Philadelphia…
Ellie kept her eyes on the ground as she desperately searched for her phone. She bumped into something.
Williamson caught her by the arms and pulled her up.
Ellie gasped and stared into his eyes. She must have caught him off guard as she saw in his gaze some flicker of—she couldn’t put her finger on it.
The man lowered his face to hers. “Ellie…” He lowered his lips to hers and kissed her.
Eyes widening at the hard erection he also pushed against her, she realized that this was the man following her. The one she’d caught sight of behind her in traffic a couple of times. Oh, crap! She needed to remove herself from him and fucking forget the phone. She pushed against him and tore his lips from hers.
His eyes rounded and he looked upset.
“Let me go!” she shouted and pulled away from him.
“Miss White?” someone called.
Williamson looked panicked as he turned and rushed away.
Ellie shook all over and turned to see Mr. Hillborn moving toward her.
“Are you all right?’ he asked.
Ellie shook her head and reached down for her bag. “No. That man. He—he…”
Hillborn looked concerned. “Did he attack you?”
She shook her head. “No, he kissed me.”
Hillborn looked angry at this answer. “Are you okay?”
She nodded feeling relief that the professor had interrupted her stalker. “I need to call the campus office as he said he was security. But I…” She looked around. “...lost my phone.”
“Well, he is certainly not security.” Hillborn still looked mad. “Come to my office and we will call the police.”
Ellie stared at him. He really looked pissed that she had been accosted. Well, he would she guessed, she was a student here.
“It’s just in the building next door,” he added at her pause.
“The building next door?” Ellie asked. “I thought it was closed down and under construction.”
“Yes, but my office is still accessible,” he quickly replied as he gestured for Ellie follow him.
“Okay.” Ellie’s brows furrowed but she decided to trust that the professor knew what he was talking about. She let him pass and followed closely behind. She wanted to ask him why she just couldn’t use his phone, but maybe he didn’t use a cell phone. He was sort of old fashioned and it wouldn’t surprise her.
Hillborn didn’t make further conversation, but Ellie figured he was just being reserved, like he often was. At any rate, she decided to save her questions until she got to his office so she could at least call Morgan and ask him to come get her. She rolled her eyes. Now, he would put a body guard on her for sure. Great. Just great.
Hillborn’s office was at the end of a very narrow and dark hallway in a part of the building that was away from the construction, but was only accessible by going through the construction, which was daunting at times.
“Are you sure about this?” she asked, forgetting her resolve to save her questions for later.
“Yes, yes,” Hillborn assured her. “Just follow me.”
Ellie watched the older man navigate flawlessly through the obstacle course comprised of cement mixers and 2x4’s with the agility of someone twenty years younger. She struggled to do as well in her restrictive clothing and footwear, but managed.
Finally, past the obstacle course, they arrived at what appeared to be Hillborn’s office. He unlocked the door and held it open for Ellie as she entered.
Ellie still limped a bit and sure as hell didn't want to actually break an ankle. “Can we get some light?” she asked.
“Certainly,” Hillborn replied as he took several paces into the office before turning on any lights.
Ellie waited from where she stood by the door. When she finally saw a light come on, it was a very dim one and at the far end of the room. She made her way towards it wondering why there wasn’t more lighting, but attributed the poor lighting to the construction going on outside.
“Please, have a seat, Ms. White.” Hillborn gestured to the leather upholstered seat in front of his desk. He wasn’t seated behind his desk, though. He took a very casual stance in between his desk and where he was asking Ellie to sit.
She took the seat and looked at his phone on the desk. “Umm, the call I need to make?”
He stared at her. “Did you know his man who kissed you?” he asked as he ignored her question.
Ellie wrinkled her brows. “No. I told you he was… said he was Campus Security.” She was feeling anxious now. This whole in a dark room with the questioning professor was grating on her nerves and she felt edgy and a little afraid already. “I at least, need to call my—Morgan and let him know what happened.”
“Yes,” Hillborn said. “About that.” He handed Ellie a manila envelope.
Ellie’s eyes narrowed as she took the envelope. She suddenly, had a very bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. She stared at the teacher.
His face remained unreadable.
“What is this about? I don’t understand. Are these my grades?”
