The Trouble With Bodyguards: Part 1 by Kristina Blake Page B

She quickened her pace, jogging toward what she could now see was a man, dressed in dark clothes, waiting on the sidewalk at a crosswalk for the light to change. Strange, she thought, that he would wait. There was no traffic, not a single car on the road in sight. She broke into a run as she saw him step out into the street, running toward him. She felt that he was her only chance, the only person in the world that could help her. She needed to catch up to him, before he disappeared.
                  “Hey,” she cried. “Hey, wait!” She sprinted, her chest tight, the pain radiating through her body, bolts of electricity burning through her with every step. “Stop! Wait!”
                  The man halted in the middle of the empty street, alerted by her cries for help. He turned to her, his face filled with concern. Alex caught up to him, panting from exertion, her bloodied hand held to her chest, throbbing with pain.
                  He turned to her, devoid of expression, and she noticed that his eyes were completely black, no whites visible. Fear flooded her, stealing her breath, as she realized that this man, the only person who could rescue her from this empty and forbidding landscape, was the very stalker that she was attempting to escape.
                  He opened his mouth, his teeth sharpened to points, glistening with fresh blood from feasting on his victims, and snarled at her in a deep, raspy voice, “You are mine.”
                  Alex screamed, her voice breaking in fear, choking her, as she wrestled frantically to escape from the blankets covering her. Tears streamed down her face as she fought to catch her breath, sitting up in her bed, pulling herself from the nightmare that had taken her so completely into the fear that she was suffering that she could not seem to get away from it. She leapt up from the bed, staring at her palms, expecting to see blood, broken skin, where there was only pink, healthy skin, glistening with the sweat that was covering her entire body, her clothes clinging to her.
                  She slumped, her legs going weak beneath her, and sat back down on her bed. She tried to calm her heart, pounding in her chest, her breathing coming easier as she came fully awake. The sun was setting, the room going dark around her, as she wept openly.
                  She had fallen asleep. When Rick had gone, leaving her alone and afraid in the apartment by himself, so cold to her after their night together, she had felt lost. She had wept, sitting there on the kitchen floor, unsure of what she could do. There was a monster after her, watching her, and she was on her own. Wiping away her tears, she had tried to work, moving into the bedroom, double-checking the window to assure herself that she was safe. The pictures had been a blur; she could not concentrate on work with her mind in such a jumble of chaos. Somewhere amidst the tears and the confusion, her body had shut down, seeking solace in the comfort of sleep, but that had gotten her nowhere. She was shaking now with fear, with no one to turn to.
                  Had he come back, she wondered, while she was asleep? She needed to talk to him, needed to see where they stood. Did he regret making love to her last night? Alex stood up, wiping the tears from her face, and headed for the bedroom door.
                  He was sitting at the kitchen counter, a plate in front of him, eating a slice of pizza. Alex wondered if he had heard her scream, and if so, why he had not come to rescue her from the danger.
                  “Hi,” she said, standing in the open doorway of her room, her arms crossed over her chest for comfort. It was awkward, being in the same room with him, not knowing where they stood.
                  “Hi,” he replied, not looking to her. “I got a pizza. Are you