I didn't move for what felt like an eternity. The apartment was quiet, too quiet, but every shadow seemed alive. My pulse was loud enough that I was certain he could hear it, that he could read my fear like it was written across my skin.
I wanted to run, I wanted to scream, I wanted to shake him until he understood that no one had the right to trap me here. But my body refused my legs felt heavy, my thoughts tangled in knots too tight to unravel.
"You're shaking," he said softly, almost in a whisper
I blinked at him. "I'm not."
He smiled, just the corner of his mouth, but it sent a chill down my spine. That smile didn't belong to anyone else, I had seen it in moments that made my chest tighten without warning. It was the kind of smile that told you he knew every move you would make before you even thought it.
"You are," he said. "But that's fine. It's natural."
I wanted to punch him, or cry, or run, instead, I did nothing.
"I don't understand what you want from me," I whispered.
He tilted his head, eyes narrowing slightly. "You think you don't know, but you do. You came here. You didn't stop. And now....you're here."
The words hung in the air like smoke. Heavy, choking.
I swallowed hard. "I didn't mean....."
"You always say that," he interrupted. "I've heard it a hundred times. You'll say anything just to convince yourself you're innocent."
I felt heat rise in my cheeks. "I'm not....." My voice cracked, I hated the tremor I couldn't hide.
He stepped closer, closer than I should let him, and I couldn't move. My back pressed against the wall, the small chair beneath me digging into my thighs, but still, I couldn't escape. His presence filled the room like a storm waiting to break.
"I don't want to hurt you," he said quietly. "But I will if I have to, not because I enjoy it, not because I'm cruel, but because it's necessary."
I swallowed again. My throat felt raw. "Necessary for what?"
His eyes flicked to the hallway, then back to mine. "For us,for everything we've already started. You're in this now, whether you like it or not."
I wanted to hate him. I tried. I thought I was hating him. But the truth was…..the fear was tangled with something else. Something I couldn't name.
"I don't even know you," I whispered.
"You do," he said, leaning just close enough that I could feel the faint brush of his sleeve against my arm. "You think you don't, but I've been inside your head from the start. Every little hesitation, every lie you tell yourself, every thought you think you hide.....I know it."
I shivered. Not entirely from fear.
"I….. I don't want this," I said, shaking my head.
"No one asked you," he said simply.
I wanted to scream. I wanted to throw something, anything, but my hands were shaking too badly to hold anything with purpose.
"You're already in it," he whispered. "There's no leaving now."
I swallowed a sob.
His gaze softened for a split second. Just enough that I thought maybe he was human. Maybe he wasn't. But then the shadow returned. That quiet, cold intensity that made every instinct I had scream danger.
He circled me slowly, like a predator inspecting its prey. I couldn't breathe. Every step he took felt measured, deliberate, controlled. I hated it. I hated him. And yet… my chest fluttered in ways I couldn't understand.
"You think I'm cruel," he said softly. "But I'm just… honest. I tell you what's coming before it's too late. And I tell you what I want, even if you're not ready to hear it."
I pressed my hands against my face, trying to hold back tears. "I'm not ready," I whispered.
He knelt slightly, tilting his head so our eyes met. "I know. But you will be. Or you won't. And either way… you can't walk away."
I swallowed hard. My stomach knotted in ways I didn't think possible. He was right. I had crossed a line. I had come here. I had stayed. And now… there was no turning back.
I tried to speak, but my voice broke. My hands shook. I wanted to run, but where? Into the hallway? The building stairs? The world outside?
"It's funny," he said suddenly, almost casually. "How small choices feel…. like nothing. And then they explode."
"What do you mean?" I whispered.
His smile curved, slow, dangerous. "You're about to find out."
A sudden knock at the apartment door froze me. My stomach plummeted.
We both turned toward it. He didn't move, didn't signal me to speak or stay silent. Just watched, his eyes unreadable.
The knock came again. Louder. Harder. More impatient.
"Who is it?" I whispered, though I already knew I didn't want to know.
He shook his head slowly. "I don't know. But it doesn't matter. You're not going anywhere."
Another knock. Short, sharp, deliberate.
I realized then that I didn't just feel trapped by him. I was trapped by everything. By the choices I had made in the past three months. By the way I had trusted him. By the way I had come here, thinking I could control it.
I wanted to scream. I wanted to bolt. I wanted to curse myself for every decision that had led me here.
And then he stepped forward, slow, deliberate. His hand hovered near the door lock.
"You're going to see," he whispered. "How quickly your world can shift. How quickly someone you think you know… can turn everything upside down."
My breath caught. I couldn't respond. My body felt frozen, but my mind was screaming.
The door clicked. Just once.
And the doorknob turned.
Slowly.