Chapter Text
Whoever had decided the weather in London deserved a special place in hell.
Asena had never much liked rain to begin with, but England really took it to another level. Her heals clicked on the pavement with every step she took further away from the building her last job interview had taken place in. Gosh, that had been a failure. Who would've thought that a person could screw up this royally during a job interview at a bar of all places? It was embarrassing, really. Messing up making a Bloody Mary? Her best friend would laugh at her, after all this had been their drink of choice ever since high school!
And now the rain. This really was not her day. Or her year, for that matter. Only five more minutes, she told herself. Five more minutes, and she would be inside again. Finally.
But before Asena could sigh in relief, a car drove by and splashed rain water from a puddle directly at her.
"Fucking idiot!" she screamed at the grey Mercedes that quickly drove away. She flipped it a middle finger, willing the driver to see, but in the end, it was useless. Not a single part of her body had been spared by the water.
"Need some help, love?"
Asena flinched and turned around when the rain suddenly stopped hitting her. A man, maybe two or three years older than herself, stood before her, holding up an umbrella. He had blondish hair—which in her home country of Germany would best be described as "straßenköterblond"—and the most beautiful green-blue eyes.
She sighed and managed to smile. "Thank you."
"No problem, love. We can't have you running around in the rain, can we?" He seemed amused.
"Oh, yeah. But I don't have far to go now." She tilted her head a little upwards to look him in the eyes.
"Then let me accompany you. It would be my honor."
That didn't seem like a good idea. He was a stranger. For all she knew, he could be a serial killer trying to kidnap and murder her. "Thanks for the offer, but I think I'll pass. It's really not that far, and I don't want to inconvenience you."
"You're not, don't worry about it." He really didn't want to take no for an answer. Great.
Asena straightened her shoulders and nodded. There was a café only a few hundred meters from here, which she would declare as her destination. In no way would she tell a random guy where she was actually going, and possibly end up on a true crime podcast later.
"If you want to be a gentleman and accompany me, you should probably also tell me your name," she said with a smile as they started walking, the black umbrella protecting both of them from the rain.
"Klaus," he introduced himself briefly. "And what may I call you?"
"I'm Lilian. But my friends call me Lily." A fake name, just to be sure.
"Then it's an honor to meet you, Lily."
Something didn't feel right about this. Asena looked around. There were far to few people here. If something happened, there would be close to zero witnesses. Fuck.
"We have to go to the café over there. I'm meeting my friend for brunch." She tried to sound relaxed. "What about you? Where are you heading to?"
Something in his eyes changed when she looked up to him. "Nowhere in particular, I'm just looking for someone."
"Really? Who?"
"There is this woman that's been missing for quite some time now. I have been told that she could be in London, so now I'm here," he explained.
"So... are you like a cop?"
He shook his head. "More of a private detective."
They stopped as they reached the café. "Thank you for walking with me," Asena said, praying that he would let her go. "I should get going now. My friend is probably waiting already. Hannah is... a little impatient."
"Then I don't want to hold you up," Klaus said with a voice that sent chills down her spine. "I'm sure we'll meet again soon."
"Yeah, maybe. Good luck with your search!" Asena didn't even wait for an answer and slipped through the door.
This was weird, was it? A random guy approaching her and wanting to walk to her so desperately, that wasn't normal, right? Or was she just exaggerating?
She pulled her phone out of her purse. Two missed calls from Alain and three from Sophia. She really should get going. There was enough time to worry about Klaus later. In the end, she most likely was just overreacting from too many true crime documentaries. Maybe he really was just a nice guy who liked to help. She should stop distrusting everyone. Then again, it was better to be safe than sorry.
Asena waited inside the café for several minutes, hoping that Klaus would be far away once she left the building. Even if he didn't have any bad intentions, she didn't want to have him knowing that she lied.
Luckily, he really was gone, and Asena could finally head to her real destination—the dance studio.
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Dance had always been Asena's escape. Whether it be school stress, her parents, or her mental health, dance always provided her with a gateway. It was no wonder then, that Asena moved from competitive dance in her adolescence to studying at a renowned dance school, hoping to make it to a professional level eventually.
But for that, she needed to focus. And her focus was nowhere to be found, at least today. The encounter with Klaus had really shaken her up. Something about this guy had been weird, and it wouldn't let her go.
Far more often than she liked to admit, did she have to repeat the steps of the choreography she and her friends, Alain and Sophia, were working on for class in two weeks. And for the first time ever, she was actually glad when the time for dancing was up and she could go home. Maybe tomorrow would be a better day.
But in order for tomorrow to be better, she first had to survive to the next day. And as always when she walked home in the dark, the pavement only dimly lit by ancient streetlights, she began to doubt that she would make it. Death could linger behind every corner—or maybe she had just watched too many horror movies.
Once she had reached the house her apartment was in, keys already in hand, something caught in the corner of her eye. Was that... a person standing behind the corner of the building?
Her heartbeat quickened as she unlocked the door, but before she could enter the house, someone grabbed her wrist. She flinched in shock, but the scream leaving her mouth got muffled by a strong hand.
"I told you we'd meet again soon, love," Klaus said, a terryfing smile on his face.
He was a stalker. Holy shit, he was actually a stalker. Asena tried to fight him off, but he pushed her toward the wall of the house and pressed her against it, his hand still firm on her mouth. The panic in her eyes only seemed to make him enjoy this more.
Fuck, what was she supposed to do? Desperately, she tried to kick and punch, but none of it seemed to phase him. She was utterly screwed. In one last attempt to free herself, she ripped open her mouth and bit down on his hand as hard as she could.
Wonders really seemed to come true today, because it actually worked. Klaus let get of her, cursing at the pain, and Asena ran like hell. "Help!" she screamed as loud as she could. "Help me!"
She was already halfway over the street when Klaus caught up to her. How the fuck did he move that fast? "You just made a big mistake, love."
"No," she whispered, horrified. "No, leave me alone!"
"I don't think so." His eyes turned red, and under the dim light, it seemed as if the veins beneath them stuck out. It was utterly terrifying. In the blink of an eye, he had his hands wrapped around her throat, pressing down on it hard.
"Please," she begged. "Don't do this."
If she lost consciousness now, there was no hope. He could do whatever he wanted with her, and no one could help her. If he brought her to a second location, no one would find her, and—
Everything went black.