Chapter 4 #3
My steps slow, the pleasant haze from Henry’s bite evaporating fast as adrenaline slices through the lingering warmth in my veins. I glance up, scanning the quiet street. Shadows stretch long beneath the streetlights, dark pockets tucked between parked cars and narrow alleyways.
Then I see it– a figure standing across the street. Tall, dark, and motionless.
My heart trips over its valves.
The shape almost blends into the shadows, but there’s something familiar about the silhouette. Broad shoulders, stillness that feels too deliberate.
I blink, and it’s gone, my stomach swooping.
Was that…?
I don’t scare easily, but my heart’s slamming against my ribs, the sudden sharp spike of panic leaving me dizzy. I force myself to keep moving, heels clicking faster against the pavement as I head for the waiting car.
Act natural.
Don’t run.
Don’t fucking run.
I slip into the back seat quickly and pull the door shut behind me, hitting the locks.
Matt glances back immediately, his brow creasing. “All good?”
“Yeah,” I answer too quickly. “I just… thought I saw something.”
His expression tightens, but he doesn’t push me for answers. Instead, he shifts the car into drive and eases away from the curb while I glance back through the rear window, searching the shadows again.
Nothing.
Still, the feeling doesn’t go away. The little hairs on the back of my neck stay stubbornly raised, every instinct in my body screaming that something’s wrong.
Matt tries to make conversation on the drive home, but my brain won’t shut the fuck up long enough to focus on anything he’s saying.
I answer automatically where I can, though my attention keeps drifting back to the windows, half-expecting to see glowing eyes or a familiar dark figure appear out of nowhere beside the car.
This is ridiculous.
Just because I declined Vincent’s engagement request tonight doesn’t mean he’s suddenly stalking me.
… right?
Even though I know it’s absurd, the memory of him flashes through my mind anyway, replaying the intensity in his eyes when he demanded answers, the strength of his grip around my wrist. By the time we pull up outside my place, my nerves are wound so tight I feel sick.
Matt shifts the car into park, but I linger for a second, staring through the window at the front door of my building like something might be waiting for me in the shadows.
“You sure you’re alright?” he asks quietly, watching me through the mirror again.
I force a smile onto my face. “Just tired. Thanks for the ride.”
Before he can question me further, I grab my purse and bail out of the car, hurrying toward the front entrance. My pulse ticks in my throat the entire way, my fight or flight instincts going haywire.
The town car idles at the curb until I’m safely inside my building before pulling away. I hustle to my door and unlock it, ducking inside and flipping the deadbolt behind me.
Only then do I fully exhale.
It’s dark inside except for a single lamp glowing softly in the living room, casting warm light over the stupidly expensive couch. Alaia and Devin have already left, and given the nature of their engagement tonight, they probably won’t be home until the sun comes up.
Great.
I’ve always hated being alone. Some people find silence relaxing, but I find it unsettling. My brain doesn’t do well with too much stillness– it wanders too easily, spiraling into worst-case scenarios and imagined horrors until every creak of an old building sounds like footsteps creeping closer.
It’s why I’ve always had roommates. Why I sleep with the TV on. Why I’d rather deal with noise, chaos, and other people’s messes than sit alone with my own thoughts for too long.
Solitude makes me twitchy.
Tonight, it makes me feel like prey.
I bypass the living room entirely and head straight for my bedroom, slipping inside and shutting the door firmly behind me. Then I twist the lock, which feels dumb. If a vampire really wanted to get in here, a cheap doorknob lock wouldn’t stop them.
Breathe, Bex.
I yank my phone out of my purse, dialing Taylor’s number as I cross to the window. Peeling the blinds apart with two fingers, I peer down at the street below through the narrow gap.
She picks up on the first ring, greeting me with a cheerful, “Hey, stranger!”
“Hey,” I reply, my voice cracking on the word.
Her tone changes instantly. “What’s wrong?”
She knows me too well.
Taylor and I were both orphaned in childhood and ended up in the same group home.
We latched onto each other almost immediately, surviving bounced placements, shitty foster parents, and social workers who always promised things would get better eventually.
They didn’t, but somehow through it all, we managed to stay in each other’s lives.
She’s the closest thing I’ve ever had to a sister, and she can read me frighteningly well. Sometimes with a single look– or, in tonight’s case, just one word.
I scan the street below again, my pulse hammering in my ears. My breath catches when I spot a tall silhouette across the street; a figure watching from the shadows. Just like before, in the next blink, it’s gone.
“I think I may be in trouble,” I whisper.