AkumaQuil

He inches closer, a single finger roaming her heated skin. Breath mingling with breath. 

A loud bang vibrates through the room, so thunderous as if god himself was furious.

Slowly he looks up staring out the large glass windows to the backyard, 

"You have a visitor." His rasps calmly.

"Who?" Rose quickly fires, feigning ignorance. She knew well enough who it was. Her nightly visitor has arrived.

Surprising, He only visits when she is alone.

"One who comes out at night. Lurking in the shadows, in the darkness... just like its intensions."

He looks down still leaning on top her, once more pinning her with his intense gaze.

"Are you afraid?" His voice dead serious, eyes going back to look outside.

And Rose lied, "No." 

But is it a lie when her fear was never really rooting enough to make her run the other way but instead often getting mixed with exhilaration.

"You should be."  

He leaves her staring wide eyed on the sofa and goes to stand before the glass panes.

"It's not happy to see me here. I can see the raging pits of fire in it's gaze. Ready to burn me right where I stand." he chuckled, sounding most sinister, "It definitely wants to rip my innards out."

"You should take off your shirt." He suggests casually.

"Excuse me?"

"Let's see if it riles him up even more to shatter instead of just slamming the windows like a wuss." He rouses under his breath, his excited provocative tone not escaping Rose's attention. 

What the hell is he up to?

"This isn't funny." Rose sputters out, standing up from the couch.

"I'm not trying to be." He faces her again, sporting a deadpan face. 

"Whatever. You think I'm one of your stupid fan girls to take my shirt off just because you want to rile someone up? Besides, there's probably no one outside and you're only making it up to see my boobs like a pervert."

His eyes roams her from top to bottom, there was distaste evident in his gaze.

"When he comes at night and leaves a little something for you, maybe then you take off your clothes for him... like a slut." Rome stared into her eyes with nothing behind those icy orbs to show for a lack of meaning behind his words. Because he means every single thing he says to her.

"Get. Out. Now!" Rose boomed furiously. 

"Whatever, I was leaving anyway. This has become boring." He walks towards her front door.

"Wait. How do you know he comes at night and leaves something?" her eyes narrow.

"Because I've seen it before."

"You saw him? It is a real guy?" Rose wanted to confirm, for some reason she thought otherwise.

"I never said I saw him. I've only seen it happening to someone else." 

"Whom?" 

"You don't need to know." He closes off.

"Then at least tell me what happened to her? Can I meet this person?" 

"You can't." Refusing calmly he was almost out the door when Rose pleads against hope.

"Please."

"You can't because she disappeared." Those were the words that finally did it. Brought her racing heart and buzzing head to a sudden halt. "Never to be seen again." 

 "When he stops visiting, that's when you should be most afraid." His words rang like a siren in the silence of her mind as he left.

Now she felt true fear for the first time.

==

In the embrace of her ancestral town, Rose seeks refuge from the echoes of her past. 

Little does she know, her return to her roots will awaken dormant shadows, shattering ordinary her existence. 

For when the darkness falls over the town, from the pitch black rises a shadowy figure that haunt her nights. 

In the darkness he sweeps her off the ground in terrible fear and the allure of sinister intrigue.

And once the sun comes, a man with a god awful attitude, haunts her in the broad day light. Causing her to swell with pure disdain. 

With each passing night, it draws closer to Rose, casting a chilling spell that both terrifies and exhilarates her.

Thrust into a labyrinth of mysteries can she navigate the treacherous path laid before her, or will her nightly visitor consume her whole?

He Comes At Night

The man who stepped out wasn't just anyone.

Last night, he'd looked so different—raw, unrefined, and almost wild, like he belonged to the forest. I'd even mistaken him for some kind of spirit.

I'd never make that mistake again. Nothing as pure as a spirit can ever be that rude.

But now? Now he looked like he'd stepped out of a magazine.

His sharp features, perfectly tailored clothes, and effortless swagger screamed sophistication. He was the epitome of modern perfection, polished to a shine.

Still sporting that resting bitch face though.

And, I didn't doubt for a second that it was the same person.

And how, exactly, did he afford that car when last night he'd looked like someone scavenging for scraps in the woods?

But he didn't steal anything from you last night, a small voice in the back of my mind reminded me.

Fine. Lesson learned: never judge a book by its cover—or, apparently, a guy by his ability to look like a homeless model.

An unsettling urge crept over me: the need to hide.

I didn't know why, exactly. Maybe it was because I didn't want to explain why I'd mistaken him for some mystical forest dweller.

Or maybe it was because something about him made me feel exposed, like he could see more than I wanted him to.

It was as if what happened last night was all just in my imagination and this person I encountered was also only a part of it, not in any way real.

Seeing him here, in broad day light, among actual real people suddenly made him too real. I guess I am not comfortable with that.

Perhaps somewhere in my mind I still believed he was some apparition.

But hiding wasn't an option. I was standing smack in the middle of the open ground. Judging by his direction, right in his path, with no cover in sight.

And further judging by the way he was walking with purpose in his gait, he probably go here, too.

Possibility of completely avoiding him long-term? Not likely.

Still, I hoped he wouldn't see me.

"Umm, Rose? Are you okay? You look like you've seen a ghost," Leo's voice broke through my haze.

I turned to him, shaking off the trance. "What? Yeah, I'm fine. Just... distracted."

He followed my gaze toward the parking lot. "Did you see Ariadne again? Because if so, I can assure you—" He was trying to make another joke I guess.

His words faded as I glanced back trying my best to be discreet whilst doing it.

A girl's 'discreet' when she looks at a guy is usually spilling her hair on most of her face. And I'm no frigging exception, sadly.

Is it a good thing or a bad thing?

I scanned the area, my heart pounding for reasons I couldn't explain. He'd been there a second ago. How could someone just disappear?

He did it last night too. Runs a marathon much?

Relief washed over me, though I wasn't sure why. Maybe I'd imagined him. Maybe it was someone else entirely. Like I said, figment of my imagination.

I needed to relax for Christ's sake.

The unmistakable presence behind me.

A strange, heavy familiarity washed over me, sending a shiver down my spine. I didn't need to turn around to know.

And then his voice cut through the air, smooth and deliberate, deep and rustic.

I have never felt so seen as I did in that moment... and the guy can't even see my face! Yet.

19. Apparition