Mika gasped awake, heart jackhammering in her chest, her skin clammy and slick with sweat. The shadows of her bedroom pulsed like they still held pieces of the nightmare that gripped her moments ago. Her breath came in short, erratic bursts, her fingers curled tightly in the blankets like she'd been hanging off the edge of something unseen.
Logan was already beside her, pressing close, whining softly as if he sensed it too—that something was wrong, something wasn't just a dream.
The image still burned behind her eyes: Lex—no, Alexander—standing at her window, a severed arm in hand, the diamond ring glittering grotesquely against blood-slicked skin. His voice like honey and poison all at once. And that ring… that godforsaken ring he tried to give her.
She reached for her phone to check the time. 7:06 AM. Too early, too heavy, and far too real.
"Just a dream," she whispered aloud, voice shaky. "It was just a dream."
But her body didn't believe it. And maybe it wasn't.
She pushed back the covers and slid out of bed, feet hitting the floor like she expected the ground to disappear beneath her. Logan followed closely, eyes never leaving her. She paused by the window, squinting toward the sunlight outside—nothing unusual. The glass was locked. Curtains swayed slightly from the fan.
Still… she drew them tightly shut.
In the kitchen, she moved through her morning routine like a ghost. Toast, coffee, feeding Logan. Every small clink of dish or drawer made her jump. Even the coffee maker sputtering seemed too loud. She hated coffee but always added lots of chocolate to it because it tasted bad but this morning she didn't care.
At 8:04 AM, her phone vibrated.
**LEX:**
*Good morning, sunshine. Dream of me? Bet you did~* 🖤
She stared at the message for several seconds. Her mouth went dry. Hands trembling, she set the phone down like it was cursed.
No. She wouldn't respond. She needed space. Air.
By 8:30 AM, another buzz.
**LEX:**
*You're quiet today. Thinking about me? Or did you wake up scared again? I'll hold you if you'd like.*
Her chest tightened. She hadn't told him she had a nightmare. No one had. She hadn't even posted anything, hadn't spoken to anyone.
**LEX:**
*I hate it when you try to shut me out, Mika. I just want to be close. You know that. Open up.*
She didn't reply.
9:10 AM. Another vibration.
**LEX:**
*You're mine, you know. Even if you pretend you're not. I see the way you look at me. The way you hesitate when I touch you.*
*You're not afraid. You're addicted. Come back to me.*
She nearly dropped the phone. Her pulse roared in her ears.
She shoved the phone into the drawer, slammed it shut, and walked away, heart thudding too fast. It was too much. The dream was bleeding into reality, and Lex—no, Alexander—was acting like it was all normal.
She tried to distract herself by cleaning, folding laundry, scrubbing surfaces that were already spotless. But her mind kept flashing back to that final scene in her dream—the box, the blood, the ring.
Just before noon, a knock came at the door.
She froze.
Logan leapt to attention, ears up, growling softly.
"No," she whispered. "No, no, no—"
She crept to the door and looked through the peephole.
No one.
Heart racing, she waited.
A soft rustle. Something being set down.
She opened the door a crack.
There, sitting neatly on her welcome mat, was a long, black velvet box.
Her stomach turned.
Slowly, she reached down and picked it up. It was surprisingly cold. No name, no card. She knew who it was from.
She brought it inside, set it on the kitchen counter, and stared at it for a full minute before opening it.
Inside was a single black rose, petals dark as midnight, velvety and almost unnatural in their perfection. The stem was long, wrapped in black tissue, but the thorns remained.
Mika reached out with hesitant fingers to touch the petals—and immediately winced as one of the thorns bit into her skin.
"Damn it," she hissed, pulling her hand back. A drop of blood welled up on her fingertip, small but vivid. Dried blood that was already on there seeping into her small wound.
The rose didn't even seem real. Like something out of a cursed fairytale.
She bandaged the finger quickly, wiping the blood from the countertop. But the sensation lingered—that subtle sting and the quiet echo of something deeper.
