Morning came too quickly.
The sky outside my window had cleared overnight, leaving the city washed in pale sunlight that felt strangely out of place after the storm.
Everything looked clean.
Fresh.
Like the world had decided to move forward without asking anyone's permission.
Especially mine.
I lay in bed staring at the ceiling for a long time before getting up.
The warmth beneath my ribs stirred slowly as I moved.
"You slept," it said.
"Eventually."
"You were dreaming."
I rubbed my eyes and sat up.
"Everyone dreams."
"You were reliving it."
My stomach tightened.
Daniel collapsing.
The hollow sound of his body hitting pavement.
His eyes—wide, confused, terrified.
"I didn't ask for commentary," I muttered.
The warmth went quiet for a moment.
Then answered softly.
"You asked for honesty."
~
The office was quieter than usual when I arrived.
Not tense.
Just subdued.
Like the building itself had absorbed the shock of the last few days and decided it was tired of carrying it.
People worked with their heads down.
No one lingered near Daniel's old desk anymore.
The space had been cleared completely.
No box.
No papers.
No evidence he had ever worked there at all.
"You notice the absence again," the warmth said.
"They cleaned it fast."
"Humans prefer neat endings."
"There's nothing neat about someone dying in a parking lot."
The warmth didn't argue with that.
~
Work dragged.
My focus slipped constantly.
Every email felt like it took twice as long to write.
Every conversation felt slightly off.
Like everyone in the office was pretending things had returned to normal, but no one quite believed it.
Around mid-afternoon, my phone buzzed on the desk.
A message.
Unknown number.
My pulse jumped before I even opened it.
The warmth reacted instantly.
"You are afraid."
"I'm not afraid."
"You are uneasy."
"That's more accurate."
I unlocked the phone.
The message was short.
Adrian Vale: Can we talk again today?
My stomach tightened.
"You expected this," the warmth said.
"I did."
"He is persistent."
"That's his job."
The next message appeared before I could respond.
Nothing urgent. Just a quick follow-up.
I stared at the screen for a moment.
Then typed back.
After work.
~
The café across the street from the office was nearly empty at that hour.
Late afternoon light spilled through the windows, catching dust motes in the air.
Adrian was already there when I arrived.
Sitting at a corner table with a cup of coffee and a thin notebook.
He looked up as I approached.
"Thanks for meeting me," he said.
"You said it was quick."
"It will be."
I sat across from him.
The warmth inside my chest grew alert immediately.
"He is studying you again."
"I can see that."
~
Adrian didn't open the notebook right away.
Instead he watched me for a moment, like he was deciding where to start.
"How are you holding up?" he asked.
"That sounds like a question that would be asked by a therapist."
"Occupational hazard."
"I'm fine."
"You say that very quickly."
"That's because it's true."
His expression didn't change.
But I could tell he wasn't entirely convinced.
~
Adrian finally opened the notebook.
"I spoke with the medical examiner again today," he said.
My chest tightened slightly.
"And?"
"Daniel's official cause of death is still cardiac arrest."
"Isn't that what you said before?"
"It was."
He flipped a page slowly.
"But they're still trying to understand what triggered it."
I leaned back in my chair.
"Stress can do that."
"Yes, it can."
He watched me carefully.
"And Daniel was under stress right before he died."
I said nothing.
The warmth pulsed once.
Steady.
"He is circling the truth."
~
Adrian rested his pen against the page.
"There's something I wanted to ask you directly," he said.
"Okay."
"When Daniel grabbed your arm in the parking lot…"
My stomach tightened.
"What did you feel?"
The question caught me off guard.
"Fear," I said automatically.
"Anything else?"
I hesitated.
The warmth stirred beneath my ribs.
"You felt me."
"Yes," I thought back.
Adrian waited patiently.
"I felt… pressure," I said finally.
"Pressure?"
"In my chest."
"Before or after he grabbed you?"
"During."
Adrian nodded slowly.
"Did you say anything to him?"
"I told him to stop."
"And?"
"He stepped back."
Adrian studied my face.
"And then he collapsed."
"Yes."
~
The silence between us stretched longer this time.
Adrian's eyes stayed fixed on mine.
Not accusing.
But searching.
"You know," he said quietly, "some people describe intense emotional reactions right before traumatic events."
"Okay."
"Adrenaline spikes. Sudden surges of fear."
"That doesn't surprise me."
"No," he said softly.
"It probably doesn't."
The warmth shifted beneath my ribs.
"He is trying to understand something he cannot see."
~
Adrian closed the notebook.
"Let me ask you something a little strange," he said.
"That sounds promising."
"Did anything about that moment feel… unusual to you?"
The question landed harder than he probably intended.
I forced a small shrug.
"Define unusual."
"Something you can't explain."
The warmth pulsed slowly.
"You could tell him."
"No," I thought.
Adrian continued watching me.
"Sometimes witnesses notice things they don't mention right away," he said.
"Because they sound ridiculous?"
"Exactly."
My fingers tightened slightly around my coffee cup.
"What kind of ridiculous thing are you hoping for?" I asked.
Adrian gave a small, tired smile.
"At this point, I'm not sure."
~
We talked for another few minutes after that.
Mostly small details.
Nothing that felt particularly dangerous.
But the tension beneath the conversation never really disappeared.
Eventually Adrian checked the time.
"I should let you go," he said.
"You said this would be quick."
"And it was."
He stood.
Then hesitated.
"There's one more thing," he added.
"What?"
"If Daniel ever made you feel unsafe, you don't have to carry that alone."
The words were simple.
But something about the way he said them felt genuine.
Not procedural.
Not professional.
Just… human.
The warmth noticed too.
"You trust him slightly."
"I barely know him."
"That does not matter."
~
I walked home instead of driving.
The evening air felt cool after the rain.
The sky had turned a deep shade of blue as the sun disappeared behind the buildings.
My mind kept circling the same thoughts.
Adrian's questions.
Daniel's face.
The quiet certainty of the warmth inside my chest.
By the time I reached my apartment, my head was pounding.
I stepped inside and dropped my keys onto the counter.
"You are unsettled," the warmth said.
"Yes."
"Because of the investigator?"
"No."
A pause.
"Then why?"
I sat down on the couch and stared at the floor.
Because there was one question I had been avoiding since the moment Daniel hit the pavement.
One question I didn't want to ask.
But couldn't ignore anymore.
"Did you kill him?" I said quietly.
The warmth responded immediately.
"Yes."
The directness of the answer made my breath catch.
"You're not even hesitating."
"There is no reason to hesitate."
"You understand what that means, right?"
"Yes."
"You took someone's life."
"Yes."
I closed my eyes.
The room felt smaller somehow.
"You said you were protecting me."
"I was."
"You could have stopped him without killing him."
"Yes."
My eyes snapped open.
"You could have?"
"Yes."
The admission hit like a sudden drop.
"Then why didn't you?"
The warmth pulsed once.
Slow.
Heavy.
And when it answered, its voice was calm.
Because the reason, when spoken aloud, sounded terrifyingly simple.
"Because you did not want him to touch you again."