"Ninety-two thousand, six hundred and eighty dollars," Ken whispered, his voice cracking. He sat on the edge of his bed, doing the mental math over and over.
"Wait... if the hospital bill was seven thousand three hundred and twenty, that means he paid a flat hundred thousand dollars!" Ken dropped the cash as if it had burned him. "What am I supposed to do with this? That's my entire salary for a year and a half."
It was a life-changing amount. It was enough to pay off Delvon, settle his mother's future treatments, and finally stop running. But after a long, agonizing hour of thought, Ken decided to hide it.
He couldn't pay Delvon back yet. If he returned the loan now, he'd pay the interest, and if another emergency struck, he'd be back in the Bull's pocket with even higher rates. He tucked the money into his floorboard safe, feeling a heavy mixture of gratitude and terror.
During his week off, something strange happened: the nightmares stopped. Without the icy hands and the phantom kisses, Ken actually began to feel human again.
By Friday, the final day of his leave, he felt brand new. He decided to do a full grocery run before his afternoon classes. But as he pulled into the mall parking lot, his heart sank. A sleek, black SUV identical to the one that had nearly run him over was parked near the entrance.
"Is he here? Does the wealthy Mr black really do his own grocery shopping?" Ken muttered, pulling his hood up. He hurried inside, moving through the aisles like a ghost. He didn't see a glimpse of Lucien, and by the time he reached the checkout, he was convinced he had been paranoid.
The cashier scanned his items. "Two thousand, three hundred and fifty dollars," she announced.
Ken reached for his wallet, but the cashier stopped him, handing him a high-tech plastic voucher with a tracking code. "Someone already settled the bill, sweetie. This voucher has the remaining balance—seven thousand, six hundred and fifty dollars. You can use it here until the ten thousand is gone."
Ken froze. "I don't understand. Who paid?"
"A man in black," the cashier said, nodding toward the exit. "He left a moment ago."
Ken grabbed his bags and sprinted to the window, catching only a glimpse of the black SUV pulling out of the lot.
"Damn it," Ken hissed, staring at the dissappeared into the distance. "What is he doing? What does he want from me?"
Monday morning marked Ken's full return to work. He looked brighter, the dark circles under his eyes having faded during his week of rest.
"You finally look like you're part of the living," Amy teased as Ken walked into the restaurant kitchen.
"Yeah, I thought we were going to have to write an obituary last week," Laura added, though her eyes were soft with relief.
"Thanks, guys. Honestly," Ken said, leaning against the counter. "You're the best friends I've ever had."
"Try getting enough sleep. You need a lot of it, you know," Amy responded
"I've been getting six or seven hours of sleep, but..." ken trailed off, his expression clouding over.
"But what?" Amy asked, leaning in.
"It's... hard to explain. Before the hospital, I was having these nightmares. The reason I didn't sleep the day I passed out wasn't just work—it was because I was terrified to close my eyes."
"Nightmares? About what?"
Ken shuddered, his voice dropping to a whisper. "It's a dark figure. It appears the second I close my eyes. It feels like... like it's making out with me."
"What!" Both girls shrieked, earning a glare from the manager.
"And that's not the strangest part," Ken continued, his eyes wide and horrified. "His hands... they're ice cold. Like a dead body. It's a cold that goes right through your bones."
Amy and Laura exchanged a sharp, knowing look. They both remembered the man in the restaurant—the man whose skin looked like marble and whose eyes felt like the grave.
"Do you have a clue who it might be?" Ken asked, noticing their silence.
"We suspect 'Mr. Black,'" Amy replied. "There's something... off about him. Beyond the clothes and the attitude."
"What could be off? He's just a rich guy with a brooding problem," Ken countered, though his heart began to race.
Laura shook her head. "The day you passed out, Ken... the way he moved. He was sitting all the way at that corner table. You fell here. By the time we even screamed, he was already holding you. No human can cross that distance in half a second."
Ken looked at the distance. "Maybe you were just in shock? People exaggerate things when they're scared."
"No.....fine," Amy said, grabbing his hand. "Come with us. We'll show you the security footage."
They slipped into the back security room and pulled up the archives from the day of the collapse. They found the time stamp and hit play.
On the screen, Ken saw himself sway. He saw the pad fall. Then, he saw Lucien stand up, walk toward him at a brisk but normal pace, and catch him.
"See? I told you," Ken said, exhaling a breath he didn't know he was holding. "You guys were just imagining things."
"But... that's not what I saw!" Amy stared at the screen in total shock. "I saw him blur! He was there before I could even blink!"
"Did he find a way to alter the footage?" Laura whispered, looking at the camera in the corner of the room as if it were a traitor.
"That's a bit much, don't you think?" Ken laughed nervously, though a seed of doubt was planted in his mind. He left the room, trying to convince himself that the world was normal.
The weekend passed, and Sunday night arrived. Ken returned from his shift at the club, showered, and fell into bed.
The nightmare returned with a vengeance.
It was more intense than ever. The cold hands weren't just on his neck; they were everywhere. The phantom kisses felt so real he could almost taste the winter on the figure's lips. The hands slid inside his waistband, the ice-cold touch causing Ken to let out a muffled sob in his sleep.
Suddenly, his alarm blared.
Ken scrambled back until he was pressed against the headboard, his chest heaving, tears streaming down his face. He felt violated, haunted, and utterly losing his mind.
Just as he was about to get up, his phone buzzed with a notification. It was a message from Amy. It was a video file, but the caption made his heart stop:
"I forgot i recorded the security monitor with my phone the day it happened, before the 'official' files were saved. Watch this, Ken. The footage in the room was definitely changed."