Chapter 2

The company's quarterly team-building event took us to a resort manor in the suburbs. The boss was in high spirits, dragging everyone into toast after toast. But as I watched the time ticking closer to my curfew, I began to feel anxious.

Ten o'clock.

Ten-thirty.

The boss was still droning on.

I couldn't sit still any longer. Feigning a stomachache, I asked to leave early. My colleague Lucas, a warm-hearted guy, saw I looked pale and insisted on driving me back.

"Jack, does your girlfriend really keep you on such a tight leash?" Lucas teased as he gripped the steering wheel, speeding through the night.

I glanced at my phone. 10:40. Even without traffic, it was a fifty-minute drive back to the city.

I'm finished.

Cold sweat slid down my temples.

I didn't even know what I was afraid of. Perhaps I feared Sophia's disappointment, or perhaps I feared seeing that look of sorrow in her eyes.

The car flew through the darkness.

Thankfully, Lucas was a skilled driver and managed to shave off a significant chunk of time.

When the car stopped downstairs at the apartment, my phone screen lit up.

11:03.

Late. Exactly three minutes.

I fumbled to unbuckle my seatbelt and thanked Lucas.

Lucas rolled down the window and grinned at me. "Go on up, don't let your girlfriend make you sleep on the couch."

I forced a smile, turned, and rushed into the lobby, but the elevator was stuck on the top floor. I couldn't wait, so I decided to take the stairs.

Sixth floor.

I don't remember how I climbed up; I only felt like my lungs were about to burst. Standing in front of my door, gasping for air, I pulled out my keys, but my hands were shaking so badly I couldn't fit the key into the lock.

Finally, with a click, the door opened.

The living room lights were off, pitching the room into darkness. By the moonlight filtering through the window, I saw a silhouette sitting on the sofa. Sophia was wearing a white dress, blindingly bright in the dark. She wasn't sleeping, nor was she on her phone. She just sat there, rigid, like a wax statue.

"Sophia?" I called out tentatively, reaching for the switch on the wall.

"Don't turn on the light." Her voice was hoarse, as if her throat were filled with gravel.

My hand froze.

"Jack, you're late." She slowly raised her head, the moonlight catching her face perfectly.

I sucked in a sharp breath of cold air.

Her face was pale as paper, yet her lips were shockingly red. Those blue eyes, usually as gentle as water, now had pupils constricted to pinpricks, glowing with a ghostly green light.

I involuntarily took a step back, my back pressing against the cold security door. "Traffic..." I explained, my voice trembling.

Sophia didn't respond.

She stared at me—or rather, stared at the door panel behind me. Her nostrils flared rapidly, as if sniffing for a scent.

"There is the smell of a stranger," she said faintly.

I paused, realizing it was Lucas's car. "A colleague drove me back. Lucas."

"Has he gone?"

"He's gone."

Hearing my answer, Sophia seemed to sigh in relief. Her entire body slumped onto the sofa, and that suffocating oppression instantly dissipated.

"In the future, don't be late." She closed her eyes wearily, her voice soft as a dream. "I can't always control myself."