Watching Me


    “Hear what?” Hayden asked as he turned to look at me.


    “Umm…I don’t know…like something moving?” I replied, uncertain of what I had just heard.


    “No…” Hayden replied after listening for a few seconds.


    After paying attention and listening to the sound around us, Hayden confirmed that he couldn’t hear


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    anything amiss, and honestly, I couldn’t hear anything anymore either. I guess it was just my


    imagination then.


    “I’m probably just imagining it or maybe it was the wind from outside or something,” I said dismissively.


    Honestly, I was d that Hayden didn’t hear anything. I didn’t need anymore spooky things in my life to


    make my life moreplicated than it already was.


    “Probably, some windows are not closed yet. The maids will probably deal with itter, you don’t have


    to worry,” Hayden said, brushing off my concern.


    “Ok. Let’s go then…” I murmured as he took my hand in his and led me after him towards his bedroom.


    …


    When I returned to my living room the following morning, I was slightly surprised that Little Hayden


    wasn’t there. It almost became a norm now for him to sneak away somewhere. I had mixed feelings


    about this but thought that it must be part of the puppy’s growth journey. Little Hayden continued to


    grow up very fast. Not having much experience with raising a pet, I was astonished at how fast he grew


    and developed. It was probably normal for dogs to be like this, but I was surprised nheless.


    As he grew, he yed a lot more and explored a lot more. He also chewed on many more things and


    ended up ruining the legs of many wooden chairs to Auntie’s utter dismay. Naturally, the area of my art


    studio and the living room became too small for him and venturing outside to tour the mansion and the


    garden quickly became part of his daily life. Right now, he’s probably ying around somewhere or


    maybe he was hanging around the maids.


    It felt slightly lonely that Little Hayden was no longer just ying around at my feet, but it did give me


    the chance to focus more on mymission work. Things were progressing smoothly and the photos


    that I took to update my client of the work’s progress was well received. I began experimenting on


    working on two works in parallel with each other to speed up the progress of the works. So far, it was


    going quite well.


    Thinking back on the events of yesterday, I didn’t learn that much from what Hayden said. Most of it


    was probably because I didn’t remember much or didn’t quite understand very well. However, I did


    understand that things were not normal outside, and that Ethan yed a big role regarding that. He did


    visit me before Hayden brought me here to his mansion. Since that day, I had not stepped a foot


    outside of this property and as far as I was aware, Ethan was nowhere nearer to achieving his objective


    of uniting Torex and Silva.


    From Hayden’s reaction and how his mood seemed to turn sour as he talked about Ethan’s n, I


    could tell that he was surely opposed to it. As for me, I wasn’t sure what I wanted. Peace would be


    great but what exactly would lead to peace? My eyebrows knitted together in a knot before I separated


    them using my fingers. Peace just seemed like a concept and nothing more. An ideology that may


    never materialize in the mafia world.


    I wondered what Hayden truly wanted now that he’s semi-forced to take over as the next boss of Torex.


    He never told me about his work and since I couldn’t apany him anywhere, I had no idea what he


    was up to. However, judging from the fact that he was heading out to work every day, he must be busy


    and perhaps was already acting as the new head of Torex. That thought made a shiver run through my


    body. I realized that my hand had stopped in midair while I was absorbed in my thoughts. I’m not


    making any progress on this portrait at all…


    I wondered what life would be like if Hayden didn’t have to take over Torex. He would probably be


    working as a doctor somewhere. I recalled the scene of him helping that little girl at the amusement


    park and how he treated her with care. Would I get to see more of that side of Hayden if he didn’t have


    to take over the gang?


    It wasn’t like what I wanted mattered. Hayden is so deeply involved in the gang now and regardless of


    what I wanted; Hayden would always have two sides to him. I guess I didn’t dislike the two opposite


    sides of him.


    Pulling myself back from my messy thoughts, I slowly mustered my concentration to continue working


    on the painting. A short while after, I was applying some paint to highlight the client’s cheekbones when


    I had a strange feeling like someone was watching me. It was just a feeling…but still…


    I felt it. Someone is watching me…


    I froze as I debated with myself if I should turn around. This mansion is Hayden’s mansion, and it was


    heavily guarded. There’s no way that it couldn’t be safe…right?


    Slowly, I turned around as I prayed that I had just imagined it all. The door to my art studio was ajar but


    I couldn’t see anyone standing there. Did I just imagine it?


    I got up from my chair and slowly headed for the door. This better not be Hayden and one of his pranks


    because it surely is giving me the creeps. I inched closer and closer to the door on silent small steps.


    The silence in the studio and the living room beyond which I usually found peaceful suddenly felt


    unnerving.


    “Hayden…” I called softly as I ced my hand on the door and slowly opened it.


    It waspletely silent and just as I had half expected, there was no one outside in the living room. I


    walked quickly and looked out into the hallway. Turning my head from side to side to look up and down


    the hallway, I found itpletely void of life.


    --To be continued…