499
10 vouchers
The night was heavy and silent, the kind of silence that felt weighted, pressing down on the room.
Alejandroy stretched beside her, his chest rising and falling with slow, steady breaths, the faint trace of exhaustion still etched into his features.
Nivera should have been asleep too, lulled by the rhythmic sound of his heartbeat beneath her cheek, but rest
never came easy.
She was exhausted–drained from the runway, the incident at the restroom, and the way her mind had spun itself into chaos only to copse in his arms.
Yet, sleep had been elusive, her dreams fractured things that left her heart hammering whenever she blinked awake.
She forced her eyes shut, focusing on the warmth of Alejandro’s body next to hers, the steadiness of his
presence.
His arm rested heavily around her waist, as though even in unconsciousness he refused to let her drift too far
away.
It was enough. For a while.
Until it wasn’t.
A bang–sharp and sudden–shattered the stillness.
Nivera jerked upright, her pulse thundering in her ears. Her gaze darted wildly around the room.Her eyes snapped open, heart pounding, and pulse racing as her gaze darted across the room.
Nothing seemed out of ce.
Her breath caught as she turned to Alejandro. He hadn’t stirred. Not even a twitch. He was still asleep, his features calm and unbothered, as though the sound had been hers alone to hear.
Her brows knitted. Did I imagine it?
She tried to convince herself she had. The mansion was vast, after all; it could’ve been the wind, a loose hinge, or the trees outside.
But before she could force herself back under the covers, a sound far more intimate and terrifying filled the air.
Her name.
Soft, deliberate, dragging like silk across skin.
“Nivera…”
66
10 vouchers
The hairs on her arms stood straight. Her blood iced over, chest locking up as she stared into the dark.
Her throat closed up. She whipped around toward the sound, but the room was empty still.
“Not again,” she breathed, panic ring.
This time, she did reach for Alejandro. She ced her hand on his chest and shook him gently. “Alejandro,” she whispered urgently. He didn’t stir.
“Alejandro,” she whispered louder, shaking him harder now.
Nothing. His body stayed ck, like he was trapped in a deeper sleep than she had ever seen. Panic wed at her chest.
Something wasn’t right, and then her phone rang.
The shrill sound made her jump, nerves snapping tight. Ity on the nightstand, screen glowing with an unfamiliar number.
Who the hell would call sote at night?
Her rational mind screamed at her not to answer. However, her trembling fingers snatched it up anyway. She pressed it to her ear.
“Hello?” Her voice cracked.
The reply wasn’t immediate. For a second all she heard was distortion, static scratching at the line.
Then a voice bled through, deep, warped, and mechanical–like someone had swallowed their words through a filter.
“You can’t hide in his bed forever.”
Her breath stuttered, and the grip on the phone faltered. Her hand shook violently, and she stumbled back from the bed. “Who are you?”
The voice distorted further, shifting tones like it couldn’t decide what it wanted to sound like. Man. Woman. Then something not quite either.
“Come find me… before Ie find you.”
The call cut abruptly.
She dropped the phone as if it had burned her.
Her heart beat like it was trying to tear through her ribs. Alejandro was still asleep, unmoving. Something in her screamed to wake him again, but another force–curiosity, fear, a strange pull–dragged her toward the
door.
Bare feet against cold marble, she slipped out of the bed, clutching her nightgown tighter around her. The hall stretched out, quiet, too quiet, and the fact that it waspletely dark didn’t help matters.
And then it happened.
Her own voice, echoing from somewhere ahead.
“Alejandro… Help me… help me, please.”
It wasn’t a whisper. It was exact and identical. Her cadence, her tone, and her breath.
She froze, panic wing up her throat.
“No,” she whispered, covering her mouth, shaking her head. “That’s not real. That’s not me.”
But the voice came again.
“Don’t leave me, Alejandro…”
She spun, searching. “Stop it! Show yourself!”
65
10 vouchers
Something mmed into her shoulder–hard, invisible–spinning her into the wall. Pain shot through her arm. She gasped, scrambling to right herself.
Her pulse hammered. She shoved away from the wall, moving backward, but another blow came from the other side. Her ribs screamed as she collided with something.
“There’s no one here,” she whispered to herself, clutching her head. “There’s no one here; you’re imagining it
“Don’t leave me… don’t leave me… don’t leave me…” Her voice echoed again.
She pressed her palms against her ears, tears pricking her eyes, staggering backward. “Stop! Please, stop!”
Her legs moved without direction, her body recoiling from the noise, the strikes, and the suffocating sound of her own voice mocking her. She didn’t see where she was going until her heel slipped on something.
The ground fell from under her.
A strangled scream tore from her lips as her arms iled, but just before her body could tip forward, a hand- strong, unyielding–caught her wrist and yanked her back.
Her body collided with solid muscle, warmth enveloping her in a rush that drowned out the fear. A familiar scent, dark spice and faint smoke, hit her senses.
Alejandro.
Her heart nearly gave out as she buried herself against him, her fingers wing at his shirt like he was the only anchor in a storm. Her tears spilled hot and frantic against his neck.
“Don’t–don’t leave me alone,” she gasped, her words choked, raw. “Please, Alejandro, don’t-”
His other arm crushed around her waist, pinning her tight to him as if he could anchor her to reality. He tilted her face up, his own eyes zing even in the darkness. His jaw was taut, fury and worry warring in his
12:43 <b>Fri</b><b>, </b>Sep 12 B
expression.
65
10 vouchers
“Shh, Cabezota,” his voice was gravelly, stillced with sleep but fierce with rm. His arms crushed her to him, one hand gripping the back of her head, the other anchoring her waist. “I’ve got you. You’re safe.”
Her chest convulsed with sobs.
“Cabezota,” he muttered, voice low but sharp with urgency as he tried to pull back <i>so </i>he could see her face. “What the hell happened? What were you doing out here?”
She shook her head frantically, her grip tightening as if letting go meant she would fall again–not just down the stairs, but into madness itself.
“I heard it–I swear I heard it,” she sobbed. “The voice–it wasn’t real, Alejandro, it wasn’t real, but it sounded real. And then–it was me. My own voice, Alejandro. And it–it hit me. Something hit me!”
Her words tumbled over each other, broken and incoherent, but her terror was undeniable.
His jaw clenched harder, his eyes narrowing with lethal intent. His hold on her tightened, grounding her shaking body against his.
“You’re safe now,” he growled, and though he said it to her, it felt like a promise sworn to something unseen in the dark.
She buried her face in his chest, clutching at him desperately, her tears soaking into his shirt. His hand slid up into her hair, cradling the back of her head as his lips pressed hard against her temple.
“I’ve got you,” he said, voice low, possessive, unshakable. “No one touches you. No one.”
She trembled harder at his words, but the knot in her chest loosened ever so slightly.
Nivera only clung tighter, her nails digging into his back.
She didn’t care if she sounded pathetic. She didn’t care if he thought she was mad. Right now, she just needed him. Needed the solidity of his chest, the warmth of his arms, the grounding power that was uniquely him.
“Don’t leave me,” she whispered again, broken.
“Never.” His answer was immediate, firm, no hesitation.
Her breath caught, a sob and a sigh tangled together. What was happening to her?
She kept saying she wasn’t crazy but it didn’t feel like the truth anymore and at the thought of that, she clung harder to Alejandro.