He shook his head and motioned to the huge envelope again.
Dammit. What the hell was happening here? She took the contents of the envelope out and immediately recognized herself in the photos. She felt her stomach drop. “What’s this?” she demanded, looking up at Hillborn. “When were these taken?” She glanced back at the photos and felt her face flame as she realized that they were taken just a few nights ago, when she and Morgan had sex at the diner. The photos were very intimate and she wondered how on earth Hillborn could have possibly taken them without having been in the room at the time, which Ellie was certain that he hadn’t been.
Gazing back up at Hillborn, she felt sick to her stomach and was almost too afraid to ask another question because her situation was slowly becoming clear to her, but she asked anyway, “What is the meaning of this?”
Hillborn gave her what she’d thought of as a stern smile in his usual manner that made it seem like he was mocking you. He often did that in class when a student answered wrong, and now he was doing it to her, here, in his office which was far, far away from anyone that could hear her at this late hour.
Ellie’s heart began to beat fast. “Answer me!” she yelled, and stood up from her seat. She was in Hillborn’s face now. Suddenly, she felt dizzy.
His chuckle faded and the look on his face turned from slightly amused to ominous. “None of that matters,” he replied tersely. “Because what does matter is that I have those, and this.” He pulled out his cell phone and played a video.
Ellie was horrified to see what Hillborn had certainly already seen. It was a sex tape of her and Morgan that night at the diner. “You sick bastard!” she said, and swiped at the phone. “How could you do that? What kind of a pervert are you?” Her head seemed to spin. “Y-you were the one following me?” Shock rode through her. To think she was just accosted by some stranger, thinking he’d been stalking her, when it really was—she looked up at him—her professor?
Hillborn smiled at her. “I followed you for at least three weeks now. Who wouldn’t? I mean look at you. Oh and if you're wondering why you suddenly feel odd, I put in a fine powder into that envelope you opened. I do know a little about chemistry, you understand. You should be out in a minute or so. Don’t panic though, I won’t hurt you.”
Her eyes widened. “W-what?” She slumped back down onto the chair and the room spun around her. This man could kill her! She wanted to fight but couldn’t even lift her arm.
Hillborn nodded. “I couldn’t take the chance that you wouldn’t cooperate.” He held the phone away from Ellie. “I'll turn all of this evidence over to Hunt Industries and the Liberty Bell Diner, as well as flunk you if you don’t do exactly as I say. Your beloved Morgan will lose everything once the press gets a hold of a video of him fucking a slut in a place where food is served to the public and that diner will be shut down permanently because of your antics. In addition, he’d set up the charity that rebuilt it and that wouldn’t look too kosher, considering he did it for his own personal wants. I am here to show you that your actions have consequences, and because of the way that you dress and your provocative nature, you have made me obsessed with you.”
Ellie couldn’t even use her voice while she absorbed the severity of her situation. Her professor had stalked her and was now trying to blackmail her with pornographic images of her and her boyfriend? How could something like having hot sex with Morgan that had felt so right, feel so horribly wrong now? She nearly wanted to cry, but was too weak to do anything but stare at Hillborn with disgust. He wasn’t this studious professor or so straight laced after all. He was—was insane.
“Obsessed,” he repeated. “So now, the only remedy is that I must have you. If you comply with my desires today, I won’t release the photos or videos, your beloved Morgan will keep his prestige and billions, and that tacky diner will stay open. Oh, and you will also pass my class. Fail to obey my commands, and you will regret it.”
He was talking about sex. She knew this. This guy was obviously a creep, but he was also a notable professor at a very reputable university. That status carried some weight and so she hoped he didn't have plans to hurt her or kill her. Her body felt heavier and her eyelids tried to close on her. She fought the drug.
Seemingly pleased with her quick acceptance of the situation, Hillborn replied, “Very good, Ms. White. You’ve made a wise decision.”
Ellie tried hard to understand what he was saying. She never agreed to anything. She could barely hold her head up, let alone agree.
“Now, to begin, I'll need to cleanse you, of course. For that purpose, I have installed here in my office a personal full bath.” He came around the desk and picked her up.
Ellie saw his face above her then…nothing.