Chapter 1 – Streetlights
The streetlights buzzed overhead, their dim glow struggling to pierce the night air. Nia Carter kept her hoodie pulled tight around her shoulders, the fabric scratchy against her skin, and her backpack slung low on her back. She wasn't listening to music she couldn't. Not tonight. Too many sounds: sirens in the distance, the clatter of someone kicking a tin can down the alley, the occasional shout that made her pulse spike.
This was her neighborhood. Every cracked sidewalk and graffiti-stained wall was familiar. Dangerous, yes but familiar. It had been her life for seventeen years. And she'd learned that to survive, you needed eyes in the back of your head and nerves of steel.
She passed the corner store, where a group of guys leaned against the wall, their laughter rough and hollow. One of them nodded at her.
"Yo, Nia."
She gave a brief nod back and kept walking.
Two more blocks, then she'd be home. Just two more blocks.
That's when she noticed the car.
Black. Sleek. Too shiny. Too new. It didn't belong in this neighborhood. The paint gleamed even in the dull streetlight, and the rims caught the faint glow like they were polished every morning.
And leaning against it was a guy. Tall. Broad shoulders. Dark jacket zipped halfway. He looked... calm. Too calm.
Nia slowed. Her heartbeat ticked up, just a little. She had learned the hard way that calm people on her block were usually trouble. Or trouble in disguise.
He didn't speak immediately. Just watched her.
When she got close enough to pass, he finally did.
"You always walk home this late?"
Her steps faltered. She turned to face him fully, her eyes narrowing.
"Do I know you?"
He smiled faintly. "No."
"Then why you talking to me?"
"Because you look like someone who doesn't trust anybody."
Nia tilted her head, studying him. He looked... out of place. Not just the clothes or the car. Something in his stance, in the way he held himself, said he didn't belong on these streets.
"And you look like someone who shouldn't be standing on this block," she shot back.
He chuckled quietly, the sound low and smooth. "Fair."
For a moment, they just stared at each other. And then he held out a hand.
"Adrian."
Nia didn't move to shake it. "...Nia."
The streetlight flickered above them, buzzing like it was about to die.
And that's when she noticed something else: a shadow in the back seat of the car, just behind Adrian. Watching. Waiting.
Her gut tightened.
"Why are you really here?" she asked.
Adrian's faint smile faltered. His dark eyes locked onto hers.
"Let's just say... I've been looking for you."
The words were casual, almost too casual. But they sent a shiver down her spine.
Nia's first thought: she needed to run.
Her second thought: curiosity burned too deep to ignore.
