Chapter 3
Unlike the other entries, this one had a bright red star at the front.
It was almost like it was saying that this was the most important entry.
My heart skipped a beat.
I looked at the title of the memo.
It read: [Tasha Hodgson]
It was my name.
My breath caught in my throat.
It felt like all the blood in my body had frozen solid.
I stared at the memo, unable to look away.
My gaze shifted downward.
I saw the date it was created.
It was June 7th, three years ago.
It was the day of the SAT, and it was also the day before our blind date.
An overwhelming, unspeakable terror seized me all at once.
It felt as if a cold, unforgiving hand had clamped around my throat.
I couldn't breathe.
With trembling hands, I summoned every ounce of strength I had.
I opened the memo bearing my name.
The memo's content was simple.
There was just a single line.
It read: [Tasha Hodgson, the game has begun.]
It was like an ice-cold blade stabbed right into my heart.
Then it started twisting mercilessly inside me.
Blood gushed out.
The pain was so sharp, I nearly seized up.
I wondered what kind of game it referred to.
I wondered if everything had been just a game since that blind date three years ago.
His gentle pursuit, the way he cared for me in every possible way.
The way he treated me, the way he spoiled me rotten.
Our first year of marriage.
I wondered if all of it was just a game.
I felt like the prey in his game, and a fool.
A wave of absurdity and icy dread surged up from my feet, shooting straight to the top of my head.
I was shaking all over.
I was trembling so much, I could barely keep hold of my phone.
The phone slipped from my grasp with a sudden snap.
It landed on the soft carpet, barely making a sound.
But to me, it sounded like a thunderclap.
It exploded in my mind, leaving me dizzy and my ears ringing nonstop.
I bolted out of bed and rushed into the bathroom.
Gripping the icy sink, I started dry-heaving.
My stomach churned violently.
But nothing came up.
Only sour, bitter bile burned its way up my throat.
It was bitter and acrid.
I looked up at my reflection in the mirror.
My face was ghostly pale, my lips drained of all color.
My eyes were filled with terror and disbelief.
I was an absolute wreck.
I finally realized.
He didn't forget me.
He remembered.
He remembered everything.
He remembered the girl called Tasha Hodgson.
He remembered kicking me down the stairs, breaking my leg.
He didn't forget.
He was just carrying on that never-ending torment from ten years ago. Only now, he had found a new way to do it.
Ten years ago, he destroyed me physically.
Ten years later, he had come to ruin me emotionally.
He watched as I slowly let my guard down.
He watched as I slipped further and further into the gentle trap he'd spun around me.
He watched as I began to believe I'd finally found a place where I could be happy.
I wondered if he was having fun and feeling a sense of achievement.
I wondered what he was really after.
Maybe he was waiting for the moment I was hopelessly in love with him, so attached I couldn't breathe without him, just to throw me away, just like ten years ago, when he sent me flying down those stairs
Maybe he was going to tell me that all of this was nothing but a game, and then sit back and enjoy watching me suffer, watching me break, watching me drown in despair.
Just imagining that scene sent chills straight down my spine.
I felt a cold dread creeping over me, making my skin crawl.
This man was not a devil.
He was more terrifying than any devil could ever be.
I turned on the faucet and kept splashing cold water on my face, over and over.
I hoped it would help me calm down.
But it was useless.
My body kept trembling out of control.
Even my teeth were chattering.
Anthony called out, "Tasha?"