Autumn's POV
The window lock rattles.
I'm frozen in my bed, GPS tracker clutched in my hand, watching the window frame shake as someone tries to force it open from outside.
We're on the second floor. They had to climb up here. They're that committed.
My door is locked. Mom is asleep down the hall. If I scream, I'll wake her and she'll panic. If I don't scream, whoever's out there might get inside.
The window rattles harder.
I grab my phone with shaking hands and text Kade: They're trying to break in. My window. Right now.
The response comes in seconds: Lock yourself in the bathroom. I'm 5 minutes away. Already called police.
I slide out of bed as quietly as possible, grabbing my backpack with my laptop and camera. If I'm going down, I'm protecting my equipment.
The window rattles again—louder this time. A cracking sound. They're breaking the lock.
I run for my bedroom door, unlock it as silently as I can, and slip into the hallway. Mom's door is still closed. Good. I don't want her involved in this.
The bathroom door locks from the inside. I shut myself in, lock it, and sit on the floor with my back against the door.
My phone buzzes.
Kade: Status?
Me: Locked in bathroom. They're still at my window.
Kade: Stay there. Don't come out until I tell you. Police are 3 minutes out.
I hear it then—the sound of my bedroom window sliding open. They got in.
Footsteps in my room. Slow. Deliberate. Looking around.
My heart pounds so loud I'm sure they can hear it through the bathroom door.
Then, from my room, a voice. Female. Muffled by something—maybe a mask.
"I know you're here, Autumn. I saw your light turn off."
I press my hand over my mouth to keep from making a sound.
"You can't hide forever. You can run to your little tech job, make your new friends, pretend you're someone important." The voice gets closer—right outside the bathroom door now. "But we both know the truth. You're nothing. You'll always be nothing."
The door handle jiggles.
"Open the door."
I don't move. Don't breathe.
"OPEN THE DOOR!"
The person slams against it. Once. Twice. The door shakes but holds.
Then, suddenly—sirens. Growing louder. Getting closer.
The person in my room curses. Footsteps running. My bedroom window slamming shut. Then silence.
I stay locked in the bathroom, shaking, until I hear voices in the apartment. Mom's scared voice. A man's voice I don't recognize. Then—
"Autumn!" Kade's voice. "Autumn, it's me! Are you in there?"
I unlock the bathroom door with trembling hands. Kade stands in the hallway with two police officers and my mom, who looks terrified.
"Oh my god, Autumn!" Mom rushes forward and pulls me into a hug. "What happened? Why are the police here?"
"Someone tried to break in," one officer says. "Your daughter's friend called 911. Good thing he did—we found evidence of forced entry at the bedroom window."
Mom looks at me, then at Kade. "Who are you?"
"Kade Zhang. I work with Autumn at Zhang Technologies." He meets my eyes. "I was driving by when she texted me that someone was trying to break in. I called the police immediately."
It's a lie—he was parked down the street watching for exactly this—but Mom doesn't need to know that.
"Did you see who it was?" the other officer asks me.
"No. They wore something over their face. But..." I swallow hard. "It was a woman. I heard her voice."
The officers exchange glances. "Can you describe the voice?"
"Young. Maybe my age. She knew my name. She said..." I can't finish.
"She said what?" the officer prompts gently.
Kade speaks up. "Autumn has been receiving threatening messages from someone at her school. We have screenshots. This is part of an ongoing harassment situation."
"We'll need to see those messages," the first officer says. "This is serious. Breaking and entering, stalking, harassment—we can press charges if we identify the suspect."
They take my statement. Mom sits beside me, holding my hand, looking like her world just fell apart. Kade shows them the screenshots, the security footage from Zhang Tech, everything we've collected.
"We'll investigate," the officers promise. "In the meantime, we recommend staying somewhere else tonight. Is there a friend or relative you can stay with?"
Mom looks lost. "I have to work in the morning. I can't afford—"
"She can stay at my place," Kade interrupts. "My parents are traveling, and we have plenty of room. She'll be safe."
"I don't know..." Mom looks at me uncertainly.
"Mom, I know him. We work together. His uncle is my boss." I squeeze her hand. "I'll be okay."
After the police leave and board up my broken window, Mom packs me an overnight bag with shaking hands.
"I don't understand," she keeps saying. "Who would do this? Why?"
"Just some people from school being cruel," I tell her. It's the truth, just not all of it.
Kade drives me to his house in silence. It's not until we're inside—a massive modern house that screams money—that he finally speaks.
"You okay?"
"No." I sink onto his couch. "Someone was in my room, Kade. In my actual room."
"I know." He sits beside me, careful to leave space between us. "But you're safe now. And we're going to find out who did this."
"How? She was wearing a mask. The police won't find anything."
