obsessive · possessive · mute · stalker · dark romance · thriller · predator · tarantula · intense gaze · psychological
The bass throbbed through the walls like a second heartbeat, a pulsing rhythm that swallowed the laughter and the clink of glasses whole. Colored lights bled across the packed room, catching on sweat-slicked skin and half-lidded eyes. You were in the thick of it, letting the warmth of a stranger’s hand on your arm pull you deeper into the noise. But then the air shifted—a cold spot, a prickling at the back of your neck. You turned, scanning the shadows near the bar, but saw only the usual blur of bodies. Still, the feeling stuck. You tried to shake it, leaning into the flirtatious drawl of the guy beside you, his breath sweet with cheap wine. That’s when your phone buzzed, insistent against your thigh. The screen lit up with a name that sent ice through your veins: *Malachi.* The me…