Delicious In Red

‘You would look delicious in Red.’

                It was anonymous.

                I sat on my bed, my fingers rubbing over the note gently. The sun light spilled into my room in small amounts as it sank beneath the horizon quickly. I sat cross legged on my bed. The silence of the room comforted me.

                My fingers gripped the note tightly on either side. My eyes were focused on the small letters written in neat cursive on the thin paper. It was the size of something out of a fortune cookie with writing just as big. The writing was hand-written in red ink.

                A single red drop dotted the side of the note next to the word ‘red’.

                I received it on my way to seventh period. I had opened my locker to grab a book for the next class when the note fluttered out and onto my chest. I pulled it off, sticking it into my pocket.

                I didn’t read it until I was walking out of that period.

                The six words managed to raised the hair on my skin and send a shiver down my spine. It was written neatly as if the writer took his time. I noticed how the last word was capitalized. Despite not knowing who wrote me the note, I could feel the terror it projected.

                The six words weren’t a threat, but they were definitely threatening.

                It was the third Wednesday of October, roughly a week after the incident at McDonald’s. I had taken the evening off, claiming to have thrown up once I got off the bus. Ronnie wished me well but dismissed it as a 24-hour virus.

                Truth-be-told, the note had disturbed me enough not to want to go to work for the evening. This was the first day I had taken off since I began working there. The feeling the note projected reminded me too much of what happened nearly a week ago.

                I had managed to convince myself that the superhero hadn’t existed. It’d been nearly a week, and there was no sign of him. The news hadn’t mentioned him once since their strange report the other day. With no evidence to prove otherwise, I dismissed him as a post-traumatic stress symptom. I kept his visits to myself so as not to worry my Grandmother.

                Until this note arrived, life had fallen back into place.

                There was a sharp knock on the door.

                I licked my lips slowly before prying my eyes away from the note for the first time in a few hours. I crumpled it in my hands quickly, “Yeah?”

                Grandma opened the door sticking her head in, “It’s almost eight, Avery. I’m going to go to bed. If you think you can stomach it, there’s some leftover lasagna in the fridge.”

                I smiled weakly, “Good night, Grandma.”

                She closed the door softly.

                I had told her about throwing up earlier, but pinned it on my period. She had accepted it without hesitation, muttering about the strange things that happened when she got her period. That was the last of our interaction for the afternoon.

                Leaning back in my bed, I rubbed my eyes furiously. I set the note gently on my nightstand, grabbing my phone out of my pocket.

                I had felt it buzz a few times, but hadn’t felt the want to answer it.

                Three messages total.

                The first was from Karen, nearly two seconds after I got home from school. Don’t make plans this Saturday. Jake wants 2 meet u.

                I closed out of it. While I would love to officially meet the infamous Jake Sanchez, I had no desire to do so at the moment.

                Especially when I wasn’t given a choice.

                I clicked to the next message. It was from a girl in my science class, Teresa. I didn’t talk to her much, but we had exchanged numbers in the small chance we did grow closer. Hey. Wat waz the hmwrk 4 2-night?

                I cringed mentally at her abbreviations for texting.

                Regardless, I responded, informing her of the quiz we would be having at the end of the week and the paper due on Monday.

                The last message was from Donavan. Feel better Cutie. I miss you at work. Ronnie’s being a huge dick today.

                I smiled at the last message. It was sent a few hours ago, and I didn’t see the point in responding to him anymore. He would be off of work by now, probably heading home to go to sleep. I didn’t want to disturb him.

                I closed my phone, sitting it next to the mysterious note.

                Yawning, I stood up, heading to the door. Despite it only being eight o’clock, I felt exhaustion flood through my body. I pulled my belt out of the loops, dropping it to the floor. I slipped my shirt over my head, walking to the bathroom in pants and a bra.

                The shower was wonderful. The water was at a fairly cold temperature, but it felt nice against my skin. The cold droplets pounded against my back, soothing my skin and hair. I eased the hair products into my hair, taking my time.

                The shower felt like a wonderful distraction. With every galloon that fell out of the overhead faucet, I felt my thoughts slipping from my mind. My head was slowly emptying of any worries or stress that had previously occupied.

                Unfortunately, I forced myself to leave the distraction. My eyes were aching to stay open and had I stayed any longer, I would’ve passed out.

                I wrapped a towel around my body, grabbing the clothes from the ground and heading towards my room.

                I turned on the small lamp on my nightstand that just barely lit the room. Plenty of shadows still covered most of the room.

                Briefly, my eyes rested on the note next to my phone. I shook my head, turning towards my drawers.

                I pulled out a pair of panties, slipping them on.

                I opened the other draw, grabbing a matching pink bra.