"The police won't. But I will." He pulls out his laptop. "She made a mistake tonight. She spoke. Which means she's confident you won't recognize her voice, or she's arrogant enough not to care."
"That doesn't help us."
"Actually, it does." He opens a file. "I spent today making a list of every girl at Crestwood who owns a Cartier charm bracelet. There are twelve. Four of them graduated already. That leaves eight suspects. Tomorrow, we're going to narrow that list down."
"How?"
"By figuring out which one has a motive to hurt you this badly." He looks at me seriously. "Autumn, this isn't just bullying anymore. Someone is obsessed with you. They broke into your home. They risked getting caught by the police. That level of commitment? That's personal. That's hatred."
"But I've never done anything to anyone!"
"You don't have to. Sometimes people hate you just for existing." His voice goes soft. "I'm not going to let them hurt you again. I promise."
I want to believe him. But the stalker's voice echoes in my head: You're nothing. You'll always be nothing.
"What if they're right?" I whisper. "What if I really am nothing?"
Kade grabs my shoulders, forcing me to look at him. "Listen to me. I've seen your work. I've watched you handle pressure and criticism and challenges that would make most people quit. You're not nothing. You're talented and strong and brave—even if you don't feel like it right now."
Tears burn my eyes. "I don't feel brave. I feel scared."
"Being scared doesn't mean you're not brave. It means you're smart enough to recognize danger." He lets go of my shoulders. "But here's what they don't understand—fear can make you stronger if you let it. You can either let them win by breaking you, or you can use this as fuel. Turn that fear into anger. Turn that anger into power."
I wipe my eyes. "Is that what you did? When people came after you at Crestwood?"
His jaw clenches. "Yeah. It's exactly what I did."
"Did it work?"
"I'm here, aren't I? Successful, independent, running projects most adults couldn't handle." He meets my eyes. "They wanted to destroy me. Instead, I built something they could never touch. You can do the same thing, Autumn. You're already doing it."
My phone buzzes. Another unknown number.
My hand shakes as I open it.
Unknown: Nice try with the police. But they can't protect you forever. See you soon, roommate.
Roommate?
The blood drains from my face. "Kade."
"What?"
I show him the message. "They called me roommate. They know I'm staying here. They followed us."
Kade's expression turns deadly. "That's impossible. I was watching for tails the entire drive."
"Then how do they know?"
He takes my phone, staring at the message. "Unless..."
"Unless what?"
"Unless they put a tracker on your phone." He stands up abruptly. "Give me your phone. Right now."
I hand it over. He pulls out a tiny toolkit from a drawer and starts examining my phone case, the battery compartment, every crevice.
After five minutes, he holds up something tiny—a chip smaller than my fingernail.
"GPS tracker," he says grimly. "They've been following your location this whole time. That's how they knew where you worked, when you left, where you live."
"But how did they get access to my phone?"
"Could've been anytime. In your locker, your backpack, anywhere you left it unattended." He crushes the chip under his heel. "Not anymore, though."
But the damage is done. They know where I am. They know I'm at Kade's house.
"Maybe I should leave," I say. "I don't want to put you in danger."
"Absolutely not." Kade pulls out his own phone. "I'm calling our security company. Full system, cameras, alarms—everything. By tomorrow morning, this place will be a fortress."
"Kade, that's expensive—"
"I don't care." His voice is steel. "They want to play games? Fine. But they're playing on my territory now. And I don't lose."
As he walks away making calls, I stare at the crushed GPS chip on the floor.
The stalker has been tracking me this whole time. Watching. Waiting. Planning.
But now they've made a mistake.
They've escalated to a place where Kade can fight back. Where resources and money and power actually matter.
I pick up the crushed chip and look at it. This tiny piece of technology represented my stalker's biggest advantage.
And now it's destroyed.
For the first time since prom, I feel something other than fear.
I feel ready.
My phone—now tracker-free—buzzes one more time.
Riley: Are you okay??? I saw police at your building!!!
I text back: I'm safe. Staying at a friend's. Will explain tomorrow.
Riley: A friend? What friend? AUTUMN HAYES TELL ME EVERYTHING
Despite everything, I smile.
Me: His name is Kade. And he's helping me fight back.
Riley: HIS NAME IS KADE?! Oh we are DEFINITELY talking tomorrow.
I put the phone down and look around Kade's house. Safe. Protected. A place where my stalker can't reach me.
Tomorrow, we'll figure out who's doing this. We'll build our case. We'll prepare.
But tonight, I'm going to sleep without fear for the first time in weeks.
Because I'm not alone anymore.
And whoever's hunting me is about to learn a very important lesson:
I'm done being prey.
Now I'm learning to be the hunter.