October 9, 2024 | Freddie stalking Will to therapy

 Will Graham made for an interesting subject, Freddie thought. Luckily for her, her readers agreed. She’d have gone where the clicks were regardless; a girl’s got to eat, after all. But it helped writing about something—or someone—she actually liked. And despite her constant antagonism, she 𝘥𝘪𝘥 like him. She wouldn’t go so far “for a story” otherwise.

 𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺, she’d followed him to therapy and tried to record his session. Dr. Lecter was, however, oddly protective of his patient and had made her delete the recording while scolding her and making her feel like a misbehaving schoolchild.

 Get real. She was never 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 kind of naughty schoolgirl.

 𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺, she’d had a friend who happened to be a real estate agent make her a copy of the key to Will’s house. Actually, Louis himself had once been the subject of Freddie’s poison pen. He was originally from Beverly Hills but had moved to Baltimore after getting off on grisly murder charges… twice. But that was a whole nother story, although he 𝘩𝘢𝘥 broken into his first lawyer’s home to subtly threaten him. His threats to Freddie herself had been somewhat less subtle, so maybe “friend” was an overstatement, but she was an opportunist.

𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺—no, actually, she never published the pictures she’d taken of Will fresh out of the shower. Those were just for her. He’d confronted her about taking them at all, of course, and she’d seized the opportunity to interview him for a Day in the Life article.

 And 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺, she was once again following him to his therapy appointment. This time, though, there was someone in a red-and-black-striped, red-stitched jacket with a black hood, leaning against a stair-divide. The stranger looked up with kohl-lined, startlingly teal eyes as he sensed her presence. He looked like he could be Louis’s kid brother, but more importantly, he looked to be on at least somewhat friendly terms with Will. They exchanged fist-bumps and he offered Will a clove cigarette. Freddie took out her camera to capture the moment. Through the viewfinder, she saw Will stumble slightly, grabbing his head. The boy steadied him, kept him from falling down the stairs. Then…

 Freddie couldn’t believe what she saw next. It must be a trick of the light, she told herself. The stranger had cupped Will’s cheek, and Freddie blinked rapidly to dispel the hallucination of a white light seeming to surround his hand, spreading over Will’s cheek and around his head. Freddie pressed the shutter once, twice, three times, just in case it wasn’t a hallucination after all.

 Just as she was putting her camera away, a muscular man with a light blue turtleneck tucked into jeans bounded down the steps. He greeted Will with recognition and a manic grin, then allowed the boy to press a hand to his lower back and gently lead him away.