By the time we stepped outside the hospital, night had already settled over the city like a heavy blanket. Cold air rushed against my face, but it did nothing to calm the storm twisting in my chest.
Kade walked beside me,not behind, not ahead, but beside,as though he'd appointed himself my silent shadow.
Raven wasn't having it.
"You're seriously going to just follow her home?" she snapped, practically vibrating with suspicion. "Like some broody knight with control issues?"
Kade didn't even blink. "Yes."
Raven threw her hands up. "Of course. Because that's not weird."
"Raven," I said quietly, "maybe he's right."
She stared at me like I'd lost my mind. Maybe I had.
"Elara, you're scared," she said. "He's using that."
Kade's jaw flexed, but he stayed silent.
Raven stepped closer, lowering her voice. "I don't trust him."
I hesitated, then whispered back, "Me neither."
But fear had a funny way of rearranging priorities.
Between a friend I trusted and a stranger who vanished into thin air…
I knew which one frightened me more.
"Just… call me," Raven said finally. "Okay? Every hour. I mean it."
I nodded, pulling her into a quick hug. She held onto me longer than usual, then reluctantly stepped back.
Kade opened the passenger door of his car without a word.
I paused. "I can drive myself."
He shook his head. "I need you where I can see you."
A shiver ran down my spine. "I didn't ask.."
"It wasn't a request."
The audacity of him.
Raven glared daggers at his back. "Oh, I don't like you."
Kade shut the door gently once I was inside, then rounded to the driver's side.
As he started the engine, I stole a glance at him.
His face was calm. Too calm.
"Are you always this bossy?" I muttered.
"No." He pulled into traffic. "Only when someone is in danger."
"And you think I am?"
"I don't think," he said. "I know."
I bit the inside of my cheek. "You still haven't told me why."
His grip on the steering wheel tightened.
"I will," he said. "When we get there."
Another non-answer.
I turned my face toward the window, watching the blur of streetlights streak past us. But underneath the humming engine and the soft thrum of tires on asphalt, I felt it again...
That pressure.
That invisible weight.
Like something was trailing the car.
Watching.
Following.
My fingers curled reflexively. "Kade…"
"I know," he murmured.
"You can feel it too?"
"Yes."
Something cold unfurled in my stomach.
"How long has…" I exhaled shakily. "How long has someone been watching me?"
Kade hesitated for one second too long.
"Longer than you think."
My chest tightened.
"That means nothing," I snapped. "Give me real answers."
He didn't turn his head, but I felt the shift in him, like his walls cracked a fraction.
"You weren't supposed to be dragged into this," he said.
"Dragged into what?"
Another silence.
Then:
"Elara… the man you saw isn't the only thing out there."
A chill danced up my spine. "Out there where?"
"Here." He tapped the steering wheel. "In this city. In every city. Hidden. Blending in. Waiting."
My heart faltered.
Then something hit the roof of the car.
Hard.
The car jolted slightly.
"What was that?!" I yelped.
Kade didn't slow down.
"Don't look," he ordered.
"What do you mean don't look? Something hit your..."
"Elara," he said, voice low, commanding, "keep your eyes forward."
My pulse thundered. "Tell me what that was."
"Not human."
My blood froze.
The sound came again, this time scratching, like claws dragging across metal.
A high-pitched scrape.
A shrill vibration.
Teeth-on-glass kind of wrong.
I gasped, instinctively reaching for the window.
Kade grabbed my wrist, firmly but gently. "Don't move."
"What is on the car?" I whispered.
"Something that wants to see you. Something that shouldn't."
My throat tightened painfully. "This is insane."
"Yes," he said calmly. "But it's real."
The scraping stopped.
Then,
Nothing.
Just the sound of the engine.
The streetlights.
The hollow thud of my heartbeat.
Kade let go of my wrist slowly. "It's gone."
I stared ahead, breath trembling. "Are you going to tell me what that was?"
"No."
"Why not?!"
"Because the truth doesn't change anything," he said. "But it will terrify you."
"What do you think I am right now?" I choked.
He didn't answer, but I saw the muscle in his jaw twitch.
Finally, he said quietly, "We're almost there."
My apartment building came into view, tall, familiar, ordinary.
Safe.
Or it used to feel that way.
Kade parked in front, leaving the engine running.
He turned to me, expression unreadable. "Stay close."
I opened the door, my legs shaky as I stepped out. The air felt colder here. Thinner.
Like something lingered in the shadows.
I swallowed hard. "Kade?"
"Yes?"
"Back there… on the roof…" My voice broke. "Why didn't you stop the car?"
"Because stopping would have meant giving it what it wanted."
I wrapped my arms around myself. "And what was that?"
This time, he didn't hesitate.
"You."
My breath caught.
He shut his door and joined me on the sidewalk.
"Let's get you inside," he said. His eyes flicked to the roof of my building. "Before anything else decides to try its luck."
My heart pounded.
"Kade," I whispered, "what exactly is following me?"
He looked at me, really looked at me.
And said the last thing I expected.
"Something ancient."
The word ancient hit me harder than anything he'd said so far.
Not dangerous.
Not violent.
Not supernatural.
Ancient.
Something older than history. Older than cities. Older than me, whoever I was.
Kade didn't wait for me to process. He was already guiding me toward the building entrance, eyes scanning the street like he expected shadows to grow teeth at any moment.
My voice shook when I finally spoke.
"Kade… what does that even mean?"
He didn't look at me.
"It means," he said calmly, "that whatever is after you existed long before humans learned to fear monsters."
"That's not comforting."
"It wasn't meant to be."
We reached the glass doors of my apartment lobby. I noticed his hand subtly brush the small of my back, gentle, protective, but urgent. As if he were physically herding me out of danger.
Inside, the lobby felt unnaturally quiet.
Too quiet.