CHAPTER 5 – FIRST CONTACT

                                                       

 The air was thick, suffocating.

Evangelina felt her heart pounding violently inside her chest.

She was not alone.

She knew it.

She felt it.

Her pulse raced as her eyes moved instinctively to the rearview mirror.

And then, she saw him.

Sitting in the back seat.

His majestic silhouette, unmoving, perfect, with eyes burning like embers in the dim interior.

His presence was overwhelming, like something too real and unreal at the same time.

His skin looked both cold and burning at once, and his expression was a mixture of intrigue and dangerous amusement.

There was no sound in the world.

Only his breathing. Her breathing. And nothing else.

Evangelina wanted to scream.

But she couldn’t.

Her lips parted slightly, but no air filled her lungs.

And then, he moved.

Slow.

Deliberate.

Like a predator savoring the fear of its prey.

He leaned forward, invading her space without touching her, without asking permission.

His breath, warm, brushed against the sensitive skin of her neck.

A shiver ran down her spine when his voice broke the silence inside the small car.

“Why do you run, Evangelina?”

Her name, spoken by him, felt like a dark caress.

A touch that never came, yet paralyzed her and, at the same time, awakened something inside her that she did not understand.

His hand was close to her thigh, not touching… but she could feel its warmth, like an invisible force binding her in place.

The storm outside seemed to fade.

The whole world shrank to his presence… his voice… his absolute control over the moment.

Evangelina squeezed her eyes shut.

This can’t be real.

It can’t be real.

But her body already knew the truth before her mind could accept it.

He was there.

And it was already too late to escape.