CHOICE - TIM WRIGHT X READER
WARNING: Graphic violence, Power imbalance, Distorted romantic, Gaslighting, Stalking behavior, Mild Profanity.
Noun: Unraveling - investigate and solve or explain (something complicated or puzzling):
Words: 4661
Once more, I find myself retracing the same path as the other night. The leaves still bear the imprint of my last passage - slightly flattened, just enough to let me know I was here. Nothing else had changed. Not the overgrown trail. Not the scent of mold and wet bark. Only the air - colder now, sharper in my lungs. This time, I came prepared.
The crowbar hung at my side, no longer dragging. My grip was firm, controlled. It wasn't a tool anymore - it was a promise.
There was something different in my gut tonight. A flicker. A thrum. Like the rush of a child seeing a fairground at night, all light and wonder and chaos. But it was darker than that. Hungrier. I flexed my gloved fingers around the steel, still able to feel the ghost of their throat pulsing beneath my palm - the way their breath hitched, caught, stuttered. My mind kept playing it back. The gasps. The fight. The fire in their eyes.
They weren't afraid. Not really. Not even when they aimed that gun at me. They were ready.
I almost admired it - that clarity. That defiance. But admiration isn't enough. Not for someone like them. They don't deserve a quiet death. Not a clean one. No, they need something louder. Grander. I want the city to remember what happens to the brave.
There's something about the way they moved. Like they didn't belong in that house, in this city, in any of this. They carried something... untouchable. I could've ended them. I should've. But I couldn't help it. I wanted to see what they'd do next.
I shook the thoughts away, forcing my focus back into place. No more distractions. If I screw this up again, he'll be even more pissed than last time-if that's even possible. And I don't think I can take another round of that. Not again.
This time, I have to play it smart. No rushing. No acting on impulse like some rabid dog. I need to watch them-really watch them. Learn their rhythm. Home routine, work routine, when the lights turn off, who visits, what time the garbage goes out. Everything. If the cops showed up that fast last time, then this one's important. Dangerous. Connected. Maybe all three.
And those cased rifles... that wasn't for show. That was preparation. Protection. Maybe paranoia.
Whatever it is, I need to pay attention to everything. Every movement, every shadow, every sound. I can't afford to let another detail slip through the cracks. Not like before. Not when it almost got me killed.
I knew I was supposed to kill them. That was never the question. It was clear, carved into my intent like the weight of the crowbar in my hand. But somewhere between intent and action, I faltered - and I still don't know why.
It wasn't the gun. That wasn't what stopped me. That wasn't what rattled me.
It was the look in their eyes - not fear exactly, but something that grabbed me by the throat and refused to let go. The way their lips stuttered with every breath, trembling just enough to catch the light. The flick of their tongue pressing to their teeth as they spoke - not begging, not screaming, just speaking. Calm. Defiant. Alive.
And the smell of the room. Of them. That soft trace of something warm and clean - a fragrance I couldn't name, but one that wrapped around me the moment I was on top of them. It clung to my skin like sweat.
I needed their blood on me. I needed their guts at my feet, painting the floor like they were meant to. That was the plan. That was the feeling - the hunger, the drive.
There's something in my mind, pressing against that truth. Something clawing to be forgotten - or maybe someone trying to make me forget. Him.
It's like there's a part of me refusing to remember what I felt. Like my thoughts twist away from it every time I try to grasp it. Was it weakness? Or something worse? Something like... desire?
I don't know what it is. But it's still there. Sitting in my chest like rot.
I sighed, the breath inside my mask growing stale and hot, pressing against my skin and fogging up the edges of my vision. Each exhale curled back at me, humid and suffocating - like I was being forced to breathe my own hesitation.
I realized I was slowing down. My legs dragged with a heaviness I couldn't explain. It felt like those dreams where you're running as fast as you can, but your body moves like it's underwater - every step too soft, too slow, like something unseen is holding you back.
I pushed forward, forcing my stride to lengthen, picking up the pace until my boots hit the asphalt in a steady rhythm. The familiar path stretched ahead - over the narrow highway overpass, then through the string of cracked, uneven roads that branched toward my target. The house sat in the distance, barely visible but unmistakable. Still standing. Still waiting.
I pulled my hood up, tucking my face deeper into shadow. Just in case. Neighbors might be watching. People remember silhouettes. They remember postures, movement, the strange details you forget to hide. I shoved my hands deep into my pockets and tried to blend in with the silence, with the dark. Every step was deliberate. Measured. I walked like the night itself - quiet, invisible, certain.
