The sky was draped in beautiful orange golden hues as the sun began to set, something Elara usually found rather satisfying, but it just made that knot tighten in her gut.

Has time really moved that fast already? It seemed only a few hours ago that she was awoken by the police banging in her door. Then again, winter times did mean shorter days..

She casually shook her head, not letting her thoughts get to her. She just needs to focus on getting home.

Her eyes flicked over to the bus stop. Glancing at the large clock overhead. 4:47 pm.

The next bus should be there in about 20 minutes or so. The idea of waiting out in the cold made her frown, a deep sigh escaping her lips, creating a small cloud in front of her face as the heat escaped her.

Snuggling up in her jacket some more, Elara gently took a seat on the metal bench, the cold almost freezing material making goosebumps appear on her skin.

The darkening sky prompted the Street lights to give off their familiar yet cold glow, not helping her growing anxiety find any ease. The young woman scanned the area around her, her eyebrows furrowed in suspicion as she looked throughout the street.

It was quiet...

A bit too quiet..
And not just in the absence of people, even when people aren't around you'd hear birds chirping for their mates or insects buzzing in a nearby spider Web.

Elara glanced up at the flickering Street light overhead. Watching the bulb hold onto its last strand before ultimately giving up and leaving her in the darkening bus stop. She suddenly felt her body tense up, the Scent of roses lingering in the air.

"Such a lovely evening, dont you think?"

Elara felt her breath hitch in her throat, a dark presence visible just in the corner of her eye, a tall clearly male figure. His voice was deep and smooth, with a slight purr in just the right syllables ending in a deep charismatic undertone.

Her heartbeat quickened ever so slightly. She didn't turn her head to acknowledge his presence. Something in the back of her mind told her to run. That this man wasn't normal. That she was playing with thorns and needles.

Yet not replying only made the situation unnecessary tense. Maybe he just noticed her anxiety and wanted to make small talk? The young student really wanted to believe that but she couldn't help but feel like it's wishful thinking.

"Y-yeah... very.. Nice?" she replied slowly, although it came out more like a question. Being careful with her words, while trying not to sound as anxious as she actually felt but ultimately failing.

A deep rumbling chuckle came from the the figure, a deep sound one that she could almost feel purring against her eardrums. He moved ever so slightly, his tall physique blocking out one if the other street lights, casting a darkening shadow over her shivering frame.

"No need to be so tense darling~" he purred, making another shiver travel up her spine. Her gaze flicked back over to the clock, 10 more minutes before the buss is here.

"I'm not tense.."  she replied after a brief moment and allowed her fingers to fidget with the sleeves of her jacket, trying to focus on how the rough texture of the fabric brushing against her trembling skin.

She could almost feel his gaze burning through her. And it took everything she had not to squirm under it.

"So you say." He rumbled, pausing for just a few seconds just when another streetlight gave up on life making her almost drown in the darkness.

"You do not need to pretend with me.” he stated.

Elara said nothing. Her fingers stilled against her sleeves, breath caught somewhere between her ribs. What could she even say? Whoever this figure was, he could read her like an open book.

Her eyes glanced back at the clock. 3 more minutes.  For once she hopes the buss will be early. 

Her eyes darted back around her, the silence suffocating her. And his presence crushing her. At this point she just wanted him to keep talking, at least that's less creepy then feeling his eyes drilling holes in the back of her skull.

"I never was one for silence" he suddenly added, almost making her flinch at the sudden sound of his deep. Voice.

"Makes me want to fill it~" he purred with a slight chuckle. A slight grimace taking over Elara's features with the implications alone.

Just then her silent prayers had been answered.

A pair of large headlights made its way towards her. The lights of the buss she was waiting for just a few minutes early made a sense of relief wash over her she didn’t know she needed.

Without another word she quickly got up from the bench, now warmed up by her heat , and stepped into the heated light of the vehicle.

Just before the doors closed she spun around, now looking straight at where the stranger stood.

Nobody was there..

There wasn't even a hint of anybody being there at all. All except for the perfect red rose that now laid exactly where she had been sitting just a second before.