…
I locked my phone and set it down beside me, but I didn't move away from the bed immediately. Something about the quiet felt different this time, like it wasn't just the absence of noise, but something more deliberate.
It felt watched.
Not in the usual way I had gotten used to over the past few days. This was sharper. Closer.
I pushed that thought aside at first, telling myself I was overthinking it, that I was letting everything get into my head more than I should. But the feeling didn't go away. If anything, it settled deeper, quieter, like it was waiting for me to notice it properly.
I stood up slowly and walked toward the window again, more out of instinct than decision.
The street outside looked the same as always. A car drove past, headlights sliding across the road before disappearing. Someone walked along the sidewalk, hands in their pockets, not paying attention to anything around them.
Everything normal.
Too normal.
I rested my hand lightly against the edge of the window and let my eyes move across the street without focusing too hard on anything at first. That was how you missed things—by looking too directly.
So I didn't.
I let my gaze drift.
From the parked cars…
to the empty stretch of pavement…
to the far corner near the streetlight—
And that was when I saw it.
At first, it didn't register as anything important. Just a shape, slightly darker than everything around it, standing where no one had been a second ago.
I narrowed my eyes slightly, not moving, not reacting too quickly.
The figure didn't move.
That was what made it wrong.
People don't stand still like that for no reason. Not in the middle of a quiet street. Not without checking their phone or looking around or doing something to fill the stillness.
But this person…
was just standing there.
Facing my building.
Facing my window.
Facing me.
My fingers tightened slightly against the frame, but I kept my breathing steady, my expression unchanged. If they were watching—and I knew now that they were—then the last thing I was going to do was give them a reaction they could use.
So I stayed still.
And I watched back.
A few seconds passed.
Then more.
Long enough for the moment to stretch into something heavier.
Then—
they moved.
Not away.
Not turning to leave like a normal person would.
They took a step forward.
Slow. Controlled.
Closer to the building.
Closer to me.
And even from that distance, I could feel it—something about the way they moved, the way they didn't hesitate, didn't look around, didn't question anything.
They knew exactly where they were.
And exactly what they were doing.
My phone vibrated suddenly in my hand.
The sound cut through the silence sharper than anything else, pulling my attention down for just a second.
I didn't want to look away.
But I did.
I unlocked the screen.
One message.
Now you see me.
My chest tightened, not from fear, but from the realization settling in properly this time.
This wasn't distant anymore.
This wasn't controlled from somewhere safe and hidden.
This was here.
Close.
Deliberate.
I looked back up immediately—
And the street was empty.
The figure was gone.
No footsteps. No movement. No sign that anyone had been there at all.
Just the same quiet road.
The same still air.
Like nothing had happened.
I didn't move right away.
I just stood there, staring at the spot where they had been, my mind trying to make sense of something that didn't leave room for explanation.
Then slowly… I stepped back from the window.
Not because I was afraid.
But because I understood something now that I hadn't before.
They weren't just watching anymore.
They weren't just testing limits or sending messages from a distance.
They had crossed into my space.
And they had done it without hesitation.
I glanced down at my phone again, the message still sitting there like it had been waiting for this exact moment.
Now you see me.
I exhaled slowly, my grip tightening just slightly around the phone.
"Yeah," I said under my breath, my voice quieter than I expected.
"I do."
But the thought didn't settle the way it should have.
Because seeing them wasn't the problem.
The problem was—
they had let me see them.
And people like that don't make moves without a reason.