CLOSER THAN SHE THOUGHT
1015 Words
Sleep didn’t come easily again.
Elizabeth lay in bed staring at the ceiling, her mind refusing to quiet no matter how much she tried to force it. The darkness of her room felt heavier than usual, almost like it was watching her the same way she had felt watched earlier that day.
It didn’t make sense.
None of it did.
And yet, she couldn’t shake the certainty settling deep in her chest—that something had shifted, something she couldn’t undo.
She turned slightly, pulling the sheets closer around her, but the comfort they usually brought felt distant.
“Show yourself,” she whispered into the silence before she could stop herself.
The words lingered in the air.
Nothing happened.
No voice.
No movement.
Just silence stretching endlessly around her.
Elizabeth let out a slow breath, closing her eyes. “You’re not real,” she murmured, softer this time, as if saying it gently would make it more believable.
But even as she said it, her body didn’t agree.
Because she could still feel it—that faint awareness, like someone standing just out of reach.
Watching.
Waiting.
Her eyes opened again.
Slowly.
Carefully.
The room was the same. Shadows sat quietly in their corners, untouched, unmoving. The faint glow from outside filtered through her curtains, casting soft shapes along the walls.
Normal.
Everything looked normal.
And yet…
Her breath caught.
The air shifted.
It was subtle. Almost unnoticeable.
But she felt it.
The same way she had felt it before.
Her heartbeat quickened.
“You’re here,” she said, barely above a whisper.
Silence answered.
But this time, it didn’t feel empty.
It felt… full.
Her fingers tightened slightly against the sheets as she pushed herself up slowly, her eyes scanning the room. Every shadow seemed deeper now, every corner hiding something just beyond her sight.
Her gaze moved toward the window.
Then stopped.
There was something there.
Not clear.
Not fully visible.
But something.
A shape within the darkness.
Her breath hitched as she stared, her body going still.
“Who are you?” she asked, her voice trembling just slightly.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then
“You shouldn’t be asking that.”
The voice.
Low.
Familiar.
Right there.
Elizabeth’s heart slammed against her chest as she turned toward the sound, her eyes widening.
He wasn’t fully in the light.
But he was there.
Real.
Standing just beyond the reach of it, his figure partially hidden by shadow, like the darkness itself was holding onto him.
“It’s you,” she whispered.
Not a question.
A realization.
He didn’t move closer.
But he didn’t disappear either.
“You shouldn’t be able to see me,” he said quietly.
There was tension in his voice now.
Controlled.
But strained.
Elizabeth swallowed, her gaze fixed on him, trying to make out more his face, his expression, anything that would make this feel less unreal.
“Then why can I?” she asked.
He didn’t answer immediately.
And somehow, that silence felt heavier than words.
“Because something went wrong,” he said finally.
Her brows drew together. “What does that mean?”
Another pause.
Then, slowly, he stepped forward.
Not fully into the light.
But closer.
Enough for her to see more of him the outline of his face, the sharpness of his features, the intensity in the way he was looking at her.
Her breath caught.
He looked exactly the way he felt.
Dangerous.
Controlled.
Real.
“You weren’t supposed to feel me,” he continued, his voice quieter now. “You weren’t supposed to remember.”
Elizabeth shook her head slightly, confusion and something deeper mixing inside her. “But I do,” she said. “I remember everything.”
His jaw tightened.
For a brief moment, something flickered across his expression something almost like frustration.
Or conflict.
“That’s the problem,” he said.
Silence stretched between them again, thick and charged.
Elizabeth’s heart was still racing, but now it wasn’t just fear driving it.
It was something else.
Something pulling her toward him instead of pushing her away.
“Why are you in my dreams?” she asked softly.
His gaze didn’t leave hers.
“Because it was the only place I could reach you,” he replied.
Her breath caught again.
Reach her?
“What do you mean
“You need to stay away from me.”
The words cut through her question.
Firm.
Certain.
Elizabeth frowned. “You keep saying that, but you’re the one coming to me.”
Something shifted in his expression again.
“You don’t understand what you’re stepping into,” he said, his voice lower now, more intense. “This isn’t just about you.”
“Then explain it to me,” she pressed.
For a moment, it looked like he might.
Like he was actually considering it.
But then he stepped back.
The shadows seemed to pull him in again, swallowing the details of his face.
“I can’t,” he said.
Frustration rose in her chest. “Why not?”
“Because the more you know…” he paused briefly, his gaze holding hers one last time,
“the harder it will be to keep you safe.”
The words landed heavier than she expected.
Safe.
From what?
Before she could ask, the air shifted again.
The same feeling as before.
That pulling sensation.
“No wait,” she said quickly, stepping forward.
But it was already happening.
His figure faded back into the darkness, like he had never been fully there to begin with.
And then
He was gone.
Elizabeth stood there for a long moment, her chest rising and falling unevenly, her mind struggling to catch up with what had just happened.
He had been there.
Not a dream.
Not her imagination.
Real.
Her fingers curled slightly at her sides as she turned toward the window again, her thoughts racing.
“Stay away from you…” she whispered.
But even as she said it, she knew
That wasn’t going to happen.
Because whatever this was…
It had already begun.
- Writer
