I should've known something was wrong the second I stepped out of class.
The corridor was too quiet. No students chatting. No professors pacing around. Just the echo of my footsteps on the tiles. I told myself I was being paranoid—again. I've always been jumpy, but today? Today it felt different.
I glanced over my shoulder for the third time since leaving campus. No one.
Still, the feeling crawled under my skin. Like someone was watching.
My apartment was just ten minutes away. I tightened my grip on my bag and walked faster, heart thudding louder with every step. Streetlights flickered above, and the air turned thick with silence.
Then I saw him.
At first, he looked like just another stranger in a black hoodie. Tall. Hands in his pockets. Head tilted low.
But he wasn't walking. He was waiting.
And he was facing me.
I swallowed, adrenaline flooding me as I crossed to the other side of the road, pretending not to notice him. My hands trembled. Keys. Where were my damn keys?
Then—
"Aarya."
I froze.
He said my name.
How the hell did he know my name?
I turned slowly. He had stepped into the streetlight now, and I could see his face. Sharp jaw. Cold eyes. Unreadable expression.
"You don't need to be afraid," he said softly. "I'm not here to hurt you."
That's exactly what someone trying to hurt me would say.
I bolted.
He didn't shout. Didn't run. But in seconds, I felt arms around my waist and a cloth pressed to my mouth.
The world blurred. My vision turned white.
And then everything went black.
—
I woke up gasping.
The bed beneath me was silk. The air smelled expensive—leather, perfume, and something darker. My head ached, and my wrists tingled with something… too soft to be handcuffs. Silk ribbons.
Panic hit me like a wave. I yanked my arms, kicked off the blanket, but the moment I sat up—
He was there.
Sitting in a chair by the window. Calm. Watching me.
"You," I breathed.
He smiled. Slowly. Like he had all the time in the world.
"Welcome home," he said.
My blood ran cold.
"What the hell is this? Where am I?! Let me go—!"
"I saved you," he interrupted, standing now. Towering over me. His eyes locked on mine, intense, unreadable.
"From what?" I snapped, trying to mask the tremble in my voice.
His expression darkened. "From everyone else."
I stared at him. My heart pounded so hard I thought I'd pass out. I didn't know who he was. I didn't know why he had taken me.
But I knew one thing.
This wasn't random.
He knew me.
He'd been watching me.
And he wasn't going to let me leave.