Page 54 of Mortala
“Hey, I’m already on my way, so you can’t tell me no.” He argues, but I don’t answer. I’m frozen at the window, desperately looking for any sort of movement. Any sign that I didn’t imagine the entire thing.
“Mads, you there?” His voice changes when I don’t respond, the playful tone gone. “Maddie!”
I swallow hard, forcing myself to speak. “I-I’m here.”
My voice cracks, and I hate that he can hear exactly how scared I am.
“I’m sorry. I just…I thought I saw something.”
There’s a brief pause. “What did you see?”
My fingers tighten around my phone, but I don’t answer him, because saying it out loud makes it too real.
“I need you to tell me what you saw, Maddie,” Miles says, his voice calm, but I can hear the tension underneath it. “Was it him?”
I close my eyes, the question sending a chill down my spine.
I don’t know. Was it? I saw him, at least I think I did. But now that he’s gone, doubt starts creeping in. Maybe it was a shadow and my mind just filled in the blanks. Maybe years of being afraid have finally caught up with me. But then why does my entire body feel like it’s screaming at me to run?
I press my hand against my forehead, trying to slow my breathing.
“I don’t know,” I whisper, my chest tightening. “I don’t know what I saw.”
“Maddie,” he says, his voice low. “Listen to me. Lock your door.”
My eyes immediately move toward it.
“Don’t open it for anyone except me, okay?”
“Miles—”
“No.” His voice is firm, but there’s no anger behind it, only fear. “I’m serious. Lock your door. Stay away from the windows if you can. I’m already on my way.”
I look back toward the courtyard to find it still empty.
“I don’t know if I’m imagining things.”
“Maddie, you’re not crazy.”
A tear slips down my cheek before I can stop it. “I saw someone.”
“I believe you,” he says without hesitation. “Lock the door for me, Princess.”
I nod even though he can’t see me. “Okay.”
“Good girl.”
The words shouldn’t affect me the way they do, but they send a strange warmth through the panic tightening around my chest.
“I’ll be there soon,” he says before the line goes quiet.
It feels like only five minutes pass by when I hear the knock on my door—for all I know, it’s probably been more. I stand up and back further away from the door, my heart hammering loudly in my chest.
“Maddie, it’s me, baby. It’s Miles. Let me in.”
The relief that rushes through me is immediate and overwhelming. Thank fuck he’s here. My hand reaches for the lock before my brain even catches up. The second the door opens, I don’t hesitate, throwing my arms around his neck and burying myself against him.
For a moment I forget why he’s even here. My mind goes completely quiet, every thought, fear, and reason why I’ve been trying so hard to keep him at a distance disappearing beneath the feeling of his lips against mine. It’s like everything else fades away until there’s only him. Only this moment and the warmth of his body, the way he makes me feel, like maybe for once I’m not drowning.
