ALL ALONG I WAS THE SERIAL KILLER, BUT THEY NEVER KNEW

Eyes in the Crowd

He didn’t give her his real name. Not yet.

Names had weight — they created trails, connections, and expectations. And right now, she didn’t need to know him. She just needed to feel him.

Elias Cade had hunted monsters before. Some of them wore their hunger in their eyes, others in the way they moved. But this one… she hid it behind warmth and casual charm so convincingly that anyone else would mistake her for harmless.

He knew better.

The case files had been building for months. Victims no one would miss. Abusers, rapists, predators — all found dead in ways that spoke of precision, not rage. Law enforcement saw coincidence. Cade saw design.

And now, by sheer chance or fate, he was staring right at her in a quiet little café.

The way she carried herself was careful. Not fearful — careful. As if every gesture, every smile, had been rehearsed for an audience. Her eyes flicked over people without lingering, but the way she looked at him… a fraction - too long. Enough to register him. Enough to remember.

He didn’t approach her out of impulse. He’d been watching for weeks, blending into the city’s pulse, slipping between roles — passerby, commuter, and shadow in the background. This meeting was a test.

And she passed it.

She didn’t flinch. Didn’t overplay her friendliness. Just enough to be forgettable. The perfect camouflage for a predator.

As he walked away from the café, he resisted the urge to look back. She was probably watching, just as he was sure she’d go home and replay the interaction in her head. Good. Let her think about him.

Because the moment a predator notices you…

They start to lose the hunt.