Devotion After Dark

CHAPTER SIX

Certain people are strangers only because they have spent years making sure no one gets close enough to know them.

For several seconds, Solenne could not move.

Her fingers remained curled around her skirt, gripping it so tightly that she could feel the rough texture of it pressing against her skin. Her shoulders had drawn up without her noticing, and she could hear her own breathing beneath the faint rustle of the leaves.

The stranger did not come any closer and that somehow made her more nervous. He remained where the shadows were deepest, with the trees partly hiding him from the afternoon light. Only part of his face was visible beneath the shade, enough for Solenne to make out his features but not enough to read him clearly.

There was something deliberate about the way he stood. It did not look as though he had simply happened to stop there. It looked as though he had chosen that particular spot because he did not want to be seen.

Solenne swallowed. “I'm sorry.”

Her voice came out quieter than she intended. The man watched her without answering. Solenne shifted her weight from one foot to the other.

“I didn't mean to come here.” She glanced toward the path where the cat had disappeared. “I was following the cat.”

His gaze moved briefly in the same direction. When he looked back at her, his expression had barely changed.

“I know.”

The simple answer made Solenne pause. “You know?”

“I saw you.” His eyes remained on her.

There was nothing threatening in his voice, but there was a strange distance to it. He spoke calmly, almost too calmly, as though finding a stranger standing in his garden was not particularly surprising.

Solenne looked at him again. Even though she couldn’t make his appearances, for her, he seemed young. Perhaps somewhere in his twenties. Yet there was something about him that did not match his appearance. The way he stood. The quietness in his voice. Even the way he looked at her felt unlike someone her age.

She cleared her throat. “Then... I'm sorry for trespassing.”

He said nothing and Solenne waited until she began to feel increasingly awkward beneath his stare.

“I'm going back now.”

She carefully stepped toward the path.

The man moved and only slightly. But Solenne stopped immediately. He had not blocked her way. He had merely shifted farther beneath the trees, as though avoiding the sunlight that fell across the clearing, and this got noticed by her. The movement is almost too subtle.

“You don't like the sun?” The question escaped before she could stop herself.

Just like that, his expression changed. Only for a moment and then it was gone.

Solenne immediately regretted asking. “Sorry. That was rude.”

“Yes,” he replied.

Her eyebrows lifted. She had expected him to deny it. Instead, he simply looked away. A strange silence settled between them.

Solenne glanced toward the path again. She should leave. She knew that. Yet something kept her standing there. Perhaps it was the unanswered questions. Perhaps it was the way he seemed to be hiding from something she could not see. Or perhaps it was simply the fact that she had never met anyone who behaved quite like him.

“What is your name?”

The man looked at her for a moment. His expression remained unreadable. “You should leave.”

Solenne blinked. That was not the answer she expected.

“I asked for your name.”

“I heard you.” His voice remained calm, but there was a quiet firmness beneath it. He wasn't being rude. He simply seemed determined to end the conversation as quickly as possible.

Solenne glanced behind him. Then she looked around the garden. The old Montrose property was supposed to be empty. Everyone in town knew that. At least, that was what she had been told.

So why was he?

She looked back at him. “Why are you here?”

His eyes narrowed slightly. “What?”

“Here.” She gestured toward the surrounding grounds. “Why are you on the Montrose property?”

He said nothing.

Solenne waited. “You know this place is supposed to be empty, right?”

His expression hardened. “Go home.”

“You keep telling me to leave, but you haven't answered my question.” Solenne stared at him.

For the first time, something close to irritation crossed his face. “You don't need an answer.”

“I think I do.”

“No, you don't.” The reply came quietly, almost flatly.

Solenne's nervousness returned. She could feel it settling in her chest again, making her more aware of every small movement around her. The trees seemed unusually still. The shade around them felt colder than before.

“Go home, Solenne.”

This made the color of her face go white, releasing a shaky breath with a brave tone as she asked him: “You know my name?”

The question came out softer than Solenne intended. She watched him carefully, searching his face for some explanation while her heartbeat continued to settle from the uneasiness of finding a stranger standing among the trees. The surrounding quiet made every small sound seem louder—the faint rustling of leaves overhead, the soft movement of her sandal against the earth, and even the careful rhythm of her own breathing.

The man's gaze shifted away from her and settled somewhere beyond her shoulder, toward the house hidden farther among the trees.

“Your grandmother mentioned you.” His answer was calm, almost casual.

That should have been enough. It was a perfectly reasonable explanation; her grandmother knew the people who lived nearby, and there was nothing strange about her mentioning that her granddaughter had arrived. Still, something about the way the man said it left Solenne uneasy. There had been no surprise in his expression when he saw her, nor any hesitation when he spoke her name. He had seemed to know exactly who she was.

