The One You Fear by Paul Pilkington Read Free Book Online

away.
    She pulled her mobile phone out of her pocket, and then summoned up the courage to speak again. This time she suppressed the nerves, holding her voice steady. ‘If you don’t leave, right now, I’m going to call my boyfriend. He’ll be down here in seconds.’
    Still no movement.
    ‘I’m dialling then,’ she said.
    Dan picked up on the third ring. ‘Hi, Em.’
    ‘Dan, I’m in the staff toilets, on the right hand side of the theatre, can you get here, right now? It’s the unmarked blue door.’
    ‘Are you okay? You sound…’
    ‘Some guy is standing right outside my cubicle.’
    A split second hesitation: then, ‘I’ll be there right away.’
    The shoes disappeared and Emma heard the outer door open and close.
    ‘Thank God.’
    Dan arrived just twenty or so seconds later. ‘Em, are you in there? It’s okay, it’s me.’
    She opened the door and they hugged. She could feel her heart beating hard against Dan’s chest. ‘Did you see the person coming out of the toilets?’
    ‘No. I didn’t see anyone.’
     
     
    ***
     
     
    They reported the incident at the office. The staff took it extremely seriously and even offered to call the police, but there seemed little point in getting them involved. What could they do? There was some CCTV on site, but none covering that area, so it would have been impossible to identify the person. And although it had been a scary, intimidating experience, no crime had been committed. The toilets had indeed been unisex, so the man, whoever he was, had every right to be there.
    ‘Are you okay?’ Dan said, as they fastened their seat belts and prepared to leave.
    ‘I’m fine.’
    He looked across at her. ‘You still look shaken.’
    ‘It’s okay; it just really reminded me of all those bad things from the past – Stephen Myers, Peter Myers, you know, being stalked. I never want to go back to that – never.’
    Dan nodded. ‘You won’t have to go back. I won’t let it happen.’
    Emma reached for his hand. ‘I know you won’t. I just, well, I just don’t understand what happened there.’
    Dan shrugged. ‘Just someone playing a sick joke maybe. Getting a kick out of scaring strangers.’
    ‘Maybe.’
    ‘You think something different?’
    Now it was Emma’s turn to shrug. She thought back to the man in the audience. ‘You’re probably right. I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.’
    ‘C’mon,’ said Dan, still looking at her. ‘Let’s go. Get back to the apartment, chill out for a while, and put this behind us. I’m really sorry this happened, Em, it was supposed to be such a good night.’
    They reached the apartment block just before ten o’clock. Emma was still shaken, but on the journey back the memory had already begun to fade a little. She’d convinced herself that there couldn’t have been a connection between the man in the audience and the person in the toilets. She had been a random, rather than targeted, victim. It was the only explanation that seemed plausible.
    They passed through the main entrance, climbed the stairs and turned left towards their apartment door. Outside on the mat was a large bouquet of assorted flowers – reds, blues, purples, yellows.
    Emma smiled and turned to Dan.
    But he didn’t smile back. ‘They’re not from me, sorry.’
    Emma frowned and picked up the bouquet. Something was wrong with this. She found the note at the back of the flowers – a single, terrifying sentence.
    I’m still your number one fan.

PART TWO

 
     
    6
     
     
     
    ‘Morning,’ Dan said, as Emma entered the living area. He was sitting in front of the laptop they had brought with them, knowing that the apartment had free Wi-Fi. ‘I found out where the flower shop is.’
    Emma joined him on the sofa. She still felt incredibly shaken after last night’s incidents, and hadn’t slept well, waking virtually every hour, thinking that she could hear something, or someone, outside. Sure, the door was locked, but the thought