The Stalker Between US

Chapter 14

Unknown POV

She doesn’t notice me, not really—not the way I notice her. I watch from across the street as Julia leaves her apartment in the morning, always in a rush, always glancing down at her phone. She weaves through the crowd, unaware of the eyes following her every move. City life makes it easy to disappear, to melt into the flow of people and shadows, but I never lose sight of her. She’s careful, but not careful enough.

I know her schedule better than she does. The double shifts at Rosie’s Diner, the late walks home when the city is restless and the streetlights flicker. I wait in the alcoves, behind parked cars, always just out of sight. Sometimes she pauses, sensing something, but when she turns, I’m gone—just another shadow among many. There’s a thrill in the game, in being close enough to hear her footsteps but far enough to never be caught.

It’s not just the nights I watch her. I slip into the hospital lobby, blending with the visitors, catching glimpses as she passes in her nurse’s scrubs. She laughs with her colleagues, her guard down, and I imagine the sound is just for me. She’s surrounded by people—patients, doctors, that tall CEO with the sharp eyes—but none of them see her the way I do. None of them understand how special she is, how vulnerable, how easily she could slip away.

Soon, I tell myself. Soon she’ll know she’s not alone, that someone is always watching. I’ll step out of the shadows and into her world. Maybe then she’ll see me—really see me—for the first time. Until then, I wait, patient and invisible, savoring the anticipation. The city is big, but not big enough to keep me from finding her whenever I want.