Don’t trust the ink - Ch 4

A dark fantasy excerpt/ short story

Tags: Dark Magic, Fae

Author’s Notes: This is meant to give you a taste of a plot bunny I had. But who knows? It could turn into a full novel one day, especially if you like it. ; )

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Astra

The letters didn’t stop coming after that.

Even if I didn’t trust them, they were flattering.

Some were poems.

You’re as lovely as the summer rain;

Even if me saying that is in vain.

I’d do anything to make you smile;

To make you let me stay awhile.

D

Some of them were beautifully crafted love letters.

The things I would give up to be close enough to you to tuck your hair behind your ears.

To whisper lover’s secrets as I kiss your neck.

Let me spoil you. Write me a letter back. You can leave it in the same spot you found this one.

The letters were always outside my front door. I’d tried to keep an eye on it—to listen for footsteps so I could catch my secret admirer.

But he was always silent when he delivered them. I never even caught a glance.

I burned each letter, even if part of me wanted to keep them. I knew I should be weirded out by the growing intensity of the letters, but I found I was flattered instead.

This secret admirer wouldn’t give up.

No one had cared about me enough in the past to not give up on me. Feeling like I mattered to someone was addictive.

I think that was why—when I received a diamond necklace tucked in one of the letters—I finally decided to throw my admirer a bone.

I could sell that necklace and get some repairs done on the house. It was a lifeline even if he didn’t know that yet.

The letter with the necklace had been bolder than the earlier ones. He wasn’t just asking for a note back anymore. He was asking for me to meet him in the woods only a few minutes away from my cabin.

I knew it was probably a bad idea. But I was so curious. And how much worse could my life get?

I grabbed a knife from my kitchen and started walking to where he’d asked me to.

I did my best to keep my hands from shaking as my feet moved me closer.

I knew nothing about this stranger except he was seemingly obsessed with me.

And that was a dangerous quality for him to have.