8 CHAPTER:8

Elara brings the parcel into her office, and starts reviewing the the CCTV footage. Rewinding it, she starts checking the timeline from when Marshall's grandfather left. As minutes turn into thirty, she notices a black silhouette lurking in the background. In the dark of the night, he creeps up to her cafe door, slowly putting the package down, and turning his head up to stare at the camera. The stalker's masked appearance doesn't shy the fact that he's smirking evilly underneath, even through the footage.

He continues staring into the camera, as Elara views the footage, goosebumps starting to appear. He waves bye and leaves.

And even though the stalker is gone, Elara's eyes were fixated on the screen, and her body tense as the footage continued playing in her head. Her mind racing with fear and anxiety as she processed the reality that he's finally found her again. Invaded her privacy once more. Despite the multitude of emotions roiling through her, she couldn't tear her eyes away from the screen as she studied every detail of the footage, hoping to gain any insight that could help her finally catch her perpetrator. Her hands shook slightly as she reached for her phone. Calling her best friend Hana;

Hana picks up the phone on the first ring; "He's here."

That's all Elara says. And Hana understands, she doesn't say a word, simply rushes over, as fast as she can with her old bike, not cutting the call.

"Did you call the police?" -Hana asks, as soon as she arrives. Parking her bike and rushing over inside the cafe.

Elara sighs. "No. Not yet. I'm too scared. And I haven't even opened the parcel yet." -She says, eyeing the parcel on the counter.

Hana's arrival somewhat brings a combination of relief and peace to Elara.

Hana puts on a brave face, and walks over to the counter, taking the parcel in her hand, she shakes it slightly. She takes a pair of scissors from the counter, and cuts the tape out. Both of them breathe heavily as Hana finally opens the parcel. As she carefully opens the package, Elara's heart sinks deep into her chest. The content of the box shaking her to her core. Inside lay a crumpled, blood-stained letter that smelled of mildew and sweat. The words scrawled across the page, written in a jagged, unhinged handwriting.

'My beloved Elara. Finally, you're back home. To me. I've missed you. Which is why I made sure to watch you, observe every single one of your moves, every day. And I must say, I'm more in love with you now. The way you move, the way you smile. You are everything I have ever wanted, and I will stop at nothing until you're mine. I know, some of my actions back then caused you to think we're not meant to be together. But trust me darling, we ARE meant to be together. You're meant to be mine. You don't yet realize that we are destined to be together forever. I will show you. Until that time, please wait for me. Don't let any other man hold the umbrella for you, don't sit in any other man's car. Don't let any other man close to you. And remember, nothing and no one can keep us separate. I promise, I'll be at your doorstep some day, to make you mine rightfully.'

Both Hana and Elara shiver in fear as they finish reading the letter. They keep the letter aside and check the rest of the items in the box. Besides the letter, lay one of her favorite shirt, now stained with what looked like blood. Every fiber of her wished she could run away from the package, but she knew she couldn't. Hana picked up a little envelope, and opened it. Inside it, contained polaroids of Elara, at her usual outings, hangouts, at cafes, working, studying. The fact that made it scarier is, they were all taken in the US. All the polaroids are from when she was in USA. Her mind goes blank with fear, as she realizes her stalker never stopped stalking her. The stalker was there in USA with her as well. The stalker was everywhere where she was. He followed her everywhere. He knew everything about her life. Everything about her life, in the US as well.

Feeling weak and dizzy, Elara's knees give out and she falls to the ground, Hana rushes to support her.

"He.. He.. He never stopped stalking me! All these years, when I was away from home, he was there with me too!" -She says, as tears start rolling down her cheeks, panic ensuing in. Hana rubs her back, trying to ease her.

"Hey.. hey.. it's okay. you'll be okay. I promise. Let's put an end to this, this time, okay? I'm here with you." -Hana says, her voice soft, calming Elara.

"We'll hand these to the police, and let them do the rest. Okay?" -Hana asks, cupping Elara's cheeks with her hands, waiting for her approval.

Elara nods.

After what felt like forever of being questioned and asked details about anything and everything they know and remember about Elara's stalker, they were finally done. The two of them return home. Worried about Elara's safety, Hana decides to stay over for the night.

As they both lay in bed, Hana hugs Elara close to her, only one thing in her mind.

Elara prays, that somehow, hopefully the stalker will stop. And leave her alone..

___________

*Two weeks pass by, and its Naia's wedding day already.*

The wedding altar has been set up in the center of a beautifully decorated hall with high ceilings. The main colors used in the decorations being white and gold, which gave the entire wedding setup a classy and elegant look.

The altar itself was made of polished white marble with gold engravings, and it wad adorned with fresh white flowers of all and different kinds. There's a backdrop of sheer white drapes that fluttered gently in the breeze and added to the romantic ambiance. On either side of the altar were tall white pillars that were decorated with more flowers and vines that trailed elegantly.

