EP 2

 the shadows around him shifted.

Not like darkness should.

They pulled inward—wrapping around him, swallowing him whole.

And then…

He was gone.

Like he had never been there at all.

But the cold he left behind—

That stayed.

......(After a few days)......

I shouldn’t have waited for him.

But I did.

The night felt wrong without him.

Too quiet. Too normal.

I lay awake, staring into the dark, replaying every second of the night before—his voice, his eyes, the way the air had changed just by him being there.

I should’ve been scared.

Instead… I was restless.

Waiting.

It was sometime past midnight when it happened.

Not a sound.

Not a movement.

Just—

A shift.

Like the room itself inhaled.

The air turned cold so fast it burned. My breath caught in my throat as something unseen pressed down on my chest.

And I knew.

“You’re here,” I whispered.

Silence.

Then, from the corner of the room—

“You shouldn’t sound so sure.”

I turned.

He wasn’t in the doorway this time.

He was already inside.

Closer.

Sitting on the edge of my bed like he had always been there.

My heart skipped.

Not fear.

Something worse.

“You came back,” I said.

His eyes lifted to mine, darker than before.

“I shouldn’t have.”

“Then why did you?”

A pause.

His jaw tightened.

“I don’t know.”

That… was new.

I pushed myself up slowly, sitting across from him. The space between us felt charged, like something invisible was waiting to snap.

“You look different,” I said quietly.

“I’m not.”

“That’s not true.”

His gaze sharpened. “Stop looking at me like that.”

“Like what?”

“Like you’re trying to understand me.”

“Maybe I am.”

“You won’t like what you find.”

“Try me.”

Something in him shifted.

Not visible.

But I felt it.

The air tightened, like a storm about to break.

“I told you to stay away,” he said.

“I remember.”

“And you didn’t listen.”

“No.”

Silence.

Thick.

Heavy.

Then—

“Why?” he asked.

Not angry this time.

Something else.

I held his gaze. “Because you came back.”

That hit.

I saw it.

A flicker—brief, controlled, but real.

His hand clenched slightly at his side.

“You don’t understand what that means,” he said.

“Then explain it.”

“I can’t.”

“Or you won’t?”

His patience snapped.

“Stop doing that.”

“Doing what?”

“Pushing.”

I leaned forward slightly.

“Then pull me back.”

That was it.

The moment everything changed.

In a second—he moved.

Too fast.

One second there was a distance.

The next—

His hand was around my throat.

Not tight.

Not enough to hurt.

But enough to remind me—

He could.

Easily.

My breath caught.

Not from fear.

From the intensity of it.

“Do you feel that?” he said, his voice is lower now—wrong somehow. “That’s the difference between us.”

His grip tightened just slightly.

The air dropped colder.

The shadows in the room—shifted.

I froze.

Not because of his hand—

But because of what was behind him.

The darkness wasn’t still.

It moved.

Not like shadows should.

It stretched, crawling up the walls, twisting toward him like it was alive. Like it belonged to him.

No—

Like it was him.

“You see it now,” he said.

I couldn’t look away.

“Yes,” I whispered.

“Good.”

His voice didn’t sound fully human anymore.

There was something beneath it.

Something deeper.

Something ancient.

“I’m not human,” he said. “I’m not something you get close to and walk away from.”

“I know.”

“Do you?” His grip tightened again—not choking, but testing. “Because this—” his thumb pressed slightly against my pulse, “—this is how easily I can end you.”

My heart was racing.

Fast.

Loud.

Alive.

His eyes flickered downward.

Then darkened.

“That’s not fear,” he murmured.

“No.”

That… made something in him snap.

For a second—

Just a second—

His eyes changed.

Completely.

Black.

Not dark brown. Not shadowed.

Black.

Like there was nothing behind them.

No light. No reflection.

Just—

Void.

The shadows in the room reacted instantly.

They surged.

The walls cracked slightly with a sharp sound—like something invisible had struck them. The window rattled violently, glass trembling like it might shatter.

The air became suffocating.

Heavy.

Violent.

And him—

He lost control.

I felt it.

In his grip.

In the way his fingers tightened too fast, too hard—

Pain shot through my throat.

A sharp gasp left me.

That’s when it stopped.

Instantly.

Like something snapped back into place.

His eyes shifted—back to normal.

His hand released me just as fast as it had grabbed me.

I stumbled back, coughing slightly, my hand flying to my neck.

Silence crashed into the room.

The shadows were still.

The walls stopped shaking.

Everything… froze.

He stared at me.

Not angry.

Not cold.

Something worse.

Regret.

“I told you,” he said quietly, his voice back to normal—but tighter now. Controlled. “I ruin things.”

I looked at him, my chest rising and falling fast.

“You stopped.”

That wasn’t what he expected.

His expression hardened.

“Barely.”

“But you did.”

“That doesn’t make it safe.”

“No,” I said softly. “It makes it real.”

Something flickered in his eyes again.

Dangerous.

Conflicted.

“You shouldn’t say things like that.”

“Why?”

“Because you don’t understand what you’re standing in front of.”

“Then show me.”

“I just did.”

I shook my head slightly.

“No,” I said. “You showed me what you could do.”

Silence.

“I want to know what you are.”

His gaze darkened.

“You don’t.”

“I do.”

Another pause.

Longer this time.

Then he stepped closer again—

Slower now.

Controlled.

Dangerous in a different way.

“You keep asking questions you won’t like the answers to,” he said.

“Then answer them anyway.”

His eyes locked onto mine.

Deep.

Endless.

“Next time,” he said quietly, “I might not stop.”

My breath caught.

Not in fear.

In anticipation.

“And yet,” I whispered, “you’re still here.”

That—

That did something.

I saw it.

Clear this time.

Something in him was pulling him away.

And something else…

Was keeping him right where he was.

For a long moment, he didn’t move.

Didn’t speak.

Then finally—

“You don’t belong in this,” he said.

“I’m already in it.”

His jaw tightened.

And this time—

When he looked at me—

It wasn’t just a warning anymore.

It was something darker.

Something inevitable.

“You should stay away from me.”

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