Narrator: Ethan
Some days don't begin.
They just continue.
The early hours had claws, and they used them without mercy. Scratching me from the inside, even with the city drowned in silence.
The sound of light rain against the bookstore awning sounded like a lullaby. But not for me. For me, it was the sound of time rushing too fast — and taking her with it.
Luna.
She had left the bookstore the night before, smiling. Cellphone in hand, eyes glowing with that light I knew too well. Only it wasn't because of me. Not anymore.
Not yet.
His name showed up by chance.
Or maybe not by chance at all.
Maybe the universe was testing me.
Gabriel.
I saw her typing on her phone. Saw her erase the first message and rewrite a new one, lighter, as if laughing to herself. But she wasn't alone. I was there. Across the street, invisible in the rain, like the shadow I had become.
"I already miss you."
I read it. Reread it. Swallowed hard.
My throat burned. My chest, too.
It wasn't pain.
It was clarity.
I couldn't let her drift away. Not after everything.
Not after Elena.
(…)
I stayed awake all night.
Replaying every second, every gesture.
I did what had to be done.
IP tracking.
Phone number ID.
Cross-referencing GPS data from her phone.
He worked at a coworking space downtown. Discreet profile on social media. Few photos. A few likes on her stories. I noted mentally: amateur. He didn't know how to hide. Or worse — didn't think he needed to.
(…)
In the morning, I went to the café where she usually stopped before class.
I sat at a distant table, blending in with students and freelancers.
She arrived. Alone. But with a different smile.
She held a blue-covered book — the same one she had in her hands when she smiled at him yesterday.
Inside her head, there was music.
But I heard what mattered most.
"Will he text me again today?"
"I think I'm a little in love. Idiot."
"Crap, I need to hide this from Julia. She'll totally make fun of me."
She was thinking about him.
First thing in the morning.
The coffee cup almost shattered in my hand. But I held it back.
I thought about Elena. About how she smiled at someone else once, too.
And how quickly everything ended.
Luna didn't deserve that ending.
She needed someone who truly knew her.
Someone who could hear her thoughts… even the silent ones.
Someone like me.
(…)
Later, I went to Gabriel's coworking space.
He left at 5 p.m., phone in hand. I sent an anonymous email to a cop friend. Made up a light harassment complaint — just enough for a casual interrogation, nothing more.
Nothing that would really hurt him.
Not yet.
Just a warning. A signal.
The line between protecting and punishing is thin.
Everything depended on him.
On how far he'd go with Luna.
On how much she'd let him.
(…)
That night, she walked past the bookstore without noticing me. She was in a hurry.
Her phone buzzed in her pocket.
She smiled.
"He said he dreamed about me."
"Shit. Why does that make me happy?"
"This won't work out… but what if it does?"
That hit me like a bullet in the chest.
I went home and reviewed the audio clips she posted online. The captions. The laughs. The pauses. I noted everything. Cataloged. Organized. Archived.
This phase was crucial.
Before the real approach — the study.
(…)
I sat in the dim light of my room.
The once-white walls felt like they were closing in.
I thought about how easy it would be to make her forget Gabriel.
Far too easy.
A push. A scandal. A simple message manipulation.
But no.
Not yet.
A true predator knows how to wait.
A true protector acts with precision.
"If he touches her again…
I swear…
I'll finish what I couldn't with Elena."
Bonus Scene: Whispers in the Dark
The rain had stopped, but the damp scent of the streets clung to every fiber of my body.
I knew exactly where he was — Gabriel.
My heart raced, but the cold voice in my mind urged me on.
I had to see. I had to understand.
Each step was measured, calculated. I couldn't slip.
He entered an old, grimy building, barely two blocks from where Luna was.
I stood in the hallway's darkness, motionless, listening.
Then I heard a woman's voice. Her laughter.
A soft voice, a giggle that wasn't hers — not Luna's.
I swallowed hard. Gabriel had a girlfriend.
