Helen woke to the soft hum of the city outside her window, the morning sunlight spilling over the worn kitchen table.
She yawned, stretching her arms, and noticed the small package sitting neatly on the counter—a box of medicine
she hadn't remembered ordering something
Her heart skipped
She looked at the note attached, but it was unsigned Strange, she murmured, glancing toward the bedroom where her mother slept peacefully
"Mom?" she whispered. "I… someone sent this?"
Her mother stirred and smiled weakly.
"Maybe one of the neighbors," she said, brushing her hand over Helen's.
"You've been so busy, darling. Don't let it worry you."
Helen nodded,
but unease coiled in her stomach.
The timing was uncanny.
She had barely left the gala the night before, yet somehow, this package had arrived before the pharmacy could even open.
She shook her head. Probably just a coincidence. Don't overthink it.
At work, the feeling lingered
She carried trays of champagne, her green eyes scanning the crowd, every polite smile feeling heavier than usual
Something tugged at her attention, a prickling awareness she couldn't place.
A sense of being observed but not in the way of anyone rude or threatening. More like… someone was making sure she was safe, unseen, like a shadow.
Helen paused near a table, arranging flutes
She caught movement from the corner of her eye a flash of dark hair, a shadow that didn't belong
She turned, expecting to see a guest, but the crowd swallowed the figure instantly
Her pulse quickened. I must be imagining it, she whispered to herself.
But the feeling stayed.
Every time she moved through the ballroom, her steps light but purposeful, there was a faint brush of tension in the air, as if someone else's presence moved with her, silent, deliberate. Helen couldn't deny the strange mixture of fear and excitement. It was unsettling… and thrilling.
During her break, she stepped onto the balcony, letting the cool breeze wash over her
Her heart still hammered, and she pressed a hand over her chest
What is happening? she wondered
The city stretched out before her, glittering lights and the faint hum of life, and yet her thoughts kept returning to the man from last night the one with the black hair, the brown eyes that had burned into her memory.
She shook her head, trying to dismiss the images. He's dangerous. I shouldn't think about him
And yet, she couldn't help it. Every glance, every smirk, every word he had spoken or even just his gaze played in her mind like a scene she couldn't forget
The way he seemed to know her before she even noticed him, the way he moved through the room as if he controlled everything, and the faintest hint of something softer, something protective, in the way he looked at her
Helen's pulse quickened again
Her mother's words from this morning echoed in her mind: Don't let it worry you. And yet, she couldn't shake the feeling that her life had already started to change, that this shadowed figure had entered her world in a way she couldn't yet understand and might never be able to ignore
Returning to her duties, she felt a spark of determination
She was strong. She had survived before, and she would survive now
But deep down, a quiet, dangerous curiosity had begun to take root
She wanted to see him again. She didn't know why. She didn't know what it meant. But she wanted it, and it scared her more than anything else.