Mine until Midnight

Mine Until Midnight - The Consequence

CHAPTER FIVE

Aurora woke up the next morning with one thought already waiting for her.

Jason.

She stared at the ceiling for several seconds before remembering the events of the previous night. The corridor. The dark figure. The warning in her journal.

Stay away, Aurora.

She slowly sat up.

For some reason, she had slept with the silver bracelet still around her wrist. She turned it over, examining it in the morning light.

Something caught her attention.

There was a tiny engraving on the inside.

A symbol.

It looked almost like two intertwined letters, but she couldn't make out what they were supposed to mean.

Aurora frowned.

She was certain it hadn't been there when she first received the bracelet.

"You're staring at that thing again."

Aurora looked up.

Mia was watching her from across the room.

"What?"

"The bracelet."

Aurora quickly lowered her hand.

"Nothing."

Mia rolled her eyes. "You say 'nothing' way too much."

Aurora smiled and slipped the bracelet beneath her sleeve.

"I'll be ready in five minutes."

Mia narrowed her eyes but let it go.

Aurora wasn't sure why she didn't tell her.

Maybe because saying everything out loud would make it feel more real.

The stranger.

The messages.

The gifts.

The warnings.

And now the bracelet.

She didn't know who he was, but somehow he kept appearing at the exact moments she needed someone.

That thought stayed with her as she walked to class.

And then she saw Jason.

He was leaning against the wall outside the lecture hall, looking at his phone.

The moment he noticed Aurora, he smiled.

"Morning."

"Morning."

He pushed himself away from the wall.

"How did you sleep?"

Aurora hesitated.

"Fine."

"Good."

There was something surprisingly easy about talking to him.

He wasn't awkward.

He wasn't overly serious.

And despite everything, Aurora couldn't deny that he was charming.

They walked into the lecture hall together.

Jason made some ridiculous comment about their professor's handwriting, and Aurora laughed.

She hadn't even realized she was smiling until her phone vibrated.

She pulled it out.

Unknown number.

One message.

**You smiled at him.**

Aurora's smile disappeared.

She looked around the room.

Jason was already taking his seat.

Mia was talking to another student.

Everyone seemed normal.

Aurora typed:

**Were you watching me?**

She waited.

Three dots appeared.

Then disappeared.

Nothing else came.

Aurora frowned.

She put her phone away.

For the rest of the lecture, she couldn't concentrate.

She kept thinking about those four words.

You smiled at him.

Whoever this person was, they hadn't simply seen her.

They had noticed her expression.

They had noticed Jason.

And they had cared enough to mention it.

Aurora didn't know whether to feel irritated or strangely amused.

Probably both.

After class, Jason caught up with her.

"You disappeared quickly."

"I had somewhere to be."

"Want to grab lunch?"

Aurora hesitated.

She remembered the warning.

Stay away from him.

Then she remembered something else.

The stranger didn't control her.

She did.

"Sure."

Jason smiled.

They walked toward the student center together.

For the first few minutes, everything was normal.

They talked about classes.

Music.

Movies.

Random things that didn't matter.

Aurora found herself laughing again.

Then her phone vibrated.

She ignored it.

Another vibration.

Then another.

Jason looked at her.

"Everything okay?"

"Yeah."

She pulled out her phone.

Three messages.

**Aurora.**

**Don't.**

**Leave.**

She stared at them.

Her irritation returned.

She typed:

**Maybe I don't want to.**

She pressed send.

The messages showed as delivered.

No response.

Aurora smiled to herself.

For the first time, she felt like she'd won something.

She had no idea what.

But she liked it.

Jason looked at her.

"Something funny?"

"No."

"You smiled."

Aurora slipped her phone into her pocket.

"Maybe I just remembered something."

He smiled.

"Should I be worried?"

"Probably."

He laughed.

And for a moment, Aurora forgot about the stranger completely.

Until she noticed the reflection in the window beside them.

Someone was standing across the street.

Tall.

