"My name is Nelliel, but everyone just calls me Nel, and I'm sharing this story to warn all of you that not everyone is what they appear to be."
"It all started when I was moving into a new apartment. I was trying to get all my stuff up to my new place, but I had a difficult time getting the heavier stuff up there. Luckily, I got some help. A guy that was rather handsome came over and helped me out. He grabbed a hold of the other end of a box I was carrying and helped me lift."
"Let me help you with that." A guy said as he grabbed one of Nel's boxes and helped her lift. He was a handsome person like he said with his sharp face and brown hair and had a nice looking body.
"His name was Derrick. He was so nice to help me out. The truth was that he was in the middle of his jog and stopped when he saw I was in need of help. With his help, I was able to get my stuff up to my new apartment up to my new place in less time than I thought. During the time, I introduced myself and we got a little familiar with each other."
As Nel moved all her stuff into her new place, she got to know Derrick better. It seemed like the two were hitting it off and had a good time around each other.
"I thanked Derrick for his help and he was off back on his run. Being a young woman, it problem wasn't smart of me to have a guy I never met before know where I lived, but he was nice and polite the whole time. I didn't think there was any harm in it. The next day, I got up and was ready to start the day. On my way out of the building, I ran into Derrick again as he was on another run."
Nel actually liked having Derrick around. He was nice enough to help move all her stuff into her new apartment and she thought the guy was harmless. The next day, she met up with him again and the two liked seeing each other again.
"We talked a little and he boldly asked me out. He said I could think of it as a way of thanking him for his help yesterday. I agreed and we went out to a nice restaurant. We got to talking and everything went great. He was kind, considerate, a great listener, and just incredible. He was even patient when I got a little too excited."
Nel went out with Derrick and the two of them had a great time together. To Nel, it seemed like this guy was perfect.
"We dated for a few months after that. In fact, if I might so boldly say, it was love at first sight with us. While I was working at a new job of mine, I divided my time between that and hanging with my new boyfriend. We watched movies at each other's places, went out to dinner, and everything did seemed great."
Nel felt like she found the best guy with him. She spent all the time that she could with him and thought he was such an amazing boyfriend.
"I got familiar with his house, but there was one room I never went into because he always had it locked. I asked Derrick what it was, but he said it was his own personal room. It sounded private, so I never pushed him on the subject. I just assumed he would tell me when he wanted to."
They spent a lot of time in Derrick's place, but she was so curious about one room. It seemed like whatever was in there was private and she respected that, but if she had known, she could have saved herself from a horrific experience.
"A few weeks passed after that. We were going to go out to our favorite restaurant that night, but we left early and stopped at a local store."
"I just need to pick somethings up. I'll be as fast as I can." Derrick said when they pulled up to the store and he went on inside.
"I waited for about five minutes before he came back out. It seemed like he knew what he was looking for and knew where to find it. When he placed that stuff in the back, I couldn't quite tell what he bought, but I did see that he bought a fresh set of knives, scissors, and other metal tools."
"What do you need that stuff for?" Nel asked.
"It's for a project I'm working on." Derrick said.
Nel did notice the sharp tools and asked what they were, but Derrick was rather vague on his answer. Still, Nel didn't push for an answer.
"His answer satisfied me and we just kept going. We got to the restaurant and continued to have a great night together. Things got really emotional when he grabbed my hand."
The two of them had a nice meal, and it grew sweeter when he reached across the table and grabbed her hand.
"I love you." Derrick said.
"I love you too." Nel said.
"I told him I loved him the moment I heard him say it. I just couldn't hold it back. After paying for dinner, we went back to Derrick's place. Once we got there, he said he would finally show me what's behind that locked door of his. In truth, I was rather excited to see what it was."
After dinner, the two of them went back to Derrick's house. He wanted to show her what was behind that locked door and she was excited she would be able to.
"He opened the door and I got to see what it was. There a couple dogs, a couple cats, and a few other animals you normally keep as pets in glass cases. I just assumed that they were statues, but they looked so lifelike."
"These look...amazing. Did you make them yourself?" Nel asked, but was a little disturbed by them.
"Not exactly. They were alive before this." Derrick said as he showed her around.
"He told me they were alive, almost like it was something casual. That made me uneasy."
"Alive? You mean like you and I are?" Nel asked.
"Yeah. Lucky always got excited whenever I came home from school. Mittens always loved to cuddle on my lab. They were so precious and adorable." Derrick said.
"He talked about fond memories he had with his pets, but he was referring to the statues as he did so. This made me more and more uneasy, and I was getting a bad feeling about this."
"How nice... So, what happened to them? Did they all die in an accident?" Nel asked.
"No. I killed them myself." Derrick said. "I loved them so much that I killed them, stuffed them, and turned them into what they are now. Now, nothing can ever take them away from me."
"He just came out and admitted that as we stopped in front of a glass case large enough for a person."
The two of them stopped in front of the glass case. Derrick was admitting to everything and his true colors were starting to show.
"I love you, Nel. You can now stay with me forever." Derrick said.
"He came at me and tried to hold me down to the wall. He pulled out a knife and he wanted to make me one of his little statues. I tried my best to hold him back, but Derrick was strong."
Derrick came at Nel and tried a psychotic way to keep Nel with him forever. He had her pinned to the wall and tried to kill her.
"Luckily, I was able to get one of my legs and kicked him between his own. The sheer pain from that caused him to drop down. I needed to make sure he didn't follow after me, so I took the knife and stabbed him right in the leg. His scream echoed through the room as I ran for my life."
Nel was able to save her life by kicking him right in a certain spot. She took the knife and stabbed his leg to prevent him from following her as she ran out of there.
"Nel! Don't leave me! Be with me forever!" Derrick screamed.
"He screamed for me to stay, but I didn't stop. I took his keys and drove away in his own car. I had no idea where I was going, but I just needed to get out of there. When I was far enough away, I called the police and told them what happened."
Nel was terrified, but she was able to escape and just wanted to get as far away from him as she could. She called the police and let them handle everything.
"The police investigated his house, but he was already gone by the time they got there. I was safe at the station and they told me the truth about Derrick. The truth was that he was an escaped mental patient. His family died in an accident and he was the only survivor, but he was mentally scarred from it. The police did find something, a note written in blood that was meant for me."
"You're Mine"
"I am now constantly terrified. This goes to show you that people aren't always what they seem. I thought Derrick was keeper, but I was so wrong. Now, I feel like he'll be constantly looking for me, alive or dead, and I'm never going to know peace."