Chapter Three
It had been two days since the incident at Meridian Solutions, and I still hadn’t fully recovered. I skipped classes and barely left my place. The scene kept replaying in my head over and over again as I tried to make sense of it.
Frankie had called me the second I got home that evening. He said he saw my text and was wondering what I meant when I asked what was happening out there. He claimed he’d stepped away to take an important call, which took longer than he expected.
By the time he was done, I was already gone. He said he asked the receptionist if she saw me, and the lady told him I’d bolted like I’d seen a ghost. Frankie had tried to get me to tell him why I left so abruptly.
I didn’t know if I could tell him the truth; besides, I was too scared to even talk. So, I lied. I told him that I got a message saying one of the due dates of my assignment had been moved to the next day. That was why I ran the way I did.
“Come on, you don’t actually expect me to believe that, do you?” he’d said over the phone. “I know you, Aria. Academic deadlines aren’t enough to put the fear of God in you.”
He was right to be suspicious. But I couldn’t bring myself to tell him what I’d seen.
I tried to laugh it off, sounding as normal as I could—even though I was breaking apart inside.
In the end, Frankie had no choice but to believe my story.
He said he was sorry to have left his post, but that he had to take that call.
“It’s fine, Frankie. Really…it is.”
“If you insist. All right. Just stay safe out there.”
After he hung up the phone, those last words echoed in my head. Even two days later, they still did.
“Stay safe out there.”
I knew that was a regular statement people threw around as a reminder that the world was a dangerous place. It wasn’t that deep. But after what I witnessed that day, the same words no longer seemed so casual.
The few times I’d stepped out to the grocery store nearby, something seemed off. Maybe it was just my mind playing tricks on me. Maybe I was only being paranoid. But I could swear that someone was watching me from across the street.
It felt like they’d been secretly following me since the moment I stepped out of my place.
To me, everyone on the street was a suspect—those in the grocery store, too.
No one ever made a move on me, and no one gazed at me longer than they should.
Yet, I couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched.
Even my own bedroom didn’t feel so safe anymore.
I barely ate and got no sleep. I was always awake and on high alert.
If you had just listened to me when I told you to leave, we wouldn’t be in this mess by now, said my voice of reason.
Well, at least now we know for sure that Meridian Solutions is a dirty, corrupt industry with ties to the Russian Bratva.
Yeah, and what good is that knowledge to us right now?
As both voices went back and forth in my head, I rolled over to the other side of the bed. I buried my head under my pillow like that would somehow make all my problems go away. The problems that I often walked right into.
Maybe it’s true what they say: Curiosity does kill the cat.
I stayed in my apartment all day, watching the hours tick by while I was trapped in my own paranoia. The more I thought about it, the more I realized how this fear was starting to slowly interfere with my life.
What if those men didn’t actually see my face? What if I were only being afraid for no reason? I’d asked Frankie if the cameras were disabled the whole time I was there. And his response was yes.
So, it was possible that whoever those Bratva men were, they didn’t catch my face. They didn’t know what I looked like.
What about the person watching us? my voice of reason asked.
What if there’s no one watching? my voice of curiosity chipped in. What if it’s just Aria’s fear of the unknown that’s keeping us stuck?
Could I be overthinking this?
Did I put my life on hold in fear of something that might not be out there?
You’ve already wasted forty-eight hours of your life, Aria. How long are you gonna keep hiding in here for? A pause. Look, even if these mafia men saw your face, do you honestly think this apartment can keep you safe? If they wanna find you, they will. So, why bother hiding?
That pesky little voice of audacity knew exactly how to get me all charged up in my down times. I got out of bed, grabbed my hoodie, and decided to go for a walk. I needed to clear my head.
Uh, you can clear your head in here, you know. Within the walls of this house, said my voice of reason. Where you’re safe.
I ignored the voice and headed outside, locking the door behind me.
The sun had set across the horizon about an hour ago, giving way to shallow darkness. Somewhere behind a small cloud, the crescent moon hung in the sky. The cool breeze brushed against my face as I walked down the sidewalk with both hands in the pockets of my jeans.
My neighbor’s dog was barking from inside their apartment, claws scraping against the glass. Shelby had always been a naughty dog, so I didn’t take her incessant growls seriously.
I noticed the streets were quieter tonight—lonelier than usual. The streetlights were constantly flickering, their warm glow casting long, eerie shadows across the pavement.
Have you ever seen a horror movie? This is how every delinquent blond gets abducted.
