Mine until Midnight

Mine Until Midnight - After Midnight

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Knock.

Knock.

Knock.

Aurora stared at the door.

Mia's hand was still wrapped around hers.

Neither of them moved.

The journal lay open on the desk.

"Don't open the door."

Aurora swallowed.

"Who do you think it is?" Mia whispered.

"I don't know."

Another few seconds passed.

Nothing.

Then they heard footsteps.

Slowly moving away.

Mia looked at Aurora.

"Should we check?"

Aurora shook her head.

"He said not to."

Mia glanced at the journal.

"You really trust him."

Aurora didn't answer.

She wasn't sure when it had happened.

At first, the stranger had been nothing more than a strange person who seemed to know too much.

Then he had become the person who appeared whenever she was afraid.

The person who warned her.

The person who left gifts.

The person whose words somehow made her feel safer, even when she didn't know his name.

Mia squeezed her hand.

"Let's wait."

They waited.

Five minutes.

Ten.

Nothing.

Finally, Aurora slowly approached the door.

She looked through the peephole.

The hallway was empty.

She opened the door just a little.

Nobody.

But something was lying on the floor.

A photograph.

Aurora picked it up.

Her breath caught.

It was her.

Standing outside the library.

But she wasn't alone.

A dark figure stood several feet away, watching her.

Aurora stared at it.

Mia came closer.

"Is that him?"

"I don't know."

"You've never seen his face."

"No."

Aurora turned the photograph over.

There was writing on the back.

"Some things are better seen from a distance."

Aurora's heart beat faster.

She looked down the hallway.

Nothing.

"Why would he send me this?"

Mia shrugged.

"Maybe he's trying to show you something."

"Or maybe he's trying to scare me."

Mia looked at her.

"Are you scared?"

Aurora hesitated.

"A little."

Mia smiled softly.

"Then you're allowed to be."

Aurora looked at the photograph again.

There was something strange about it.

She couldn't explain it.

The stranger wasn't threatening her.

He was watching her.

Protecting her.

And somehow, that was becoming more frightening than if he had simply wanted to hurt her.

---

The next morning, Aurora barely spoke during breakfast.

Mia sat opposite her, watching her push food around her plate.

"You've been staring at that photograph for twenty minutes."

Aurora looked up.

"I know."

"You're thinking about him."

Aurora sighed.

"Maybe."

Mia smiled.

"You don't even know his name."

"I know."

"You don't know what he looks like."

"I know."

"You don't know why he's obsessed with keeping you safe."

Aurora looked at her.

"That's the part I want to know."

Mia became quiet.

Aurora noticed.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"You made a face."

"I didn't."

"You did."

Mia laughed.

"Okay, maybe I did."

Aurora smiled.

"You're annoying."

"And you're obsessed with a mysterious man who writes creepy things in a journal."

Aurora's face warmed.

"I'm not obsessed."

"Sure."

"I'm not."

"Okay."

Mia took a sip of her drink.

"I believe you."

Aurora narrowed her eyes.

"You don't."

"Nope."

They both laughed.

For a few minutes, everything felt normal.

Then Aurora's phone vibrated.

Her smile disappeared.

A message.

Unknown number.

"You're safe."

She stared at it.

Mia noticed.

"The stranger?"

Aurora nodded.

She typed:

"How do you know?"

The reply came almost immediately.

"I know."

Aurora frowned.

She wrote:

"Why were you watching me?"

There was a pause.

Then:

"Because I needed to know you were safe."

Aurora's heart skipped.

She stared at the sentence.

Mia leaned closer.

"What did he say?"

Aurora showed her.

Mia read it.

Then looked at Aurora.

"That's... different."

"What?"

"He didn't give you a warning."

Aurora looked at the message again.

"He was answering me."

Mia smiled slightly.

"Maybe he's finally getting tired of hiding."

Aurora looked down at her phone.

"Maybe."

---

Later that afternoon, Aurora was walking across campus when she saw Jason.

He smiled when he noticed her.

"Hey."

"Hi."

"You disappeared last night."

Aurora frowned.

"What?"

"I came by your building."

Her expression changed.

"When?"

"Late."

Aurora stared at him.

"You came to my building?"

Jason shrugged.

"I wanted to see you."

Aurora didn't know what to say.

Jason smiled.

"Relax. I didn't stay."

She forced a smile.

"Okay."

He looked at her carefully.

"Something wrong?"

"No."

"You're acting strange."

"I'm just tired."

Jason nodded.

Then his eyes moved to the photograph sticking out of Aurora's notebook.

"What's that?"

Aurora quickly covered it.

"Nothing."

He smiled.

"Secret?"

"Something like that."

Jason laughed.

"Okay."

He walked beside her.

Aurora noticed something.

He kept glancing at the photograph.

Not once.

Twice.

Three times.

She said nothing.

But she remembered it.

---

That night, Aurora sat at her desk.

Mia was lying on her bed, scrolling through her phone.

Aurora opened the journal.

She wrote:

"Why do you care whether I'm safe?"

Nothing.

She waited.

Then:

"Because I do."

Aurora stared.

She smiled without realizing it.

Mia looked over.

"You're smiling."

Aurora immediately stopped.

"I'm not."

"You are."

"No."

Mia laughed.

Aurora shook her head and continued writing.

"That's not an answer."

The stranger replied:

"It's the only one you're getting."

Aurora smiled again.

"You are impossible."

"I know."

She hesitated.

Then wrote:

"Do you ever wish you could just tell me who you are?"

The page remained blank.

Aurora waited.

Finally:

"Every day."

Her smile disappeared.

She stared at the words.

Then wrote:

"Then why don't you?"

A long silence.

The answer appeared.

"Because once you know who I am, you won't look at me the same way."

Aurora's heart beat faster.

She didn't know what to say.

Mia looked at her.

"What happened?"

Aurora closed the journal.

"Nothing."

Mia smiled.

"You're really bad at lying."

Aurora laughed softly.

"Go to sleep."

"After you."

Aurora shook her head.

She turned off the light.

But long after Mia fell asleep, Aurora remained awake.

Thinking about a man whose face she had never seen.

A man whose name she didn't know.

A man who somehow knew exactly when she was afraid.

And for the first time...

Aurora wondered if she was beginning to want more than his protection.

Maybe she wanted him.

Even if she didn't know who he was.

Outside the window, far across the street, a figure stood beneath the darkness.

Watching.

But this time...

he wasn't watching to see if Aurora was safe.

He was watching her smile.

And for some reason, that seemed to matter more.