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 entire time Jake and I had breakfast, my eyes kept darting toward the large glass-paned windows that lined the back of the house.

The dense stretch of woods beyond stood silent and unmoving, yet I couldn't shake the feeling that something was staring back. Watching.

Maybe it was just my imagination. Like how I must have forgotten coming back inside last night and changing my clothes; all by myself.

I had already texted Aria, asking if she came by last night. And I think if she carried me back from a forest and changed me, she'd let me know that by herself without even having to ask.

It had to have been me, who else could it be? There's no other possible explanation left. Any other conclusion drawn at this point would be ridiculously fictional.

Jake, completely oblivious to my distraction, carried on with small talk. He asked about college—how my studies were coming along, how my friends were treating me, if I'd made any new friends apart from Aria… and, of course, Leo.

Leo—whose name he said with an awkward pause, like he was still trying to decide whether or not he approved of him.

Yup. Everything was fantastic. The town? Quaint. The people? So charming—one of them already hates me with every fiber of his being. And my studies? Oh, just a piece of cake. So much so that I needed to be assigned a tutor—who, coincidentally, happens to be the same guy who seem to just live to make my life hell.

Of course all of this was said under the confines of my own head.

And then came the dreaded question.

It took everything in me not to choke on my mimosa and spray it all over his innocent, unsuspecting face.

Of course, I lied. I lied through my teeth, smiled when necessary, and deflected every question he threw at me with the skill of a seasoned politician.

Because I definitely couldn't tell him that some insufferable jerk had called his niece a prostitute. Or that said jerk then had the audacity to offer her money to sleep with him.

Oh, and let's not forget the best part—I walked away without so much as breaking his nose. No black eye. No ensuring he could never father children in the future. Nothing.

Yeah, Jake really didn't need to know that.

Especially after the whole pumped-up guardian speech he'd given me before I left for the party. If he found out, I had no doubt he'd want to do something about it.

And that? That would just make everything so much worse.

Some things were just better left unsaid.

67. Small Talk