No room for competition 2

"You will cease all contact with Blake Shelton. Immediately and forever. Do I make myself clear?" he growled through clenched teeth.

Sally flinched back against the door, her heart pounding with terror. Tears poured silently down her cheeks.

"Please...he's my oldest friend. You can't forbid me from talking to him..."

In a blur of motion, Reggie reached out and clamped his huge hand around Sally's slender neck, pinning her against the seat. She gasped and clawed at his iron grip as he leaned in, his breath hot on her face.

"You will obey, Miss Williams, if you value your pathetic little life," he said, voice dripping menace. "Rose Shelley demands your absolute compliance. Disobey her, and she will personally ensure you suffer torments you can scarcely comprehend."

Sally whimpered softly as black spots danced at the edge of her vision. Her lungs burned from lack of air. She frantically nodded her assent, pleading with her eyes.

Reggie released her and she doubled over coughing and sobbing uncontrollably. He started the car again and pulled back out onto the road, face impassive. Sally stared at the imposing profile of the driver, mind reeling.

She had heard rumors about the lengths Rose Shelley would go to crush opponents and secure her empire. She always assumed they were exaggerated. But the look of cold, ruthless violence in this man's eyes told her otherwise. No matter how much it pained her, she had to cut ties with Blake. She was in far over her head.

When they finally arrived back at Sally's apartment, Reggie turned to face her again. She flinched away despite herself.

"We understand each other now, Miss Williams?"

She nodded shakily, avoiding his gaze.

"Excellent. Then we have concluded here. Good talk,"

Sally scrambled from the car and hurried up the steps to the security of her apartment lobby. She cried herself to sleep that night, terrified for her own future but also heartbroken to let go of her dearest friend.

Over the following weeks, she stayed as far away from Blake as possible. She avoided his increasingly frantic texts and calls. Several times she spotted Reggie's black town car parked inconspicuously near her building or work, a silent reminder of the consequences she now lived under. But she held firm, disappearing from Blake's life with increasing paranoia.

One night as she lay awake fearing sleep, she heard a creaking noise from down the hall. Sally froze, heart pounding. She knew she was alone in her apartment. The creaking grew closer...seemed to be coming from the spare bedroom. She threw off her covers and crept to the doorway, dreading what she might find.

The room was bathed in the amber glow of the streetlights filtering through the blinds. Sally edged inside, letting her eyes adjust. Then a cold chill washed over her. The antique dresser by the window stood with its drawers wide open, the contents scattered across the floor in disarray. Sally clapped a hand over her mouth to stifle a scream. An intruder? How could someone have gotten inside without setting off her alarm?

She spun and rushed back to her own room, stomping her big toe on the way in but that didn't seem to mean much to her as she proceeded slamming and locking the door behind her.

With trembling fingers, she dialed 911, struggling to explain to the dispatcher through panicked gasps what had occurred. When the police finally arrived, she led the two officers through her apartment, pointing out the disarray. But no sign of forced entry could be found. An open window, then?

The cops could only tell her to be vigilant and assured her they would increase patrols in the area for a few nights.

Spooked, Sally spent the remainder of the night huddled on her sofa with every light ablaze, too afraid to sleep. When dawn finally broke through the blinds, she convinced herself it was all her rattled imagination. She cleaned up the mess and headed out the door for work, grateful for the distraction.

Over the next couple of days though, more worrying occurrences started happening. Cabinet drawers half open, the antique vase in the hall knocked over.

Even her favorite scented candles were left lit in unsafe areas. Sally didn't dare report them to the police again out of embarrassment. Her mind raced, wondering if Blake or one of his associates could somehow be behind this...punishing her for abandoning their friendship.

But that made no logical sense. The strange events escalated into objects vanishing completely - books pulled from shelves, most of her cosmetics disappearing from the bathroom.

One night, Sally sobbed hysterically as every drawer and cabinet in her home stood inexplicably open, taunting her. She knew she had to get away from here, wherever these bizarre happenings originated. She hastily packed a bag and rushed out the door that night, checking into a downtown hotel under an assumed name out of sheer panic.

She lay awake under the crisp sheets for hours, peering into every shadowed corner of the unfamiliar room. She knew she was being irrational and paranoid, but something intangible and insidious shadowed her every thought.

When she returned to her apartment complex the next afternoon, she told the doorman and property manager she wanted to terminate her lease immediately due to family issues out of state. Sally sold or donated what few possessions remained, packed up her car, and fled the city within 48 hours.

She had no idea where she was heading or even what she was running from. All she knew was the menacing pull of Rose Shelley had forever tainted this place, and she had to get free at any cost.

In the rearview mirror, the mirrored gleam of high-rise office towers faded into dense forest along the interstate. Sally let out a deep, shuddering breath and allowed the tears to come again. Her life had unraveled so suddenly.

But at least now there was distance, the reassuring anonymity of the road ahead. No more hauntings, no more silent threats or unexplained happenings. Perhaps someday she could try piecing herself back together in a place wholly disconnected from the shadowy world she had stumbled into. But for now, she just clung to her steering wheel and drove on through the night, her foot heavy on the accelerator as she put miles between herself and the inescapable terror.

'Goodbye Blake,'