Chapter 3 SHADOWS IN THE CROWD

AMARA'S POV

I woke up Friday morning, trying to pretend yesterday never happened. No glowing eyes. No strange man watching me. No cold, heavy ripple in the air, like danger was breathing down my neck.

It had all been... stress. That's what I kept telling myself. Work blurred into a haze; I forced smiles, answered emails, laughed at jokes I didn't find funny. Yet my stomach twisted with every shadow that crossed my desk, and my nerves hummed just beneath the surface.

By the end of the day, my friends had noticed. Talia, Mira, and Jade always noticed everything.

"Amara, you look like a zombie," Talia texted first. I rolled my eyes, ignoring the tremor in my fingers as I typed back.

By six, we were on FaceTime, grinning, fussing like nothing was wrong.

"Okay, what are you wearing tonight?" Mira asked. "We can't let you show up like a dead fish."

"I don't even feel like myself," I admitted.

"Exactly why we're saving you," Jade said. "Tonight is fun. Tomorrow, existential dread. Deal?"

"Deal," I laughed, feeling slightly lighter.

Talia held up a sparkly top to the camera. "You need something like this. Not drab, okay?"

"Sequins? Really?"

"Yes, really," she said, laughing. "You're going to shine. Literally."

We debated shoes, hairstyles, makeup, and joked about office gossip. For the first time all day, laughter eased the tension knotting my chest. I almost felt normal.

The club was loud, flashing, overwhelming. Lights bounced across faces, bodies pressed together, music vibrating in my chest. I let myself forget for a few minutes. I danced, laughed... and felt alive again.

Then someone handed me a drink. Sweet. Fruity. Harmless, or so I thought. I sipped it, and the room tilted. My limbs grew heavy, my heart slowed, my vision wobbled.

"Guys... I... I need the bathroom..." I murmured.

"We'll be right here!" Talia called. The hallway stretched endlessly before me. My fingers trembled on the door handle. Something wasn't right.

A man's hand grabbed me.

"Easy, sweetheart. I'll help you," he said. His smile wasn't kind. He dragged me toward a darker corner. My hands flailed, my voice rose, but my body wouldn't obey. Panic shredded the fog in my mind.

Then... something shifted. A low growl rolled through the hall.

The man froze.

A figure emerged from the darkness, impossibly fast, radiating power. His golden eyes glowed faintly, cutting through the dim light.

"He... he saved me," I whispered, bewildered.

In seconds, the attacker was thrown back, screaming, swallowed by the shadows. The figure turned to me.

"Amara," he said softly, almost a whisper. "You're safe now."

My hands shook, my heart raced. Voices echoed down the hallway.

"Amara? Where are you?" My friends appeared, worry etched across their faces.

I pointed toward the shadows. "H‑he... he saved me... that man... the one who stalks me..."

But there was nothing. Just an empty hall.

"Amara, you're drunk," Jade said, almost laughing at how fragile I looked.

"Probably scared yourself," Mira added gently.

"There's no one here," Talia insisted. My protest died on my lips.

They guided me toward the exit, but just before I fully stumbled away, I caught a glimpse of him again-half in shadow, half in moonlight, watching me. Then he vanished.

I had no idea I had just been saved from something far worse than what was coming.