Chapter Two: A Life on the Brink

Iris' POV

If there was one thing my life had taught me, it was how to survive with very little.

Little money, little sleep and little hope.

I stared at the eviction notice taped to my apartment door. My chest felt so tight as I read the bold red letters for the fifth time.

FINAL NOTICE.

Seven days.

Seven days to come up with the money I didn’t have. I peeled the paper off the door and crumpled it in my fist, forcing myself not to cry. Crying didn’t pay the rent. Crying didn’t keep the lights on and it definitely didn’t help my mother breathe easier in her hospital bed.     

          

I dropped my bag on the couch and kicked off my shoes, exhaustion was finally kicking in. Then my phone buzzed almost immediately.

Unknown Number.

I let it ring as I had a bad feeling about the call then it stopped. A second later, a text came through.

"Are you home safe?"

I frowned at the screen.

"Who is this?" I typed back.

Three dots appeared, disappeared then nothing.

Great. Just what I needed, another problem I couldn’t afford. I checked if I had locked the door properly, double-checked the windows, and leaned my forehead against the cool glass for a moment. Lately, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. It wasn't the normal kind of wrong that came with unpaid bills and bad luck.

This felt… deeper.

                                 ***

The hospital smelled like antiseptic and sadness. I sat beside my mother’s bed, holding her fragile hand between both of mine as machines beeped softly around us. She looked so small under beneath the white sheets with her pale skin and her shallow breathe.

“You didn’t have to come again today,” she murmured weakly.

“Yes, I did,” I replied gently. “And I’ll be back tomorrow too.”

She smiled, but there was guilt in her eyes. “You’re working too hard, Iris. I'll live but are you taking care of yourself?”

I didn’t tell her about the eviction notice or the second job interview that had gone nowhere. Or the fact that my bank account was sitting dangerously close to zero.

“I’m fine,” I lied. "I'm surviving quite well."

Apparently, lying ran in the family.

As I stood to leave,I felt a sharp pain in my head.

"Hmm.." I gripped the edge of the bed as I felt dizzy. 

“Iris?” my mother called out.

“I’m okay mum,” I said quickly, forcing myself upright. “Just a bit tired and stressed out.”

But even as I left, something tugged my chest from the inside like I was being called.

That night, I had a nightmare. I was tied in the middle of a stone room, candles were lit up in the corners of the room. It seemed like I had fallen into the age of kingdoms and dragons.

A man stood before me with a golden crown on his head, he had a black dagger in his hand. 

Was he going to use that to kill me?

I tried protesting but it felt like my voice was stolen. All I could do was stare at the other figure behind the king, he was tall, had dark eyes. He seemed familiar but everything about him made my chest ache.

“You promised me,” I said to him.

“I chose what I had to,” he replied.

"Then so be it." 

I don't know why I said that but what I felt afterwards was hot burn from fire and pain.

I woke with a gasp, my heart racing, my body glued with sweat.

“What the hell was that?” I whispered.

I pressed my palm to my beating chest, convincing myself that it was all a dream but the feeling didn’t fade.

The cafe was busy the next evening, the usual crowd filling booths and tables as I moved between them with usual routine. One, smiling. Two, pouring coffee. Three, pretending my world wasn’t collapsing.

“Table six wants another refill,” my coworker called.

“I’ve got it,” I replied.

As I stepped outside to clear a table, laughter slipped from my lips at something stupid he said behind me.

" If I were a customer, having a cup of coffee and a glimpse of your beauty would be prefect." 

"Oh please, you got some work to do inside." I said, rolling my eyes.

Everything felt good and normal until it happened. The atmosphere felt different. My laughing died instantly I felt a strange warmth spreading through my body chest, followed by a sudden awareness.

I wasn’t alone.

I glanced up.

He stood across the street, tall and all dressed in a dark coat that seemed to swallow the light around him. His gaze pinned me in place like he could see into my soul. 

His eyes, they were dark like his.

Something deep inside me responded to him. I felt a string of fear and attraction entangled inside me which made no sense.

Who was he?

Why did my body feel like it recognized him?

Why did my whole world feel frozen?

This is stupid, I told myself. Get inside.

I turned away, forcing my legs to move, my pulse racing long after I disappeared back into the cafe. But even surrounded by noise and people, the feeling didn’t fade.

I felt he was watching me. 

By the time I got home, I felt worried and uneasy about my encounter with the man at the cafe.

I checked the locks twice, then a third time just to be sure.

My phone buzzed with an unknown Number.

"Stop calling me," I typed angrily.

A reply came in instantly.

"I’m not here to hurt you."

My hands shook.

"Then why the hell are you watching me?"

The pause this time was longer.

"Because you’re in danger."

Cold found it's way up to my spine.

"Who are you?"

Three dots appeared then vanished.

"Sighs...not again." I dropped the phone on the table. "This is probably some sort of joke."

What I heard next was a soft knock on my door. I froze.

Every instinct screamed at me to run.

Run where?

Probably jump out the window? 

That could be a better option but my feet refused to move.

Another knock.

This time, it seemed whoever was on the other side of the door had all the time in the world. I swallowed hard with my heart hammering in my chest.

"You can do this, Iris "

Whoever he was, I knew, deep down in my bones I was being hunted.