Dangerous Love
516 Words
Episode 11:
After that night, nothing around Amara felt normal again.
It was like something invisible had wrapped itself around her life and she could no longer tell where safety ended and danger began. And the center of it all was Xavier.
At first it didn't feel like danger, it felt like protection. Xavier started showing up more often not casually anymore.
Like he was checking something everytime he saw her... doors, surroundings people nearby.
At school, he would appear unexpectedly between classes just to make sure she is fine. At home he called more than usual. Sometimes she would wake up to missed calls from him in the middle of the night.
Amara noticed the change and it unsettled he. One afternoon, she confronted him after class. "You're everywhere these days", she said, folding her arms.
Xavier looked at her calmly "Because I need I need to be".
"That's not an answer"?
"It is", he replied.
Amara sighed. "You're acting like something is going to happen to me every second".
A pause...... Then Xavier said quietly, "It could".
That made her freeze slightly.
"stop saying things like that", she snapped.
"I'm not trying to scare you", he said, softer now, "I'm trying to keep you alive".
The seriousness in his voice her uneasy.
"Xavier...." she lowered her voice "what exactly is going on?"
But instead of answering, he looked away.
That silence again.
The same silence that always came before something worse.
Days passed
And the feeling of being watched grew stronger.
It started small, A black car that always seemed to slow down near her street,
A man standing too long outside her gate pretending to be on call, unknown numbers that called and never spoke.
At first Amara tried to ignore it then it became impossible.
One evening, she returned from school and noticed the same car parked farther down the road, the same one she had been seen three times that week.
Her steps slowed.... Her heart followed.
... that night, she didn't sleep well.
The next day, Xavier had come to visit her. He was standing in her room, looking outside through the window like he expected something to happen at any moment.
"I can't do this anymore!" Amara suddenly shouted.
Xavier turned slowly "DO WHAT?"
"This", she gestured around. "You watching everything, me feeling like i'm being followed, people I don't know showing up near my house... what is this, Xavier?
He didn't respond immediately and that silence made her more frustrated
"Say something Xavier"
"I know", he finally said
"That's all you keep saying!"
He looked at her, his expression had changed now.
"Amara... I told you my life is not normal"
She stepped closer "Then explain it properly"
For a moment, he hesitated.
Then, in a low voice
"my family ruins people".
That sentence landed heavily in the room.
Amara stared at him
"What does that even mean, I'm tired of hearing it".
Xavier looked away
"They just don't have enemies... they create them".
Amara shook her head slightly, "so all this is because of your family?"
"yes".
- Writer
