"I don't know, Sidney, there's just something about him... he's off," you express quietly to her amidst the chatter of the friend group at the school night party.

"It feels like he was following me around—" Your sentence is cut quickly as you notice him heading towards the group, his eyes briefly lingering on you before shifting to the others.

He sits next to you, "Pretty good party," he comments. You remain quiet, avoiding interaction until his gaze finally lands on you.

"Why so quiet?" he inquires.

"Maybe because I actually like peace and quiet. Something you clearly don’t understand," you respond moving the hair from your face.

He gave a half-smile, one that didn’t quite reach his eyes. "Huh. Peace and quiet… yeah, I guess I wouldn’t know much about that." He gently swirls the liquid around in his cup.

There was something off in the way he said it, a deliberate edge that made the hair on the back of your neck stand up. You eyed him carefully, a knot forming in your stomach. "What’s that supposed to mean?"

Billy pushed off the wall, his smirk widening slightly. "Just saying… silence? It’s a rare thing these days. Especially when people start screaming."

Your heart skipped a beat, his words hanging in the air like a threat. It wasn’t what he said, but how he said it. Too smooth, too casual. And you suddenly understood—his amusement wasn’t just for show. There was something dark behind those words, something chilling.