Someone Is Watching

Aya's POV

My entire body froze.

Someone was on the roof.

The hooded figure below my window kept one finger pressed against their lips, silently pleading with me not to make a sound.

My pulse thundered inside my ears.

For one terrifying second, I couldn't move.

Then...

A slow, deliberate footstep echoed above my ceiling.

Creak.

Another.

Creak.

Someone really was up there.

I instinctively backed away from the window.

The hooded figure immediately shook their head.

They pointed upward again before motioning for me to stay quiet.

Who were they?

A friend?

Or another stranger trying to lure me outside?

Nothing about tonight made sense anymore.

I carefully reached for my phone on the bedside table.

Just as my fingers wrapped around it, another sound came from the roof.

A scraping noise.

Like something heavy being dragged across the tiles.

I looked toward the ceiling.

The sound stopped.

Silence swallowed the room.

Then...

Three slow knocks.

Knock.

Knock.

Knock.

Not on my door.

On the roof directly above my bed.

My heart lodged in my throat.

Without taking my eyes off the ceiling, I unlocked my phone and quickly typed a message.

Aya: Someone's on my roof.

I pressed send to Alastair.

Before I could type anything else...

My bedroom door opened.

I gasped and nearly dropped my phone.

Callum stepped inside, immediately raising both hands.

"Easy."

"What are you doing here?" I whispered harshly.

"I heard something outside."

His eyes moved toward my window.

Then he noticed my expression.

"What happened?"

I pointed toward the ceiling.

"There."

He didn't laugh.

He didn't tell me I was imagining things.

Instead, every muscle in his body became tense.

"You heard it?"

I nodded.

"And..."

I glanced toward the window.

"There was someone outside."

Callum walked over carefully and moved the curtain aside just enough to look into the garden.

The hooded figure was gone.

Only the gently swaying trees remained.

"They disappeared," I whispered.

"They usually do."

I looked at him.

"...Usually?"

Before he could answer, another scrape echoed across the roof.

Much closer this time.

Callum immediately switched off the bedside lamp.

Darkness swallowed the room.

"What are you doing?" I whispered.

"If someone's watching your room, I don't want them seeing us."

He gently guided me away from the window until we were standing beside the wardrobe.

The room felt impossibly small.

The only light came from the moon slipping through a gap in the curtains.

"What if they come inside?" I asked quietly.

"They won't."

"You sound awfully confident."

"They'd have to break the window."

Another pause.

"...And if they do?"

His turquoise eyes met mine.

"They'll have to get through me first."

The words were spoken so casually that it took me a second to realize what he'd said.

Despite everything that had happened...

Despite barely knowing me...

He meant it.

The realization made my chest tighten.

A vibration broke the silence.

My phone.

Alastair was calling.

I answered immediately.

"Aya?"

"I'm okay," I whispered.

"I got your message."

His voice was tense.

"Stay where you are."

"I'm already outside your room."

Before I could respond, hurried footsteps thundered down the hallway.

A loud knock rattled my bedroom door.

"Aya!"

"It's me!"

Callum unlocked the door before I could reach it.

Alastair burst inside.

His eyes landed on Callum first.

Then on me.

"What happened?"

I pointed upward.

"There was someone on the roof."

Alastair immediately looked at the ceiling.

As if on cue...

Another footstep echoed overhead.

This time all three of us heard it.

Without saying a word, Callum ran into the hallway.

"Callum!" I called.

He ignored me.

Alastair cursed under his breath and chased after him.

"Stay here!"

Of course they both expected me to listen.

Of course I didn't.

I followed them into the hallway just in time to see Callum disappear through the staircase leading to the attic.

Alastair was only seconds behind him.

My heart pounded as I climbed after them.

The attic hatch stood open.

Cool night air rushed inside.

Callum pulled himself onto the roof first.

Alastair followed.

I reached the hatch just as Callum shouted.

"There!"

I climbed high enough to peek over the edge.

A dark figure was sprinting across the slate roof toward the west side of the mansion.

They moved with unbelievable speed.

Almost effortlessly.

Callum took off after them.

"Callum, wait!" I yelled.

He didn't slow down.

The stranger leapt onto a lower section of the roof before grabbing a thick oak branch that stretched over the estate wall.

In one fluid movement, they swung into the tree.

Callum jumped after them.

My breath caught.

He landed on the same branch, barely keeping his balance.

The branch groaned beneath his weight.

The hooded stranger glanced back for the first time.

Moonlight caught part of their face.

Only enough for me to notice one detail.

A long scar running across their left cheek.

Then they disappeared into the darkness beyond the estate wall.

Callum made another jump.

The branch cracked loudly beneath him.

"Callum!"

He barely managed to catch the trunk before falling.

Alastair grabbed his arm and hauled him back onto the roof.

For several seconds, neither of them spoke.

Both stared into the dark forest where the stranger had vanished.

Finally, Callum looked down toward me.

His breathing was uneven.

"They weren't trying to get inside."

"What?" I called.

He shook his head.

"They were trying to see if you were still here."

The words sent a chill through me.

Before anyone could say another word, headlights swept across the front of the estate.

A second black SUV rolled through the gates.

It wasn't one of Richard's vehicles.

The driver stopped abruptly in front of the mansion.

Four people stepped out.

All dressed in black.

The woman leading them removed her sunglasses despite the darkness.

Her sharp eyes immediately found Richard, who had just rushed outside.

She held up a leather badge.

"We're looking for Miss Aya Rhodes."

Richard frowned.

"Who are you?"

The woman didn't look away from the mansion.

"My name is Detective Elena Cruz."

She paused.

"And we're reopening the Hawthorne investigation."

Every eye turned toward me.

Then Detective Cruz delivered the words that made my blood run cold.

"Miss Rhodes..."

"...we believe your mother's case wasn't an accident."

"We believe it was a cover-up."