I retraced the exact path I took two nights ago - every shadow, every fence, every step burned into memory. I didn't need to think about it. Muscle memory carried me forward, back into the breach. Back into their space.
The way in hadn't changed. Not yet. The lock front door still locked. The back gate still unlocked. The curtains drawn and the backdoor opened just a smidge. The world hadn't noticed the breach - or maybe it had, and it was just pretending not to. Either way, I slipped in again, unseen.
I doubted they would be here - but doubt wasn't something I could afford to rely on. Just because I wouldn't come back after surviving a murder attempt doesn't mean they wouldn't. They didn't think like most people. That much was obvious now.
Any normal person would run. Leave town. Change their name. But them? No. They planned. They studied. They watched from corners that weren't supposed to exist. The kind of watching that sinks beneath your skin, quiet and constant. The kind that never blinks.
This wasn't their first time facing something like me. And worse - it might not be their last. I could feel it in the way they had moved, the way they had aimed their weapon without hesitation. Not sloppy. Not panicked. They'd expected me. Maybe not that night, maybe not that exact moment, but they knew something was coming. They'd prepared.
They weren't new to this game - and somehow, I wasn't sure I was the one in control anymore.
So, I kept low. Kept silent. Scanned the windows, the rooftops, the shadows in door frames. My steps were quiet, deliberate - as if the air itself might betray me. Every dark corner held the possibility of a trap. Every flicker of movement, a threat.
I reached the living room, breath slow, eyes sharp. I lingered at the doorframe, peering just past it. There they were - the back of their head visible above the couch. The rest of their body was hidden, but I didn't need to see it. Just the stillness in their posture was enough to pull something taut in my chest.
My heartbeat picked up slightly - not enough to call it fear, but enough to feel it in my throat. Even so, my hands didn't shake. That had to count for something.
I stepped forward, careful, calculated. But the moment my foot pressed down, the floorboard betrayed me with a dry groan. I froze mid-breath, pulse stalling. For a moment I thought it was over - but the TV was on, soft and unfocused, filling the space with meaningless dialogue. Maybe that masked it.
I waited, still as a photograph, letting silence settle like dust around me. Then, slowly, I moved again. One step. Another. Slipping into the living room like a shadow with bones.
They turned - quick, clean. The gunshot cracked through the room like thunder inside my skull. Instinct hurled me to the left, my shoulder scraping the wall as I ducked. The bullet missed - barely. I felt the wind of it tear past my ear, close enough to taste metal in the air.
I panted, lungs struggling to remember how to breathe. My body screamed in adrenaline, heat crawling over my skin like ants. Shock poured out of me in waves.
When I turned my eyes back to the couch, they were already standing. Calm. Rifle in hand, steady, firm - like it had grown from their arm. My gaze flicked to the wall above them. The case was open. Empty. I hadn't noticed it earlier.
Jesus, I fucked up again. Second time. What the hell was happening to me?
But worse than the shot... was the look in their eyes.
They weren't angry. Not even disappointed. No tremor of frustration that they missed. Just silence. Measured. In control.
It wasn't a failed attempt. It was deliberate.
They lowered the rifle slightly - not out of mercy. Just enough to show that they could raise it again and shoot me between the eyes in half a breath.
And then something... shifted.
It was subtle at first, like a whisper in the back of my head. But then it hit me - sudden, electric - like a switch had been flipped that I didn't even know existed. My body reacted before my mind could make sense of it.
It wasn't fear. Not of the gun, not of death.
It wasn't anger either. No rage, no burning need to strike or survive.
A flush bloomed across my face, spreading from my neck to my ears like wildfire. My heart banged violently against my chest, hard enough that I could hear it in my ears. My breath caught, shallow and sharp, like I was trying to remember how lungs worked. My stomach twisted tight - like I'd swallowed something alive.
My hands started sweating, palms slick under my gloves. The crowbar slipped from my grip and hit the floor with a loud, sharp clang - metal against hardwood. It echoed too long. Too loud.
They flinched, barely. Their attention shifted to me - not startled, but assessing. I saw them straighten on instinct, only to wince and adjust their posture, bending slightly at the waist. They were still healing. That back injury - they were ignoring it. Pushing through it.
And yet... I didn't move. I didn't rush. I didn't attack.
I should've crossed the room in three steps and torn the rifle from their hands. Should've dragged them down and ended it. But that heat in my face... it burned deeper than instinct. Something was screaming inside me - not to hurt them, but to hold them. To grab onto something solid. Them.
