Riya stared at the message on her phone.
Check your left pocket. The one on your coat.
She froze. Her eyes moved to the chair across the room. Her coat was hanging there, exactly where she had left it. Her brain immediately rejected the command. She hadn't touched the coat since the moment she came home and locked the door. No one had been inside since then. This was her apartment. Her safe place.
Yet suddenly, the coat felt different. It felt like it was watching her.
Riya slowly pushed herself off the bed. The floor felt cold beneath her bare feet as she walked across the room. Each step felt heavier than the last, her heart beating louder with every second. This has to be a bluff, she thought. It's the only explanation that makes sense. Someone is just trying to scare me.
She stopped beside the chair and stared at the coat for a moment. Then she reached forward.
Her fingers slipped into the left pocket.
For a second there was nothing but fabric. Then her skin brushed against something crisp.
Paper.
Her chest tightened. She had expected a weapon or something gross but it's a paper.
The moment she saw it, her stomach dropped.
She recognized the paper instantly.
It was the trap note.The one she had carefully planted in her bag earlier.
But it didn't look exactly the same anymore. The fold was tighter now. More precise. Someone had opened it. Someone had handled it care. Riya unfolded the paper, her own handwriting staring back at her: "I am here."
The words were exactly the same as she remembered writing them. But something was different. Under her sentence, another line had been added in calm, precise handwriting.
"Yes. You are."
Riya felt a cold weight settle in her stomach. Slowly, she turned the paper over. On the back, written in neat red ink ,like a professor grading a failing exam, was a single, circled letter.
F
She stared at it for several seconds before the meaning fully settled in.
He had seen the trap. He had understood it. And he had graded it. An F.
Her plan had failed.
Her chest tightened as the realization spread through her mind. He had accessed her bag. He had read the note she planted. Then he had replaced it and somehow returned it to her coat pocket without her noticing. Which meant he had been inside the studio the entire time. Not watching from outside.
Inside.
Her phone vibrated in her hand. Riya flinched.
A new message appeared.
Unknown Number: You tried to trap me. Cute.
Another vibration.
Unknown Number: Next time, hide it better.
The calmness of the messages made her chest tighten. He wasn't angry or threatened; he was amused. Her clever idea suddenly felt childish. Her mind raced as she typed before she could stop herself.
Riya: How did you do that?
The reply appeared instantly, as if the message had been waiting for her to ask.
Unknown Number: You were so busy looking for a "creep"…
A second message arrives.
Unknown Number: …that you forgot to look for a professional.
Riya's stomach tightens. Another message appears.
Unknown Number: You were watching the window reflection.
Her pulse spiked. Another vibration.
Unknown Number: So you didn't notice when I brushed past you at the bus stop.
Riya stopped breathing, when phone vibrated again.
Unknown Number: "You smell like Lily"
The words made her skin crawl. He had been close enough to smell her.
Another message appeared
Unknown Number: "Sloppy."
For a moment she simply stared at the screen.Then the memory slammed into her.At the bus stop earlier...The crowd shifting around her. Someone had bumped into her shoulder. At the time, she hadn't even looked up. She had been too focused on the reflections in the glass behind her, trying to spot someone watching. Her hands started shaking.
He had been right there. Close enough to touch her .
The worst part wasn't that someone had touched her. It was that she couldn't remember who.
Riya suddenly felt exposed standing in the middle of the room. Her eyes slowly moved around the apartment. The silence felt different now. Every shadow seemed wrong. Every small sound made her tense. Her mind raced through possibilities.
Was he outside? Across the street? Inside the building? Or somewhere she hadn't noticed yet?
For a second she thought she saw movement beyond the dark window. Her head snapped up instantly. She stared through the glass, searching for any sign of motion.
There was nothing. Only darkness.
Riya slowly sat on the edge of the bed, breathing harder. One by one, the pieces slid into place: the studio note, the hallway shadow, the missing trap, the coat pocket and the contact at the bus stop. The timing was too perfect, Every step had happened at exactly the right moment. Every message arrived seconds after she reacted. It wasn't a series of coincidences; it was a blueprint.
A cold dread settled in her chest as the truth took shape. This wasn't random. It was calculated. Someone had been in the shadows all along, studying her every move.
Her phone vibrated again. Riya flinched.
Unknown Number: You were brave today
Her chest tightened.
She stared at the message. Another message appeared.
Unknown Number: Most people would have panicked.
Another vibration.
But you stayed.
Her throat felt dry. Stayed? Like this was some kind of test.
The phone buzzed again.
Unknown Number: Try again tomorrow.
Riya's grip tightened on the phone.
"Tomorrow."
The screen lit up one last time. Another message appeared.
Unknown Number: "Observation is your field, Riya.
Her breath caught.Next message arrived.
You should be better at it."
Unknown Number: Lesson one: Always watch the person, not the reflection.
Riya stares at the screen.
Riya slowly lowered the phone. She brought the note closer to her faceandcaught a faint, sharp scent clinging to the paper , It wasn'therperfume, but something metallic and cold, like graphite or drafting ink.
Then she looked toward the dark window. A terrifying thought crossed her mind for the first time that night. Maybe he isn't outside. Maybe he is closer than that.
Riya lowered the phone. She placed the note on the desk beside her laptop.
The red "F" stared up at her like an accusation. She watched it for several seconds without knowing why. For a long moment, she didn't move.
Then her gaze drifted back toward the chair. Toward the coat.
Riya watched it for a few seconds.
Her face burned red as she snapped her head away again. She bit her lip, swallowing a frustrated 'Tch' and closing her eyes tight, hating that she had been so blind.
After a long moment, she turned off the light. She climbed back into bed and pulled the blanket to her chin. Her eyes stayed open, staring at the ceiling as darkness filled the room.
Tomorrow.
The word echoed in her mind.
Tomorrow, the next lesson would begin..
Her phone vibrated once more. Her heart skipped. Slowly, she lifted the screen.
Unknown Number: Don't bother checking the window.
Her stomach dropped. Another message appeared.
Unknown Number: I'm not outside.
Riya stopped breathing. The final message arrived.
Unknown Number: Good night, Riya.