Work Text:
She had always felt watched; at home, at work, out running errands, it didn't matter where she was. There was always the feeling of eyes following her. Her few friends thought she was just imagining things. Her coworkers thought she was crazy. The worst, though, was that she was beginning to believe them.
She only found respite in her bedroom. The darkened windows, solid walls, and much too big bed were the perfect escape from whatever was out there watching, waiting. It was as if whatever was lurking out there couldn't find her here. Her phone demanded her attention from its spot on the bedside table. She fumbled for it from her nest of tangled blankets, slapping blindly at the dark wooden surface of the bedside table. She finally managed to bring the phone close enough to her face for the screen to be in focus. It was her boss. It was also 7AM on her day off.
"H-hello?" she rasped, her voice thick with the sleep she was desperately clinging to.
"Hey Lil, so sorry to wake you," her boss boomed. How Brandon managed to speak so loudly this early in the morning was beyond her. "Marcus just called in and I've got no one else to cover. Would you mind coming in?"
She groaned.
"I'll make it up to you," Brandon said,. "I promise. We've got two big client meetings today and I can't do them alone. You know the presentations like the back of your hand. I'll work out some extra vacation time for you. Please?"
She took a deep breath and sighed. "Yeah, I guess. I'll be there in 30 minutes." She hung up as her boss launched into a deluge of thank yous and other assorted praises. She tossed her phone in the general direction of the bedside table and sat up, swiveling her body so that her legs dangled off the edge of the bed. She stood and paused long enough to look back at her bed, it all but beckoning her to return to it. She groaned again and hastily made the bed.
***
One hot shower later, Lilian Stone was standing in front of the fogged mirror. Unlike her bedroom, the bathroom wasn't a safe place. The nagging feeling of watching eyes was ever present. A few days after she moved in, she had meticulously searched the bathroom, floor to ceiling, looking for a camera, microphone, anything that could be spying on her.
Of course she found nothing.
She gripped the towel closer to her body and wiped the fog away from the mirror with her free hand. She stared back at herself. Her hair, still damp, hung in dark, loose curls below her shoulders. Her eyes, green with a ring of bright gold around the pupil, were framed by a dark lace of lashes. The paleness of her skin was stark against the darkness of her hair. She bit her bottom lip, a bad habit formed in girlhood. Her lips were full and perpetually pink. She let the towel drop to the floor as her eyes wandered lower. Her breasts were full but nothing extraordinary. Her hands gently rubbed her stomach, a small reminder of the gym membership she had been ignoring. Her thighs were sturdy and firm. She turned enough so that the curve of her ass was outlined in the mirror. She had never truly hated her body, she knew it was average at best, but she never thought she would stand out in a crowd.
Her phone blared from the bedroom, a hateful reminder of her promise to go into work. She hung up the towel and cast a final look back at her reflection as she turned off the bathroom light. The bathroom went dark, her eyes lingering on her reflection, and then she saw it. She knew she did. For a split second, for the briefest of moments, she saw it.
Not it. Him. A man. Dressed in red. Dark, sunken eyes. Unwavering gaze staring back at her from the mirror. She blinked and he was gone, her own eyes meeting hers in the reflection.
"What the...?" she asked herself as she flipped the light back on. She leaned closer to the mirror. Nothing. She turned off the light, wondering if that was the magic switch to make the man reappear. Again, nothing. "God, I really am losing it."