Haunting Adeline (Cat and Mouse, #1)

by H.D. Carlton

T he windows of my house tremble from the power of thunder rolling across the skies. Lightning strikes in the distance, illuminating the night.

It’s petrifying, and all I want to do is hide, but there’s a distinct part of me that keeps me still, baring myself to the horror. That finds a small thrill out of it.

My mother is a bitch. Plain and simple.

“Hey, Mom?” “Yes?” “Fuck off.”

Sometimes, it feels like you’re on an entirely different planet, ostracized from civilization. The whole area has a menacing, sorrowful aura. And I fucking love it.

Fuck what my mother says. I’m living here.

I’m a successful writer and have the freedom to live anywhere.

A bit too meta for my liking

Dozens of eyeballs bore into me, creating a flush all the way to my cheeks. It makes my skin crawl, but I love my readers, so I power through it.

As the next reader approaches, pressure settles on my face. Someone is staring at me. But that’s a fucking stupid thought because everyone is staring at me.

I think I need a bigger mouth. More alcohol would fit in it.

They all bore me. All I get is what are you wearing and wanna come over, winky face at one o’clock in the morning. I’m wearing the same sweatpants I’ve been wearing the past week, there’s a mysterious stain on my crotch, and no, I don’t want to fucking come over.

Daya is nearly bouncing in her seat while I’m contemplating googling 1000 Ways to Die’s contact information so I can send them a new story.

Greyson has everything else going for him in the looks department. He’s hot as sin, has a beautiful body and a killer smile. Too bad he can’t fuck and is a complete and utter douchebag.

Internally, I cringe. Externally… I cringe. I

“Please, man,” he blubbers. “Can you help me out here?” I nod slowly. “Yeah. I think I can do that,” I say, right before I swing my arm back and plunge the entirety of my knife through his pupil. He dies instantly. Not even all the hope has vanished from his eyes yet. Or rather, his one eye.

“You’re a child rapist,” I say aloud, though he’s no longer capable of hearing me. “Like I’d let you live,” I finish on a laugh.

One look from this girl and any man would be on their knees.

Adeline Reilly. A beautiful name fit for a goddess.

Oxygen, words, coherent thoughts—all that shit escapes me when I get my first look at Adeline Reilly in the flesh. Shit. She’s even more exquisite in person. The sight of her has my knees weakening and my pulse racing.

All I want to do is break her. Shatter her into pieces. And then arrange those pieces to fit against my own. I don’t care if they don’t fit—I’ll fucking make them.

“Call me if they come back.” “I will,” I lie.

I’m standing three feet away from danger, life and death separated by a rocky edge. Soon, it will disappear. And if I’m not careful—I will, too.

I’m not naïve enough to think they’ll save me from the shadow that’s attached itself to me, but I’ll be damned if I become some unsolved mystery if I die.

Gigi fell in love with her stalker. The very man who must’ve killed her eventually. And now, I have one of my very own. The only silver lining is that I would never be so stupid to fall in love with him.

Who is going to tell her?

Suddenly, my stalker’s last words are much more ominous now. I’ll be seeing you soon, little mouse.

I created an entire organization built solely around ending human trafficking.

Good boy

"Daya, it's hard to find a man these days that can even fuck right. You think I'm going to find a man that will kill in my honor, too? That's cute." "You never know, baby girl. Crazier things have happened."

Ask and i shall deliver

Men have a unique way of killing my mood every time I come within ten feet of them.

All four of them could easily ruin my life. And I would be hesitant to stop them.

UNKNOWN: Sneaking off with random men, little mouse? If I catch his hands anywhere near you, they’ll end up in your mailbox by morning.

I need someone like him in my life

Looks like I was wrong and did happen to find someone willing to kill for me. Jury's out on the fucking part, but if his foreplay is any indication, I think he would’ve done well in that department, too. Now more than ever, I want to kill this creep myself.

I ’ve committed homicide. Cold-blooded murder. On many men who have worn different faces of the devil. And I’ve done it for various reasons. Whether they raped a child, killed an innocent, or destroyed someone’s life that didn’t deserve it. But I’ve never killed someone out of jealousy. First time for everything, I guess.

The asshole deserves to die. And I’m happy to get the fucking honor.

What he doesn’t know is that the minute I properly introduce myself to Adeline Reilly, she won’t be able to think of anyone else. I will devour her from the inside out, until every intake of breath will only stoke the inferno I've created inside her. Like oxygen feeding a fire, I will consume every inch of her sweet little body until she will think of nothing else but how to get me deeper inside of her.

“What you and every sad motherfucker that even looks in her direction will learn is no one is safe when it comes to her. I don’t care if you only breathed in her direction the wrong way, you will fucking die.”

He’s violent.” “Well, apparently, so is my stalker.”

If you die, I have to follow, and I’m quite attached to my body. God gave me a good one this lifetime.”

The last time I asked him about it, he said something evil happened here. And since a man went missing off my doorstep last night, I'd say several evil things have happened here.

Is this guy shitting me? He’s going to punish me? Don’t you think sending me fucking severed hands is punishment enough, asshole?

I’m fucking horrified that my shadow murdered somebody. But he was an evil man. That shouldn’t matter, should it?

Oh but it does matter

Daya’s friend set up my new alarm system and cameras, and I’m ashamed of how obsessive I’ve been with checking them since.

Girl... Someone dropped hands at your house. You are allowed to be afraid.

His obsession must’ve been of the deadly variety.

It’s the obvious explanation. The stalker gained Gigi’s trust—somehow—made her feel comfortable enough that she relaxed around him. And then he killed her.

Boooooring

Someone is outside my room. But how? How the fuck did he make it past the alarm system?

Time to ask for a refund

God, he could crush me if he wanted to. His hand looks big enough to cover the entirety of my face. Or wrap around my neck.

Oh god i am beyond help

Does my shadow want to hurt me or love me?

aya said Nana was the freak, but I’m starting to wonder if it was her mother that was the freak. I skim through the diary, reading over her words.

He stares. And I stare back.

Later, I’ll ask God why She made me the way that I am,

But also from something else. Something so disturbing, I refuse to put a name to it.

We on the same boat