Twenty-four hours.
That was what Revan asked for.
But after receiving that photo, Aira couldn't sit still for twenty-four minutes.
She locked every window. Blocked the number. Hid her phone in the drawer like it could stop reality from collapsing.
But nothing stopped the fear.
Because someone had been in her room.
Someone close enough to know her every move.
---
The next day, Revan sent a voice note.
> "I found something. Meet me. Don't tell anyone."
Location: the rooftop.
Time: lunch.
Aira went.
The sky was overcast. Wind cold.
Revan stood with his back to her, staring at the field below.
When he turned, he looked serious.
"I traced the IP."
She held her breath.
"And?"
"It wasn't one IP. It was masked through several. Whoever's doing this… they know what they're doing."
She swallowed. "So, a pro?"
"Or someone pretending to be one. But here's the twist—" he took out a flash drive—"they messed up once. Just once."
He handed her the drive.
"That message? The one with your photo? It was sent from a device connected to the school Wi-Fi."
Aira's heart dropped.
"What?"
"Which means… the stalker is here. At this school. Now."
The silence between them cracked under pressure.
Then Aira asked the question she feared most.
"Could it be… someone we know?"
Revan didn't answer.
But his eyes said enough.
---
That night, Aira opened the flash drive on her old laptop. No one else's device felt safe anymore.
Inside: logs, text fragments, and an audio file.
She played it.
Static. Then—
> "She's always watching me like she knows. Like she remembers. But she doesn't. She can't."
A male voice.
Young. Breathy. Unstable.
Aira replayed it ten times. Tried to match it to every voice she knew.
And then it clicked.
She'd heard that voice before.
In class.
During break.
On her first day.
She dug out her yearbook, flipping through names.
Stopped.
Andrei.
Classmate. Quiet. Always at the back. Never joined conversations. Always staring.
She never even noticed him.
But he noticed her.
Her blood ran cold.
> The stalker had a name. And now… a face.
---