The Beautiful Monster

That deep sleep was interrupted early the next morning by a knock on the door. Alyssa shot up in bed, looking around in confusion.

She wondered if she had just imagined the knock. Maybe she dreamed about it.

All she heard was silence for a few seconds until it was broken by another knock. Someone was there.

But why? Who would be knocking on her door so early in the morning.

She checked her phone for any messages to see if someone from the hospital had tried to reach her.

There was nothing. No calls. No messages. Someone was just there for some reason.

She crawled out of bed quietly and headed out of the bedroom to look at the front door.

Usually, someone knocking on her door wouldn't put her on edge, but a lot of craziness had happened lately.

She had to be wary about everything possible, and a random knock on her door sent up a red flag.

Alyssa considered texting Elias to ask him if he was at her door for some reason, but she didn't.

She stared at the door for a few seconds longer, wondering if someone just had the wrong place and left.

Then, another knock sounded, more demanding this time.

She let out a shaky breath before slowly walking over to the door. She unlocked it and cracked it, peering through a small space between the door and doorframe.

To her shock and confusion, Stella stood outside of her apartment.

*************

Alyssa opened the door fully as she faced Stella, feeling all sorts of confusion about why she was here.

How did she even find Alyssa's place? Did she follow her home some time? She really needed to start paying attention to her surroundings more. People were following her around way too easily for her liking.

"Stella. Are you looking for Elias? He isn't here," Alyssa told her, figuring that was why Stella was here.

Nothing else made sense to her, especially since Alyssa didn't even know Stella.

Stella smiled, her lips coated with red lipstick. Her smile didn't seem warm, though. It was stiff, drawn tight across her face like it was forced.

"No, I'm here to see you," she replied in her sweet voice.

Alyssa still felt wary. She didn't know why Stella was here for her.

She knew that Stella was Elias' friend, but that didn't mean that they were friends.

She forced herself to be polite and motioned for Stella to come inside.

"Is something wrong?" she asked, wondering if this was about Elias or not. Now, she was starting to worry about him again.

The wall that she had put up between them was starting to crumble at this point.

She wasn't sure if she was glad about that or not. The wall had protected her for years. Now, she was vulnerable and out in the open all over again.

"No, I just wanted to introduce myself and talk to you," Stella said with a ringing laugh. She sat on Alyssa's couch, her eyes trailing every single one of Alyssa's moves.

"Oh, okay," Alyssa said as she sat down on the other end of the couch from Stella. She wasn't sure if Stella was being genuine or not, but she would let her talk.

"I'm Stella. I'm… an old friend of Elias," Stella said as she smiled at Alyssa.

"I'm Alyssa. I dated Elias in college," Alyssa replied.

Stella laughed softly.

"Aw, how cute," she said. Her voice was too sweet for Alyssa's liking.

Alyssa didn't know how to respond to that, so she merely smiled and nodded. She wished that this wasn't happening right now.

She would rather be anywhere else than here. This conversation felt so off, and she was weirded out that Stella randomly came here.

"What happened?" Stella asked, tilting her head curiously.

Alyssa didn't think that her past relationship with Elias was any of her business. She shifted on the couch in an uncomfortable manner, shrugging her shoulders.

"We just grew up and grew apart, like people do," she merely said, keeping her explanation as vague as possible.

She didn't want to give Stella too much information because there was no telling what she would do with it.

"What a shame," Stella said, resting her cheek against her hand. For some reason, Alyssa felt like she wasn't that sad about that.

"What happened with you two?" Alyssa asked, flipping the question right back to her. They were old friends, so they obviously grew apart or something happened.

Elias had been shocked to see her when Stella barged into their meeting at the coffee shop. She wondered if things ended weird between them back in the past or not.

Stella lifted an eyebrow at Alyssa, seeming surprised that she asked.

"He went off to college, and our lives went down two different paths," she said.

Alyssa nodded slowly, holding Stella's gaze. She felt like they were at odds for some reason.

She wasn't possessive over Elias, but something about Stella grated on her nerves. She didn't know what it was. Maybe it was because Stella seemed fake and sneaky.

"Was there something specific that you wanted to talk to me about?" Alyssa asked her, wanting to cut to the chase.

She didn't want to sit around and do small talk. She had other things to do and other things to worry about.

Stella straightened up a little.

"Well, Elias and I have gotten pretty close lately. He said that he opened up to you about some stuff," Stella commented.

Alyssa felt her blood run cold. She told herself not to be jealous of Stella and Elias getting close. It didn't matter.

Maybe she wasn't even meant to be with Elias, and she wasn't going to keep him from being with anyone. She just wasn't sure how she felt about Elias talking to Stella about them.

"We had a conversation," she merely said.

"He told you about who he is," Stella said, pushing a little more.

A/N: Hy guys hope you're all good. Please I have entered the werewolf contest with my book. The Taste of Seduction.

Please add it to your library. Even if you won't read yet? ^^ Thank you!