Not in violence. Not in fury. Something else.
Something terrifyingly close to-
"I'll give you one chance to explain to me why you're back," they said suddenly, their voice slicing through the fog in my brain like butter beneath a hot blade.
My throat closed. My mouth opened but no words came.
It came out quiet, cracked at the edges - not a command but a plea.
Not how I meant it. Not at all.
"What the fuck did you just say?" they hissed. Their voice cracked with anger-but underneath it, I heard something else. Confusion. Uncertainty. Like they weren't sure they'd heard me right. Like they didn't want to hear me right.
"I said shut up," I growled again, voice low, eyes locked on theirs through the narrow slits of my mask.
Their eyebrows drew together, just slightly. The grip on their rifle loosened by a fraction, the barrel dipping a few inches. I could see the question form behind their eyes - not why I was here, but why I sounded so... off. Why I wasn't already swinging.
They took a subtle step toward me. Too close.
Two strides. That's all it took. I surged forward, grabbing the gun and wrenching it from their hands before they had a chance to react. It clattered across the floor, skidding under a table.
I grabbed their shoulders and shoved - not with rage, but with finality. They went over the couch with a yelp, landing hard against the cushions. But they recovered fast. Too fast. A solid kick slammed into my gut, knocking the wind from me and forcing me back a step.
I barely had time to breathe before they were on their feet, charging toward where the gun had landed. Smart. Efficient.
I lunged again, catching their arm and yanking them backward. They stumbled into me, our bodies colliding, and for a second - just a second - I felt it again. That heat. That damn warmth that didn't belong here, in this room, in this moment.
They gasped, their face inches from mine. I could see the details now - the way their pupils widened, the tremble in their jaw, the sweat glistening at their temple. Their breath hit my mask in warm waves.
I tightened my grip on their arm.
"Sit. Down." I said, voice like gravel, like fire, like need.
They panted, brows furrowing in confusion and defiance. But they listened. Maybe it was instinct. Maybe it was strategy. Either way, they sat back down on the couch, arms crossed tightly over their chest, trying to mask their tension as control.
I stood there a moment longer, watching the way their chest rose and fell too fast, the subtle twitch in their jaw, the way they looked everywhere but at me.
I needed a reason to stay. Something convincing. Something they'd believe - and not just to protect myself. No. I needed to see them. Hear them. Feel their presence like I had that night.
This wasn't some slashers flick a bored teenager would replay at sleepovers, screaming at the screen. There were no dumb victims or cheesy catchphrases. This was real. And they weren't scared. They were angry. Smart. Calculating.
They'd try to get the upper hand. Try to be the righteous one in all of this.
"I'm not listening to a damn intruder dressed like a 1980s cliché killer," they snapped, cutting me off before I even got the sentence out. Their glare could've cut glass.
I narrowed my eyes beneath the mask, sighing hard enough for it to fog up the inside. I rubbed at the bridge of my nose through the fabric, trying not to let my frustration spill over.
"If you're so big and bad, why would you even come back for a second failed attempt?" they spat. There was something smug in the way they said it, even if their voice shook near the end.
I stepped closer, slowly, deliberately.
"That doesn't concern you," I growled, gaze locked on theirs. "You were supposed to be dead yesterday."
They didn't flinch. That pissed me off more than it should've.
"Sure. And you couldn't even do that," they shot back, mocking the tight glare I wore like a mask of its own. "So why try again?"
I didn't reply. My teeth clenched so hard I felt my jaw twitch. I wanted to hit them. Not out of rage - not entirely. I wanted to feel their body jerk under my hand, watch them flinch. Anything. But they just stared at me like they were daring me.
"Because unlike the others you've dealt with, I don't give up after one failed attempt," I said through gritted teeth. I leaned in until our faces were only inches apart, our breath mingling. My eyes locked onto theirs. Cold. Defiant. Alive.
They scoffed, leaning further back into the couch like my presence was an annoying background noise. That made something sharp twist in my gut.
I straightened up with a grunt and glanced around their space - too clean, like they were expecting company. My blood itched under my skin. They weren't scared. They were ready. Again.
Every time I opened my mouth, they cut me off. Every time I tried to assert control, they slipped away like smoke between fingers.
"I just want to know why you want to kill me so badly," they said suddenly, their voice quieter. They didn't look at me, but I saw the corner of their lip twitch. A smirk? No. A distraction.
I watched their eyes. The glint behind them wasn't fear. It was thought. Calculation. They were working on something.
