Sadie
I stumbled back a second time, the fear in my veins turning my legs to jelly. The hallway suddenly feel smaller, the air thick with the unspoken threats hanging between us. He was a perfect stranger and yet he was all consuming. How this someone I barely knew have such a terrifying hold over my senses? I saw a hint of darkness in the obsidian eyes I'd once admired for afar, a possessive, unsettling glint that made the air on my arms stand on end. I had a choice: to step into the abyss or run back to the light.
"I...I should go," I whispered, turning on my heels and walking away, my back rigid and straight. I didn't dare to look back, to see if he was watching. I just walked, the sound of my footsteps echoing in the silence until I reached the top of the grand staircase. The music from the party below drifted up, a surreal contrast to the intense, chilling conversation I'd just had.
My friends were waiting for me in my room, their voices a comforting anchor in my stormy mind. "What happened? You were gone forever," Julie asked, her voice laced with concern. Ember and Josie looked up from the piles of junk food they were arranging on my bed.
I shook my head, my mind still reeling. "Nothing, just ran into a friend of Ethan's." I couldn't bring myself to speak his name. The words felt too heavy, too dangerous.
"A friend? You look like you just saw a ghost," Josie said, her eyes narrowed. She had an uncanny ability to read my emotions. "Come on, tell us."
I decided to tell them the truth, minus the most frightening parts. "Zane was... intense. He was talking about my internship in Seattle." And I ended up lieing.
Ember's eyes lit up. "He wasn't being like one of those brooding, possessive heroes from my books, was he? My goodness, I hope he gave you a piercing stare and a low growl."
I gave her a small, tight smile. "Something like," I said, as I sat on the bed, burying my face in a pillow. I didn't want to think about the predatory look in his eyes, the way he'd talked about hurting Sam. This wasn't some fictional book; this was real life, and Zane was a real life monster, or so he wanted me to believe.
Later after I was calm enough, we changed into our pyjamas. As Julie and Ember started a movie, Josie came to sit next to me.
"Seriously, what's up? I've never seen you this shaken," she said, her voice soft and full of concern.
I pulled myself up, my voice barely a whisper. "He said he'd hurt anyone who even looked at me. He was... scarily convincing."
Josie's eyes widened, the humor gone from her face. "Sadie, you need to stay away from him. He sounds... unhinged"
I knew she was right. But as I lay in bed that night, my mind refused to obey. I replayed the conversation over and over, the feeling of his fingers on my chin, the dangerous whisper in his voice. He had warned me, he had told me to stay away, and yet, a part of me, the part that was just a girl who wanted a taste of danger, found herself wanting to creep into his shadows, just to see what kind of monster lurked there. The thought of him living in the same house as me for a whole year was terrifying. But it was also thrilling. I knew I should be scared but, all I could feel was a burning curiosity.