I woke up before my phone could.
I looked at the clock again, far too early.
For a moment I didn't know where I was.
No familiar walls, only strange scents. When I pressed my face into the blanket, I caught a faint smell of lavender. Then I remembered - Evelyn. The apartment. The guest room. The conversation yesterday.
I stayed still at first and just listened.
Only muffled sounds from the kitchen the clinking of dishes, maybe?
No footsteps in the hallway or near the room I was in. No voices.
She was quiet. Or tried to be.
Everything felt so… normal. Almost like another world.
Carefully, I got up, clutching the sleeves of my sweater and squeezing them lightly.
I peeked into the kitchen Evelyn stood by the counter, her hair loosely tied up.
But unlike yesterday, she wore a shirt with a tie, suit pants, and heeled boots.
She looked like someone busy, like someone who never really had time in the mornings
not like the person who had pulled panic and fear straight out of my chest the night before.
"Good morning, Rin," she said, turning briefly toward me with a smile.
"You're up early. Is the place still too unfamiliar?"
I only nodded quietly. Words felt too heavy for this moment.
For just a second, everything was peaceful.
No voices in my head. No pounding heart. No threat.
Just breakfast. Just her warmth.
A strange, almost foreign sense of safety.
"We'll have to leave soon," Evelyn said, handing me a cup.
Black coffee not too hot, not too bitter. Somehow comforting.
She was careful not to give me anything too strong.
"Yes… school…" I whispered, barely audible.
Evelyn glanced at the clock.
"Good. I'll drive you then. My work is close to your school."
She said it so casually, so naturally
but to me, it meant everything.
Someone to bring me.
Someone there when things outside felt dangerous.
Soon we got into the car.
The sun still hung low, the sky gray and heavy.
Evelyn opened the passenger door for me, so casually that it almost felt embarrassing.
I wasn't used to attention like that care, kindness.
I climbed in, pulled the seatbelt tight as if it could somehow hold me together if something went wrong out there.
Evelyn started the engine quiet, almost eerily smooth.
We drove through streets that were still half-empty.
A few cars, a handful of pedestrians, nothing unusual.
But my eyes clung to every mirror, every intersection, every silhouette.
There was a black car behind us.
Normal. Completely normal.
But it didn't turn. Not at the first light.
Not at the second.
Not at the third.
My stomach tightened.
My heart pounded like mad.
Evelyn spoke softly about something work, groceries, I couldn't tell.
I barely heard her.
I stared into the mirror, searching for signs.
There it was. The car. Still behind us.
"Are you okay?" Evelyn asked suddenly, without taking her eyes off the road.
"You look like you're about to jump out of the car."
I flinched. "Th-There's a car. It's been following us the whole time."
My voice was smaller than I expected.
Evelyn glanced at the mirror once, then back to the road.
"Maybe it's just headed the same way. Most routes go through the main road."
Her voice was calm. But she pressed the gas just a little harder.
Unnoticeably.
I could tell she had seen it too.
That she was taking it seriously.
At the next turn, Evelyn flicked the blinker late and suddenly took a side street.
The car stayed behind. It didn't follow.
After a moment, it vanished from view.
Only then did I breathe out, realizing how long I'd been holding my breath.
Evelyn glanced at me, gave the faintest smile half reassuring, half thoughtful.
"See? Nothing happened," she said.
But something in the way she said it…
made me doubt if she believed it herself.
I looked out the window.
On the side of the road, someone stood still.
Unmoving. Their gaze fixed directly on me.
My heart stopped for a second.
"Evelyn… do you see that person?"
I pointed, wide-eyed, but when she looked
there was no one.
Just an empty space.
"…Wh-But… they were there! I'm sure of it!"
My voice cracked.
Evelyn gave me a worried look.
"It's okay. Breathe. Just breathe."
She turned on the radio soft music filled the car, her way of calming me.
But my eyes kept drifting back to the street.
And the emptiness there scared me even more.
When we reached the school, Evelyn parked right at the student lot so I wouldn't have to walk far.
"I'll pick you up at three," she said calmly.
"Promise me you'll hold out until then. And if something happens you can call me anytime."
I nodded.
Hesitantly, I got out.
The second the door shut, I felt alone again.
I wanted to run back into the car. Back to Evelyn.
Classes passed in a blur, voices dragging by.
Teachers and classmates they all felt far away.
But the feeling on my neck remained
like eyes fixed on me.
At lunch, I stared at my phone, scrolling through chats that felt emptier than usual.
A message from Evelyn: asking if I was okay.
A small smile tugged at my lips.
Then...
a new message.
Unknown account. No name. Just numbers.
"Nice day today, Rin."
Ice ran through my veins.
No one here had my number.
I looked around. Frantic.
But no one was looking at me. No one nearby.
I tried to take a screenshot to send Evelyn
but suddenly, the message was gone.
Deleted before I could even react.
Only emptiness left.
Had it even been real?
Or was my mind finally breaking?
I'd have to tell Evelyn later.
When the last class ended, Evelyn was already waiting in the lot, drawing more than a few stares with her striking presence.
She leaned casually against her car, as if she'd been waiting for me all day.
When I walked toward her, she lifted her hand and smiled.
"Everything okay? You didn't reply to me anymore," she asked as I got in.
I wanted to say "Yes."
But the word wouldn't come.
So I just stared out the window.
Evelyn turned the radio on again. Calm music.
"Breathe. We'll go home. Then you can tell me everything, okay?"
I breathed.
Or tried to.
The door clicked shut behind us.
For a moment: silence.
No traffic. No voices. No shadows.
Just us.
Evelyn set her bag down.
"Sit down. I'll make us something to eat."
I sank into the sofa.
The apartment felt warm. Safe.
But then my eyes caught a small red light in the corner.
A standby light?
When I tried to focus on it, Evelyn suddenly stood beside me.
She switched it off.
"Just the old router," she said casually.
"That thing annoys me constantly."
I nodded.
The evening passed quietly.
Evelyn brought me to bed again, and I fell asleep until she gently woke me the next morning.
But deep inside, something screamed:
Maybe it's true. Maybe not.