“Right.”

Solenne gave a small nod, though she wasn't sure whether she was accepting his explanation or simply trying to convince herself that there was nothing unusual about it.

He moved farther into the shade. The movement immediately caught her attention.

Only then did Solenne notice how carefully he had positioned himself beneath the trees. He wasn't merely taking shelter from the afternoon heat. The sunlight stretched across the garden in warm patches, slipping between the branches and reaching the surrounding ground, yet he deliberately remained beyond it, where the thicker shadows kept most of the brightness away.

Solenne glanced at the sunlight before looking back at him. Her brows drew together slightly. She was about to ask why when he spoke.

“You should go home.”

Something in his voice had changed. It was still quiet and controlled, but there was a firmness beneath it that hadn't been there before. It wasn't anger or irritation. If anything, it sounded like concern.

Solenne hesitated, her fingers tightening around the strap of her sandal.

“Why?”

The man's eyes settled on her again.

For the briefest moment, the calm expression he had been wearing seemed to c***k. Something passed through his eyes—something that looked almost like fear—but it disappeared so quickly that Solenne wasn't certain she had seen it at all.

“Because your grandmother will be looking for you.”

Solenne frowned and glanced toward the direction of her grandmother's house. Only then did she realize how long she had been gone. Following the cat had taken her farther from the house than she had intended, and the afternoon had slipped by while she wandered through the garden.

“You're probably right.”

He gave a small nod.

Solenne took a step toward the path, ready to leave, but another thought came to her before she could go. She turned back to him.

“Do you live here?”

He didn't answer immediately. Instead, his eyes moved toward the trees behind him. His expression became distant as he looked through the branches, almost as though he were checking the surrounding area to make certain they were alone.

Solenne watched him quietly.

There was a tension in the way he carried himself now, subtle but unmistakable. He still appeared composed, yet his attention seemed divided between her and whatever might be hidden beyond the trees.

After a moment, he finally looked back at her.

“Yes.”

The single word left Solenne even more curious.

She studied him, sensing that there was something missing from his answer. She couldn't explain exactly what it was—the pause, the guarded look in his eyes, or the way he had checked the trees before responding—but something about him made even ordinary answers feel incomplete.

Before she could ask another question, the man looked away.

“You should go.” His voice had softened again, though the meaning remained firm.

This time, Solenne listened.

She turned toward the path and began walking back toward her grandmother's property. Her steps were careful at first; her thoughts still tangled around the strange encounter. She had only gone several paces when something made her glance over her shoulder.

He was still standing beneath the trees. He hadn't followed her, nor had he moved closer. He remained exactly where the shade was deepest, partially concealed by the branches while the afternoon sunlight stopped short of reaching him.

For a moment, their eyes met across the garden.

Neither spoke.

Then his voice carried quietly through the stillness.

“Go home, Solenne.”

Hearing her name from him again sent another small shiver of uneasiness through her. It sounded less like an ordinary farewell and more like a warning he wanted her to remember.

Solenne turned away and continued down the path, resisting the urge to look back again. Even as the trees gradually hid the mysterious man from view, she couldn't shake the feeling that he had been watching her until the very last moment.

Solenne expected that to be the end of it.

After all, there was no reason for her to think about the stranger from the garden again. She had crossed a boundary she should not have crossed, he had told her to go home, and she had done exactly that. It should have been nothing more than an uncomfortable encounter she would eventually forget.

Except she didn't.

The following evening, she found herself thinking about him more than she wanted to admit. It wasn't because she was frightened of him. At least, that was what she told herself.

There was simply something about their brief meeting that had stayed with her. She remembered the way he had remained beneath the trees, how the fading sunlight had stopped short of where he stood, and how he had seemed more concerned with making her leave than with asking why she had wandered into the garden.

Most of all, she remembered the strange feeling she had when he disappeared from her sight. It had left her wondering where he had gone.

Her grandmother sensed something wrong with her but dared not to ask her granddaughter and just simply looked at her intensely; her eyes could melt anything.

By evening, the thought had become difficult to ignore. She told herself she was only curious. That was all. Still, when she went into town that night, some quiet part of her seemed to expect that she would see him again.

And she did.

He was standing across the street from the small convenience store near the town center. Although she can’t clearly see his face, that back of his is somewhat familiar to her and that aura that radiates all over him. She can’t be wrong, as her heart keeps beating from her ribcage.

It was already late. The last traces of daylight had disappeared behind the roofs, leaving the streets washed in the soft glow of shop signs and scattered lamps. Most of the businesses had already closed, their metal shutters pulled down for the night. A few remained open, their warm yellow lights spilling onto the pavement and making small islands of brightness against the darker road.

