I didn't sleep last night.
Not really.
Even after she vanished, I kept feeling her — like her presence clung to the air. Every shadow looked suspicious. Every whisper made me jump. And my dreams?
Let's just say I woke up hard and terrified.
---
At school, I tried to keep it normal.
Tried to pretend Lila wasn't watching me.
But she was.
I'd catch her at the end of the hallway — just standing there.
In the mirror in the bathroom — even though I was alone.
Outside my classroom window — four floors up.
And she wouldn't blink.
---
> "You okay, man?"
That was Jessie, the only guy in my class who ever really talked to me.
I nodded. Lied.
And when he patted my back, Lila was suddenly right there behind him.
"Touch him again," she said, voice sweet, "and I'll cut off your fingers."
Jessie laughed, he thought it was a joke.
I didn't.
Her eyes didn't even blink.
---
Later that day, I was paired with a girl in chemistry.
A cute blonde. Too friendly.
We barely said two sentences before the beaker shattered in her hand — completely untouched.
Glass dug into her palm. She screamed.
I looked up.
Lila sat across the lab. Smiling.
---
"You're not subtle," I whispered to her after class.
"You're not listening," she whispered back.
"I don't want anyone else talking to you, looking at you or even touching you."
"That's not how real life works."
> "I'm not from real life, Eli."
---
She cornered me by the lockers next.
No one saw. They never do.
One second I was alone, next thing I knew I was pinned — my back against cold metal, her body pressed full against mine.
"Do you want to make me jealous?" she asked.
"No—"
> "Then stop acting like you're still available."
Her lips grazed my neck.
Not kissing — claiming.
And even though my brain screamed at me to fight, my body... reacted.
"See?" she purred, grinding just enough to make me twitch. "Your body already knows who owns it."
She leaned in closer — her breath warm against my ear.
"But you don't listen. So maybe it's time I make you learn."
---
That night, I locked my door again.
Blocked it with a chair. Covered the mirror.
I told myself it was fine until the lights started flickering.
Until my phone glitched out — showing only her face.
Until the shadows on the wall started to move and then I heard it.
Her voice.
> "Mine."
Not through the door, not in my ear.
Inside my mind.
---
I woke up gasping — sweating, hard, terrified.
And I wasn't alone.
She was on the bed, sitting on my chest, licking her lips.
> "Sleep tight, Eli?"
I couldn't speak.
She leaned forward — hips straddling me, heat radiating off her like a second skin.
> "You're going to be mine. Every inch. Every. Freaking. heartbeat."
"Why?" I croaked. "Why me?"
She didn't answer, just smiled.
> "You'll find out soon enough."
And then she kissed my forehead, gentle and sweet like she loved me.
And that… was the scariest part.