The Don's Silent Obsession

Ariana Hale’s POV The rain started the moment I locked my studio door and it fell fast and cold, and tapped on the empty street and I hugged my bag close and walked quickly, it was past midnight, and the city felt strange and quiet. I was supposed to take the long road, but I was so tired and I chose the small alley beside the old bakery. It was dark, but I told myself I would be fine and then I just wanted to get home and sleep. My shoes splashed through small puddles and my breath came out in white clouds and I reached the middle of the alley when I heard it, it was a sharp sound and then another one. Gunshots. I froze and my heart jumped so hard I felt dizzy and I turned slowly and pressed my back against the wall and the shadows moved at the end of the alley. A man fell to the ground and another man stood over him. The one standing was tall and calm and he wore a black suit that shone a little under the rain. His hand holds a gun like it is nothing. His face does not shake. His eyes are cold. The man on the ground tried to crawl away, but the man in the suit stepped closer. “No more running,” he said in a low voice and he lifted the gun and shot him again and the sound rang in my ears. I covered my mouth with my hand and my legs shook, I wanted to run, but my body would not move and I stared at him because I could not look away. He turned his head and saw me, his eyes met mine, they were dark and they did not blink and the rain fell between us, but it was like the whole world went quiet and I could not breathe. He did nothing and he did not chase me, he only looked at me like he was reading my soul. I pulled myself away from the wall and my legs finally moved and I ran out of the alley with all my strength, the rain hit my face, but I did not stop until I reached my building and I slipped inside, locked the door, and slid down the wall. My hands kept shaking and I saw a man die, and the man who killed him saw me. I barely slept and every sound outside made me jump, every shadow looked like that man in the suit, and his face stayed in my mind all night. It was calm, cold and empty. When morning came, I forced myself to get ready and I told myself it was just fear, he saw me, but maybe he did not care or maybe he already forgot me. I opened my door and stepped outside and I looked down the street and my heart stopped. A black car sat in front of my building, the windows were dark and the engine went quiet, it did not move, it just sat across the street like it had been waiting for me all night and my breath turned thin and my palms were cold. I looked left and right, and hoped someone would come out for a morning walk or something, but the street stayed empty and only the car was alive, only that dark window was watching me. I stepped back into my building and closed the door and my heart raced hard. “No. No. This cannot be happening,” I whispered and I tried to calm myself, but when I peeked through the small window again, the car was still there. I went to work anyway and I did not want to, but staying home was worse and I walked fast to the nearest bus stop and I did not look back. But halfway down the street, a sound made me stop, a slow engine and I turned, it was the same black car and it drove behind me, it was close enough to let me know it was there. Fear climbed up my neck and then I pulled my phone out fast and called the police. “Hello? A car is following me, please, I need help,” I said. The voice on the line sounded tired. “What is the car doing?” “Just following me, everywhere,” I said. “Ma’am, if the driver hasn’t spoken to you or touched you, we can’t send a unit.” “What? It is dangerous!” “Maybe it’s a taxi,” the officer said. “It’s not!” I shouted, but the officer only repeated, “Call again if anything else happens,” and ended the call and I stared at my phone in disbelief. “No one believes me.” When I got to work, the car waited across the street, when I took my lunch break, it followed slowly and when I got to the store, it stayed outside. By evening, my legs were weak and I headed home with shaking hands, praying the car would disappear, but it did not. It drove behind me until I reached my building and then it stopped again, it became silent and watching and I quickly rushed inside and locked the door and I dropped my bag on the floor and breathed fast. “I need to leave. I need to leave right now.” I went straight to my room to pack a few clothes, but the moment I placed my hand on the door handle, I froze and the door was opened and I knew I closed it this morning. I pushed the door slowly and my room looked normal at first, my bookshelf, my paints, my clothes, everything was where I left it, but then I saw my bed, something lay on it. A red rose, a single red rose, it was fresh and bright, and it was placed right in the center of my pillow, my hands shook as I walked closer and a small note sat beside the rose. I picked it up with trembling fingers and the handwriting was neat. Cold. “You saw me. Now I see you.” My knees almost gave out and I covered my mouth to stop the scream rising in my throat, someone came into my home, someone stood right where I slept. I grabbed my bag and threw in clothes, my ID, my phone charger and my hands moved fast, I just wanted to leave, anywhere and I didn’t care where. I ran to the door and I opened it and I moved down the steps without stopping. But then I saw him, the black car door was open and a man stood beside it, the same man from the alley. His suit was dark again and his posture was calm, his eyes were steady on me like he had been waiting for this moment. The streetlight shone on his face, and I felt that same fear from the alley rise inside me and he looked like he owned the ground he stood on and he looked like danger in human form. He did not walk toward me and he did not shout, he just said my name in a quiet voice. “Ariana.” I stopped breathing. “How do you know my name?” I whispered. He stepped closer, slow and steady. “It doesn’t matter.” I stepped back, but he only tilted his head, and watched me like I was something he had already claimed. “You should get in the car,” he said and I shook my head hard. “No. No. Stay away from me.” His eyes softened a little, but his voice stayed calm. “Get in the car, Ariana Hale, before someone else finds you first.” I felt the night closed in around me and my bag slipped from my hand and my feet stayed planted, becaus e I knew one thing, he was not asking, he was warning me.