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

Nothing drastic had happened after too, at least not in the way you'd expect. No figures lurking in the shadows, no ominous whispers in the dark.

The doors and windows I know I had locked at night, only to find them wide open in the morning.

The way the curtains swayed as if touched by an unseen hand, though the air remained still.

The feeling of something lingering just beyond my senses, waiting. The growing feeling weighing down on my chest more and more by each passing day, telling me to bide the time, it wasn't over yet.

Of course, I forced myself to brush it off.

A draft, I told myself. An overactive imagination I told myself. A mind playing tricks on itself.

Because acknowledging the alternative?

That was a slippery slope I wasn't ready to tumble down.

The very next day at college, I pulled him aside and stumbled through an awkward, guilt-ridden apology for my behavior.

But Leo, being Leo, wouldn't even let me properly apologize.

"Hey! What are friends for, Rose? You dump your shit on them, they dump theirs on you. Balance restored. Repeat!"

He had said it so lightheartedly, flashing that easy smile of his, that for the first time in days, I actually felt the tension in my chest loosen just a little.

But the highlight of my week? My biggest relief?

The fact that the entire week had passed without a single trace of *him.

I won't lie—I had braced myself on that first day, expecting to run into him, to endure whatever smug, insufferable stunt he had up his sleeve.

Not once did he show up to class, though—unfortunately—he was in all of mine.

At first, his absence had caught me off guard. Then, as the days stretched on, I found myself forgetting he even existed.

Maybe he was wallowing in shame for what he did.

Or maybe he was off enjoying the company of his fan club, basking in their undying devotion and very naked bodies.

The chapter on Rome Dracken had closed.

Or at least, I wanted to believe it had.

72. The Little Things