"Don't act like you're someone special," I bit out. "Just because this city has your name painted all over it doesn't mean shit to me. It doesn't change the fact that you're gonna be dead soon. One way or another."
I shifted my weight, arms crossed, trying not to let the rising heat in my throat betray me.
But I could still smell them. The faint scent of their shampoo, the warmth of their skin in the air. That same heat was crawling up my spine again. And they were still looking at me - not with fear, not with hate - like they wanted to understand me.
I hated it.
I needed to stay.
I needed to finish this.
I needed to figure out what the hell they'd done to me.
Just as I expected, they lunged forward.
I barely had time to grab their wrist - didn't even bother to block the blow. Their shoulder collided with mine, and then teeth. Sharp pain tore into my upper arm as they sank their bite through fabric and skin. I let out a sharp yelp, more from surprise than pain, before shoving them back onto the couch with a thud that rattled the frame.
I threw myself on top of them, pinning their arms down against the cushions. Blood bloomed warm and sticky beneath my jacket, seeping in slow pulses.
"Bastard," I muttered, my voice low and rough, digging my nails into the thin skin of their wrists like punishment.
"Dick," they spat back, lips curled, defiant. I rolled my eyes - thankfully, the mask caught most of it.
But then, in a flash - they slipped one wrist free.
I barely blinked before their fingers were at my face, clawing at the edge of the mask. My heart stuttered. No, no-
They tore it off in one fluid, furious motion, and for a single breathless second, I froze. I felt cold air on my face - exposed, like my skin had been peeled off. My heart plummeted to my stomach.
Panic snapped me back into motion. I slapped my hand over their face, pressing their eyes shut even as they hurled the mask across the room with a triumphant hiss of breath. It clattered uselessly against the wall. I didn't even look.
Before I could get control again, their fist shot up, cracking hard into my nose. It felt like glass shattering behind my eyes - pain erupted like white fire, and I reeled back with a guttural groan, more beast than man.
Blood poured down over my lips, hot and metallic. I cupped my hand to my nose, fingers trembling as I wiped it, smearing red across my knuckles.
They stared at me - breathing hard, their eyes burning.
I stared at him, breath coming in fast, shallow pants. My chest rose and fell like I'd just run a mile. Maybe I had - not with my legs, but with my body, with every damn nerve firing off at once.
His eyes weren't even on me anymore. Just... somewhere else. Like I didn't exist for the moment.
I already knew his hair color - black with hints of brown that caught the lamplight. His eyes, now narrowed, were a deep brown that almost swallowed the whites. Focused on the blood trailing down his nose. His brows were thick, drawn together in a knot of pain and fury. The rest of his face was hidden behind a hand slick with blood, staining his fingers dark and glossy.
He didn't try to grab me again.
Like his rage had short-circuited into something quieter.
"I can-" I started, but he cut me off fast, lifting his hand without looking at me.
"Just-shut the fuck up for two damn seconds," he hissed.
He leaned forward, elbows on knees, body bent like something had finally broken him down to the bone. His hand fell, dripping blood onto the carpet. He stared at the floor like it might answer for everything.
If not for the soft noise of the TV and the occasional passing car, I could've sworn I'd hear his thoughts tearing through his skull. Fast. Brutal. Loud.
And then it hit me - the absurdity of it all.
A killer, sitting in my living room, inches from me in total silence. No mask. No screaming. No second attempt. Just... there.
And worse - I let him. I didn't scream. I didn't run. I didn't cuff him, or grab a phone, or pull a weapon.
If anyone in the department ever found out, I'd be done. Stripped of rank. Fired. Mocked. Maybe arrested for obstruction. And yet I sat there, staring at him.
Did he find it weird, too?
He pulled his hand away from his face, staring at it for a moment as if waiting for blood to bloom again. When it didn't, he sighed-quiet, almost relieved. Then, without hesitation, he wiped the blood onto his jeans.
That motion made my eyes drop.
The fabric was smeared - not just with red, but with something darker, crusted into the folds and creases of the denim. Mud, I had assumed. Two nights ago, I didn't question it. But now...
Now my brain clicked into gear, piecing together things I didn't want to acknowledge.
My lungs forgot how to work. My ribs tightened around the air like they didn't want to let it out, like holding my breath might make me invisible. Might keep me alive.
Because this man-this thing sitting less than five feet from me-could kill me. At any second. Just lunge forward and snap my neck or slit my throat or crush my skull against the floor.
