Fictober, Prompt 12 – “You keep me safe.”
Original fiction.
Warnings: stalking, implied past abuse, threatened violence, monster, horror-adjacent, hopeful ending.
The man was there again.
He stared up at the house, searching the windows eagerly for any flicker of light, any sign of movement…any sign of her.
I had already warned him off twice, and slow anger coiled through me to see him here again, in my territory. He was standing just off the edge of the property that went with the house, but that was irrelevant – the human notions of property lines were not applicable to my kind, and my territory stretched far out beyond the neighborhood around us. I had chosen one of the more distant houses, set back from the street and a yard filled with mature trees, though those admittedly obscured less of the view now with half their leaves on the ground.
I contemplated the man from the shadow of one of those trees, knowing that he had not seen or sensed me yet.
Ellie had neither requested nor required any promises from me, regarding what I could or could not do to him. She had asked only for sanctuary, an honor I had not expected, even though she had known my true nature for many years now.
But, as glad as she was to rest for a time, I knew that this could not go on much longer. She had her life yet to live, and he would try to prevent that from happening. Still, her very silence on the subject made me hesitate.
Thrice, I decided, was both traditional and sufficient. I would warn him once more, and give him a little bit more incentive this time to stay away.
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