I ignored the voice and kept walking down the familiar street. I wasn’t sure why, but for some reason, I genuinely thought that this was a good way to overcome my fear. A part of me wanted to prove that I had nothing to worry about—that there was no one watching me.
I have a very bad feeling about this, Aria.
You always have a bad feeling about everything.
When have I ever misled you, huh? Just listen to me for once.
The snapping of a twig in a nearby bush stopped me in my tracks. My head shot in that direction, but there was no one there.
“Hello?” I called out, my voice firm and steady. At least as steady as it could be. “Anyone there?”
Before I could birth my next thought, a tall, masked man stepped out of the nearby bush. He curled his gloved fingers into a fist and began walking toward me.
Why the fuck are you still standing there? Run!
My breath hitched, eyes wide with horror, as I turned and tried to run. That’s when I spotted a second man, closing fast from behind me. Without thinking twice, I took off in the opposite direction.
Both men chased after me.
Fuck.
My heart was pounding against my ribs as I sprinted down the street with nervous glances over my shoulder.
“Slow down, luv, we just wanna chat!” one of them said, his voice sounding closer by the second.
I turned a sharp corner, and that’s when I realized I’d reached a dead end. My heart stopped as I stared at the brick wall in front of me. The two men arrived shortly after, cornering me in that alley.
“Damn, you’re fast,” one said, struggling to catch his breath.
The other, the bigger one, stepped forward with a dagger.
“Stay back!” I barked, picking up a stick lying carelessly nearby.
“What’re you gonna do, beat me to death with that?” the big guy asked, his voice laced with a hint of mockery.
I held the stick like a makeshift weapon.
The men began walking toward me with slow, menacing steps.
“I said stay back!” I swung the stick at them.
They dodged the strike, laughing.
“Oooh, feisty! I like it!” the second guy said.
“You know, I was only going to rub you and let you go,” the big guy began, his eyes flashing with lust. “But after seeing just how beautiful you are, I’ve changed my mind.”
He lunged at me before I could even register what was happening.
“Let go of me!” I struggled against his tight grip around my waist.
The second guy laughed. “I love it when they struggle!”
These were psychopaths.
Furious, I head-bumped my attacker after he dared to reach for my bosom.
“Argh! Fuck!” He stumbled backward with a broken nose.
I swung the stick in my hand, striking the second guy across the face. As I tried to take off again, the big guy grabbed my hoodie.
“Where do you think you’re going—get back here!” He pulled at the fabric so hard that I fell to the ground.
“Hold her down,” he ordered the second guy while taking off his belt.
“No, no, no!” I screamed, fighting against the man struggling to pin me down.
I kicked him in the balls, and he struck me across the face. The impact turned my head, blurred my vision, and set off a ringing in my ear.
It felt like the world was swirling around me, and in my mind, I thought this was it. I thought I was going to be violated by these pigs. And just when I thought all hope was lost, I saw it. A figure.
It moved so fast, knocking down my attackers with effortless blows. I heard the sound of their bones cracking, accompanied by their deafening screams. Although my vision was still blurry and the ringing in my ear was loud as fuck, I witnessed the whole thing.
From the ground, I watched the two men limping toward the exit, trying to escape. The figure caught up to them with a few long strides. While they begged for mercy, the big guy had his head dented into the alley wall with a powerful force.
Yep. That skull was definitely fractured.
The second guy passed out in fear after seeing what was done to his partner. Seconds later, silence fell, leaving just me and my mystery savior.
It was a man.
His face was hidden in the darkness of the corner where he stood, so I couldn’t tell who he was. But he was tall—at least six feet, lean and imposing, with a familiar presence that announced itself without words.
The man stood at a distance, towering over the bodies of his victims. He didn’t come closer. He didn’t check on me or ask if I was okay. He just stood there, gazing in my direction.
I struggled to stand, my mind still trying to grasp what had just happened. “Who are you?”
No answer.
I took a step forward, my heart warm with gratitude. “You saved my life.” A pause, my eyes fixed in the shadows that hid his face. “Thank you.”
Still no response. Instead, this man turned around and left the alley.
Without wasting a second longer, I ran after him, but by the time I burst out of the alley, he was gone. Vanished like he was never there.
What the hell?
Did he disappear or something?
Last time I checked, this wasn’t Gotham. There was no Batman in this city.
I looked around, trying to see if I could spot him. But I didn’t. He was truly gone. Only then did I realize how badly things would’ve gotten if he hadn’t shown up when he did.
Without hesitation, I picked up my pace and ran all the way back home, refusing to stop.
Was this some random attack? Or did it have something to do with what I’d witnessed at Meridian Solutions?