AkumaQuil

Rose stood defiantly, eyes locked onto his golden ones as she lifted the hem of her small top, exposing the smooth expanse of her stomach before peeling the fabric over her head.

The red glittering bra shimmering under moonlight as if made for this very moment.

She ignored the tremor of anticipation curling in her gut. None of that mattered. Not even the reckless haze of drugs clouding her thoughts. Tonight, she was in control.

This was a mission. A mission to keep his attention solely on her so could save her friend from his curse.

Her fingers hooked into the waistband of her shorts, her breath steadying when she saw him go rigid. Shoulders squared. Posture tensed. Not in fear. Not in disgust. But in something far sinister.

His Interest.

“Yes… feast your depraved little eyes and filthy mind on this,” she whispered, smirking as the shorts fell away, pooling at her ankles. The silky red thong clung to her hips, the moonlight accentuating every curve of her body.

She flicked the discarded clothing aside, shifting her weight slightly as she let her nightly visitor drink in the sight of her naked glory.

His posture no longer that of boredom. Good. That was exactly what she wanted. More like, what intoxicated, irrational Rose wanted.

She twirled, giving him a deliberate view, rolling her hips just enough to torment. “Since you’ve made my life a living hell, I might as well return the favor.” She cast a wicked smile over her shoulder. “Consider this my gift to you—one you’ll never get to touch.”

By the time she turned back, her stomach plummeted.

He had moved.

No longer a distant silhouette in the meadow—he now stood at the edge of her patio. Much closer and so much real.

The thrill that had fueled her was fading slowly. Had she just made a mistake playing this game with her stalker?

Swallowing hard, she lowered herself onto the chair, parting her bare legs wide and letting the wooden cross dangle before her barely covered cherry, in a taunt.

A silent challenge.

His fingers curled around the wooden rail, veins standing taut against the black ink of his tattoos. His chest rose and fell, controlled but heavier, as though restraining something barely contained beneath his skin.

"Want a taste, my dear stalker?" Rose whispers

She had him pinned.

Or so she thought.

Her shadowy visitor moves. Slow, deliberate steps leading closer.

Panic slammed into her. No.

Rose bolted upright, pressing the cross against the glass door separating them. “Stay back!” Her voice wavered a bit. “I swear, I’ll burn your stalking ass right where you stand!”

He stilled.

A beat of silence.

Then—

A low, quiet chuckle rumbled through the night air, reaching her ears like smoke. Deep and Dark.

Her stomach twisted. The sound was foreign, yet eerily familiar. As if she had always known this was how he would sound.

His hands rose in mock surrender, his hooded head tilting slightly, as if entertained by her little performance. Then, as effortlessly as he had closed the distance, he stepped back.

Rose’s breath fastened.

She was playing with fire, willingly, by provoking the one who comes out at night and remain in shadows.

And he was enjoying it.  



==

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

Rose's entire soul jumped out of her body as Aria's voice suddenly rang behind her. She whipped around so fast she nearly tripped over the blanket.

Aria, grinning, dangled something in the air between her fingers.

Oh, you have got to be kidding me.

Rose's heart sank. "Aria, why the hell do you have that?"

Aria, still very much high and completely unaware of the absolute life-or-death situation she had just barged into, brought the large wooden cross to her lips and kissed it dramatically. "I needed it," she sighed. "I was bonding with it."

Rose gawked at her. "Bonding with it?! Please tell me you don't mean that literally."

Aria waggled her brows. "We were about to get to the good part before you rudely interrupted."

Rose groaned and covered her face with one hand, the blanket slipping slightly from her shoulder. "Oh my god, put that thing down before you end up summoning something you really don't wanna deal with."

Aria singsonged, spinning around in a slow circle, blissfully oblivious to the *very real* entity standing right outside the damn house.

She stops all of a sudden, "Too late," and pointed to the windows.

Rose had no doubt who she was talking about, didn't even need to look behind her.

Good thing Aria inhaled far more then she did, she wouldn't remember a thing of this in the morning, hopefully.

Rose darted forward, shoving a small couch pillow at Aria's chest to keep her distracted before snatching the cross out of her grasp.

"Here, take this instead. Treasure it forever. Think of all the ways you can... bond with it." She felt like she was gonna need to clean her mouth with a soap now.

Aria blinked down at the pillow, then back up at Rose, her brows lifting. "You're giving me a pillow in exchange for this guy?" She clutched the cross to her chest in mock offense. "Rose, I thought you cared about me."

Rose, already half-turning toward the glass doors again, hissed through clenched teeth, "Aria, if you don't go upstairs right now, I swear to god I will personally smuggle you into a nunnery... In Romania! "

"Yeah, you know what goes on there in their monasteries, right? You watched that movie The Nun."

Yup that worked. Or perhaps the smuck fogging her rationality worked it's magic.

Immediately clutching the pillow like Rose had just threatened to steal her soul, Aria jabbered out. "Fine, fine! No need to get violent."

She huffed, dramatically stomping toward the stairs. "But don't think I won't remember this betrayal." She was half way up the stairs when Rose heard her yelling, "And I am keeping this pillow forever."

Rose barely heard her. Her focus was already back on the glass doors, on the inky darkness outside.

And now, without the cross on the door, she had no idea if he planned to get even closer.

122. All the ways to Bond with It