Gemotions

The email arrived at 3:17 AM. My sleep cycle had been wrecked since the incident, anyway. I’d been checking my inbox every hour, hoping, dreading, something. The subject line was chillingly simple: “Regarding your artwork.”

I clicked on it. Attached was a photo. A leg, a bare leg, with my “Wandering Stars” inked from ankle to thigh. Whoever this was, they had gone to great lengths to copy it. A knot of tension tightened in my shoulders, making it difficult to breathe.

I grabbed my keys and went downstairs. The streetlights cast long shadows, painting the world in stark relief. I walked the neighborhood, just to make sure the street was clear, making sure no one was following me. My heart pounded in my chest, a frantic drumbeat against the silence of the night.