Dressed in black.

Watching.

Aurora's smile faded.

She turned.

The street was crowded.

Cars moved past.

Students walked along the pavement.

But the figure was gone.

She looked back at the window.

Nothing.

"Everything okay?" Jason asked.

Aurora nodded.

"Yeah."

But she didn't believe herself.

Later that afternoon, Aurora deliberately decided to test the stranger.

She told Mia she was going to the library.

Instead, she took a different route.

A quiet street behind the university.

She walked slowly.

Waiting.

If he was really watching her, he'd know she wasn't where she said she'd be.

For several minutes, nothing happened.

Aurora smiled.

"Maybe I'm finally getting rid of you."

She kept walking.

Then she heard footsteps.

Behind her.

Her smile disappeared.

One step.

Then another.

Aurora didn't turn around.

The footsteps continued.

She reached into her bag and held her phone tightly.

She considered calling someone.

Before she could, the footsteps stopped.

Aurora turned.

A man stood several metres away.

Not Jason.

Someone she didn't recognize.

He wasn't doing anything.

He was simply standing there.

Watching her.

Aurora's heart began pounding.

"Can I help you?"

The man didn't answer.

He took one step forward.

Aurora stepped backward.

Then suddenly, another figure appeared farther down the street.

Tall.

Dark clothing.

Still.

The stranger.

Aurora's breath caught.

The man behind her looked past Aurora.

His expression changed.

He turned around.

Whatever he saw made him leave quickly.

Aurora watched in confusion.

Then she looked toward the other figure.

"Wait!"

She ran a few steps forward.

The figure didn't move.

Aurora stopped.

"Who are you?"

Silence.

The distance between them felt strangely small.

She could see his outline clearly now.

But his face remained hidden beneath the shadow.

Aurora took another step.

The figure turned.

A car passed between them.

Its headlights briefly filled the street.

When Aurora looked again, he was gone.

She stood there alone.

Her heart was beating so loudly she could hear it.

"Seriously?"

She looked around.

Nothing.

She didn't know what had just happened.

She only knew that the moment the stranger appeared, the man who had been following her disappeared.

Aurora returned to her dormitory later that evening.

She opened the door.

Everything looked normal.

Until she saw the small box sitting on her desk.

Aurora walked toward it slowly.

She opened it.

Inside was a new phone charger.

Her charger had stopped working two days earlier.

She hadn't told anyone.

Beneath it was a small piece of paper.

**You don't listen.**

Aurora stared at it.

Then, despite herself, she smiled.

"Maybe I don't want to."

She picked up the journal.

She opened to a blank page.

**Maybe I don't want to.**

She waited.

The ink slowly appeared beneath her words.

**I know.**

Aurora stared at the response.

For the first time, she laughed.

Not nervously.

Not because she was scared.

Actually laughed.

She wrote:

**So you admit you're watching me?**

Nothing.

She waited.

Still nothing.

Aurora frowned.

"Of course."

She closed the journal.

Then her phone vibrated.

Unknown number.

A photograph.

Aurora opened it.

Her heart stopped.

It was a picture of her and Jason earlier that day.

They were sitting together at lunch.

Laughing.

The angle was strange.

Whoever had taken it had been standing somewhere behind them.

Somewhere Aurora hadn't noticed.

Underneath the photograph were four words.

**He's getting closer.**

Aurora's smile disappeared.

Another message appeared.

**And I'm running out of patience.**

She stared at the screen.

For several seconds, she didn't move.

Then she slowly looked toward the window.

The curtains were closed.

Aurora walked over and pulled them aside.

The street below was empty.

No dark figure.

No mysterious stranger.

Nothing.

She turned back toward her room.

The journal was still lying open on her bed.

Aurora walked toward it.

A single sentence had appeared on the page.

**Next time, I might not warn you.**

Aurora stared at the words.

And for the first time, she wondered whether the stranger's warnings were really meant to protect her...

or whether they were the beginning of something much more dangerous.