Chapter IV

Aelin was a mess. She could no longer take it, the amount of stress on her head was crushing her like a huge rock. She kept on expecting things, building scenarios that led to nowhere since they were bound to not happen in real life. She felt like in any moment he would come for her with his huge grin and strangle her to death so she could be silenced for good. She could no longer wait for him to do his move. Either she started to move now or she might need to dig her own grave soon.

So here is Aelin, hiding under a black hoodie, on some dark alley, in some dark corner, following an even darker man. May the gods bless her with evidence and curse him with no expectations .

It was friday , they finished classes early and she decided to follow him around 2 days ago. Now, she was thinking that maybe she should have waited a few more days. But then she remembered the way those days would have went and she was not going to put up with it any longer. She bought a pocket knife from some random hunting shop, sent some prayers up above and started following him as best as she could.

He was a tall guy so she could spot him any time in the crowd. With small steps she walked behind on a rather reasonable distance that gave her some comfort, also probably the only reason for which she was able to breathe.

He stopped at a local bakery and bought some chocolate things that smelled and looked damn good. He ate one of them and then gave the other to some homeless lady that slept with her dog on the side of the road, she had a metal box with some coins in it in her hand. She smiled and he waved silently at them. As Aelin was hiding from them, she could afford to be taken aback by the scene and actually frown on his attitude. But then she regained her composure and went on with her investigation thinking that it was the first time she saw a criminal giving pastries to homeless people.

He went in an old coffee shop and bought an expresso. He stood on a table facing the windows and silently looked outside for 2 hours, exchanging small words with the cashier, it made him look like a regular.

It got dark when he left the coffee shop, which started to feel risky for her but she had to do it, be it now or never.

He walked slowly on a road that gave her a pain in the ass in actually remembering it. He turned to almost every corner, went on some alleys that Aelin didn't even know they existed in her town and then he stopped by some old building and knocked on the door like it was some close friend's house. The door opened and he slipped in shutting it behind him quite rudely if she may add.

Now.... What the hell was she supposed to do to get in? Would it be okay for her to actually get in? She groaned in frustration thinking that she reached a dead end but then she saw the emergency stairs and she gladly high-fived herself for her athletics course in gymnasium, finally it was useful.

She went pass the building and started to climb the emergency stairs like a thief. When she reached the top it felt quite refreshing when she saw the empty rooftop. She then saw a door and after praying some more went in hoping that nothing bad would happen on the other side. But then again, when was the last time she got lucky?

As soon as she set foot inside she was welcomed by him. Starring back at her with that mocking smile of his.

- We meet again Aelin!

The shivers on her back meant no harm but she felt them like paper cuts.