Chapter Ten: Eyes
791 Words
Tessa froze.
Her entire body went rigid as she stared at the smile on Billy’s face.
It wasn’t a normal smile.
It was dark.
Mysterious.
The kind of smile that made her skin crawl.
Without breaking eye contact, Billy slowly walked toward her before casually taking the empty seat beside her.
The moment he sat down, a familiar scent drifted into her nose.
That perfume.
Her heart skipped a beat.
It was the exact same fragrance she had smelled the very first night someone had entered her bedroom.
The bouquet.
The photograph.
The nightmare.
Everything came rushing back at once.
Her breathing became uneven.
Almost instinctively, she shifted farther away from him.
Billy noticed.
A faint smile tugged at the corner of his lips.
“So…” he murmured quietly, leaning back in his chair. “Why are you moving away?”
His voice was calm.
Too calm.
“If you keep acting like this,” he continued with a devilish smile, “people are going to think I’ve done something wrong.”
Tessa swallowed hard.
“Ben… please. Stay away from me.”
For a brief moment, Billy simply looked at her.
Then he chuckled softly.
“Stop calling me Ben.”
Tessa frowned.
Billy tilted his head slightly.
“That name was never mine.”
“W-What?”
The word escaped her lips louder than she intended.
Several students immediately turned toward them.
Feeling dozens of eyes on her, Tessa quickly looked down and forced herself to sit straight as if nothing had happened.
She pulled her hoodie over her head again before putting one earbud back into her ear with slightly trembling fingers.
Billy watched every movement in silence.
Without asking, he reached over and gently removed one of her earbuds.
He placed it into his own ear.
A slow smile spread across his face.
“Hm…”
He closed his eyes for a second, listening.
“You have good taste.”
His eyes opened.
“I like this kind of music too.”
Tessa immediately snatched the earbud back.
“Stop doing this.”
Billy didn’t respond.
He simply looked at her.
That same unreadable smile remained on his face.
Not angry.
Not amused.
Just…
Watching.
As though he had already memorized every tiny expression she made.
⸻
The lecture finally came to an end.
The second the professor dismissed the class, Tessa grabbed her bag and hurried toward the exit without looking back.
Billy stood up immediately.
He was about to follow her—
“Ben!”
A group of girls suddenly surrounded him.
“Can I have your number?”
“Are you free after class?”
“I can share today’s notes if you want.”
“You should hang out with us sometime.”
Billy didn’t even spare them a glance.
His eyes searched beyond them.
Looking for only one person.
Tessa.
But she was already disappearing into the crowded hallway.
His jaw tightened.
The girls continued talking over one another.
Billy finally looked at them.
The warmth vanished from his face.
His voice dropped into something cold enough to silence the entire group.
“Move.”
Nobody moved.
One girl laughed awkwardly.
“Why are you so angry? We just wanted to get to know you.”
Billy stared at her.
His expression remained emotionless.
“I have no interest in knowing any of you.”
The smile on the girl’s face instantly disappeared.
Without another word, Billy pushed past them and hurried outside.
His sharp eyes scanned every corner of the campus.
Left.
Right.
Parking lot.
Garden.
Walkways.
Nothing.
No sign of Tessa.
A dangerous look settled over his face.
His fingers slowly curled into a fist.
“…Damn.”
He headed straight toward the library.
Every aisle.
Every reading corner.
Every table she usually preferred.
Empty.
He stood there in complete silence.
She had already left the campus.
⸻
Meanwhile…
Tessa rushed all the way home.
Her hands were still shaking as she unlocked the front door.
She slammed it shut behind her before locking it twice.
Only then did she lean against the door, trying to catch her breath.
Her heart refused to slow down.
She couldn’t believe it.
A serial killer…
The same man who had entered her bedroom.
The same man who had left flowers beside her bed.
The same man whose perfume she could never forget…
Was now walking around her college in broad daylight under a fake identity.
And today…
He had sat right beside her.
Those eyes…
She had seen those exact eyes before.
In the convenience store.
Watching her from the shadows.
They were impossible to forget.
And somehow…
They terrified her even more in daylight than they ever had in the dark.
- Writer
- chap_listContents
- likeADD