8
1106 Words
KATHERINE
That voice.
It slid into the room like smoke, curling through my thoughts, heavy and impossible to ignore.
I didn’t need to turn around to know who it was. My skin already recognized the shift in the air. The fine hairs at the back of my neck prickled, my stomach tightening as though bracing for impact.
The stranger from my bedroom, the man who had stood too close, spoken too softly, and yet managed to make every word feel like a threat.
He leaned against the living room doorway as though he’d been there for minutes, watching.
His posture was relaxed, but his presence wasn’t. It was dense, oppressive, like the air before a summer storm.
His hands were shoved deep into his pockets, his gaze travelling lazily over the room over me.
“Who the hell are you?” Silas’s voice cracked through the silence, sharp and protective.
The stranger didn’t answer right away. His gaze shifted to Silas, and there was something slow and deliberate in the way his eyes moved like he was sizing him up, deciding if he was worth the effort of speaking to.
“I could ask you the same thing,” he said finally. His voice was calm, too calm, the kind of calm you hear just before someone does something dangerous.
Silas took a half-step in front of me, a human shield I didn’t ask for but couldn’t quite push away. “This is her house. So unless you’ve got a damn good reason for being here, I suggest you get out.”
My stomach dropped. My mouth opened before my brain caught up. “Silas—”
The stranger’s eyes snapped to me, and my voice faltered.
“Is that what you want, Katherine?” My name rolled off his tongue with deliberate weight, as if he was testing how it tasted.
Silas’s head jerked toward me. “Katty…?”
The room tilted. I was right back where I always ended up wedged between two storms, trying to hold my ground without getting torn apart.
“I—” My voice came out thinner than I liked. “You shouldn’t be here,” I told the stranger.
He didn’t flinch. “That’s not what I asked you.”
Silas cut in, his tone harder. “You heard her.”
The stranger’s mouth curved almost a smile, but not quite. “And you think you can make me leave?”
“Try me.”
The air between them sharpened.
The stranger stepped forward, slow and unhurried, closing the space like a predator advancing on prey. Silas didn’t move, didn’t blink.
“No—stop!” I slid between them, pressing my palms to Silas’s chest. His body was warm, his heartbeat hammering against my hands.
“Enough,” I said, forcing steel into my voice.
But neither man looked at me.
“Silas,” I said again, sharper. “Go home.”
His eyes snapped to mine. “You’re asking me to leave? And keep him here?”
I swallowed hard. “It’s complicated.”
The laugh that slipped out of him was bitter. “Complicated? Katty, do you even know who this guy is?”
“No,” I admitted quietly. “And that’s why I need you to go.”
The stranger’s eyes glinted, and for a moment, I thought I saw amusement. “She knows enough.”
Silas’s jaw tightened. “Enough for what?”
“Silas, please.” My voice cracked.
The silence stretched until it hurt. Finally, he stepped back, grabbing his coat. “Fine. Burn yourself alive if you want, but don’t expect me to stand here and watch.”
He brushed past the stranger, their shoulders colliding just enough to make a statement. Then the door slammed, the echo rattling the picture frames.
The silence that followed wasn’t relief. It was a noose tightening.
I turned on the stranger. “What the hell was that?”
He shrugged as if I’d asked about the weather. “You didn’t look like you wanted him here.”
“That’s not your decision to make!”
His eyes held mine. “And yet, you didn’t stop me.”
The truth of it hit harder than I wanted to admit.
I stepped back, needing air. “Why are you here?”
“I told you. I’m not worried about you running. I’m here to see how you handle… this.”
“This?”
He tilted his head. “The mess you’ve gotten yourself into.”
Before I could spit out a reply, the door slammed open again, only this time, Silas wasn’t alone.
Two men followed him in. I didn’t recognize them, but I knew trouble when I saw it. They scanned the room, their movements efficient, their eyes cold.
“Is this him?” one of them asked.
The stranger didn’t even blink.
Silas didn’t answer. Instead, he stepped toward me and gripped my arm firm, urgent. “Katty. Room. Now.”
I didn’t move.
The stranger’s voice slid into the moment, low and almost amused. “You should listen to him. It’s about to get messy.”
One of the newcomers reached inside his jacket. The stranger’s gaze sharpened, the lazy edge in his expression vanishing like it was never there.
“Careful,” he warned.
Then everything shattered into motion.
The first man lunged. The stranger caught his wrist and twisted, a crack slicing through the air. The second man pulled something metallic, too small to see clearly but unmistakably dangerous.
Silas shoved me back, my shoulder hitting the wall. “Run, Katty!”
I didn’t. My feet were nailed to the floor, my eyes locked on the chaos, grunts, fists, and the scrape of furniture. The coffee table Silas had brought earlier went flying, shattering against the wall in a spray of dark liquid and ceramic shards, and then a deafening sound split the air.
My ears rang, my vision swam. When the blur cleared, one of the men was on the ground. Silas was bleeding, and the stranger… was looking straight at me.
“Time to go, Katherine,” he said.
And this time, I didn’t doubt for a second that he meant it. My head was dizzy. It was nothing but a whirl land of emotions. I didn't know how to progress from here.
My feet were planted on the same spot. I was paralyzed by fear and the anxiety that churned at me mercilessly.
I could hear noises in the background, but I could barely register what was happening. My heart was pounding loudly in my ears.
- Writer