Candles flickered softly, casting a warm glow around the altar.

The whole setup looked like paradise. The decorations, so beautiful that it's hard not to feel serenity and peace in the environment when standing in front.

Elara wore a stunning floor-length simple gown, made of soft chiffon in a light shade of pink. The dress had a plunging v-neckline with a delicate lace lining that showed off Elara's collarbone and shoulders. The dress was slim-fitting on the top, cinched at the waist by a silky, pale pink belt, and the bottom flowing gracefully to the floor. Hana, wearing almost the same bridesmaid outfit, as Naia had picked out for the both of them.

The guests have already started swarming in. Elara looks after them diligently, helping her uncle. After quite some time, it was announced of the groom's entrance. As the wedding music begins to play, Elara hurries to take a seat next to Hana, and turns to look at Marshall.

He's dressed in a black tuxedo, wearing a white shirt in, and a brown bowtie. His hair slicked back, allowing his face to radiate its beauty.

Marshall, accompanied by two of his groomsmen, stood at the entrance of the hall waiting for his cue to begin his walk down the aisle. As the music reached its crescendo, Marshall and the two men behind him begin walking down the aisle. They move slowly, one step at a time, creating a rhythm, reflecting the solemnity for the ceremony. Marshall wore a beautiful soft smile as he looked straight ahead, catching Elara's eyes, as he continued approaching the altar.

Elara looks away, flustered.

Marshall finally comes to a halt, standing at the altar. Waiting for his future bride, Naia's entrance.

As one of the best-man, speaks on mic, announcing the bride's entrance, everyone looks towards the hall entrance, anticipating.

After around two minutes, Naia's dad gets up to go check what's going on. Elara and Hana look at each other, confused, as to why Naia is getting late.

"Wait, I'll just go and check." -Elara says as she slowly gets up and goes out of the hall and to the bride's room.

"What's going on uncle?" -she says lightly as she enters the room, knocking. |

As soon as she's inside, she feels a sting on her cheek, as her aunt slaps her, her fingers leaving a red mark on her cheek. Elara covers her cheek, as it continues to sting, she looks at her aunt, bewildered.

"I told you not to invite this ungrateful bitch here! Look at what she's done now!! How are we going to face everyone? What will people say?!"

"W-What do you mean? What have I done wrong?" -Elara asks, shocked. Her aunt continues glaring at her, as her uncle sits on a chair, with a letter in his hand. He sighs, getting up and handing the paper to Elara. She takes it from him, and reads;

'My dearest parents, and Marshall.

I am sorry that I'm doing this, but I had no other choice. I cannot marry you Marshall. Please do not think that my absence reflects a lack of respect towards both of our families, know that I'm grateful to my parents for finding me a nice guy like you to marry. However, I cannot marry you. Deep down in my heart, I know that we are not meant to be together as husband and wife. I cannot bear the thought of being in an unhappy marriage with you. Elara opened my eyes and encouraged me to go after the one I truly love and I've decided to do just that. I hope you'll understand why I'm running away. I know this revelation will cause both of our families pain, and for that, I truly am sorry. But I will not enter a marriage knowing that my heart is not fully yours. It belongs to someone else. Please know that I'll be grateful you were ready to marry me, but I cannot ignore what my own heart is telling me now.

And to mom and dad, I'm sorry, and please do not try to find me because you wont be able to change my mind. I hope you'll forgive me for what I've done.

And please don't be mad at Elara for helping me run away, she did it with good intentions. With love,

Your daughter, Naia.'

Elara continues staring at the letter, her mind completely blank.She's in denial on how her cousin framed her for with helping her run away.

"This.. this can't be... I didn't have any clue Naia was going to do anything like this! I didn't know she'd run away! We didn't even talk to each other for the last two weeks! I did not help her run away!" -she whispers, trying to defend herself.

"I cannot believe you're standing right in front of us and still lying about it! The note clearly says you helped Naia run away!" -Her aunt yells in anger.

"I swear, I had no clue about this! Please, believe me!" -she argues back.

Her aunt scoffs, "this bitch." , muttering under her breath.

Elara turns to look at her uncle, "Please, believe me. I had nothing to do with this! Please! I don't know why Naia would put the blame on me like this, please!"

Her uncle stares at her, coldly yet confused. Unsure of what they should do next. "The wedding is supposed to take place now, and Naia's ran away. What will we do now?" -Her aunt yells at her, pacing back and forth. "How will we show our faces to people now?!"

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN NAIA RAN AWAY?!!" -A loud voice roars from behind, angrily. They turn to look and find the groom standing there, his expression changed into one full of fury.

"Marshall!.."