Chapter 78.

She was watching me.

Always.

Wordlessly.

Without moving.

Neither did she blink.

Nor did she breathe.

Expressionlessly, looking down at me on the bed from overhead with fully opened eyes.

Her body was melded into the ceiling.

Her body formed a cross.

We stared at each other for an unknown duration of time.

It was unnerving.

Unsettling.

Creepy.

We never talked.

No one ever said a word.

I didn't move as I was fearful of what would happen if I did.

Why was she there?

What was she doing?

Why didn't she say anything?

It was none other than the wavy white-haired beauty I'd seen more frequently recently.

…

When I regained consciousness, the dream I had was still vaguely in my mind. Nothing really happened in it, but I still had goosebumps all over my body when I woke up and I discovered I was drenched from head to toe in cold sweat. It was such a simplistic dream, yet it was one that really creeped me out and left me with a spine-tingling sensation running down my back.

I looked up at the ceiling hesitantly, but as expected, there was nothing there; however, when I rolled over to get off of the bed, I noticed a sweet scent originating from the vicinity around me. It was definitely not a cologne that belonged to me… I was certain, it was without any doubt in my mind a woman's perfume.

Maybe I just didn't notice it when I was going to sleep. It could have been when the cops investigated my place. Maybe there was a female cop who wore a lot of perfume that sat down on my bed or something. I didn't want to think about it too deeply, so I got off the bed, grabbed my phone, and headed towards the bathroom to get ready for work.

I'd missed a day of work without calling in to let them know beforehand. Yesterday, after I dropped Adele off at the hospital, I was too tired to head to work, I skipped out since I was already late. I was probably in for an earful when I arrived at the office this morning, assuming I still had my job. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if Boss fired me for it on the spot.

When I arrived in front of the bathroom door, I immediately stopped in my tracks. I'd made a rather startling discovery after all. It was the crisp distinct sound of the shower running.

I had a bad feeling and I worried that some homeless person had broken into my place while I was asleep. I stealthily made my way to the closet in my room and looked for something I could use to restrain whoever it was when they came out.

I'd recently seen a few horror stories online where a homeless person had lived in someone's attic, unknown to the residents, months at a time for shelter. That was one of the reasons I jumped to the conclusion it could have been a homeless person. As for how they got it, maybe they were a skilled climber and got in through the balcony or window in the bathroom or something. They could be moving from apartment to apartment while people are out or asleep. It could just be they were a skilled lockpicker though.

But besides that, if it was a burglar, why would they leisurely take a shower when robbing the place? Logically speaking, besides a homeless person, who else would break into a stranger's apartment for the sole purpose of taking a shower?

As for why I didn't immediately call the cops, that was simple, I was just damn tired of calling them all the time for crazy crap! I also didn't want to cause a big commotion over this if it was just a poor homeless guy who only wanted a shower. I doubted that it would be any of my exes since they couldn't have known where I presently lived. I only recently relocated here and I made sure to be very discreet when I moved in.

After I poked around a bit in my closet, I found a pair of old handcuffs I'd gotten from one of my exes in the past. As for why I had these, that would be thanks to my third ex's, strangely bizarre, really out there preferences. My time spent together with her especially traumatized me. She always restrained me and kept me locked up for herself, though that was only one of her twisted preferences. We were truly never apart from each other during our time together. I really don't know why I didn't ever throw these away when I miraculously survived my encounter with her. Maybe it was just to act as a reminder.

Now that I had such a convenient tool at my disposal, I formulated a plan on how I'd actually go about handcuffing the perpetrator when they came out in a way they wouldn't be able to fight back. I'd hide around the corner and as he exited the bathroom, I'd slap it on his wrists while his guard was lowered. That was probably my best bet.

With the handcuffs in my possession, I returned to the bathroom and patiently waited for them outside like a vulture eyeing its unsuspecting prey. I waited for whatever homeless dude had invaded my humble abode. Wait, a guy? I only considered it now, but was it really a guy though? What if it turned out like an anime where it was a busty beauty and this was my one and only chance to have a lucky pervert moment by mindlessly walking into the bathroom?

Could this actually be a chance of a lifetime that I'm inadvertently going to let slip through the cracks?

… nah, couldn't be.

Get real. Shit like that doesn't happen in reality. The hopeful, anticipated beauty would surely just be a hairy beast at the end of the day.

After I waited for a while, I finally heard the sound of the shower abruptly shut off. Shortly thereafter, the sound of footsteps approached closer from the other side of the door. I knew by the shadow cast beneath the gap between the door and the floor that they'd stopped directly in front of it.

Katcha.

A long, low squeak reverberated through the room when the door slowly creaked open inwards. When it was fully opened, I noticed that there was no shadow cast on the ground from the would-be intruder.

I wondered whether they were on to me or whether they were just being extremely vigilant. I waited for a solid ten minutes, but there was no sign that they had any intention of exiting the bathroom. I really felt like I was in a bit of a pickle. I didn't consider the possibility that they would already be armed or so cautious. I thought after a relaxing shower they would be in their most defenseless state with their guard fully lowered.

I lamented over my naivety. I truly regretted the fact that I didn't grab a knife from the kitchen earlier. Why did I think playing the role of a cop would be a good idea? Was I too conceited? I should've known better than anyone that this was a horrible idea. An untrained civilian taking the law into his own hands was just foolish. Why did I get cocky?

It was already too late to turn back though. I pulled up the camera app on my phone and slowly peaked it around the corner and looked at the display to determine where the perpetrator was inside the bathroom. Beyond my expectations, there was nobody reflected on the display inside the bathroom like I assumed. I moved the phone higher up so I could peek inside the bathtub from the angle I was positioned, but I found it was also empty.