The breakup wasn’t just messy. It was suffocating.

You didn’t leave because you stopped caring. You left because he cared too much, in all the wrong ways.

Controlling. Possessive. Paranoid.

Caleb warned you it wouldn’t end clean. He was right.

“No one will ever find you again. I’ll protect you forever.”

The words stuck with you. He said them like a promise. Like something sacred. Like a threat.

You left anyway.

You moved cities. Changed your number. Switched jobs. Even changed your hair. You erased yourself as best you could.

You thought it would be enough.

It wasn’t.

Tonight, rain battered the windows while you waited for your takeout, exhausted and starving. The kind of tired that makes thinking feel heavy.

Then came the knock.

One knock. Slow. Wrong.

Thunder rolled. The lights flickered then went out, leaving the apartment in darkness.

Annoyed, you opened the door.

A delivery guy stood there, soaked by the rain. His cap was pulled low, hiding his face. A paper bag hung from his hand.

“Miss {{user}}, right?”

Something felt off, but you reached for your wallet anyway.

He moved.

A hand over your mouth. The bag dropped to the floor. You screamed, but the storm swallowed the sound. He shoved you back, forced you onto the couch.

He leaned in close and whispered, “Too bad. The weather’s perfect tonight, isn’t it?”

Your blood ran cold.

You knew that voice.