For a moment, rage welled up, mixed with something more painful — jealousy, fear.
He had someone, while I only had a shadow.
They were so close to me, and yet… so far away.
That laugh pounded in my skull. How could he laugh like that, so carefree, while Luna was out there… vulnerable?
I had to act.
When Gabriel left alone, I followed him without hesitation.
The dark alley was perfect to end this lie.
He stopped. Checked his phone.
My chance.
I touched his shoulder. Felt the tension in his body, the fear in his eyes.
"Who are you?" he asked, voice trembling.
I wanted to say: "I'm the one looking after you. The one who knows you don't deserve a single piece of the life you're living."
But I only whispered:
"Someone here to give you a warning."
I wrapped my arm around his neck and pulled hard.
His muscles tried to resist, but he was too weak.
I was stronger — more determined.
With the cloth soaked in the chemical I'd prepared, I silenced his mouth.
He struggled, but soon his eyes began to close.
"This is just the beginning," I murmured in the dark, feeling a strange blend of power and emptiness.
Then I vanished into the night, with a promise:
No one else would touch Luna.
Not him.
Final Message
The basement was suffocating. The bare concrete walls swallowed sound like silence had weight.
The smell was a mix of rust, mold, and something more… thick, metallic.
Dried blood.
Gabriel was tied to a metal chair in the center of the room.
Head down, short breaths, blindfolded.
The duct tape over his mouth muffled any attempt at screaming.
Sweat ran down his neck, soaking the collar of his torn shirt.
I watched.
Calm.
Precise.
Cold.
His movements were pathetic — pulling at the ropes with bloody wrists, ankles bruised from his struggling.
Did he have any idea what was happening?
Probably not.
But he'd know soon enough.
I stepped closer.
My footsteps echoed like drums in a funeral procession.
When I removed his blindfold, his eyes opened wide in silent panic.
He looked at me like someone trying to comprehend a nightmare.
I ripped off the tape from his mouth in one swift motion.
"W-What's going on… Where am I?" he stammered. "Who are you?"
I crouched to his level.
I wanted him to see my face.
I wanted him to understand, in his final minutes, that this was personal.
"Ethan," I answered, plain and simple.
He frowned.
The name meant nothing.
Of course.
He'd never seen me up close.
But I saw him.
Every day.
Since the moment he got near her.
"You've been texting Luna. Going to her café. Kissing her. I watched every move."
His silence screamed for mercy.
"She never told you about me, did she?" I went on. "She doesn't even know who I am. But she doesn't need to. This isn't about her. It's about you. About where you shouldn't have looked."
"L-Look… man… if it's money you want, I can give it. My dad runs a firm, we can—"
"Money?" I smiled, coldly. "I could buy your life, Gabriel. But today… I'd rather burn it."
I took out a fine, sharp blade.
Ran it across his chest, shallow at first.
The skin opened in a thin red line.
He flinched.
"Please…" he whimpered. "I didn't know… I just like her…"
I leaned in, stared into his eyes.
"And that's why you'll die. Because you dared to like her."
I started slow. Cut by cut.
Along his abdomen. His forearm.
Nothing too deep. Not yet.
Enough to hurt. To scar.
He screamed.
Begged.
Tears and saliva mixed as he cried.
"You think you're special to her? That you can protect her?" I spat.
"You're just a distraction. A phase. Like all the others.
You don't see what I see.
You don't hear her thoughts.
You don't live in the spaces between what she says and what she hides."
He shook his head. Denying, but barely conscious.
At my mercy.
And me?
I was calm.
I took the pliers.
Looked into his eyes before gripping his fingernail.
"This is just to make sure you remember… in hell."
The snap. His scream. Blood splattering on the floor.
Then silence.
Yes, the silence afterward — that was the part I liked most.
I stood up, pulled out a syringe.
Chloroform with a lethal dose.
He struggled, but he was too weak.
