And the ring. What did that mean? The realization struck her immediately. He had left her. He was gone. He had learned her secret and he had left her....There was no other possible explanation. She panicked. She ran to the phone and dialed his cell. She had to stop him. She had to get him back. He couldn't just leave her. She had to explain -- try to make him understand.The phone rang and finally she heard his voice. It was his voice mail."Brent, it's me. Please call. I need to explain. Please,. And out of my mouth, rolled down my tongue, before I could stop myself."How did you get so muscular?" Steven did his staring again and then pulled his tank top over his head. A move that really made me harden even more. "Wouldn't you like to know." he told me with a grin.Then he was racing toward me, and I really felt fearful for my life, but I had faith... Yeah, faith in a dream I had not a mere few minutes earlier.Steven reached me and pushed me against a tree... His lips were on mine and his. Traffic was light and at seventy in the middle lane the Beamer was rock steady. I was about to ask her what was going on when she spoke."Thank you, Master," she said in a very small voice."Well, here's a how-de-do," I muttered, "what the hell do I do now?" Master?" What's your name?" I asked; that seemed like a logical starting point."They call me Candy," she said, "when it's not 'Bitch' or 'Slut'."The situation was getting to me. Different things cause different people stress; I do not cope. “I ... no, I don’t. I don’t understand at all.” He winced and closed his eyes, as though he’d suddenly gotten a migraine, or someone had flashed an incredibly bright light in front of him. “Everything’s so weird lately. Since ... fuck, I ... I don’t know.”The barrel of the gun crept back up towards Emily’s face, pointing right between her eyes. Emily’s lip curled in disdain.“It’s just ... the lights, you know?” Chase asked. “I see them, all the time. I hear this whispering, too, it’s like.