Episode 5: Breathing Distance
277 Words
Episode 5: Breathing Distance
Brittany couldn’t stop staring at the ribbon.
It sat on her kitchen counter now, bright red against the dark surface. She had checked her locks three times. Closed every curtain. Turned on lights she never used.
Still, the apartment didn’t feel safe.
She told herself it was a prank.
A coincidence.
But deep down, she knew better.
Someone had placed that ribbon there with intention.
That night, she barely slept. Every sound made her sit up. Every creak of the building made her heart slam against her ribs.
Across the street, hidden in the darkness between buildings, Lucifer remained.
Watching the glow of her bedroom light.
He could almost see her pacing.
He liked that she was unsettled now. Awareness made everything more intense. More real.
The next evening, Brittany changed her routine.
Different route home.
Different café.
She refused to be predictable.
Lucifer noticed immediately.
A faint smile touched his lips beneath the hood.
She thought she was escaping him.
But he had already memorized every possible path she could take.
Tonight, he followed closer than ever before.
Not across the street.
Not half a block away.
Just behind her.
Close enough to hear her breathing.
Close enough to see the tension in her hands.
She slowed suddenly.
So did he.
The silence between them stretched thin.
Her pulse was loud in her ears.
Then—
A whisper of fabric shifting behind her.
She spun around.
The sidewalk was empty.
No one there.
But she hadn’t imagined it.
Because from the darkness just beyond the streetlight’s reach, Lucifer stood perfectly still.
One step closer than before.
And next time…
He wouldn’t disappear.
- Writer
