HUNTED

The hallway outside the station was cold.

Seraphina stood against the wall, her arms wrapped around herself. Stephanie was beside her, rubbing her back in slow circles.

"I'm fine," Seraphina said, her voice hollow.

"Girl! You're not fine."

"I'm fine."

"Sera—"

"I said I'm fine!" She pulled away, her eyes blazing. Then just as quickly, the fire died. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I just—"

"I know." Stephanie pulled her into a hug. "I know, baby. I know."

Seraphina buried her face in her sister's shoulder.

"He's been watching me my whole life," she whispered. "Every moment. I have no secrets. Every—" Her voice broke. "I never had any privacy, I never had any peace. He was always there…always."

Stephanie held her tighter. 

"We'll find him. We'll find him and we'll make him pay."

"How?" Seraphina pulled back, her eyes red. "He's not even real, he's a ghost. He has no name, no face, no—" She stopped…her expression shifted. "No. No, wait."

"What?"

"He has a face." Seraphina's voice was urgent now. "I've seen it. I think I've talked to him. He works at Vale Corporation? He's been there for years. Someone must recognize him…someone must know who he really is."

Stephanie's eyes widened. 

“The security footage."

"Exactly." Seraphina grabbed her sister's arms. "Adrian has security footage of everyone who works there. If we can get a clear picture of his face, we can run it through facial recognition…we can find out who he really is."

At that moment, Adrian stepped out of the station. He looked pale, haunted but there was something new in his eyes—a cold, burning determination.

"Sera."

She turned to him. 

“Adrian, I need you to—"

"Look at this." He walked toward her, his hands shaking slightly as he held out the photograph. "Detective Marquez found this. It was hidden in the imposter's apartment."

Seraphina took the photograph. She stared at the young girl in the foreground. Herself, ten years old, laughing at something off-camera.

And in the background, a boy just watching her.

“We saw something like this at home!” Stephanie yelled.

"I don't understand," Seraphina said. "Who is he? Who is this person?"

"I don't know." Adrian's voice was strained. "But I'm going to find out." He met her eyes. "I'm going to find him, Sera. I'm going to find him and I'm going to destroy him. For everything he did to you…for every moment he took from you."

“You hurt me too…let's not forget, Adrian.” He lowered his head and Seraphina stared at him for a long moment. Then she did something that surprised them both. She stepped forward and hugged him.

"I don't want revenge," she whispered against his chest. "I just want it to be over, want to sleep without being afraid, want to live without looking over my shoulder." She pulled back, her eyes wet. "Can you give me that, Adrian? Can you give me peace?" He cupped her face in his hands.

"I'll give you the world," he said quietly. "If that's what it takes."

“I hope…I believe in you.”

*****

Later that night, Adrian sat alone in his penthouse. He'd sent the photograph of the imposter to every security team he had. Facial recognition was running, background checks were being processed. Someone, somewhere, had to know who this man was.

His phone buzzed.

Unknown Number.

Adrian's heart stopped. He opened the message with trembling fingers.

"You're getting closer but you're still looking in the wrong direction."

Beneath the message was a photograph. It was old and yellowed…taken decades ago.

Two boys stood in a playground. One of them was Adrian. Young, maybe eight years old and the other was a boy he didn't recognize, someone who looked almost exactly like him.

And written on the back of the photograph, in handwriting that sort of matched the diary entries,

“One day, you'll have everything I don't. And I'll be there to take it all away.”

Adrian stared at the photograph and for the first time in his life, he was truly afraid.

Not for himself but for Seraphina because whoever this man was, he'd been planning this for decades and he wasn't just obsessed with her.

He was obsessed with destroying Adrian too…

He picked up his phone and texted Seraphina. 

“Hey…mind if we go check Marcus apartment now?” He clicked send and waiting…expecting nothing. Her response came back immediately.

“You have it?” He laughed to himself. 

“Where do you think the detective has been getting all these info?” She didn't reply for a few moments, then.

“Oh– but if they've been there, why should we go?”

“To get more Info.” She stopped replying for minutes…almost ten. Adrian gave up and sat down only to hear his doorbell. He sat up, stared at the door and waited.

“Maybe I heard wrong.” But he wasn't. The doorbell rang again. 

And again. 

And again.

Then there was a pause and his phone rang. 

Unknown number.

“Call…?”

His hands shook as he reached for it. As soon as he answered, nothing prepared him for what was next. 

“YOU SON OF A BITCH! GET YOUR ASS OUTSIDE!”

He stared at the phone in shock. It was an Unknown Number…so why was Seraphina screaming at him?

“Sera…?” He said in a low tone. She paused then lost it.

“WHO ELSE THE FUCK WOULD IT BE?!” she inhaled and got louder. “I'M OUTSIDE AND IT'S THE DEAD OF THE NIGHT!!”

He ran outside without a single thought in mind, stumbling over everything in sight. When he finally stepped out, Seraphina sat in her car, her face pink and eyes blazing red. Her laughed nervously,

“You…look beautiful.”

“GET. IN. THE. CAR. NOW.” He didn't argue and sat in.