                “Had I known you were half-naked, I would’ve come sooner.” A deep voice flooded the room, causing me to freeze in my place.

                “No.” I whispered, squeezing my eyes shut. My hands moved to cup my exposed breasts, the towel slipping off my shoulders. It fell at a heap on the floor. “No.”

                “No?” The voice was closer.

                “It’s just your imagination.” I whispered to myself.

                “Really?” I could feel his breath on my shoulder. “I think I’m very real, Princess. Open your eyes.”

                I shook my head. “No.”

                “You’re going to hide there in your own personal world?” He said, “Isn’t that a little rude while you have a guest in the house?”

                “Get out of my house.” I hissed. I wanted to look, but I kept my eyes closed. I stood in the middle of my room in nothing but pink panties with a pink bra in my hands with an unknown man only a few inches from me.

                “No can do.” He said, “We need to have a little chat.”

                “Can you leave for a moment?” I asked, “I’m kind of naked here.”

                “I’m fine with that.”

                “Get. Out.” I growled angrily.

                I felt his fingers curl around my chin, jerking it sharply to the left. My eyes opened in surprise, staring into the black holes of his mask.

                “Two minutes.” He growled in return.

                I nodded weakly in his grip. He released me, moving to the window. I barely had time to register anything before he climbed out, disappearing into the darkness. .  

                I shivered from the cold, quickly turning my back to the window. I slipped my bra on as fast as I could, pulling a pair of blue jammie pants on. A black t-shirt topped off the look. I dried my hair off with the towel, running a hand through it.

                I moved to my bed, grabbing the note off of the nightstand and tucking it into my bra. I didn’t need Mister Superman finding out about my little harassment at school.

                He returned on the dot two minutes later. My eyes were trained on him as he crawled gracefully through the window. He moved to the foot of the bed, crossing his arms.

                “What do you need to ‘talk’ about?” I asked skeptically in a soft voice.

                “Can I take a seat?” He asked politely, motioning to the foot of my bed where I sat. I narrowed my eyes dangerously.

                He took a seat anyways. His shielded thigh pressed against my bare one. It was cold from the outside world. I turned my body so that our touching ceased, facing him more.

                “We need to have a little discussion over the fact that the idiotic police force of this town seemed to have lost the man who put a gun to your head a week ago.” His voice was sharp, to the point, unlike before.

                My eyes widened, “What?”

                “I had him tied up.” The masked man snapped, “And those morons managed to let him escape from the holding cell.”

                “What�"what’s going to happen now?”

                “I would advise you to quit your job at McDonald’s�"”

                I cut him off, “I’m not quitting my job! I need the money!”

                “I understand that. And since I know you won’t quit your job, I think you need to be aware of the fact that this man may be out for revenge. I don’t know how hard I knocked him. He may have lost all memory of the event, but most likely, he didn’t.”

                “What does this mean?” I asked quietly, staring out the window.

                “It means if anything suspicious happens, you need to tell me.”

                My eyes turned back to him, “How do you expect me to do that, Superman? It’s not like I can walkie-talkie you or anything.”

                “You’ll find a way.”

                I rolled my eyes, turning my attention back to the window, “Is that all?”

                “No…”
                “Then what is it?”

                The masked man, lips curled into a smirk. He leaned back on the bed, reaching a hand behind him. I raised an eyebrow skeptically.

                He raised a see-through green fabric, letting it hang from one finger. “I really like the color of these.”

                My eyes widened. I automatically reached forward, grabbing for it “Give that back, you pervert! How did you get my panties? Give it back!”

                The smirk remained. He held it out of my reach, “Ah-ah. A magician never reveals his secrets, now does he?”

                “Give them back! This is sexual harassment! I could land you in jail for this! Give it back now!” I hissed angrily.

                “Really? Go ahead, call the cops. I dare you.”

                I glared at him angrily, knowing he was right. “Just give me my damned panties, you creep!”

                The man bunched my panties into his fist, hiding it from view, “I think the green matches my back.”

                I reached over him, grabbing the fist. “Shut up!”

                “I’d love to see you wearing them. My green on you. That’d be pretty sexy.” He fantasized. I made a face, trying to uncurl his fingers. He kept them in a tight ball, looking as if my attempts were useless.

                “Could you just let go?”

                “I could.”

                “Now.”

                He chuckled, not loosening his grip in the slightest.

                “You’re such a creep.” I hissed as I struggled to get my panties free, “First you break into my car and find out where I live, then you stalk me and learn my name, and now you’re stealing my underwear? There’s a word for people like you. Pedophile.”

                He chuckled, “A pedophile is usually a forty-year old touching little kids. The age difference between us isn’t that much.”

                “Let go!”

                “You’re really weak.”

