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I step out of the truck, eager to stretch my legs and view the area better. I round the side of the vehicle, looking into the tree line. I used to patrol this highway, I know there’s nowhere for her to pull her car off and sit. Even still, I move clockwise around my truck, looking offinto the distance across the four-lane road. There’s no sign of Mallory’s car.

I climb back into the driver’s seat and grab my phone off the passenger side seat. Swiping it open, the app updates and so does her location. She’s on the move, coming right towards me, and fast. Titillated, I shut off the headlights, slip my Ghost mask on, and sit in the pitch-black waiting for her.

Finally, her mismatched headlights crest the dark horizon. One light is a brighter white colour, and the other has a yellowish tint. She’s flying down the highway, in an awfully big rush to get wherever she’s headed. Her little black Honda Civic whips by, and I doubt she even notices my truck pulling onto the road behind her. I tail her close enough not to lose her, but not so close it raises her alarm bells.

Setting my phone up in the cup holder, I call her, putting it on speaker. This time she answers.

“Hello?” Her voice still carries the same hypnotizing melody, but this time there’s a hesitancy buried beneath it. Something happened.

“Are you okay? I haven’t heard from you all day.”

“Yep!” she says, popping the ‘p’. I call bullshit.

“Mallory, I know you’re lying to me.”

“Fuck sakes, Ghost. Can you not be a walking lie detector?” I can’t help but smile, it’s true, I am, even if it’s only where she’s concerned.

I can’t let her use of my nickname distract me this time, so I say, “I know you went to see Victoria.”

“Oh… Did Greyson tell you?”

“Yes.” There’s more to this, I know it. Why drive likea bat out of hell if she’s upset about Victoria? Why go into the city for hours? Why ignore me all day? It doesn’t add up. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah, I just needed to be alone for a while, you know?”

“Sure. Where’d you go?”

Her breath slows, and the silence hangs in the air. “The city.” she says unsteadily.

“For what?”

“Retail therapy.”

“Oh yeah? Get anything good?” I can almost feel her frustration with my questioning through the phone.

She clears her throat and huffs, “No, I didn’t see anything I liked. You know how I am when I get in a mood.” Yes, I do. She can’t even pick out snacks if her head is off in another place. It’s okay, I’ll reel her back in now, just as I do then.

“Are you going to be home soon then?” I ask, diverting the subject.

“Yeah, I’m on my way back now. Are you home?”

“Not yet, but I should be there soon.”

“Great, I can’t wait to see you. I’ve missed you.”

“Really?” I probe.

“Of course, Ghost.” The sweetness is back in her voice, the hesitancy bleeding away to softness. I’m about to ruin it.

“Babe?”

“Yeah?”

“Where are you going in such a hurry?” I query. She sucks in a sharp breath, and the anticipation of herdiscovering I’m in the vehicle behind her zaps life into my dick.

“W-what?”

I accelerate, coming up behind her until my bumper almost kisses hers. The headlights of my truck shine through the back window of her small car, lighting up the inside. I flick my high beams on and off so she knows it’s me and not some random asshole trying to scare her. “Surprise, baby.” I growl, mimicking her favourite slasher.