Chapter 1
In an apartment in the suburbs, a man about 25 years old could be seen typing frantically on a keyboard.
He was average in looks, the kind of face you would just walk by without remembering, but his eyes seemed empty.
He caught his reflection in the dark monitor as he typed.
Average was the right word for it. The kind of face that didn't ask anything of the people looking at it. Brown hair that desperately needed a barber's attention because he'd stopped having opinions about that around twenty-two. Eyes that his mother called thoughtful and that he privately suspected just looked tired.
'Man, I told that bastard Charlie that he shouldn't click random links, but no, he just had to click a link for why LoL is the least toxic game, like that isn't an obvious scam.'
Suddenly, the phone on his desk rang, interrupting his thoughts.
The man looked at the caller ID.
'Oh, it's the sucker. What a hustle.' The man thought, picking up the phone and answering it.
"Leo, where is the report on the recent breach?" The voice on the other side shouted.
"I'm about to finish, sir. I'll be done in an hour."
"What do you mean by an hour? I want it in thirty minutes. And you have to explain exactly why your security measures failed."
Before Leo could answer, the caller hung up.
Leo gripped his phone tightly.
'What do you mean the security measures didn't work when it was your nephew who caused this? I already explained it to you?'
After a while, Leo loosened his grip on the phone and just placed it on the desk.
'Why do I even bother?'
~sigh~
He then turned back towards the computer and continued typing.
'That bastard really is stupid; he even turned off the firewall to access the link. Is he an idiot or something?' Leo thought, looking at the past logs.
He could see that the automated system had flagged the link, but the bastard still forced it.
Leo spent the next twenty minutes double-checking everything he had patched up and checking if everything worked, then he just AI-generated the report and sent it.
'I could have written the report, but thirty minutes is thirty minutes.' Leo thought while shrugging.
He got up from his chair while stretching.
'Ahh, my back. I should probably get that checked.'He thought while rubbing his back. He had been having back pains since last month, which he figured was because he worked remotely at home and was mostly on his computer.
His thoughts were interrupted when his phone rang.
His mother was calling.
Leo picked the phone up, took a deep breath, and then answered the call.
"Hello, dear, how have you been?"A gentle voice came from the other end of the phone, making Leo freeze for a moment.
"I'm fine, Mom."
"Is that so? "There was a pause. "Are you coming for Christmas this year? Sally misses you. She's been yapping all week, asking if you're coming."His mother said softly.
Leo gritted his teeth.
"I can't make it this year; there are some issues I need to resolve at the company."
"How can your boss make you work during the holiday. You should quit from there am gonna call your dad."His mom sounded angry.
Leo felt genuine warmth, but he decided to calm his mother down, or else she would likely storm the company and beat the crap out of his boss.
After talking for a while, he hung up and lay on his bed.
He lay there for a moment just thinking.
Sally was eight when Leo moved out. She used to sit outside his bedroom door and slide drawings under it when he was having a bad day. He still had one somewhere — a crayon lion she'd drawn because she said he looked like a lion when he was grumpy.
He should call more often.
He wouldn't, though. He knew that about himself.
The bed groaned under his weight as he turned occasionally.
'I really can't fall asleep.'Leo thought as he sat up on the bed. He looked at the wall clock. It was nine o'clock.'Yeah, it's pretty early, and tomorrow is a weekend, so whatever.'
As he was lost in thought, his stomach grumbled weakly.
'I should probably make something.'Leo thought, rubbing his stomach as if that would help in any way.
He then got out of bed and walked to the kitchen, his footsteps echoing throughout the apartment.
'Cheese, some pickles, and orange juice.'Leo thought, looking inside his fridge.
~sigh~
'Time to restock.'
Leo didn't waste any time and got ready.
He put on his jacket and gloves and then walked out of the house.
Leo pulled his jacket closer while rubbing his palms.
The sky was unusually clear, making the moon visible and the moonlight more potent than usual.
The streets were empty, with only the moon providing some sense of comfort.
Suddenly, white specks of snow started falling.
'Right, just what I needed, a reminder of why I hate going outside.'
He lived in this neighbourhood for three years, and he knew everywhere in the area. It was honestly a nice place. There weren't any annoying neighbours who shouted at people for absolutely no reason. There was little crime in the area, and people were mostly kind. He was even surprised he lucked out on the area.
As Leo continued walking, the snowfall started getting heavier.
He turned a corner that he usually took since it was a secret shortcut he had found.
'I should probably hurry before I get caught up in a blizzard or something.'Leo thought as he quickened his pace
After a while, Leo got to the convenience store.
The store was warm and smelled like instant noodles and pine-scented air freshener someone had deployed aggressively near the door. Christmas music played from a speaker that was slightly too small for the room, giving every song a faint tinny quality as if it were being performed at a great distance.
As he walked into the store, he saw a girl around his age with blond hair at the counter.
The girl, hearing the door open, turned around.
At first, her eyes went wide, then she smiled.
"It's been a while, Leo."She said, looking at him.
Leo froze for a second, a flash of recognition passing through his eyes.
"Yeah, it's been a while, Cassandra," Leo said, laughing nervously, his hands tightening.
There was a beat of silence.
'Well, this is awkward.'
"Um, I'll go buy my groceries," Leo said, looking at Cassandra.
She just continued smiling at him.
Leo rubbed his cheek and quickly turned towards the shelves to pick up groceries.
'Fuck! What is she doing here.'
At this point, Leo was panicking
'I thought she was supposed to be in prison.I should probably call the cops.'
Cassandra was Leo's ex-girlfriend. She was great until she tried to kill his sister due to her obsession.
'Fuck me and my l can fix her mentality. Let's just get groceries and get the fuck out of here.'
Leo picked up his pace and took whatever he needed, then walked to the counter.
Cassandra was waiting there, still smiling. She had been watching Leo since he entered, and her gaze felt even hotter.
She picked up the groceries and scanned them.
"That would be 60 dollars."
Leo took out his card and swiped it. He then picked up the bags of groceries and bolted out.
Leo let out the breath he had been unintentionally holding after getting out of the store.
He stood on the pavement for a moment, grocery bags in hand, snow falling steadily around him.
His heart was still going faster than usual. Which was annoying. He'd thought he was past the point where Cassandra could do that to him. Apparently, his body hadn't gotten over it.
'I really thought I would die. This setup is as obvious as day from all the novels I've read. Guy meets yandere ex, gets stabbed in the back and then your body is taken to be preserved, but maybe I've been reading too many novels.'Leo thought, sighing.
He turned back only to be met with a muzzle on his face.
'Oh shit. They ev..olve..d.'
This was his last thought before he heard a bang, and then everything went blank.
Cassandra looked at Leo's body with possessive eyes.
"You're all mine, Leo. Nobody can separate us again."She muttered to herself as she bent down to touch his face.
A shiver ran through her body as her eyes grew more devout, and a smile that could make the devil seem like an angel was on her face.
"Mine!Mine!Mine!"Her voice grew louder and crazier, her hair got messier, as she hugged his body.
After a while, she dragged the body inside the store and put it in the storage.
Then she went back to the counter like nothing ever happened.