Chapter 3- Justifiably Meticulous
Five days passed...
Erik thought and thought. At first his thoughts were clean, pure. There really is no good reason to see her again. Only bad would come of this encounter.
But then, the thoughts became less clean, less pure. To see her again would bring satisfaction. To talk to her would be beneficial, not just for me, but for her as well.
And also, She doesn't deserve to be in the dark any longer. She must know what Nadir has done, how criminal his actions have been. And if she does not believe me, I must convince her. No matter what she thought she knew, it wasn't accurate. Her thoughts were being manipulated by society. Society be damned...
She only needs to listen to one person, and that is me. Erik knew her mind was clouded, her vision blurry. All because of them...
Erik was sure this female roommate of hers was not much better. She was likely feeding Christine even more lies.
His precious Christine was in grave danger. And it was time to save her.
The several days consisted of more than just 'thinking' for Erik. There was also 'doing'. Erik performed a series of experiments, which consisted of memorizing Christine's daily routine and making certain adjustments on his part in order to always be a step ahead of her. The final result was that Erik was able to sneak past her at certain times throughout the day without her knowing or becoming suspicious.
By the fifth day, he had successfully managed to enter her apartment three times. Better yet, he had stepped foot in her bedroom twice. Those times were precious. The room smelled like her. And he loved every second of it.
On the fifth night, while sitting in a relaxed position in his outdoor hiding place, it couldn't be denied that his thoughts had changed completely. When it came to the past, his focus was only on the good now. The horrors and regret were buried deep and replaced by confidence and abundant hope. Given a little time with only him in her presence, Erik knew Christine would succomb to the truth of things.
His excitement had built and built with increasing speed until, on that sixth morning, it was time to fulfill his meticulous plan.
Erik stood from his seated position amongst the thick brush across the street from the apartment complex. It was Saturday. Christine's roommate had left a short time ago in her white Toyota, so that meant that Christine was all alone.
It is time.
For the past five days, Christine had checked the mail at the same time- 12:30pm. It was during her lunch hour between classes. Only, he hoped her Saturday routine was the same, even with there being no classes.
He walked inside the complex and through the first-floor hallway until he was behind the staircase she would soon descend. It was 12:25. Any minute now... Her mailbox was one of many locked boxes in a small building outside the complex. It allowed plenty of time for Erik to slip inside her apartment. Luckily, she never locked the door due to it being such a short journey.
Erik suddenly heard her gentle, light footsteps coming down the stairs. He'd memorized everything about her, including the sound of her movements. His lips curled upward as she left the building. And then he raced up the stairs to the third floor. It took 45 seconds.
He reached the door of apartment 315 in the next five seconds and quickly scanned the hallway before opening the door, walking inside, and closing it behind him.
First thing's first... Erik Immediately grabbed her cell phone off a coffee table in the den before going to the half bathroom, which was the first door to the left after entering the apartment. It would allow him time to block the door after she walked inside and went to the den or kitchen.
Everything was going according to plan. All that was left was for Christine to reenter the apartment.
About two minutes later, the door opened and he heard her precious voice.
"See you later, Garrett."
Erik froze. A boy?
The situation was even worse than he'd previously thought. Not only was his Christine being manipulated by Nadir, her roommate, and undoubtedly her father, but now there was another distraction in her life.
The door shut and he heard her walk down the hall towards the den.
In the past five days, Erik had never once seen any indication of there being a boyfriend in the picture. So that meant she was sneaking around with him, this Garrett.
His eyes closed briefly in the dark bathroom. No more. No more of these games! She is my life! My life! And I will be hers...
Erik exited the bathroom and slowly walked down the hall towards her location. There was no going back now.
He stopped when he reached the edge of the hallway and turned his head to the left in order to look at her. She was sitting on the couch looking through mail. He crossed his arms in front of him in a casual sort of way and then broke the silence.
"Hello Christine."
Christine literally jumped and the mail fell to the floor. Her head whipped around to face him and he saw the surprise on her face increase ten-fold, as well a look of true horror appearing. She immediately stood from the couch and backed away from him slightly.
"Surprise," he announced with a smirk while studying her every reaction. "Now sit back down, my dear. We need to talk." His voice was determined and focused. He was ready for this.