The air was heavy, thick with the kind of tension that makes your
skin prickle with unease. I had tried to push the message away, but
it gnawed at the back of my mind. "You can't outrun the darkness.
It will always find you." The words haunted me, as if they were the
truth I'd been avoiding all along. I could feel the eyes of the
world—watching, waiting for me to slip. But who was watching?
And how much did they know?
I was back in the city now, my feet carrying me without direction.
It had been a few days since the message arrived, and I had yet to
shake the feeling of being pursued. I needed answers. I needed to
know who was behind the anonymous threat. And yet, no matter
how hard I tried to push the thought from my mind, something
was gnawing at me—a new, urgent feeling that I couldn't ignore. A
fresh hunger.
I had barely slept the past few nights. Every creak of the
floorboard, every shadow in the corner of my vision, sent me into
a spiral. It was like I was being hunted, though I didn't know by
whom. Maybe it was my own mind, a manifestation of my own
guilt. But there was something else—something darker. Someone
out there was watching me, and I wasn't sure I could escape this
time.
Becker had no idea. She was still the same, completely unaware of
the monster lurking beneath the surface. She didn't know the
things I was capable of—the things I had done, the things I was
still fighting against. Her trust was like a weight pressing down on
me, and I wasn't sure how much longer I could pretend to be the
person she believed I was.
I needed a distraction. I needed to feel something, anything, other
than the gnawing, suffocating pressure of my own thoughts.
It was then that I saw her again—the woman from the café. She
was walking down the street, alone, her long brown hair swaying
with each step. There was a familiarity in the way she moved, the
same way I had noticed her the first time. She wasn't just another
face in the crowd. There was something about her that felt...
important. Like she was meant to be part of the story I was writing
in my head.
I watched her from a distance, letting the feeling of the hunt take
over. The same excitement, the same pull—it was all there. She
was a perfect new victim, and I knew that if I let this chance slip
away, I would regret it. This was the perfect opportunity. There
was nothing holding me back this time. Nothing but the growing
dread that this might be a mistake.
I followed her for a few blocks, my footsteps quiet, but quickening
with each passing moment. The thrill of the chase, the rush of
adrenaline—it was all too familiar, too intoxicating. My hands were
shaking, but I couldn't stop. I had to finish what I started.
Just as I was about to make my move, my phone buzzed in my
pocket. I froze, my heart racing. The message from earlier flashed
in my mind again, that creeping sense of being watched. The buzz
was constant now, an echo in the quiet street, almost like a
warning.
I pulled out the phone, my hands still trembling as I saw the
message.
It was from an unknown number.
"You're getting sloppy. The darkness is too strong. You'll fall back into it—
whether you want to or not."
I stared at the screen, my mind spinning. The words stung, like a
truth I couldn't escape. Someone knew. Someone was out there,
following my every move, and I didn't know who to trust
anymore. I couldn't even trust myself.
The woman ahead of me was getting closer to an alleyway, the
perfect place for me to act, to make her mine. But the phone
buzzed again, dragging my attention back to the screen.
"You're being watched. You know this, don't you? It's not over."
I couldn't breathe. I looked around, my body tense, the hairs on
my neck standing up. Was someone really watching me right now?
Was this just the ramblings of someone who knew too much, or
was it something more? Could they see everything? Feel my every
movement, like I was trapped in a web of my own making?
The woman entered the alley. It was now or never.
But I hesitated.
I stepped back, retreating into the shadows of the street, my pulse
racing. The woman had no idea what had just happened. She was
still walking, unaware of the danger that had almost claimed her.
The pull to follow, to take control again, was overwhelming. But I
stopped. I couldn't do it. Not this time.
I couldn't let myself go back to that darkness—not now, not when
I was so close to finally escaping it.
My phone buzzed once more, and I glanced at the screen. Another
anonymous message. I opened it without thinking, my heart
sinking as I read the chilling words.
"We're not done. You'll finish what you started. And when you do, you'll be
mine."
I gripped the phone tightly, the words blurring in my vision as
everything around me seemed to fall away. The woman in the alley,
the familiar streets, Becker's trust—none of it mattered anymore.
I was trapped. I had been from the beginning. And no matter how
hard I fought, I knew I couldn't escape.
I turned and walked away, my head spinning with the realization
that I was no longer in control. The darkness was here, and it had
found me.