A BEAUTIFUL CAGE

Elizah Carter was used to attention. It came with the territory-being a college athlete, the kind of guy who could land a perfect shot while barely trying, the one people pointed at in the hallways with something between admiration and envy. He was used to the way people looked at him. He liked it, even.

But this was different.

It started with gifts. A jersey in his size, a sleek watch he'd never mentioned wanting, a book with notes scribbled in the margins-notes about him. At first, he laughed it off. Some secret admirer, some weird prank. College was full of those.

Then came the letters. Pages filled with looping handwriting, words too personal, too precise, as if this person had been living inside his head. They knew his schedule. His favorite songs. That one time he cried during a Pixar movie when he thought no one was looking.

And then, the money. Stacks of it. Neatly wrapped, left on his doorstep like some sort of offering.

Eli still tried to pretend it was nothing-until his girlfriend was attacked. Until he saw her in that hospital bed, bruised and silent, eyes darting to the doorway as if she expected someone to walk in and finish what they started.

That was when it hit him. Someone was watching him. Not in the way fans did, not in the way friends did, but in a way that curled around his throat and made it hard to breathe.

And the worst part?

He wasn't sure if it was fear that kept him awake at night.

Or something else entirely.

*Very slow updates