Luther. He...I can't even find words. Deranged, yes. Psychotic, definitely. Misunderstood. I can't say that I'm sure about that one. He is clearly autistic, but that doesn't give him any excuse for how he enjoys torturing people. I mean, he about raped me. He threatened to kill me. And I had no doubt in my mind that he would not hesitate to do so if I told. So, I kept silent.

I tried my best to keep up my normal, perky, yet shy attitude. It happened to be quite easy, however, my mother was a little skeptical.

One morning, I woke up, it was a Saturday. My mother, Melissa, went to work at the floral shop. She didn't use the front door, I could tell, for it was still locked, which meant she took the car from going through the garage.

I decided that I would go for a run. After I had changed myself, I unlocked the front door and started to step outside. I looked across the street and was reminded that Luther lived right across the street from me.

The events from a week ago flooded back into my head. My heart began to beat faster. I hoped that he wasn't watching me. All of the curtains were closed, from what I could tell, but this was Luther that we were talking about here. He will always find a way to get what he wants.

I shuddered as I took a step outside. I stepped in something that crinkled under my step. Startled, I looked down to see exactly what it was. My eyes widened. I picked it up as I ran back inside, taking one last glance at Luther's dark, torture house before shutting the door.

I brought the "package" inside and rested it on the island in the kitchen. Looking around nervously for some reason, I decided to close all of the curtains. It was satisfyingly dark afterwards.

I returned to what had been delivered to me. Black roses. They had once been alive and red, as you could still see small specks of the velvet plant still trying it's hardest to shine through.

I pulled one out of the wrapping to examine it. It looked quite crispy...it didn't seem as though these had simply been left out to rot. I smelled it. It had the left over aroma of...chicken? I scrunched up my nose.

I glanced at the rose's wrapping paper. It was from my mother's shop. I lifted a brow at it. When had Luther gone out to get these? He hadn't been at school at all, and I hadn't seen him leave the house since that day...

I furrowed my brows as I put the rose back. Turning them over, I found that there was one of those card things attached to it. With a trembling hand, I reached down to read it.

"Dear Ava,

I'm sorry about the other night...That was a joke. I'm not. If you want to live, you'll come to my house on Saturday night at 12:00 midnight. We can play a game or two.

~Luther"

I brought a hand to my mouth as I slammed the note down on the island. He wanted me to come over to his house. He wasn't...done with me yet? What was it about me that made me different?

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Heyy guys! I know, it's been a while, but I'm suddenly feeling inspired to write this book again, so I will keep updates pretty steady! I appreciate your support and feedback! Don't forget to vote and comment! Follow me if you enjoy my books and leave a nice message if you're so inclined! Have a good day my lovelies❤️