EPISODE 3:
333 Words
THE SHADOW THAT FOLLOWS
After that night, Dominic became impossible to ignore.
Not because he was always physically present—but because he appeared in the spaces between her thoughts.
She would walk through her day and suddenly remember the way he looked at her like she was the only thing in a crowded room that mattered.
She hated it.
And yet…
She waited for it.
One evening, her car was forced to stop in a quiet street on the way home. Engine trouble, the driver said.
But Alessia knew immediately something was wrong.
Too quiet.
Too intentional.
She stepped out.
And there he was.
Standing beneath a streetlight that barely touched him.
Dominic.
“You arranged this,” she said flatly.
“I didn’t arrange anything,” he replied.
“Then why are you here?”
A pause.
His expression darkened slightly, as if the answer wasn’t simple enough to give.
“Because you’re not safe.”
Alessia scoffed. “From what? Broken cars?”
His eyes met hers—steady, unblinking.
“From people who know who you are.”
That sentence changed the air.
Alessia’s family wasn’t ordinary. Everyone knew that. But no one ever spoke about threats directly.
Until now.
“You’re not making sense,” she said.
Dominic stepped closer. Not rushing. Not aggressive. Controlled.
That control was the most dangerous thing about him.
“I don’t expect you to understand my world,” he said. “Only that it has noticed you.”
Alessia felt her pulse rise.
“And you? What are you in all this?”
A faint pause.
Then the truth, spoken like it cost him something.
“I decide what survives in my world.”
Silence stretched between them.
“You’re not answering my question,” she said.
His gaze softened—but only slightly.
“I am the reason you’re still standing here.”
That should have scared her.
But instead, something else settled in.
Trust.
The most dangerous emotion of all.
- Writer