One prick. A few minutes. Done.
His body slumped.
Eyes still open, frozen in final fear.
No rush, I grabbed a nearby metal drum.
Inside, the liquid steamed: acid.
Expensive, but necessary. I planned every detail.
With gloves, I tilted the drum and placed the body inside, piece by piece.
The stench was nauseating, but I was used to it.
I watched him decompose with serenity.
Gabriel was gone.
Forever.
I took his phone. Opened WhatsApp.
Texted his main contacts:
"Guys, I'm taking a break. Traveled to handle some things. No return date. Wish me luck."
Sent.
Then wiped traces. Deleted history. Disabled tracking.
Phone dismantled, SIM card snapped.
Nothing connected him to Luna anymore.
And nothing connected me to him.
The door closed behind me.
My footsteps to the surface were light.
My thoughts, organized.
I protect what's mine.
Even if she doesn't know it yet.
Silent Surveillance
Narrated by Ethan
Outside, the night was cold, but my body still carried the heat from the basement. Adrenaline takes time to fade when you take justice into your own hands.
It was nearly midnight when I got home. Shower taken, clothes burned, the acid drum already dissolving any trace linking Gabriel to this world. All according to plan.
Now it was time for part two.
I grabbed my phone. Opened Luna's Instagram. She was online.
Of course she was. She always is.
I tapped on our conversation — one I had started days ago using a new, carefully crafted profile. A different Ethan. An Ethan who didn't scare her. Who didn't watch from the shadows. An Ethan who smiled in pictures and listened to the bands she liked. An Ethan she believed she had met by chance.
"Tomorrow, 7 PM. Downtown café. My treat. :)"
Simple. Natural. Casual.
She replied in under a minute.
"Haha, you're persistent huh? Fine. But just coffee."
I smiled.
She thought she had a choice.
⸻
The Next Day – 6:45 PM
I parked two blocks from the café. I had arrived an hour earlier to check the cameras, regular customers, and street traffic. Same group of elderly folks in the usual corner. The Argentine waiter who told jokes no one laughed at. Bathroom door still stuck. Perfect.
Luna arrived seven minutes late. Hair down, denim jacket, headphones on. Holding a book — she always read before dates. A habit. A pattern.
I already knew.
I sat two tables back. Black cap, dark jacket. No one paid attention to me. I had chosen the seat with a clear view of the door and window. She didn't look around. Sat down. Pulled out her phone. Sent a message:
"I'm here. Are you going to be long?"
I picked up the other phone — the one belonging to the Ethan she knew.
"Traffic. 15 min. I already ordered your favorite coffee."
She smiled. Distracted.
As she took the first sip, I watched. Every gesture. Every blink. Every touch on the screen. No notifications from Gabriel. No anxiety. No comments. She seemed… light.
He was disposable. She already forgot him.
I got up, slipped out quietly, entered through the café's back door, and headed to the side alley. There, I set up the hidden camera with professional zoom. From afar, I kept watching. She stayed there for another 28 minutes before sending:
"Guess you stood me up haha. I'm heading out."
And she left.
I followed at a distance. Every step measured. She passed two shop windows, stopped at a newsstand, bought a bottle of water. No rush. Alone. Safe.
Because I take care of her.
She got home at 8:57 PM. Her bedroom light came on at 9:03. Curtains open. Phone on the nightstand. She lay down with the book in her hands.
From the car, I parked on the same street as always. Binoculars on the dashboard. Radio off. Phone in hand. I recorded the routine. Just another ordinary night.
Another night under surveillance.
On the phone screen, I opened the video of Gabriel. The last footage of him breathing. Not out of sadism. But to remind myself of what I'm willing to do.
For her.
Always for her.
And if anyone else tries to take his place…
I set the phone down. Hit record.
— File "Gabriel Protocol" closed.
— Status: eliminated.
— Target: Luna. Maximum protection level.
I pressed stop. And smiled.