The whisper slithered through the door like smoke. Aurora My blood iced instantly. That wasn't Damon's voice. Damon carried storm and steel; even desperate, he sounded like a man fighting an entire world inside him. This voice was smooth. Low. Serpentine. The kind of voice that smiled while holding a cutter behind its reverse.
I backed down from the door until the reverse of my knees hit the lounge. My phone buzzed again in my pulsing hand, the screen lighting my face with cold, blue light.
Unknown Number: He's still out there. My heart dropped.
My hands tensed around the phone so hard the edges dug into my skin. I wanted to scream. I wanted to call someone. I wanted Damon to still be standing outside my door but then again, if Damon was here, would he have walked into danger? Another buzz. Do not answer him.
My eyes danced to the door as the man outside dragged his cutlet along the wood again. The scratchy sound crawled up my chine, slow, regular, calculated to make me hear every inch of where he stood.
He can hear you breathing. The textbook came again.
Oh God.
I clamped my hand over my mouth, trying to silence the sharp rise and fall of my chest. My breaths were shallow, fast. I felt the fear in my throat like a fist squeezing.
Aurora,
He called my name again. Softer this time. Hungrier. Whoever he was, he wasn't confused. He wasn't lost. He wasn't knocking on the wrong door. He came here for me.
The doorknob twisted again, sluggishly, designedly. A metallic click echoed too loudly in my bitsy apartment. My entire body froze. The man outside sighed like he was tired of waiting. Then a faint thud against the door. He leaned against it. My heart jolted painfully. Open up, he muttered, nearly amused.
I shook my head violently indeed though he couldn't see me. Gashes soaked my eyes. My entire apartment felt suddenly too small, every shadow too deep, every corner too far down from the door.
Another communication blinked onto the screen.
He's not alone.
My stomach lurched.
My knees weakened.
Alone?
The hallway was narrow however, they could fluently block all exits, If there were further than one person out there. They could reign Damon if he came back. They could —
A soft tapping noise sounded at my window.
I whipped around, breath caught in my chest.
Tap tap tap
Rain… or something else? Another whisper from the hall derailed my spiraling thoughts.
Aurora, squeeze
I slighted a hand over my mouth to stifle the laugh that nearly escaped.
He knew my name. He knew my voice. He knew where I lived. This wasn't random. This was intentional. Targeted. This was danger.
I forced myself to suppose to flash back Damon's face at my door before his despair, the fear in his voice when he said he couldn't breathe.
Did he know something?
Was this what he was hysterical of?
Was this why he shocked when he came home to an empty house?
Another buzz.
Whatever you do, do n't move toward the door.
My phone vibrated again instantly. He'll hear the floorboards.
A cold shiver swept across my skin. The foreigner on the other side of that door was harkening. Not just knocking blindly — harkening. staying for a sound, a movement, an opening.
Aurora the man rumored again, nearly tenderly. I know you're in there.
I squeezed my eyes shut.
Please go down.
Please, please go down
But also he said something that made my blood turn to ice.
You left him today. My eyes snapped open. My throat burned with panic. No. No. No. How did he know? How did anyone know? You walked right out of the courthouse, he continued softly. No ring. No hesitation. You shouldn't have done that.
I stumbled backward so fast I hit the wall behind me. My breath came out in ragged beats. The unknown texter messaged again. He's been watching you since the gala. I nearly dropped my phone. Since the gala? Since Seraphina humiliated me? Since Damon didn't defend me?
The outsider outside pressed his palm against the door — hard enough that the wood creaked. The sound was small, but in the suffocating silence of my apartment, it echoed like thunder.
You're alone now, he rumored. Easy to reach. Easy to take. I squeezed my eyes shut, gushing tears running down my cheeks. He wasn't here to scarify me. He was here to take me. My legs bucketed so violently I had to kneel on the bottom to keep from collapsing. I pressed myself into the corner beside the chesterfield, gripping my phone like it was the only thing tethering me to safety.
Another text appeared. Call 911. My fingers shook badly as I tried to dial, but before I pressed the green button a new message flashed. STOP. I froze. Another message came immediately after. They cut the building's power to the security cameras. My heart slammed painfully. The police won't arrive in time. My vision blurred with fresh tears. I typed shakily: Who ARE you?? This time, the reply took a long ten seconds. When it came, my entire world tilted. Someone who owes Damon a favor. My breath hitched. Damon? A favor? My thumb hovered over the screen.
The foreigner outside the door began humming vocally. A slow, swaying tune that made my skin bottleneck.
My phone buzzed formerly more.
Stay retired. Don't move. I'll get him.
My chest tensed.
Get him? Did that mean Damon wasn't far? Had he seen something?
Was he in peril too?
I didn't have time to question it.
Because in the coming moment
The doorknob jerked violently. Not slow. Not careful. A hard twist. Another. And another.
The foreigner's breathing changed — more intolerant, more agitated, more eager.
The humming stopped.
Silence thickened.
also —
A deep, dark laugh bucketed through the door.
He was enjoying this.
Aurora he sang still, don't make me break the door.
My phone nearly slipped from my hand.
The clump rattled again, harder this time, the essence grinding against the cinch.
My breathing came shallow, frantic, uneven. I quietly supplicated the cinch would hold.
Just as the foreigner outside threw his shoulder against the door with a dull thud —
A voice cut through the hallway.
Cold. Furious. Deadly. "Step away from her door." Damon.
Damon was back.
My heart leapt into my throat.
Relief swamped me so presto my knees gave out and I collapsed completely onto the carpet.
But the foreigner outside only chortled.
So the king returns, " he said mockingly. "Perfect.
Another hard thud against the door.
Damon's voice stoned, every syllable trickling with murderous warning.
I said — step. Down.
I pressed a shaking hand to my mouth, gashes streaming uncontrollably. I could hear Damon's steps, heavy and furious, moving closer.
also the foreigner murmured something.
Something that stopped my heart mid-beat. She was never safe with you. A pause. Not then. Not now. Not ever. Before Damon could respond— Something slammed against the wall. A struggle. A grunt. A sharp, muffled curse. A heavy impact.
My heart screamed in my casket.
Damon! I choked out, unfit to stop myself.
Fists hit walls. Shoes scraped against the bottom. Bodies collided. The sounds were chaotic, violent, too near.
My fritters quivered over my phone screen, ready to telephone exigency services despite the warning.
Suddenly a loud, intimidating crash echoed through the hallway.
Then Silence. Total. Absolute. Terrifying. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't think.
I could only hear the pounding of my own twinkle as the silence stretched longer and longer and longer
Until finally a hand hit my door. Weak. Unsteady.
Also a voice, coarse and shaken, slightly above a tale
Aurora… open the door.