Things that see me

Chapter 3 — The Taste of Fear

Two months in, Malik’s world started bleeding into mine.

Not just in dreams.

Not just in shadows.

In daylight.

It started small—my reflection lagging a second behind in store windows. My eyes catching a red flash in the mirror that wasn’t from my phone camera. People crossing the street when I walked by, like I was giving off something they didn’t want to smell.

Even my best friend Tasha noticed.

“Girl, you ain’t been yourself lately,” she said, frowning as I sat across from her at our usual diner. “You look… sharper. Meaner. Like you could bite somebody.”

I smiled, but it didn’t reach my eyes. “I’m fine. Just tired.”

She stared, uneasy. “You don’t blink as much anymore.”

I laughed it off, but under the table Malik’s fingers slid over my thigh—

invisible to her, ice-cold to me.

“Don’t explain yourself to her,” he whispered in my ear, voice like smoke curling through my skull.

I dropped my fork. The sound made Tasha flinch.

“You okay?”

“Yeah,” I lied. “Just thinking.”

When I looked back up, Malik’s reflection was standing behind me in the diner window, his smile a dark slash across the glass.

That night, I learned why Malik never liked me going out alone.

I was walking home when the streetlight above me flickered.

The wind changed—cold, wrong, thick with something metallic.

From the alley ahead, something stepped out.

Not a man.

Not exactly.

Seven feet tall, skin like charred wood, eyes glowing white. Its grin stretched too wide, its voice too deep to belong to anything living.

“She smells like you,” it said, looking past me—at Malik.

Malik appeared without a sound, hoodie shadowing his face, but the air clenched tight, like the world itself was bracing.

“This is mine,” he said, wrapping his arm around my shoulders.

The thing tilted its head. “The deal ain’t sealed. Her soul’s still… soft.”

I felt my stomach twist, my blood humming like it was hearing something I couldn’t.

Malik’s grip tightened. “You ain’t touching her.”

The alley lights exploded. For a heartbeat, everything went white. When my vision cleared, the creature was gone. Malik’s knuckles smoked like the bones underneath were still burning.

He turned to me, eyes glowing that same violent red I’d seen the night he came through the mirror. “From now on, you don’t leave the house without me.”

I wanted to argue, to ask what the hell that thing was, but the words stuck in my throat. My body shook with leftover adrenaline and something else—something darker.

Because when he pulled me close, my fear melted into craving. The heat of him, the way the world bent to his will—it was power. Terrible, beautiful power.

I should’ve been scared. I should’ve run. But instead, I leaned into him, breathing in the smoke and spice that had become my oxygen.

Because as much as the streets felt dangerous, the truth was worse:

The danger was in my bed.

And I didn’t care.

The next few days blurred together. I stayed inside like he told me, curtains drawn, phone silent. Food lost its taste. Music sounded off-key. Even my dreams didn’t belong to me anymore.

When I closed my eyes, I saw him.

Not Malik as I knew him—but Malik in his truest form.

Smoke swirling around a shape that wasn’t quite human. Wings of shadow. A crown made of black fire.

Sometimes he spoke to me in my sleep, words too ancient for my tongue. I’d wake up trembling, his whispers echoing inside my ribs.

One morning, I caught my reflection staring back when I wasn’t even facing the mirror. Her smile wasn’t mine. Her eyes burned faintly red before fading back to brown.

That’s when I started realizing… maybe the thing in the alley wasn’t lying.

The deal wasn’t sealed—

but something in me was changing.

I found myself craving things I shouldn’t—heat, anger, blood. I snapped at Tasha the next time she called, my voice so cold she hung up mid-sentence. I didn’t even care. I felt strong. Untouchable. Like the world had been asleep and I’d finally woken up.

Malik liked that.

“You’re learning,” he said one night, tracing his finger along my neck, where the faint burn marks had darkened into symbols. “The more you stop resisting, the easier it gets.”

“What is this?” I asked, my throat dry. “What are you turning me into?”

He smiled, soft and cruel all at once. “Not turning, baby. Revealing. You called me because you were tired of being prey. I’m just giving you teeth.”

His lips brushed my ear. “Doesn’t it feel good to bite back?”

I didn’t answer, but deep inside, something purred in agreement.

That night, I dreamed of standing in the alley again—

but this time, I wasn’t the one hiding behind Malik.

I was beside him.

And when the creature returned, it didn’t look at him.

It bowed its head to me.

When I woke, my hands were shaking, but my pulse was steady. Calm. Controlled. Malik was already sitting at the edge of the bed, staring at me like he’d been awake for hours.

“See?” he murmured, touching my cheek. “You’re becoming what you were meant to be.”

I wanted to deny it.

But my reflection in the dark window behind him smiled before I did.