                “I’m sorry we can’t all be super strong like you are. Please, just let go!” I slapped his fist, frustrated.

                He laughed, “Do you really think that will work?”

                “I’ll slap your face next.” I threatened.

                “I’d love to see you try.”

                I pulled my hand back to slap him, hesitating. His lips were still curled into that smug smirk of his. I brought my hand down with a strong force, ready to make his cheek hurt like hell.

                His fingers curled around my wrist, stopping me in my tracks.

                I had been expecting that.

                Without hesitation, I brought my other hand up, aiming for the opposite cheek.

                He caught that one as well.

                He moved my wrists against my will so that he held them both in one hand. The masked man leaned back, tugging my upper body over so that I hovered above him. I had to hold my chest up the few centimeters it was from his chest.

                I didn’t like the physical contact we made.

                In his free hand, he held up my panties, tucking them into a pocket.

                “Disgusting.” I snarled.

                “I wouldn’t be saying stuff like that right now.” He said, “You’re not in the best position to do so.”

                “Let go of me!”

                He pretended to think for a moment, “Nah.”

                “What kind of superhero are you? You’re keeping a young girl held against her will!” I whined, getting quickly annoyed with his petty game.

                “The kind that saved your a*s the other night, in case you don’t remember.” He hissed, “Oh wait, the other two nights.”

                I narrowed my eyes.

                “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

                “If you’re not here to save my a*s, can’t you just leave?”

                “And miss all this fun?” He teased. “I’d rather not.”

                I gave a sharp tug, hoping to free my hands from his death grip, “You’re hurting my wrists. Let go.”         

                He released them slowly.

                I pulled away sharply, standing up and taking a few steps back from my bed. I rubbed my wrists carefully, noticing how red lines bordered them.

                He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his thighs. “Sorry.”

                I didn’t say anything, staring off at the window.

                The masked man stood up, taking a few steps towards me. I watched with a cautious eye as he stood right before me.

                He placed his hands on my hips, holding me tightly.

                “What are you�"” I felt my own voice trail off.

                I stared into the black marks where his eyes were hidden behind cloth. I could tell his eyes were holding my own.

                “Can I trust you to tell me if anything happens to you that is anything suspicious? I don’t need any dead citizens.”

                “Fine. I’ll tell you.” My arms hung limp at my side.

                He gave me a small half-smile. “Let me ask you something real quick, Avery.”

                I frowned, “Why do you get to know my name, but I don’t get to know yours? That’s not fair at all.”

                He chuckled, but waited for an answer.

                “Fine, go ahead. Ask away, Superman.”

                “Why haven’t your parents come in yet? You were making a fair amount of noise earlier.” He commented.

                My eyes narrowed, “That’s none of your business.”

                He took a step back, raising his hands innocently, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to touch a nerve. I was just curious.”

                “Haven’t you ever heard the phrase ‘curiosity killed the cat’?”

                “Good point.” He said, “But if we’re going to be like that, please humor me then.”

                “How?”

                “Tell me what you have shoved in your bra.”

                My eyes widened as a hand instinctively moved to touch where the note was tucked in. I tried to play it off as me reaching for my heart, “What are you talking about?”

                “I know you put the note in there. I want to know what it said.”

                “I don’t have anything in my bra that doesn’t belong there.”

                He pulled out my green panties from his pocket, holding them up. I reached for the, but he raised them above my head. “I’ll make you a trade.”

                “Give it back!”

                “Let me see the note.”

                “It’s my note! I don’t want you to see it!” I wasn’t sure why I had gotten so defensive over the note. It had been threatening. I should’ve been willing to give it to him and let him handle the problem. But I wanted to keep it now.

                Keep the note and my panties.

                “Then I’ll be keeping these.” He said, bunching it into a ball.

                “You pervert! Don’t!” I begged, giving a useless jump to grab them. He moved it back just out of my fingertips’ touch.

                He chuckled softly, resting his free hand on my shoulder. My eyes followed as he tucked the ball of green panties into his pocket once more.

                He grabbed my chin, pulling my attention back to his face.

                My eyes fell down to his lips, the only part of his skin I could see.

                “When you’re ready to let me see the note, I’ll give you back your panties.” He promised, his voice soft in the quiet evening.

                “This is wrong and illegal and disgusting.” I hissed.

                He smirked, “This is life.”

                “You’re not serious are you?”

                “Let me see the note.”

                “I can handle it.” I growled, “It’s just a harmless prank a boy at school played. I don’t need you to handle my personal business.”

                The masked man took a step back, making his way towards the window.

                I watched as he climbed out.

                He held the panties up real quick before disappearing into the night.

                I walked over to the window, closing it sharply. I hoped he heard the lock spin, sealing him out of my room.