Motorcycles passed from time to time, their engines briefly breaking the quiet before fading further down the street.

Solenne slowed and there he was.

He stood beneath a streetlamp, alone, with one hand resting loosely at his side. The light above him was not particularly bright, and much of it seemed to disappear into the darkness surrounding him.

He wasn't talking to anyone. He wasn't waiting for anyone. As far as Solenne could tell, he wasn't even going anywhere. He simply stood there, looking toward the road as if he were watching for something only he could see.

Solenne remained on the opposite side of the street. She could have walked past him. Instead, she stood there for a moment longer than she intended. There was something strangely familiar about seeing him again, even though she had only met him once.

Her curiosity returned. So did that peculiar feeling from earlier. A quiet sense that she was supposed to see him again. Solenne frowned at herself. That was ridiculous. She shook the thought away and entered the store.

She took her time choosing what she needed, though she wasn't entirely sure why. When she finally stepped outside again, she looked across the road.

He was gone and so, his shadow.

Solenne stopped. Her eyes moved along the street. She looked toward the corner and it was empty. The narrow road beside the bakery was dark as well. Not one of his specks of hair can be seen. It’s as if he vanished like a fog.

She stood there for several seconds, trying to understand how he could have disappeared so quickly. She had only been inside for a few minutes.

Perhaps he had simply walked away. That should have been the end of it. But the strange feeling remained.

The next night, she saw him again. This time, he was near the old bakery.

Solenne noticed him from a distance, standing apart from the people passing along the street. Once again, he seemed to have no particular reason to be there. He didn't stop buying anything. He didn't speak to anyone. He simply remained there for a while before eventually disappearing.

The night after that, she saw him sitting alone on a bench near the plaza. The pattern began to feel almost impossible to ignore.

He was always there after dark. Never surrounded by friends. Never accompanied by anyone. Never seeming to hurry. And yet, somehow, he never appeared entirely alone.

People recognized him.

An elderly man passing through the plaza gave him a respectful nod, and the mysterious man returned with the slightest movement of his head. A woman carrying a bag of groceries greeted him as she walked by. The shopkeeper at the nearby store knew him too.

Solenne began noticing those small exchanges whenever she happened to see him. They were never long. He rarely said more than a few words. Sometimes he only acknowledged someone with a nod. Sometimes he offered a quiet greeting before returning to whatever thoughts occupied him.

Still, people knew him.

That was what bothered Solenne most. He did not behave like someone who had recently arrived in town. There was no uncertainty in the way he moved through the streets. He seemed to know which shops would still be open, which people would recognize him, and which quiet places he could stand without anyone questioning his presence.

It was as though the town already belonged to a part of his memory.

And the more Solenne noticed him, the more difficult it became to decide whether she was simply curious about him or whether she had begun looking for him without realizing it.

Some evenings, she would catch herself glancing down the road before she even knew what she was searching for. Sometimes she would slow her steps when she passed a familiar corner.

Once, she even looked toward the plaza before remembering that she had no reason to expect him there. She found herself irritated by her own behavior. She barely knew the man.

Yet somehow, she had begun noticing his absence as much as his presence.

That evening, Solenne returned to her grandmother's house later than usual. The house had already settled into its nighttime quiet. Somewhere outside, insects hummed steadily among the trees, while the occasional sound from the road reached her room and disappeared again.

She changed into something comfortable and sat on the edge of her bed for a while. For some reason, she could not settle. Her thoughts kept drifting back to the same question.

Where was he tonight?

Solenne frowned. She had no reason to care. She had no reason to wonder. Still, after several minutes, she found herself getting up. She crossed the room and approached the window. Her fingers closed around the curtain.

For a moment, she hesitated, but then she pulled it aside. The night outside was quiet. The garden lay beneath the darkness, with only faint traces of moonlight touching the leaves.

Then Solenne noticed it. A light coming from the house next door. The same warm glow she had seen before. Her attention fixed on the illuminated window that she had seen before.

She stepped closer to the glass. The room beyond was too far away for her to make out any details, but someone was standing there.

A silhouette. Tall and still. The figure remained near the window, partly hidden by the darkness inside the room. The light behind him outlined his shape but did not reveal his face clearly.

Solenne's breath caught.

She knew that shape. She knew who it was.

That man.

She remained by the window, her hand still holding the curtain aside. She couldn't see his expression. She couldn't tell whether he was looking outside or simply standing near the window. But for some reason, she had the unsettling feeling that if she stayed there long enough, he might look directly at her.

Solenne didn't move. Neither did the silhouette.

For several quiet seconds, the two houses seemed connected only by that single light shining through the darkness.

And Solenne found herself wondering why, after spending the entire day telling herself she had no reason to think about him, she had somehow ended up standing at her window hoping to see him.