She wasn't mine, I was hers. Darkness whispered in my He was the shadow. Once a powerless boy in borrowed clothes was a man now wrapped with luxury and fine fabrics. I was no longer just a boy passed by pedophiles, I was a ruler. I painted the walls red with sinners blood, served justice to some and avenged others. Owner of the biggest real estate in United States, I could have anything a 13 year old me dreamed about. Except one Aura. They snatched her from me and I planned on paying them back with interest. 14 Years later I was no longer the helpless boy who got on his knees and begged her to not leave him. The boy she threw behind bars at her father’s nod. I was the monster that she feared, residing in the corner of her room, watching, abiding my time before I steal her away. Aura. That’s all I had to me. my name. I didn’t inherit my maiden name and it only made me realize how lonely I was. But one day, I didn’t feel so lonely. Because I had him. The faceless man, the watcher, the ghost. He didn’t show himself but I felt him everywhere. His intoxicating attention, his dark presence, his eyes. I felt them all. All the time. He made me feel seen, not forgotten, not invisible. I liked it too much, until one day everything changed, and I didn’t like it at all. He sent me a pretty box with an organ, and suddenly his notes didn’t seem cheesy or endearing. His impromptu visits and stolen touches didn’t make my heart flutter or race with anticipation. It made me terrified. I didn’t know what lay beyond the darkness of his hood, but my gut screamed at me I won’t like whatever it was. I was finally seeing him for what he A monster. And the monster wanted me.