Chapter Two
971 Words
Hazel didn’t remember leaving the club.
She remembered the noise fading. The door opening. The cold night air hitting her face. After that, everything blurred together.
By the time she got home, her hands were still shaking.
She locked the apartment door behind her and leaned against it, breathing hard. Her heart refused to slow down. Every sound felt too loud. Every shadow felt wrong.
“You okay?” Kaida asked from the couch.
Hazel flinched.
“Yeah,” she said quickly. Too quickly. “Just tired.”
Kaida squinted at her. “You look like you saw a ghost.”
Hazel forced a smile. “Just need sleep.”
She went straight to her room and shut the door. Only then did she let herself slide down onto the floor.
Her student ID was gone.
She emptied her bag onto the bed. Notebook. Pens. Lip gloss. Phone. Keys.
No ID.
Her chest tightened.
He had taken it.
Hazel pressed her palms to her eyes. Calm down, she told herself. You’re overthinking.
But the memory replayed anyway.
If your name comes up anywhere near this deal…
She didn’t sleep that night.
The next morning felt wrong from the moment she woke up.
Her alarm went off late. Her phone battery was almost dead even though she’d charged it. She spilled coffee on her sleeve and didn’t have time to change.
Small things. Stupid things.
But they piled up.
At school, Hazel sat through her first class without hearing a word the lecturer said. Her thoughts kept drifting back to green eyes and a quiet voice that sounded like a warning.
“Hazel?”
She looked up. Alex was staring at her.
“You good?” he asked.
“Yeah,” she said. “Just tired.”
“You sure?” he said gently. “You’ve been spacing out all morning.”
She nodded and looked away.
She didn’t tell him.
She couldn’t.
Her phone buzzed during her second class.
An email.
SUBJECT: Internship Application Update
Hazel’s stomach flipped.
She opened it immediately.
Dear Hazel,
Thank you for your interest. Due to internal changes, your interview has been postponed. We will contact you when a new date is available.
She stared at the screen.
That interview had been confirmed for weeks.
Her fingers tightened around her phone.
Internal changes.
She swallowed.
By lunchtime, the feeling that something was wrong had settled deep in her chest.
Hazel sat with Alex at a small café near campus, pushing her food around her plate.
“You’re really not hungry?” he asked.
She shook her head.
Alex studied her for a moment. “Did something happen at the club?”
Her heart skipped.
“No,” she said too fast.
He raised an eyebrow.
She sighed. “I just… I got overwhelmed. That’s all.”
Alex leaned back. “I told you clubs aren’t your scene.”
She forced a small laugh. “You were right.”
He smiled, satisfied, and changed the subject.
Hazel smiled back.
Inside, she felt like she was shrinking.
That evening, she checked her email again.
Another message.
SUBJECT: Scholarship Review Notice
Her hands went cold.
Dear Hazel,
This is to inform you that your current scholarship is under routine review. Please ensure all documents are up to date.
Routine.
That word again.
Hazel’s breathing quickened.
She had never had an issue before. Her grades were solid. Her record was clean.
This wasn’t normal.
She sat on her bed, staring at the screen until the words blurred.
You were never here.
Her phone buzzed again.
Unknown number.
Her heart pounded as she answered.
“Hello?”
Silence.
Then a familiar voice.
“Did you sleep?”
Hazel’s throat closed.
“No,” she whispered.
A pause.
“Expected,” he said calmly.
Her fingers trembled around the phone. “Why are you calling me?”
“To see if you’re smart,” he replied.
Her chest tightened. “I didn’t tell anyone. I swear.”
“I know,” he said.
That scared her more than anything.
“Then why—” Her voice broke. “Why is this happening to me?”
Another pause.
“Because,” he said evenly, “you exist.”
Tears filled her eyes. “I just want my life back.”
“You still have it,” he said. “For now.”
She pressed her lips together. “What do you want from me?”
“Nothing,” he replied. “Do nothing. Say nothing. Be exactly who you were before.”
She let out a shaky laugh. “I don’t think I can.”
He was silent for a moment.
Then he said, “That’s not my problem.”
The line went dead.
Hazel dropped the phone onto the bed and covered her face with her hands.
She didn’t cry loudly.
She cried quietly.
Like someone afraid of being heard.
The next day, she was called into the administration office.
Hazel sat stiffly across from a woman with kind eyes and a tight smile.
“This won’t take long,” the woman said. “We just need to clarify a few things.”
Hazel nodded, her hands clasped tightly in her lap.
As the woman spoke, Hazel felt it again.
That feeling.
Like invisible strings pulling at her life.
When she left the office, her legs felt weak.
Her phone buzzed.
One message.
ARES:
I told you I would keep you safe.
Hazel stared at the screen.
Safe.
It didn’t feel like safety.
It felt like a cage she hadn’t seen being built.
She typed, then deleted, then typed again.
HAZEL:
I didn’t ask for this.
The reply came instantly.
ARES:
Neither did I.
Hazel looked up at the campus around her.
Everything was the same.
And yet
Nothing was ordinary anymore.
- Writer
