Azrael

You never imagined that one day your life would depend on messages flashing on your screen in the middle of the night.

The room was drowning in silence when the phone lit up.

"Hello, kitty" "Why alone?" "It's late, it's time for you to go home." "Don't ignore." "I see you're online."

Someone else's number. You just chuckled. Little did you know then that this message would be the one that would ruin everything.

---

The messages came every day. You blocked him, but he'd text you again. He'd change numbers. He'd disappear and come back just when you were feeling the worst.

He knew everything. Your routes. The coffee you ordered. The jackets you wore. Even Ricky, the cat who greeted you at the door.

When he wrote about it, something inside him broke.

He knew your address. He threatened you with the keys. And he didn't lie.

You never saw him. But you felt he was near.

---

That day you had a fight with Dan. You came home broken and stared at your phone.

The screen lit up.

"Why are you sad, kitty?" "What's happened?" "Tell me."

You hesitated, but the pain won.

"A friend offended me..."

The answer is instant.

"The curly one?"

My fingers went cold.

"Yes…"

"Wait."

And he disappeared.

---

Dan wrote at one in the morning. With mistakes. He wrote that he had been brutally beaten and he didn't understand why.

You knew.

"Why is Dan writing to me that he was almost killed?"

The answer came immediately.

"Will not offend again)"

You were shaking with fear. And from shame - because he protected you. You decided not to anger him.

---

Late in the evening you returned home and froze.

There was a basket of red roses in the hallway. The card read: "To my kitty."

You sent a photo.

"And what is this?"

"Surprise, kitten. You know I have the keys. I thought I'd surprise you. I know you've had a rough day at university."

You swallowed.

"I don't even know what you look like."

The answer made my heart beat faster.

"But I know what you look like. From any angle. In any clothes. Or without them. Go to bed, princess."