The rain began without warning.
One moment, the city was alive with distant traffic and flickering streetlights. The next, the sky opened as if something above had cracked, sending sheets of cold water crashing down onto the empty streets.
I should have taken a different route.
That thought repeated itself in my mind like a warning I had ignored too many times.
My shoes slapped against the wet pavement as I ran, clutching my jacket tighter around me. The fabric was already soaked, clinging to my skin like a second layer of ice. My breath came out uneven, each inhale sharper than the last, as if the night itself was pressing against my lungs.
Why does it feel like I'm being watched?
I slowed down, just for a second, trying to listen past the rain. But the storm swallowed everything—the city, the noise, even my own thoughts.
Then I heard it.
Footsteps.
Not loud.
Not hurried.
Just… there.
Behind me.
My heart stuttered.
I told myself not to look. That it was nothing. Just someone else trying to get out of the rain.
But my body didn't listen.
I turned.
At first, I saw nothing but darkness and blurred lights.
Then—
A figure.
Standing beneath a broken streetlamp.
Tall.
Still.
Watching.
A chill ran down my spine, sharper than the cold rain soaking through my clothes.
He wasn't moving.
And yet…
He felt close.
Too close.
I swallowed hard and forced myself to turn away.
Don't be stupid.
Just walk.
I started moving again, faster this time. My steps echoed louder, more frantic, like my body had already decided what my mind refused to admit.
Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
The street stretched ahead of me, longer than I remembered. The lights flickered above, casting shadows that twisted unnaturally across the ground.
Another step.
Another breath.
And then—
"Stop."
The voice was low.
Calm.
Unmistakably close.
I froze.
Every muscle in my body locked in place as the word settled into the air around me. It wasn't loud, but it carried weight—like a command my body had no choice but to obey.
Slowly… I turned.
He was no longer under the streetlamp.
He was right behind me.
I didn't hear him move.
Didn't see him approach.
But there he was.
Close enough that I could see the faint droplets of rain sliding down his face… and the strange stillness in his expression.
His eyes met mine.
Dark.
Deep.
Empty.
And yet, there was something else hidden there—something I couldn't understand.
My throat tightened.
"Who are you…?" I asked, my voice barely louder than the rain.
He didn't answer.
He just looked at me.
Not like a stranger.
Not even like a threat.
But like someone who had been waiting.
For me.
A wave of unease crashed through my chest.
"Are you following me?" I tried again, forcing my voice to stay steady.
Still nothing.
The silence stretched, heavy and suffocating.
Then he took a step forward.
I stepped back.
Another step.
Closer.
My pulse spiked.
"Don't come any closer."
My voice shook this time.
I hated it.
I hated the fear creeping into my chest, the way my body refused to listen to me.
He stopped.
For a moment, the world seemed to hold its breath.
Then he spoke.
"You shouldn't be here."
The words were quiet.
But something about them felt… wrong.
Like they weren't a warning.
But a fact.
"What?" I frowned, confusion cutting through the fear for a brief second. "What do you mean?"
He tilted his head slightly, studying me.
As if memorizing my face.
As if this moment mattered more than anything else.
"You took the wrong path," he said.
A chill spread through me.
"I don't even know you."
"That doesn't matter."
His voice didn't change.
No emotion.
No hesitation.
Just certainty.
My heart started racing again.
"Then why are you talking like that?" I demanded, taking another step back. "What do you want from me?"
This time…
He answered immediately.
"You."
The word hit harder than it should have.
"What does that even mean—"
I didn't finish.
Because he moved.
Fast.
Too fast.
One second, there was space between us.
The next—
He was right in front of me.
My breath caught in my throat as his hand lifted, cold fingers brushing against my skin.
For a split second, everything went silent.
The rain.
The wind.
Even my thoughts.
All gone.
Replaced by a single, terrifying realization.
Something was very, very wrong.
"Wait—"
Pain.
Sharp.
Sudden.
Unavoidable.
My body jerked as something pierced through me. The sensation was both distant and overwhelming, like my mind couldn't process what was happening fast enough.
I looked down.
My vision blurred.
Darkness crept into the edges of my sight.
Blood.
There was too much of it.
Warm.
Spreading.
My knees gave out.
I hit the ground harder than I expected, the impact barely registering as the cold pavement pressed against my skin.
The rain mixed with everything, washing it away, carrying pieces of me into the night.
I couldn't breathe.
I couldn't think.
All I could do was look up at him.
"Why…?" I whispered.
The word barely formed.
But he heard it.
I know he did.
Because something changed.
Just for a second.
His expression shifted.
Not much.
Just enough.
Enough to make my chest tighten.
Enough to make me wonder—
Did he regret it?
No.
That wasn't it.
It was something else.
Something deeper.
"You weren't supposed to die like this."
My heart skipped.
Then slowed.
Then—
Nothing.
Darkness swallowed everything.
Sound disappeared.
Pain faded.
Even the rain… was gone.
And for a moment—
There was nothing at all.
—
Then—
I inhaled.
The air rushed into my lungs like fire, forcing my chest to rise as my body jerked violently.
My eyes snapped open.
I gasped, coughing, trying to understand what was happening.
Cold.
Everything was cold.
But I was breathing.
I was—
Alive?
That didn't make sense.
I knew what happened.
I felt it.
I died.
I know I did.
My hands trembled as I pushed myself up, my body weak, unsteady. My clothes were still wet, the rain still falling, the world exactly the same.
Except…
Something was different.
Very different.
I looked up.
And there he was.
Standing exactly where I had last seen him.
Watching me.
Like he had never left.
Like he had been waiting for this.
My heart pounded violently against my chest.
"What… did you do to me?" I whispered.
For the first time—
He smiled.
Not warm.
Not kind.
But something far more dangerous.
"I brought you back."
The rain fell harder.
And in that moment…
I realized something that made my blood run colder than death itself.
I wasn't free.
I would never be free again.