No...

The paper fell to the ground, and my legs were taking me back out to the living room. Blood was pounding in my ears, and I couldn't breathe.

"Mom?" My voice shook from the hallway before my walk turned into a run.

She was exactly where she'd been when I'd gotten home. I fell to my knees in front of her, tearing the blanket to the ground.

"Mom!" I frantically shook her shoulders, feeling my body go numb.

I didn't want to feel her pulse. I didn't want to check her body for blood. I wanted her to-

"Wake up!"

She opened her eyes with a jolt and sat up in a slumbered rush. A mixture of shock and relief flooded through me, my breath was caught. My vision blurred from tears, my body felt like it was in shock.

"What's wrong?" She asked in a panic, looking around us, her eyes wide as saucers. "Are you okay?"

"What the hell is going on?!" My dad turned on the lights from the hallway. His hand was gripped tightly over the base of his bedside lamp, and he lowered it from his shoulder after his eyes scanned the room for threats of danger.

"Mom, you..." My grip was still tight on her, and I moved my hands to wrap around my stomach. "Why? You're on the couch..."

She didn't look any less confused, her eyebrows strung closer together as she looked at me with concern.

"I'm sorry..." she said carefully, before glancing at my dad with a frown before looking back at me. "I must've fallen asleep grading papers." She reached over, placing a soft hand against my cheek. "Nothing to worry about honey."

I closed my eyes, trying to calm down. She was still there, she was okay. I couldn't stop my heart from pounding though, and my jittery mind was reminding me of the red-stained paper on my bedroom floor.

Someone was in the house.

In my room...

Someone who was trying to send me a message. No doubt a threatening one.

I opened my eyes quickly standing up. I walked to the kitchen, grabbing a sharp knife before heading to the front door.

"Evan- what on earth are you doing?!" My dad was following closely behind me, still holding onto the lamp.

I unlocked and flung the front door open, looking out into the dark street. It was empty, no stray cars where they weren't supposed to be, no movement from any nocturnal animals.

I slammed and bolted the door shut before walking to the other side of the house and looking out at the backyard.

"Evan?" My dad was right next to me, sounding worried.

I scanned the backyard, it was dark but empty. My eyes trailed to the solid wood fence separating our property from the neighbors. Someone could've easily jumped it...

"Evan!" I jumped, turning to my dad, who had his hand on my shoulder.

"What?!" The blood drained from my face at his tone, had he seen something? Or someone?

He exchanged a look with my mom before turning back to frown at me.

"What's going on with you? Did you see someone trying to break in?" His head motioned to the knife I still had clenched tightly in my hand. My gaze fell to it.

Am I scaring them?

I set the knife down, but without it I felt even more weak.

"I..." I couldn't tell them about the letter... maybe I'd imagined it... I'd been sleep deprived. I couldn't do anything until I was sure.

My dad's hand was on my back, and I numbly walked beside him to sit by my mom.

"What happened?" She asked softly, her body warmth giving me a bit more relief.

"I guess..." I couldn't tell them... not yet. Not until I was sure it was a harmless prank, or some optical illusion due to fatigue. Would that even be any better? "I just had a bad dream... I got worried."

My mom released a breath, her hand moving to her heart.

"Ev, you scared the shit out of me."

You did too.

"I know..." my voice was still shaking. "I'm sorry mom." She shook her head.

"No, don't be. You can always come to us for anything."

I was biting the inside of my cheek, my thoughts still racing. Either somebody had been in the house and left before I'd gotten home, or I was going crazy. I didn't know which was worse.

"Can we get security cameras?" I blurted out, nervously running a hand through my tangled hair and avoiding their eyes. My parents shared another look.

"Of course." My dad finally answered , "I'll pick some up in the morning."

***

After concerning my parents even further by checking that their windows were locked and the closet was empty, I re-entered my room.

I saw the paper laying on the ground where I'd left it. I closed the door behind me and stayed where I was, feeling dread fill me. At least you're not crazy.

No, it's just some psycho threatening you.

I slid down against the door and sat, watching moonlight leave an eerie glow in my room. I wanted to get up and shut the curtains. But I didn't, I sat frozen there waiting for my mind to come to some sort of reasonable explanation for the night.

After coming to the conclusion that there were none, I pulled out my phone. My fingers hovered over Rowan's contact name.

He's with his mom for the weekend. Don't bother him...

I stared at the screen, hating myself for needing his help again. And that I thought he'd know something about it.

I dropped my phone and put my head in my hands, shutting my eyes tight.

Who would do this?

It was like the red-stained paper had its own heavy presence in the room. I kept feeling the need to pick my head up and look at it, to make sure it hadn't disappeared or moved.

I wondered if I'd find the courage to go to bed. A faint voice in the back of my mind was reminding me I had school, that I didn't want another restless day filled with tutoring on no sleep.

As I was considering what the consequences of quitting my tutoring job on the second day would be, my phone gave a loud ring, piercing the silence. I jumped out of my daze, feeling blood rush to my face.

I silenced the call before seeing Rowan's name on my screen.

"Hello?"

"Hey." His voice was low on the other side of the line, momentarily distracting me from the hurricane of thoughts attacking all at once. "You never texted."

His tone was distracting, it sounded like he was quietly speaking with a smile on his face, possibly in bed.

He's not flirting...

My eyes fell to the paper on the floor, the moonlight reflecting off the crimson stain like a warning. Snap out of it.

