I run my fingers through my long brown hair as I stand in the middle of my motel room, my eyes wandering slowly over my surroundings, as my brain tries to register whether this room was worth the price or not. Across from me, in the middle of the room, pressed against the eggshell colored walls sits what looks to be a king-sized bed with four overstuffed pillows under a once brightly colored green and red comforter. Next to the bed on each side is a miniature cherry red nightstand with one drawer and a full empty space under the drawer. Each of the nightstands holds a standard lamp, each lighting the room with a faint yellow glow.

I scrunch up my nose and I shake my head in disapproval as I slowly sit down on the edge of the bed, feeling the mattress dip and squeak in protest under my weight. I cross my legs as I look across to see a cherry red dresser, the same design as each of the nightstands next to the bed. The dresser has four rows of drawers lined up on top of each other, the very top row has two mini dressers as if they were specifically to hold undergarments and socks. On top of the dresser sits a simple modern television and a grey DVD and video player.

“Well...” I breathe out, as I stand back up to inspect the rest of the room, but my soft ring-tone from my purse, seated on the off colored blue carpet next to the slightly agar door distracts me from my intended actions.

I feel my skin instantly break out in goose bumps as I walk over to my purse to retrieve my cell phone from the side pocket. I frown as I see my phone screen light up with bold words as Unknown Number flashes across my screen. My thumb hesitantly hovers over the green phone icon on the bottom left-hand corner, debating if I should accept the call or not.

My hand shakes with anticipation as I hold my phone to my ear before whispering a soft, “Hello?”

“Hi, Gracie.” His cold voice greets me as a unwelcome shiver spreads throughout my body and I listen to his harsh breathing on the other end of the call.

“Chandler...”

“I told you I would be in close contact with you, precious. I actually wasn’t going to contact you for another week or two to let you settle back into your normal routine. I didn't want any of the boys on the bus thinking anything could be bothering you, but I saw something that alarmed me this morning between you and someone else.”

“What are you talking about? What do you mean you saw something alarming this morning? I have been on the bus all day and I haven’t seen you since our last talk,” I say, puzzled as I press my hand to the door to shut it completely in worry that one of the boys could walk in on me talking with Chandler.

I hear his gruff laugh and I squeeze my eyes shut in fear of what is to come.

“Did you not believe that officer when he told you that I had connections? Because I do. I have connections everywhere, precious.”

“I still don’t understand how you saw me though, Chandler? You would only be able to see me if you had cameras around the bus...” I trail off and I feel my knees begin to buckle under me until they soon touch the carpet harshly.

“See? Now you know exactly what I am talking about when I say that I saw something that alarmed me when I looked through the footage.”

I shake my head and I swallow the lump in my throat, forcing myself to calm down and not do anything that might trigger Chandler’s temper.

“I-I...”

“But I must say that I am very proud of you for telling Luke 'no' when he was pursuing you baby, that meant a lot to me when I saw that. That doesn’t mean I am not still alarmed when I see the way you look at him, although that is not what I am calling about.”

I frown in confusion and I shake my head, my free hand coming up to massage my throbbing temples, “What alarmed you then?”

“I don’t have any video on you right now. The bus seems empty.”

“Aren’t you able to hear audio with your cameras?” I ask.

“No actually, seeing as I am on parole right now I can’t do anything to risk going back to prison. When I got those cameras installed I was told that I could get charged with stalking if I had audio along with visual and you somehow reported me to the police. So, I just have visual and if you do report me to the police, which would not be a smart thing to do if I may add, I would not get charged because of your record of running away. It would just be viewed in court as a safety precaution,” He explains thoroughly.

“Oh,” I mumble, my mind racing as I realize that he really has thought everything through, as he said he did.

Chandler is determined to bring me back into his world full of hell, but this time not to let me escape with or without my life.