Her house was tucked away in the quiet part of town, where the streets narrowed and telephone wires hung low like sagging ropes. We walked there in silence after school, the autumn air cool and filled with the scent of woodsmoke. Aiko's fingers brushed against mine more than once, but she didn't take my hand.
She didn't need to.
I was already tangled in her invisible threads.
When we reached the gates, I hesitated. Something about the house felt… off. Not in any obvious way—it was tidy, even beautiful. But the curtains were deep crimson, thick and heavy. They looked like they hadn't been opened in years. The garden was meticulously kept, each flowerbed in perfect bloom, but the petals were all red, too. Roses, tulips, even some dyed lilies. Not a single hint of another color.
Like someone had decided the entire world should be a shade of blood.
She noticed my silence.
"Nervous?" she asked softly.
"I just… didn't expect this place to look like a shrine."
She smiled at that. "That's because it is. A shrine for something I love."
I swallowed hard. "And what's that?"
"You," she whispered, and opened the gate.
---
Inside, the house was pristine. Every item in its place, every surface spotless. A lingering sweetness hung in the air—something between perfume and incense. It wasn't unpleasant, but it clung to the back of my throat, heavy.
She led me upstairs to her room.
When she opened the door, my breath caught.
The walls were covered in photos.
Of me.
Some from school. Others from years ago—pictures I didn't even remember being taken. Me at the arcade. Me walking home with friends. Me sitting in my bedroom window reading a book.
One photo showed me asleep in bed, mouth slightly open, hair messy on the pillow.
"How…?" I started, my voice a whisper.
"I watch over you," she said simply, as if that explained everything.
I turned in a slow circle. Her bed was neatly made. A plush rabbit sat in the center. Her desk was clean, with a single candle burning beside a notebook.
On the pages were sketches of me. Some detailed, some frantic. One showed me smiling. Another, bleeding. Another… tied up.
A shiver went down my spine.
"This is too much," I muttered. "Aiko, you need help."
She tilted her head. "You think I'm sick."
"I think you're obsessed."
She looked down. "But it's love. Isn't that what love is? When you give everything to someone?"
I didn't answer.
Because a small part of me—a scared, broken part—wasn't sure if she was wrong.
---
She made tea while I sat stiffly on the edge of her bed. I tried not to look at the photos again, but they were everywhere. I could feel them staring at me.
The tea smelled fragrant. Calming.
I took one sip to be polite.
It was warm. Sweet.
My head began to fog almost instantly.
"Aiko," I croaked, trying to stand.
She caught me gently.
"It's okay," she whispered. "I won't hurt you."
The last thing I saw before blacking out was her face hovering above mine, smiling like the moon in a pitch-black sky.
---
I woke up in her bed.
My limbs felt heavy. Not bound, but unresponsive. My head throbbed.
She sat beside me, brushing my hair.
"You were so tired," she murmured. "I couldn't let you leave like that. You need rest."
I tried to sit up. "You drugged me."
She looked genuinely hurt. "I only gave you what you needed. You were hurting. The world out there doesn't understand you. But I do. Only I do."
My heart pounded. The door was shut. I couldn't see my phone.
"I have to go," I said, forcing myself upright.
She placed a hand on my chest.
"You don't have to pretend anymore," she said gently. "I know it's scary. But I'll protect you. From everything. Even yourself."
Her eyes glittered with unshed tears.
"I love you so much it hurts."
I pushed her hand away and stood up, legs shaking.
"Aiko, this isn't normal."
Her expression didn't change. "Normal is what makes people leave each other. Hurt each other. I don't want normal."
I made for the door. She didn't follow.
"Come back tomorrow," she said softly as I left.
And the worst part?
A piece of me knew I would.
---
That night, I couldn't sleep.
Every creak of the house felt like her footsteps.
I checked all the locks. Closed the blinds. Sat up with a baseball bat next to my bed.
But she didn't come.
At school the next day, she acted like nothing had happened. She laughed with classmates. Helped the teacher pass out handouts. Asked me if I slept well.
I said nothing.
Because everyone else looked at her and saw an angel.
But I knew.
There were monsters hiding in heaven, too.
---
I tried to talk to the counselor.
She listened patiently as I explained about the photos, the tea, the drugs.
Then she smiled.
"She's been through a lot, you know. Lost both parents at a young age. Very intelligent, but isolated. I think she's just... attached."
"Attached?" I echoed. "She stalks me."
"She admires you. You're the only person she talks to."
That wasn't comforting.
"Isn't that... dangerous?"
The counselor's eyes softened. "She's fragile. Please don't do anything to hurt her."
That was when I realized something terrifying.
They were all on her side.
---
When I confronted her again, she looked almost disappointed.
"I thought you understood me."
"Aiko, you can't keep doing this."
"I'm not doing anything. I'm loving you."
She reached into her bag and handed me a folded piece of paper.
A drawing.
It was me. Eyes closed. Peaceful. But something was wrapped around my neck.
A red ribbon.
"I dream about you," she whispered. "Every night."
I didn't say anything.
I just walked away.
And even then, I felt her eyes on my back.
---
The next week passed in a haze.
No one believed me. Not my parents. Not the teachers. Not even my friends.
I stopped telling people.
I tried to avoid her.
But she was always there. Not confronting me—just present. Watching. Waiting.
Like a shadow.
Then, one afternoon, I saw her walking down a street I didn't recognize.
She slipped through a gate behind an abandoned house.
Curiosity got the better of me.
I followed her.
And I found the place.
The place where everything finally shattered.