The Psycho is Back
ARIANA'S POV
I had barely stepped into the company building when I heard rapid footsteps echoing against the marble floors. I paused, blinking against the morning light pouring in through the glass doors behind me. The lobby was quiet, and I could almost hear the thump of my own heart before I saw him.
"Miss Miller!" Harrison’s voice cracked through the silence, sharp and frantic.
I turned sharply just in time to see him striding toward me, his face pale and drawn, eyes darting around as if expecting something—or someone—to jump out at any moment. My breath hitched. The air in the lobby suddenly felt heavier, charged.
"Harrison? What’s—" I didn’t even get to finish my sentence before he was standing in front of me, his chest heaving slightly like he’d been running.
He leaned in slightly, lowering his voice. "We can’t talk here. Please. We need to go somewhere private. Now."
A wave of unease washed over me. There was something in his eyes—pure, unfiltered fear. Not panic over a missed deadline or a failed deal. No. This was different. This was darker.
Without a word, I turned and headed for the elevator. Harrison followed close behind, casting suspicious glances over his shoulder like he expected the walls to start whispering. When the elevator doors slid open, we stepped in, and I pressed the button for my office floor.
The doors shut with a soft ding, and the moment we were enclosed, I turned to him. "Harrison, you're scaring me. What's going on?"
He didn’t answer immediately. He rubbed his palms together, paced the small space of the elevator, then dragged a hand through his hair.
"I shouldn't even be here. I wasn’t supposed to come in today, but... I had to warn you. I couldn’t stay home knowing what I know."
The way he said it, like a man being hunted, made every muscle in my body coil in tension.
"Warn me about what?" I asked, my voice low.
He glanced up at the ceiling as if even the elevator itself could betray him, then shook his head.
"Not here."
When the doors opened to my floor, we stepped out swiftly. I could feel the eyes of a few staff members watching us from the hallway, sensing something off, but I didn’t stop walking until we were in my office.
I shut the door behind us, locking it, then walked over to the couch in the corner where Harrison had already sat down, gripping his knees like he needed something to ground himself.
I lowered myself next to him, trying to keep my breathing even. "Harrison. You're shaking. What the hell is going on?"
His eyes met mine. There was a storm in them.
"He's back."
I blinked. "Who?"
He inhaled deeply, chest rising and falling.
"The bad guy."
My heart dropped.
The room fell into silence, but in my head, everything roared. I felt like the ground had just shifted beneath my feet. For a split second, I thought I’d misheard him, or maybe he meant someone else. Anyone else. But the look in his eyes told me otherwise.
The psycho. That man.
A face I had buried. A memory I had struggled to unlock—and once I did, I wished I hadn’t.
I stared at Harrison, every nerve in my body suddenly on high alert.
"You're sure?" I whispered, afraid of my own voice.
He nodded slowly. "I saw him, Ariana. I saw his face. I’d never forget that face. I was at the train station—just passing through to pick up a friend visiting from out of town. And there he was, standing like he didn’t have a care in the world, like he hadn’t ruined our lives."
I felt cold. The kind of cold that seeped into your bones.
"He looked right at me," Harrison continued, his voice cracking. "And he smiled. It wasn’t just any smile, Ariana. It was that smile. The one he used to give before he—before he hurt us."
My vision tunneled for a moment. I pressed my hands against the couch to keep from swaying. Images started flashing in my mind. Darkness. Chains. Screams muffled by gagged mouths. A young boy clinging to me. Blood. That voice. That face.
"But how?" I asked, trying to make sense of it. "He was—he was gone. Wasn’t he? Didn’t they catch him?"
Harrison shook his head bitterly. "No one ever caught him. There were rumors he fled the country, changed identities. We both believed it just to get peace of mind. But he's back now. And he looked healthy, calm, even bold. Like he’s not hiding anymore."
"Why would he come back now?" I murmured, more to myself than to him.
"I don’t know. But I think... I think he’s looking for us."
My mouth went dry.
"He didn’t follow you, right? To the company?" I asked, trying to keep the rising fear from breaking into full-blown hysteria.
"I didn’t see him. But I didn’t exactly stay long to check. I left immediately. But if he recognized me, it’s only a matter of time before he finds you."
I stood up abruptly and paced across the room. "No. This can’t be happening. Not now. Not after all these years."
"Miss Miller, we need to be prepared. This man doesn’t operate like normal people. He’s a monster. And the look he gave me... he’s planning something. I know it."
My hand trembled as I reached for the edge of the desk.
Memories I had fought to keep buried began to claw their way to the surface. His voice whispering threats. His eyes glowing in the darkness. The chill of the chains. The terror that never quite left my bones.
"Should we call the police?" I asked, still trying to hold onto some shred of rationality.
"And tell them what? That a man we never officially reported just strolled back into town? That we think he’s planning something because he smiled at me in a train station? They’ll never take us seriously. Not without proof."
"Then we get proof," I said, my voice steely.
Harrison looked up at me, surprised.
"He came back thinking we’d be the same scared kids we were back then. But we’re not. I refuse to let him control my life again."
Harrison gave a small nod. "I just... I needed to tell you first. I couldn’t keep it to myself. You deserved to know."
I walked back over and sat beside him again, this time slower, more composed—but my heart was still pounding.
"We’ll figure it out," I said, more to convince myself than him. "Whatever he’s planning, we’ll stop him."
But deep down, I knew that things were going to soon become even more complicated.
I didn’t know how or when... but the psycho was back.
And this time, he wasn’t going to make it easy.
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