chapter 2 : The silent watcher

shadow pov :

I swore I’d never come back to this house.

But here I am.

Fate has a twisted sense of humor.

This place once echoed with laughter, warm light, the scent of old books and burnt toast—memories of a family that no longer exists.

Now, the walls creak with silence, and the shadows are the only company I keep.

I didn’t return for healing.

I returned because there was nowhere else left for me to disappear.

I’ve made it a point to stay unseen.

I never wanted the attention of the neighbors—they whisper too much, they stare too long.

So I keep the lights off.

I move in silence.

I let the darkness become my skin.

I’m not bored.

Just... empty.

Lonely in a way that doesn’t ache anymore—it just exist . And then I saw her.....

Through the thin veil of my curtain, she appeared—a girl, sitting in her window across the street.

She had her blonde hair thrown into a messy bun, like she didn’t care how the world saw her.

Round, white-framed glasses slipped slightly down her nose, and she wore an oversized shirt that fell off one shoulder, paired with loose grey pants.

Ordinary.

That’s what someone else might say.

But to me—she was terrifyingly beautiful.

Not because of how she looked.

But because I felt something stir in me for the first time in years.

She was light—soft, untouched, real.

And I... I was the shadow rotting in the corner of a haunted house.

I should’ve looked away.

But I didn’t.

I couldn’t.

She saw me too.

Not clearly, but enough to know someone was there.

And instead of flinching, she stared back—curious, uncertain, and alive.

Her presence scratched at something buried deep inside me.

A memory, a hunger.

Maybe even a warning.

Because girls like her don’t belong in stories like mine.

And men like me should never be allowed to want again.

But here we are—watching each other through windows.

And I fear one day I won’t be able to just watch anymore.

I’ll step into the light.

And she’ll see the monster the dark was hiding....

I kept Watching her daily night....just like the hunter wanting to hunt his prey...*smirk*

..........................

Isabella pov : The silent

Who is he?

It's been nearly month I'm trying to know that figure behind the glass window...

The man who doesn’t blink. Who doesn’t hide.

We stared at each other again tonight.

I don’t know why I keep going to the window.

Maybe I’m drawn to danger. Or maybe I’m already part of it.

At first, I told myself it was harmless curiosity.

But that lie is beginning to rot.

Because now, I feel something deeper. Something I can’t explain.

I should be scared. And I am. But it’s not fear that keeps me frozen.

His presence is overwhelming—even from behind the window...

He doesn't wave. Doesn’t speak.

But his eyes… I feel them dragging over me like ice down my spine.

Still. Unmoving. Consuming.

It’s like he sees through the layers I keep hidden from everyone else.

As if he knows I’m not as delicate as I appear.

Tonight was different.

I was about to close my curtain—finally walk away—when I saw it. I saw it....

A movement.

His hand... raised. Slowly. Deliberately.

He traced something on the glass with his finger. A symbol. A letter. I couldn’t see it clearly.

And then—his shadow disappeared..

Just like that.

He is Gone...

A hollow silence swallowed the house, and suddenly the night felt too quiet. Too still...

And yet, I couldn’t move...I don't know why I wasn't feeling right...

Because in that moment, I felt it.

He was no longer behind the window.

Something shifted.

My heart began to race—not from romance, not from nerves.

From instinct.

Like prey sensing the hunter.

The shadows outside my own house thickened, and I swore I saw movement near the edge of the garden...

Was it him?

Was he inside my walls....

No.

It couldn’t be.

Right?

I told myself it was nothing. I shut the curtain, backed away, locked my bedroom door.

But I can’t sleep.

Not with the thought that maybe... just maybe...

he’s not behind the windows anymore.

Maybe the shadows I feel now... are already inside....

*Chillness*

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