And it would be easy for him.
My body finally started to believe what my mind had been trying to deny: I'm not safe. I've never been safe. I might not live through this.
The instinct to flee sparked in my spine. Every nerve screamed for action. Run. Scream. Fight. Do something. But I didn't move. Because I knew-I knew-if I so much as twitched the wrong way, he'd catch me. His eyes were already on me. Watching.
Like a hawk waiting for the rabbit to blink.
I sucked in a breath-sharp, shaky, barely controlled-and let it out slowly, praying he didn't hear the tremor. I drew my knees up to my chest, inching just a little further away. Every inch felt like a mile. Like I was crossing a minefield barefoot.
Neither of us said a word.
It felt like we were playing a children's game.
Suddenly-without warning-he jerked forward and clamped his hands over his ears. His body trembled like he'd been struck by lightning. A sharp, animal-like hiss escaped through gritted teeth as his face twisted in agony.
He shook his head violently, like he was trying to dislodge something from his skull. His eyes squeezed shut, and tears welled at the corners, glinting in the dim light. I looked around instinctively, expecting some shriek, some siren-but the room was silent.
But whatever he heard... it was deafening.
I didn't move. I didn't dare. I only watched as he shook, like something inside him was splitting open.
After a long moment, he stilled. His hands dropped to his knees, fingers digging so hard into his jeans that the fabric pulled taut. His shoulders slumped. His head hung low. For a second, he looked like a kid-lost, confused, hurting.
Then the silence turned dangerous.
"You're going to work tomorrow," he said, voice hoarse, strained like he'd just screamed underwater. "You're not going to say shit to anyone. Not a goddamn word."
He paused. Thought. Something inside him shifted.
Then he stood-too quickly.
I instinctively shrank back, trying to press into the couch, as if the cushions could swallow me whole. He stepped closer. Slowly. Predatory. He pointed his finger at me, his eyes sharp and dark, focused like a blade on my throat.
"One word that I'm here," he growled, "and I will rip your guts out and watch you try to shove them back into your pathetic, dying body. Understand?"
My heart thundered. I wanted to scream at him, to tell him he was insane, that this wasn't over. That I was a cop. That I wasn't afraid of him.
I told myself I was buying time. Playing smart. That I'd fix this later, get backup, bring him down. But deep down, I wasn't sure I believed it.
And then-without hesitation-he punched me in the face.
I didn't even feel the impact. Just a flash of heat, then darkness creeping in from the corners of my vision.
I felt hands beneath me, strong ones, lifting me up like I weighed nothing. Arms wrapping around my legs and back. The warmth of his body pressed against mine, the fabric of his jacket scratchy under my cheek. My couch-my safe place-was slipping away, and I couldn't fight it.
I tried to groan, to speak, but only a whisper escaped.
My head lolled against him. His chest rose and fell in a steady rhythm. He smelled like sweat and metal and something faintly sweet-something that made my stomach knot in confusion.
He laid me down on something soft. My bed? The floor? I couldn't tell.
Then, gently-too gently-something touched my forehead. A hand. A kiss?
And then everything went black.
I woke to the sound of rain tapping softly against my window.
The room was dark, washed in shades of blue and gray from the moonlight spilling through the blinds. My body ached in dull pulses, like I'd run a marathon in my sleep. But it was warm. The sheets tucked around me perfectly. I could feel the mattress cradling my limbs like it wanted to hold me longer.
Forgot the blood. The chaos. The threat that had curled itself around my throat and whispered promises of death just hours earlier.
The kind of silence that felt... staged.
I shifted slightly, my cheek brushing the pillow. The scent that clung to the fabric wasn't mine-slightly woodsy, edged with sweat and something bitter. Not my detergent. Not my skin. But familiar.
My breath caught in my chest.
I blinked up at the ceiling, heart beginning to beat faster now. I tried to sit up but my body felt slow, as if whatever happened earlier had wrung the strength out of me like water from a cloth. But I didn't feel afraid. Not exactly.
It felt like being watched.
I turned my head slowly to the right, expecting to see nothing more than the cluttered top of my nightstand-half a glass of water, my badge, a stack of case files...
Not blinking. Not moving.
Embedded in the darkness between the dresser and the wall, barely lit by the glow of the moon, were two unmistakable eyes locked directly onto mine. They didn't widen when I noticed them. They didn't shift or react.
They were just there. Patient. Present. Unbothered.
My mouth went dry. Every nerve in my body lit up at once, but I couldn't scream. Couldn't speak.