Notes and Lilies

Chapter 5

Aria did not sleep.

Every small sound dragged her out of the shallow, fragile drift she kept falling into pipes ticking in the walls, a car passing outside, wind brushing against the window like fingertips testing the glass. She lay stiff in her bed, staring at the faint line of light under her bedroom door.

It felt like someone was standing on the other side of the room.Watching. Waiting. She told herself it was stupid. Her building was secure. Old, but secure. Only four apartments on her floor. Quiet neighbors. No one strange.

But that didn’t stop the feeling.

Her eyes moved slowly to the nightstand. The folded note sat there. She had read it twelve times already. ‘You looked beautiful today.’ No name. No number. No explanation is given for how it got inside.

Her stomach twisted again. She threw the covers back and got up, feet cold against the floor. The apartment felt too quiet. Too still. Like the air itself was listening.

She checked the front door. Locked. Deadbolt in place. Chain hooked. Still, she leaned forward and pressed her eye to the peephole. Empty hallway. She stood there longer than she meant to. Waiting for… something. Nothing happened.

Her phone buzzed suddenly in her hand and she nearly dropped it. Maya. She answered immediately. “Aria? You sound dead. Did you even sleep?.” Aria laughed weakly and slid down the wall to sit on the floor. “Maya… something’s wrong.”

The words spilt out after that. The note. The flowers. The feeling. The way it seemed like someone always knew where she’d been. Maya went quiet. Then: “Okay. First, creepy. Second, we are not letting you sit in that apartment spiralling. You’re coming out tonight.”

“I don’t think…”. “You need people. Music. Noise. Not your brain eating you alive.”

Aria hesitated. But the thought of another night alone in that apartment made her chest tighten.

“Okay,” she whispered. The club was loud enough to shake thoughts loose.

Lights flashed in purple and blue waves, music pulsing through the floor, through her ribs. Bodies moved everywhere. Heat. Voices. Laughter.nNormal. Human. Alive.

Aria felt her shoulders loosen for the first time all day.

Maya dragged her toward the bar. “See? No murder vibes. Just bad decisions and tequila.” Aria smiled, finally.

She didn’t notice the man across the room watching her.

He stood near the back wall, half in shadow. Calm. Still. His gaze never left her.

When she laughed, his jaw tightened. When another man leaned in close to talk to her, his fingers curled slowly into a fist.

The guy she ended up talking to was easy. Charming. Harmless. His name was Lucas. He made her laugh without trying too hard. Didn’t ask weird questions. Didn’t push.

For two hours, she forgot. Forgot the note. Forgot the lilies. Forgot the feeling of being watched.

When he asked if she wanted to leave, she hesitated for only a second. Then nodded.

Her apartment felt different with someone else inside.

Warmer. Safer. She locked the door behind them automatically.

Lucas stepped closer, brushing a strand of hair from her face. “You okay?”

“Yeah,” she said, though her pulse was already faster again. Not from him. From something else.

They kissed. Slow. Distracting. Her mind finally quieted as sensation replaced fear. Hands, warmth, closeness. The world is shrinking down to just the space between them.

Lucas breathes into my neck, l roll my eyes. He slurps at my neck again, l groan when he rolls his dick into my apex of my thighs. He has me pinned against the wall, while he murmurs some dirty things into my ear.

“Let's take this to the bedroom. I need to inside of you now.” He reaches up to tears the bra from my body, but then he freezes when loud banging interrupts us. A sound.

A dull thud from somewhere in the apartment. They both froze.

“You hear that?” she whispered. Lucas listened. Nothing.

“Probably upstairs,” he said gently. “Old building.” She wanted to believe that.

He went to check anyway. Aria stood in the hallway, arms wrapped around herself, heart racing. She watched him move through the living room.

“Nothing,” he called. “You’re good.” She exhaled shakily. Time passed. The clock on the microwave read 2:45 AM. The fear was almost gone again. Almost.

Then, another sound. Closer. Not a building sound. Inside.

Lucas straightened. “Stay here.” He walked toward the front door.

Aria’s throat went dry. He opened it. The hallway light spilt in. Empty.

“See? No—” He stopped talking.

Aria frowned. “Lucas?”

No answer.

“Lucas?” Silence. The air felt wrong. Too heavy.

She stepped forward slowly. “Lucas, stop messing around.”

She reached the doorway. And the world tilted. Dark red streaked across the hallway floor. Too much. Too bright. Her breath left her in a broken sound. He wasn’t there. Only blood. And something white against the floor. A folded note.

Her hands shook as she picked it up. The handwriting was careful. Neat.

“Don’t mess with me, little candy.” Her knees gave out. The hallway light flickered once.

And for a second, just a second. She felt it again. That presence. Close. Watching.