Page 63 of Shattered Obsession

The world goes soundless.

I feel Bella’s leash burning into my palm. The plastic handle digs into my fingers hard enough to bruise, but I barely register the pain.

It’s not just fear.

It’s the terror of recognition.

Bella barks, jerking the leash. Damian doesn’t move toward me. He doesn’t need to. His stillness is the threat. Predators don’t chase. They wait.

He stands there with his arms crossed and the hint of a smirk playing on his lips. It’s neither a smile nor a scowl, but that neutrality crashes over me like ice water; it says more than words ever could. None of what he did to me mattered at all.

Bella barks again, tugging insistently at the leash, but my legs are already propelling me forward, desperate to escape. I can’t look back.

I bolt for the stairwell, heart racing, lungs gasping for air, each beat an urgent reminder of survival. The world tilts like I’m running through water instead of air. Each step feels like it belongs to someone else’s body.

Fumbling with my keys, I slam the door shut behind me and press my back against it, as though the flimsy barrier could contain the chaos outside. The apartment is silent except for my breathing, too fast, too shallow. Bella presses against my legs, grounding me with her weight.

Five things I can see.

Four things I can touch.

Three things I can hear.

Two I can smell.

One I can taste.

It doesn’t calm me completely.

But it keeps me here.

Here is better than there.

I don’t breathe until the lock clicks behind me. Safe. Safe. Safe. My phone slips from my sweaty palm, but I manage to hit Xander’s name. He picks up on the first ring.

“Thalia?” His voice cuts through my panic, sharp yet imbued with an undercurrent of fear.

“He’s here. Outside. I saw him. I swear it’s him. He got out of the car and—” My words tumble out, shaky and breathless.

“Stay inside,” Xander commands. “Lock the doors. Right now.”

“I did,” I choke out, Bella whining at my side, sensing my rising dread. “He didn’t come near me. He just… stood there. Watching.”

“Fuck.” I hear his breath hitch, like he’s sprinting through traffic. “I’m coming. Don’t open the door for anyone but me. You hear me?”

-Xander-

My hands tremble against the steering wheel, the truck’s engine roaring to life as I shove it into gear. I barely recall grabbing my keys; all I can think about is Thalia's voice, splintering under the weight of fear.

He’s outside.

He’s there.

Damian.

Just thinking that name sends my vision swimming in red.

Traffic blurs by as I weave through lanes, horns blaring in protest to my reckless driving. I don’t care; the minutes stretch like hours, and I can’t reach her fast enough. I take a corner too fast, tires screeching. I should care. I should slow down. But I don’t. Red lights blur into streaks of color as I blow through another intersection.