Chapter Text
I’m rewriting this because my mom found the first one, and I refuse to touch that document ever again.
It was inevitable. Or at least that's what you told yourself as the clock struck 6 and first light struck the ground.
Your finger traced the ring of a glass that seemed far too familiar to you now, and with such impatience that even time itself seemed to come to a stop to mock you.
The deal —one of compromise. A month in this world of his—a month in a hunting game—the idea was simple.
Midnight to sunrise. 12 to 6 was his alone,
And at first...it was easy...laughably so.
You were a homebody by nature, and when writing didn’t pay the bills, you took shifts at an archive center with hours far from midnight, even for a missing record.
You admittedly thought this would save you, and for the most part, it did...until it began.
It started off as misplaced items or rearranged placements—a missing ring and the faint scent of leather and blood in the mists of your office that stopped you dead in your tracks.
easy, forgettable, accidental, and excusable things.
Things you willed yourself to ignore.
And in the quiet and still nights when your mind wandered, you fought for the peace of mind that it only happened there.
Not here
Never Here.
Not yet
And you hated yourself more for the way you depended on it. The next disappearing message—the next phone call that online left you gasping and aching for air.
Gods, what is wrong with you?
It was 7, and time was moving a lot faster than before. The sound of the fire cracked and rippled before you as it swallowed the notes of paper with it.
This was your redistribution in the light—far from the devil's grip.
Not that it would be helpful after midnight.
You couldn’t help but flip open your laptop once more, and the chat showed no sign of slowing.
Would it be ironic to say that the hours after sunrise were not when my heart stilled?
But the hours in between
in the slow bus ride to and fro, where sunlight danced on the surface of lakes and rivers and the crosswalk…?
You knew in your heart you weren’t off limits at all—not from being seen.
not from being watched
But for once...the feeling that stirred in your chest wasn’t fear but something darker you wouldn’t dare name....