Chapter 33: Every Breath You Take

Ryan didn’t scream. Not out loud.

But inside, he was shaking apart.

Chris and Daniel tore through the room the second he called out, the note trembling in his hand. Daniel read it once, then twice, his expression hardening.

Chris checked the window, the vents, the closets every shadow but there was nothing. No open latch. No movement.

No Adrien.

Just the chill of violation in the air.

“He was in here,” Ryan whispered, voice barely holding. “He stood right here. And we didn’t hear a thing.”

Chris crouched beside him. “We checked everything. That window’s locked from the inside. He must’ve

he must’ve found another way in. Or someone’s helping him.”

Daniel stood silent, scanning the room like it could confess. His jaw clenched. “It’s not just obsession anymore. This is a game to him. He wants us to feel powerless.”

Ryan looked down at the photo again his own sleeping face. Peaceful. Exposed. Vulnerable in a way that made his skin crawl now. “I don’t know what he wants from me anymore.”

Chris exchanged a glance with Daniel. “He wants control. He’s not playing cat and mouse. He’s playing god.”

Daniel pulled Ryan gently into his arms. “We’ll fight this. You’re not alone. Not now. Not ever again.”

By morning, Ryan couldn’t eat.

The apartment felt like a crime scene. Every reflection, every quiet moment felt watched. He started locking the bathroom door even when showering.

Chris stayed in the room with him while he dressed, a silent guardian. Daniel never let him walk anywhere alone, even to the corner store.

Still, the feeling persisted Adrien was always near.

And he wasn’t hiding anymore.

They brought the note and photo to campus security. The officer took one look and said: “We can keep eyes on the dorms. But if he’s this good, this calculated… you need someone higher.”

Chris nodded. “Then we go to the police.”

Ryan hesitated.

He remembered how the system failed him before.

“I want to,” he said quietly. “But what if it makes things worse?”

Daniel looked him in the eyes. “We have evidence now. We have patterns. Let’s take control before he writes the ending.”

That evening, they met with Detective Mira Enzo a tired eyed woman who didn’t smile but listened intently, scribbling notes as Chris laid out the timeline.

The break ins. The messages. The rooftop confrontation. The photograph.

“Stalker cases this precise aren’t usually first-time offenses,” she muttered, flipping through the reports. “This kid Adrien. Something’s off. I’ll run his name through the system, check for priors. Until then…” She met Ryan’s eyes. “Don’t let him isolate you. That’s when he strikes hardest.”

But it was too late for that.

That night, Chris got a call that his younger brother had been in a minor car accident in another city hospitalized but stable.

Chris packed quickly.

“I’ll come with you,” Ryan offered.

Chris shook his head. “You need to stay here. I’ll only be gone two days.”

Daniel promised to stay the night.

But the next morning, Daniel got a sudden summons from his family. His father had collapsed. He had to fly out by noon.

Ryan stared at his suitcase. “You’re both leaving?”

“We’ll be back,” Daniel swore, holding Ryan’s face gently. “You’re stronger than you know.”

But Ryan didn’t feel strong. He felt set up.

As if Adrien had orchestrated all of this.

And maybe… he had.

That night, Ryan double checked every lock. Drew every curtain. Left the hallway lights on. He sat with his back against the bedroom door, phone in his lap, heart thudding too loud.

Every creak made him jump.

Every shadow felt like it was watching.

Then just past midnight his phone buzzed.

A message from an unknown number.

“Are you scared yet?”

He stared at it, breath frozen.

Another message followed.

“You should be.”

Then a third.

“Come to the front door. I left you something.”

Ryan’s hands trembled.

He should call Daniel.

He should call the police.

He should run.

But he got up.

Walked toward the door.

And opened it.

Lying on the doormat was a red box.

Wrapped in black ribbon.

His name etched into the top in handwriting that made his stomach flip.

He looked up and down the hallway empty. Dead silent.

Ryan picked up the box and slowly opened the lid.

Inside…

A white cloth.

Soft. Clean.

But when he unfolded it his breath caught.

It was one of his own T-shirts.

From months ago. One he thought he’d lost in the laundry.

But this one was no longer clean.

It was soaked in something that looked like blood.

And beneath it

A voice recording.

A small black recorder.

Ryan clicked play.

Adrien’s voice came through, calm and low:

“You don’t get to leave me, Ryan. Not when you’re finally becoming perfect.”

“You have no idea how long I’ve been shaping you. And now everyone’s leaving. How convenient. Just you and me.”

“I’m coming up.”

The recording clicked off.

Ryan’s phone fell to the floor.

He spun around

And heard the unmistakable ding of the elevator doors opening.