Afterlight (Fanfiction) ✓

chapter three

Chloe

I sprinted down one last alley, the sound of footsteps growing louder behind me. I knew I'd been caught in the act—running from the wreckage of my own life. Panic coursed through my veins, my feet pounding against the wet pavement as I whipped around a sharp corner, veering right into another alley. I had to shake whoever was following me, make sure I wasn't walking into the arms of one of my enemies.

But the footsteps grew nearer still, the rhythm of them steady and determined. Before I could react, a figure emerged from the shadows, tall and shadowed, as though he'd been waiting there for me all along. His presence was electric, pulling the air out of my lungs, leaving me with a tightness in my chest.

He was close—too close—and as he stepped into the faint light spilling from the alleyway, I saw him for what he was: a dark enigma. About my age, with a black leather jacket that clung to his broad shoulders, and a white t-shirt that caught the moonlight in a way that made it seem almost too stark against his dark figure. His hair was a soft brown, the color of autumn leaves after the first rain, sleek and disheveled as if the world itself had barely touched him.

But it was his eyes that seized me. They were the color of a storm, silvered and intense, as though they could burn through my very soul. And they were trained on me now—watching, studying, absorbing. Goosebumps rose along my skin as his gaze seemed to peel back every layer of my fear, exposing me in the most intimate of ways.

He finished his cigarette with a slow drag, then flicked it to the ground, extinguishing it with the toe of his boot. Without a word, he closed the distance between us, his body pressing into mine, trapping me against the cold, unforgiving brick wall. The air between us felt thick, charged, as if the very space was alive with tension. I could smell his cologne—musky, dangerous, a scent that whispered of nights spent in forgotten corners of the world. His breath was warm against my skin, the heat sending shivers through me. I couldn't move, couldn't breathe, couldn't escape.

"What's a girl like you doing running around at this hour?" His voice rasped in my ear, low and dangerous, sending a ripple of heat straight down to the pit of my stomach.

His breath lingered against my skin as he leveled his face to mine, his eyes catching the faint light from the streetlamps. For a moment, it felt like the world had stopped, the shadows wrapping us in a cocoon, leaving only us two in the center of it.

As several shadows passed us, he stepped back, his warmth leaving me. I understood that he was simply hiding us from probably the actual people looking for me. I looked at the man before me, his presence suffocating, yet somehow reassuring in its intensity.

More footsteps echoed in the distance, and I felt the urgency in my veins spike. They might have not found me, but hadn't left yet either. I could practically hear their boots pounding the pavement, getting closer, closing in on me.

"I need to get out of here," I whispered, my voice shaky with panic. "Please."

This was supposed to be the end of my escape, wasn't it? I was meant to die tonight, and now I was stuck in the web of a stranger's grasp. But somehow, with the threat of those footsteps, something primal stirred inside me.

"Let's get out of here, go somewhere else," I begged, the words tumbling from my lips in a panic. I hated the vulnerability in my voice, but I had no choice now but to plead.

His eyes narrowed slightly, raising an eyebrow in that way that made it clear he wasn't quite sure whether I was making a request or a demand. "I'm not interested," he said, his voice low, amused—though there was something else in it.