking leper. Hope you enjoy the rest of your drive because it's just about to get real interesting."

Abbie screamed and turned the radio off just as I felt something buck under the hood and slammed on the brakes, but nothing happened. I took my foot off the gas pedal, but we were on a gradient and the car kept on accelerating.

"Abbie, pull your seat belt tight, the brakes aren't working and the steering feels strange."

The wheel didn't seem to be connected to the steering properly, it wobbled and became slack and I understood Tim had been there today but not on the beach, he had been sabotaging the car!

We were lucky there were few vehicles coming towards us and as the car began to veer into the oncoming lane I called to Abbie to phone the police and tell them we were in trouble, but she didn't have time to do more than grab her cell phone. A huge truck came round the bend headed straight for us and there was nothing I could do but close my eyes and pray we would survive the impact though it seemed we would need a miracle to do so. The impact when it came was terrible, the sound of wrenching metal and breaking glass. I felt a dull thud and heard Abbie's screams join my own as we spun round and round to the sound of screeching tires.

Eventually, the sounds died away and the car, or what remained of it, came to a shuddering halt, the sound of people calling and screaming being all I could hear apart from a hiss of steam and the ticking of hot metal slowly cooling down. I opened my eyes, but I could see very little, something trickled into my eyes and I tried to lift my hand to wipe it away fearing it was blood, but instead it felt oily, some liquid from the engine maybe? I turned my head to look at Abbie and heaved a sigh of relief when I saw her open her eyes even though they were glassy with shock. We had both survived the crash somehow. Flashing lights and sirens broke the peace and we were soon being lifted out of the car and into ambulances by gentle hands. I got a quick look at the car and was amazed that it wasn't just a tangle of metal and piping. It looked bad yes, but I had expected it to look much worse, a guardian angel had been watching over us this evening.