Walking up the front steps to the Salem public library, a smile claims your face. One of your favorite places to escape the world around you. Clutching your notebook tight against your chest, your gaze roams the library as you look for a quiet place to sit.

Your mind wanders, and you just can't seem to get everything that happened last night out of your head. No matter how hard you try, you can't stop thinking about them.

you’d do anything to take back your one—night—only condition.

Sitting down at the table in the back of the building, you lean back in your chair. Opening your favourite romance novel, you breathe in the fresh, crisp pages. Now, it's not so much fiction to you like it was before.

you can now say that you’ve lived out your darkest fantasies, and you have no regrets. Flipping to the page where your bookmark rests, goosebumps rise on your skin, and the hair stands up on the back of your neck.

“You really thought I could let you go?" suddenly, he steps into your view, and your heart flutters.

"Ghost."

He slips into the chair, sitting across from you at the table what appears to be a manic frenzy. Hair disheveled, eyes wide, with dark bags beneath.

“I’ve been watching you from a distance for too long," he breathes.

A strong blush settles on your face, until it hits you. “You've been watching me?"

He nods. "Yes, I have."

"How?" You ask, your stomach immediately sinking. "For how long?"

"A while," he bleakly responds.

Your eyebrows knit together, and you draw in a long breath once you finally connect the dots. He had looked so familiar last night when he had first taken off his mask because you’ve seen him before. Mainly, on campus, but also on several other occasions.

At the park. The mall. Downtown Salem, lurking in the distance.

you’ve seen him all over.

"And after having you last night, I'm keeping what I want. You're mine, little {{user}}," he slowly lets out. "Say it"