"Uh... right. Right." Text me when you get home... "Shit, I guess I forgot. I'm sorry, everything's fine. I-I'm home, I mean,"

I ducked my head against my knees, pulling my hair in mortification. Why couldn't I shut up?

"-Evan," I heard his voice shift, and he sounded like he was getting up. "What's wrong?"

"What do you mean? Nothing." I tried keeping my voice level. I was tempted to tell him about everything... but he was in town to visit his mother, not deal with my problems.

"Well that's a lie." My heart pounded and I hit my palm against my forehead in self-loathing. "What is it?"

I held my phone against my chest while I silently cussed myself out, before returning to the call.

"Okay, fine just..." I trailed off, trying to think of a way to make it not sound bad.

"Well?" He sounded impatient, anxious.

"Okay... I think somebody broke into my r- my house earlier today." I whispered, looking at my closet as if somebody would pop out of it at my words.

The other end of the line was quiet for a moment, and I painfully picked at a hangnail as I waited for his response.

"I'm coming over." His tone was intimidating, frightening. I heard rustling over the receiver, and keys jingling.

"No, no that's why I didn't tell you- you're visiting your mom and I'm fine-"

"I'll be there in ten."

The line cut off as I tried telling him not to.

***

Rowan looked malicious. His eyes were darker than the night sky behind him, and they immediately darted through the house over my shoulder, barely giving me a glance. The calm, relaxed version of the man I'd seen earlier in the night was nowhere to be found.

I moved back to let him in, feeling my words get stuck in my throat. My god he knows how to look dangerous...

Rowan entered, wasting no time to look around the house. I locked the door after him, making sure the curtains were still drawn. He followed me to my room in silence, and I could feel guilt boiling in my stomach as I realized he'd left his mother at home.

Rowan quickly flipped the switch in my room and I winced as my eyes adjusted to the light. He took a few strides to my closet and simply opened the door, his eyes looking carefully at the inside.

Heat rose to my cheeks as I noticed my laundry basket right in front of him, with a pair of multicolored cartoon dinosaur boxers carelessly hanging off the side. I mentally cursed my aunt for thinking they were an appropriate gift for someone over the age of twelve, before cursing myself for wearing them anyway.

"Uh," I hurried over to where he was, hoping he hadn't noticed them. "I don't think anyone's here."

I wasn't sure if he'd heard me, because he kept scanning my closet, occasionally moving a shirt out of the way to check behind it.

"I don't think someone would fit behind a t-shirt." I nervously joked, after the fifth time he'd done it. He didn't smile, instead continuing his relentless search.

"They could've hid a camera." He murmured quietly, taking one last look through my closet before shutting it.

I wrapped my arms around each other, feeling my face pale. A camera?

"No... no they wouldn't have done that... right?"

Rowan noticed the small quiver in my voice and turned to me, his expression softening.

"Probably not," he said, his voice reassuring. His hand reached out to touch my elbow lightly, and I tried to prevent my eyes from falling to it as warmth sprouted from his touch. "But I'm just making sure."

His hand lingered for a moment and I felt the urge to lean into it, to be enveloped by him. But instead I was standing there with my mouth slightly open, feeling the heat return to my face. I slowly nodded, my eyes dropping to the paper on the ground.

"Right." I cleared my throat, trying to steady my voice.

Rowan turned to look at where my eyes had fallen, his hand dropped from me as he slowly crouched.

"What's this?" He picked it up, flipping it as I had done before looking up at me.

"So..." he stood up and took a step closer to me, looking back down at it."That's how I know someone was here."

I flushed again, realizing that I hadn't explained anything and probably sounded like a crazy person.

"Oh?" He looked down at the paper before walking towards my lamp. He held it close to the bulb, his eyes narrowing.

"Yeah, I got an envelope earlier and there was only a blank piece of paper inside." Rowan slowly walked back to me, still looking down at the page. "So I tossed it in the trash, went to your place, and when I got back it was on my desk with all that on it." I motioned towards the red splatter and he looked back at me.

"Do you still have the envelope?"

I nodded towards the desk and his head turned. He noticed the envelope right away and picked it up, flipping it to look at the back.

After carefully inspecting the folds, I noticed a small smile on Rowan's face.

"What?" I asked, feeling a bit hopeful.

"They could've sealed it by licking the envelope." he walked back to me, showing me the sealed side. "Could get DNA from that."

Why didn't I think of that?

"What if it's a peel-off seal, or what if they used water?"

Rowan shrugged, studying the envelope again.

"I don't think it was a peel-off. But either way, it's worth a shot."

"Okay..." I nodded before motioning back to the red stain on the page. "What about...?"

"It's not blood." Rowan said, handing the page back to me.

"How do you know?"

"It's too bright, if it was blood it would've dried darker. It also would've had a darker shade of red along here." He pointed to the outline of the splatters, which were the same shade as the rest of the stain.

"Oh..." I released a breath, feeling a slight weight lift from my shoulders.

"But someone's tryna fuck with you." He walked to my door and locked it, before turning back to me.

"Yeah..." I looked from him to the door he'd just locked, before frowning at him in confusion.

"Mind if I stay?" He said, dropping into the chair by my desk and looking back at me. I felt myself shrink under his gaze, my mind immediately taking me to the last time we'd been alone in my room together.

"Oh- uh, sure? I mean no I don't mind, sure you can stay... but won't your mom be upset since you're visiting her?"

"I'll be back before she wakes up." He said, shaking his head. "I'll just keep an eye out," he motioned over to my window. "I'm a light sleeper."

***

🦉