Chapter 14 — The Stranger with Red Eyes
Warmth... That was the first thing I felt.
Soft, heavy warmth , a blanket, I think and the faint scent of sugar and dust, like something burnt in a fancy kitchen. My head ached. My eyes were slow to open, but when they did, I saw light dancing across the ceiling ,a soft golden light.
The room around me wasn't mine. The furniture was polished, the curtains long and pale, the walls high and echoing. It wasn't a room , it was a hall, bigger than my entire house.
I sat up fast, dizzy. "W–where am I?"
Then memory struck again the train, the rain, Ari, and…
him.
The thing standing behind her. The horns, the eyes, the feeling of the air burning cold around him. My chest tightened.
I threw the blanket off and stumbled to my feet. "Where is he?!"
"Mara—"
Her voice was small but clear.
I spun around and there she was,Ari with her pink curls glowed in the light from the window, her green eyes wide and glassy, as if she hadn't slept. She looked almost the same… maybe smaller than I remembered, fragile in her oversized nightgown.
But her house z this house, screamed wealth. Marble floors, chandeliers, gold frames, a piano sitting quietly in one corner. I had forgotten how rich her family was and yet she stood there barefoot, looking like she hadn't left the house in weeks.
"You fainted," she said softly. "You've been out for hours."
I grabbed her wrist, voice trembling. "Ari, listen to me.... there's a monster here "You have to get out now!"
Her hand tightened around mine. "He's not a monster."
I froze. "What?"
Her gaze flicked toward the shadow behind her.
And then I saw him.
Tall. Too tall. His skin was grayish, smooth like polished stone. The horns curved upward, black as night, and his eyesss, they glowed faint red, sharp and unblinking. He wasn't hiding. He just stood there near the doorway, arms crossed, looking bored.
My heart jumped into my throat.
"Ari, get behind me!" I hissed, moving in front of her. "That thing..."
Ace tilted his head slightly, as if studying an insect that dared to speak.
His voice, when it came, was low and calm but was laced with disdain.
"'Thing?'" he repeated slowly. "Typical of humans to name what they don't understand."
I stiffened. "Stay back."
He didn't move. His expression didn't even flicker. "Do you think you could stop me if I didn't want to stay back?"
There was no arrogance in his tone — just fact. Cold, terrifying fact.
Ari's voice broke through the silence. "Ace, stop."
He turned to her, and something softened barely. "I didn't threaten her."
"You didn't have to," Ari said quietly.
That silenced him.
I swallowed hard. "Ari… you can't be serious. You're letting him live here?"
She nodded, looking down. "He's not what you think, Mara. He saved me."
"Saved you? From what?"
She hesitated, eyes flickering toward the floor. "From being alone."
The words hit me harder than I expected.
I opened my mouth, but nothing came out.
Behind her, Ace exhaled ,a faint, irritated sound. "Humans and their sentimentality," he muttered. "You faint, you panic, and then you assume the world revolves around your fear."
My jaw tightened. "What's your problem?"
He met my eyes and said"You breathe."
I stepped forward, furious. "You—"
Ari quickly moved between us. "Stop! Both of you!"
Her voice trembled, but it carried weight. Somehow, even Ace stepped back.
I stared at her, and for the first time noticed how tired she looked like she'd been holding her entire world together with trembling hands.
"Ari…" I started softly. "You don't even know what he is."
"I don't need to," she said. "He's here. And he hasn't hurt me."..
"Yet." I said cutting in
She didn't answer.
The silence stretched.
Finally, Ace turned away, his horns brushing faint light from the chandelier. "You humans never change. You fear what you don't control and call it evil. I wonder how you've managed to survive this long."
I clenched my fists, but Ari reached out and touched my hand gently. "He means well. He just… doesn't know how to sound like it."
I wanted to argue and to scream at her for being so blind but the look in her eyes stopped me.
That look wasn't fear. It was trust.
I sank back onto the couch slowly, the anger draining into exhaustion. Ari gave me a small, relieved smile before walking to the kitchen.
Now it was just me and him.
Ace. The "monster."
He stood by the window, staring out at the garden like the world outside bored him. The sunlight hit his horns, his reflection faint on the glass.
Without turning, he said, "You pushed someone once."
My breath caught. "What?"
"I can sense guilt," he said. "Yours reeks of it."
I stared at him, frozen.
He finally looked back at me, expression unreadable. "Humans are strange. You destroy each other, then pretend the scars were accidents."
I didn't answer. I couldn't.
Because for the first time since that night, someone saw right through me...
I don't understand what you mean i said stuttering..
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