Why was he being like this? When they first met and hung out he was kind, not creepy, not stalking her-not of any that she knew of- so why was he being like it now? What changed?
By 1:14 PM, her phone vibrated again. She ignored it.
1:32. Another.
1:46. Again.
She finally opened the drawer, snatched up the phone, and checked.
**LEX:**
*Did you like the rose? I picked it for you.*
*It pricked me too. We're bound now. We share that blood.*
Her stomach churned. What was he talking about?
**LEX:**
*Don't be afraid of what this is. Let it happen. You're not like them. You're not ordinary.*
*You're meant to belong to someone like me.*
2:07 PM
**LEX:**
*I'm coming over.*
*You can ignore me all you want. But you're mine, Mika. You feel it too.*
*I'll be gentle—unless you want me rough. Just please let me in~* 💍🖤
She slammed the phone down on the couch and backed away from it like it had burned her.
No.
She wasn't going to do this. Not again.
The clock ticked. Minutes dragged. She didn't know whether to run or hide or scream. Her heart wouldn't stop pounding.
And then—3:06 PM.
Another knock.
This time, firm. Intentional. Slow.
She stood frozen in the center of the room, Logan tense and alert at her side.
Another knock.
She crept to the door and looked out.
Lex stood there.
His clothes were neat, hair styled, face clean-shaven—but his eyes… they were wild. Hungry. His hand held a small, square box.
Mika's stomach turned to ice.
He lifted it slowly, showing her.
It was a wedding ring box.
But not just any ring box.
It was smeared with blood.
Fresh, dark, crusted around the seams like it had been clutched too tight by someone dying. Her knees nearly buckled.
She opened the door a fraction. "Lex. What is that?"
He smiled, slow and crooked.
"You already know."
"No—" Her voice cracked. "That's not funny. That's not romantic. That's terrifying."
He stepped closer.
Inside the box—just as in her dream—was a diamond ring, unmistakably the same one. White gold band, ornate floral carvings, and at the center a brilliant cut diamond. And it was flecked… with blood.
Her head spun. But she got unusualy hungry looking at the blood.
Lex's voice was soft but commanding. "I brought this for you. It's pretty, thought you'd like it."
"You're sick," she said, trying to close the door, but he placed a palm flat against it.
"You think this is a coincidence?" he said, gaze intense. "You think your dream was just a dream? I came to you because I've always been with you. Watching. Loving."
"That's not love," she hissed, panicked. "That's obsession. That's stalking."
He stepped back just enough to show her his hand—smeared with red.
"I bled for you," he whispered. "And others bled too. They don't deserve you. Only I do."
"Get away from me."
"Mika, listen—"
"No!"
She slammed the door and locked it, backing away, breath ragged. Her knees hit the floor as Logan barked viciously at the door.
Silence.
No more knocks.
No more words.
But she could feel it—he was still there. Waiting.
Outside.
Watching.
And the black rose on her counter had started to wilt, curling in on itself like it, too, was dying.
"Open the door." He says through the door, knocking slowly.
"N-no, Alexander S-Stop it." Mika's voice shook.
"Using full names, odd I thought we were friends... doesn't matter at this point, you're mine," He started banging on the door "When you pricked your finger on the same rose I did, my blood was on that rose...now it's in you."
Mika looked at her pricked finger that now has a bandaid on it, "So what does that mean?"
He laughed and started banging on the door harder, "It's been a few hours so it should start taking affect. Now open up."
Mika was so confused, what did he mean tak affect, the only thing that felt off was that she was unusualy hungry. She stood up, Logan barking, warning her, she slowly open the door, "What do you mean?"
Alexander laughed shoving the door open pushing Mika aside before locking both of them in the apartment. Logan barked but backed off at Alexander's glare. "Darling, aren't you hungry?" He slit his wrist letting his blood fall onto the floor in front of her.
And damn was she hungry.