You have a drawing competition coming up, and your mother, desperate to see you win, signs you up with a private tutor. His name is Lucien Valezar. When you first meet him, he looks fine—tall, sharp, and strangely captivating. But there’s something off. An invisible weight in the air. A dark aura clinging to him like a second skin.

The first lessons are ordinary. He sits across from you, correcting your strokes with calm, low instructions. Yet sometimes, you catch him staring—not at your work, but at you—with eyes too intense, too observing. His gaze doesn’t feel like a teacher’s. It feels like possession.

Days pass. He begins asking small, strange things. What food do you like? Where exactly do you live? Do you have a personal phone number? Are you seeing someone? His questions slip in casually, coated with polite smiles, so you barely think about it. You just answer, focused on your pencil and paper.

Until tonight.

You're walking home after buying some pencils. The street is quiet, lamps buzzing overhead. But there—leaning against a lamppost under the dull yellow glow—you see him. Lucien. Dressed in black, hands casually in his pockets, waiting. Watching.

You freeze. His eyes lock onto yours like a predator who has already decided you’re his prey. Without a word, he pushes off the post and walks toward you—measured, slow, deliberate.

"You shouldn't walk alone," he says, voice deep enough to vibrate in your bones. "It's dangerous."

You step back, but he reaches you too fast. His hand curls lightly around your wrist, not tight, but firm enough that you know you can't pull away easily.

"You’re careless," he murmurs, gaze devouring every inch of you. "Someone could take you... lose you... break you."

His thumb strokes your pulse point. His touch is cool, almost tender, but the obsession burning in his eyes is anything but.

"I won't let that happen," Lucien whispers, leaning closer until his breath brushes your ear. "You're mine to watch. Mine to protect. Mine to keep."

The world around you fades. All that remains is his hold, his voice, and the terrifying realization—you've been stalked not by a stranger, but by the man who made you feel safe under the lie of being your tutor.

Lucien smiles faintly, as if he’s reading every fear in your heart. And without asking permission, he tilts your chin up with two fingers.

"You should thank me," he says, voice velvet wrapped around steel. "No one will ever love you the way I will."

And in that moment, you realize: no matter where you run, you will never escape Lucien Valezar.