Someone Was Watching
948 Words
My breath caught in my throat.
"Stacy?"
She stood there staring at me.
For a moment, nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
The apartment felt frozen.
Noah was the first to react.
He stepped slightly in front of me.
"What are you doing here?" he asked.
His voice was hard.
Stacy looked at him before turning back to me.
"I've been trying to talk to you all day."
I couldn't believe she was actually standing in front of me.
For years, I didn't even know she existed.
Now she was suddenly everywhere.
Sending messages.
Showing up at Ethan's apartment.
Turning my life upside down.
I folded my arms.
"Start talking."
Her eyes softened.
"You look just like Mom."
The words hit me harder than I expected.
I didn't answer.
I was still angry.
Still confused.
Still hurt.
Stacy slowly walked into the living room.
Her eyes landed on the broken lamp.
The overturned furniture.
The note on the table.
A worried look crossed her face.
"He was here."
"Who?" Noah asked.
"Ethan."
My stomach tightened.
"Where is he?"
"I don't know."
"Stop doing that."
She frowned.
"Doing what?"
"Answering questions without actually answering them."
For a second, she looked guilty.
Then she sighed.
"You're right."
Silence filled the room.
Finally she sat down.
"I met Ethan about two years ago."
My heart dropped.
"What?"
"He found me first."
I stared at her.
"What do you mean he found you?"
"He knew who I was."
The room suddenly felt smaller.
I couldn't breathe properly.
"Ethan knew you were my sister?"
She nodded slowly.
"Yes."
Anger rushed through me.
"He never told me."
"Why?"
Stacy looked down.
"Because he didn't want you asking questions."
I laughed bitterly.
"Looks like everyone in my life enjoys keeping secrets."
Nobody disagreed.
That hurt more than I expected.
Then she reached into her bag.
She pulled out an old photograph.
My heart nearly stopped.
It was another family picture.
Only this one was different.
Much older.
The edges were torn.
The colors had faded.
I looked at the people standing in it.
My mother.
A younger version of my father.
And a little girl.
Stacy.
I swallowed hard.
She pointed at the back of the picture.
There was a date written there.
Twenty years ago.
"I was seven when this picture was taken," Stacy said quietly.
I stared at the photo.
Everything felt unreal.
"Why did Mom send you away?"
The question slipped out before I could stop it.
"She didn't."
I blinked.
"What?"
"She didn't send me away."
The room went silent.
"Then what happened?"
For a moment, I thought she wouldn't answer.
Then she finally spoke.
"I was taken away."
"What do you mean taken away?"
"My grandmother got custody of me after a huge fight with Mom."
I stared at her.
"Why?"
Tears appeared in Stacy's eyes.
"Because my mother couldn't afford to take care of both of us."
My chest tightened.
Both of us.
The words hurt.
Because it meant my mother had chosen to keep me.
And somehow lost her.
No wonder nobody wanted to talk about it.
No wonder every time I asked about family, Mom changed the subject.
The guilt must have been destroying her for years.
I looked away.
Part of my anger toward Mom began to crack.
Just a little.
Stacy wiped her eyes.
"I spent years thinking she didn't want me."
I didn't know what to say.
For the first time since meeting her, I didn't see a stranger.
I saw someone who had been hurting just as much as I was.
Someone who had spent years wondering why she wasn't wanted.
Someone who had been lied to.
Just like me.
Then Noah spoke.
"That still doesn't explain Ethan."
Stacy's expression changed.
Immediately.
The sadness disappeared.
The fear returned.
I noticed it right away.
My stomach dropped.
"What about Ethan?"
She looked directly at me.
"He wasn't with you by accident."
The room went completely silent.
I stared at her.
"What does that mean?"
"Ethan knew who you were before he met you."
My heart stopped.
"No."
"He did."
"You're lying."
"I wish I was."
I shook my head.
"No."
My voice cracked.
"No, that's impossible."
But deep down, I wasn't sure anymore.
Too many lies had already been exposed.
Too many secrets had come out.
Maybe anything was possible.
"Why would he do that?" I whispered.
Stacy looked away.
"I don't know."
I could tell she wasn't telling me everything.
But before I could push further, her phone suddenly rang.
She froze.
Her face suddenly turned pale.
Noah immediately noticed.
"Who's calling?"
She didn't answer.
The phone kept ringing.
Then it stopped.
A second later, a message appeared.
Stacy read it.
Her hands started shaking.
"Stacy?"
She looked terrified.
"What happened?"
Slowly, she lifted the phone.
I read the message.
Three simple words.
FOUND HER YET?
My blood ran cold.
"Who sent that?"
Stacy swallowed hard.
"I don't know."
"That's a lie."
She looked at me.
Fear filled her eyes.
The kind of fear that couldn't be faked.
Then she whispered something that made my entire body go numb.
"Someone has been watching us for months."
Silence.
Nobody spoke.
Nobody moved.
I could barely hear myself breathe.
Then another thought hit me.
A terrible thought.
I looked at Stacy.
"Why are you really here?"
She stared at me for several seconds.
Then she finally answered.
"Because if I don't tell you the truth now, you'll never hear it from anyone else."
Outside, thunder rumbled in the distance.
Rain began tapping softly against the windows.
The storm was finally arriving.
And somehow, I had a feeling the worst part of this story hadn't even begun yet.
- Writer
