"Obsession in blood"

Five Years Later

Chapter 21 – Five Years Later

The city was alive with noise, laughter, and neon lights, but Kristen never stopped glancing over her shoulder.

Five years had passed. She was older now, her beauty sharper, her eyes carrying the weight of nightmares no one else could see. To the world, she was a survivor. To herself, she was still trapped.

Because in her dreams, she still saw him. The blood, the garland, his voice.

And deep down, she knew he hadn’t forgotten her.

Peter didn’t let go of what was his.

Not five years ago.

Not ever.

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Chapter 22 – The Stranger Next Door

Five years had changed everything.

Kristen had carved out a new life in the quiet neighborhood she now called home. She worked, she studied, she laughed again… at least on the surface. Her best friend Toki made sure of that. Toki, the strong-hearted widow who had rebuilt her life with a man named Williams. He seemed like a good man. Loving. Caring. A father to her two boys, Tim and Toby.

Kristen had met Williams countless times now—at dinners, in passing across the street, during coffee nights with Toki. He was always polite, always kind, always smiling. She never looked too long into his eyes, though. Something about them always felt… heavy.

But she pushed it aside. After all, she trusted Toki. And Toki trusted her husband.

Kristen told Toki everything—the tragedies of her past, the man who had destroyed her, the name that haunted her dreams. Peter. She never held back with her best friend, because Toki was the one person who listened without judgment.

And yet, in the shadows of their peaceful street, truth lay hidden.

Because Williams wasn’t who they believed he was.

Williams was Peter.

When Kristen had pushed him that night in the marriage hall, his face had slammed into a broken column. The scars were deep. Reconstructive surgery made him unrecognizable. The man everyone now knew as Williams was Peter reborn.

And now, at thirty-seven, he lived across the street from the only woman he ever loved—and obsessed over. Married to her best friend. Playing the role of the perfect husband, the doting father.

But his eyes… his eyes never left Kristen.

Not for a moment.

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Chapter 23 – Friendly Shadows

Life had settled into a rhythm Kristen could almost believe was normal.

Toki was her anchor—warm, supportive, and always ready with a smile. Kristen often stayed late at Toki’s house, helping with the kids or just talking until midnight about everything and nothing. Tim and Toby adored her, often calling her “Aunt Kristy,” which made her heart ache in bittersweet ways.

And Williams? He was always there.

He’d pass her a cup of coffee during their evenings together. He’d ask her how work was going, how she was feeling. He’d smile politely, nod, and return to his book or play with the children.

But sometimes—just sometimes—she caught him watching her.

His gaze lingered too long when she laughed. His tone carried an unsettling familiarity when he said her name. Kristy. Once, just once, he had slipped and called her that. Toki had laughed it off, saying maybe he got too comfortable because the kids used the nickname too. Kristen smiled, but something in her chest tightened.

Another night, as she walked home, she had the strangest sensation of being followed. When she turned, the street was empty. But her pulse raced all the way back to her apartment.

She shook it off. It’s the past haunting me. Nothing more.

Williams was good to Toki. She could see it with her own eyes—how he tucked the children in, how he kissed his wife’s forehead, how he never raised his voice. He was the kind of man her father had always wished for her to marry.

And yet…

Every time his eyes met hers, Kristen’s stomach turned with an unnamed dread.

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Chapter 24 – Cracks in the Calm

Kristen’s laughter filled the kitchen as she helped Toki prepare dinner. Tim was chattering about school while Toby clung to her arm, refusing to let go. Toki shook her head with a smile.

“You’re spoiling my kids, Kristy,” she teased.

Kristen smiled softly, though her eyes drifted across the room. Williams was sitting at the table, newspaper in hand. From the outside, he looked like the perfect husband—casual shirt, spectacles, a calm face. He didn’t even glance at her, not once.

But when she leaned down to pick up a dropped spoon, she caught it. His eyes, staring at her through the thin edge of the newspaper. Intense. Unblinking. Watching.

Kristen froze.

Then the paper shifted, and he lowered it with an easy smile.

“Need help with that, Kristy?” he asked gently.

Her stomach lurched. He had used that name again.

Toki didn’t notice, but Kristen did.

Later that evening, as she walked home, the rain started pouring. She hadn’t carried an umbrella. Just as she hurried under a streetlight, a car pulled up beside her.

Williams rolled down the window.

“You’ll catch a cold. Let me drive you.”

She hesitated. “No—it’s fine, I’m not far—”

But the look in his eyes was firm, unreadable. She got in.

The ride was quiet. Too quiet. His hands gripped the steering wheel, knuckles pale. Every few seconds, she felt his gaze on her. Not at the road. On her.

At her doorstep, she thanked him quickly, fumbling with her keys. He didn’t leave right away. He leaned toward her window instead.

“You should be more careful, Kristy. The world… it isn’t safe.”

Her blood ran cold. The exact same words her uncle used to whisper when she was younger.

That night, Kristen couldn’t sleep.

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