The V-tuber Who Became Obsessed With Me

Ethan’s POV

A little after three that afternoon, my phone vibrated.

I glanced at the notification and immediately reached for it.

The security camera outside my apartment had detected movement.

Ever since everything that happened with X-Reveals, the warehouse and Felix, I’d stopped taking chances. I had installed a camera outside my front door that streamed directly to my phone whenever someone approached.

The live feed opened.

A delivery rider stood outside my apartment with a small brown parcel tucked beneath one arm. He placed it carefully beside my door, took a photograph, then walked back to his motorcycle without a second glance.

I didn’t need to read the delivery confirmation.

Grace had mailed the passport.

It had finally arrived.

I grabbed my keys before my computer screen had even gone dark.

"I’ve got to head out," I called as I hurried past my coworkers.

Someone answered.

I was already through the door.

The drive home felt longer than it should have.

Every red light seemed determined to keep me where I was, and every slow-moving car ahead of me tested what little patience I had left.

When traffic finally stopped at an intersection, I called Susan.

She answered before the second ring.

"It arrived?"

"Just now."

"I’m leaving."

"I’ll beat you there."

"Don’t open it until I get there."

"I won’t."

The call ended.

I rested both hands on the steering wheel and waited for the light to change.

For reasons I couldn’t explain, opening that parcel alone didn’t feel like a good idea.

I reached my apartment almost twenty minutes before Susan.

The package was still sitting exactly where the delivery rider had left it.

Small.

Plain.

The sort of parcel no one would look at twice.

I picked it up, carried it inside, and placed it carefully on the coffee table.

Then I waited.

I tried sitting down.

After less than a minute I was back on my feet.

I wandered into the kitchen, opened the refrigerator without thinking, stared at its contents, then closed it again.

By the time the doorbell finally rang, I’d crossed the apartment so many times I could have done it with my eyes closed.

Susan stepped inside, her expression as serious as ever.

"You waited."

"I said I would."

Her gaze settled on the unopened parcel.

"I suppose there’s no point putting this off."

I disappeared briefly into the kitchen and returned with a utility knife.

Neither of us spoke as I sliced through the tape.

The cardboard opened easily.

Inside was a single passport.

Nothing else.

No letter.

No envelope.

Just the passport.

Susan picked it up first.

She opened it, checked the photograph, then gave a small nod.

"It’s his."

I took it from her.

Joseph Smith.

The same forged identity we’d arranged for Jade before he was supposed to leave the country.

Every page looked exactly as I remembered.

"So whoever sent this..." I murmured.

"...had access to him."

Susan didn’t answer immediately.

Instead, she examined the box itself, turning it over in her hands.

"No return address."

"No courier label."

She frowned.

"Just your name and Nathan’s address."

I looked inside the empty box one last time.

Nothing.

"What are we missing?" I asked quietly.

Susan opened the passport again, turning each page more carefully than before.

Halfway through, her hand stopped.

The color drained from her face.

"Ethan."

Something in her voice made my stomach tighten.

She turned the passport toward me.

Across one of the middle pages, written in thick black marker, were the words:

If you want to see Jade alive, come to 077 Crescent Lane.

Come alone.

No police.

If I hear a siren...or even catch a glimpse of anyone suspicious around you .

The next package won’t contain his passport.

For a long moment, I simply stared.

We’d known Jade had been kidnapped.

We’d said it out loud.

We’d built theories around it.

But seeing those words written across his passport stripped away the last of my denial.

This wasn’t a mystery anymore.

Someone had him.

Someone wanted us to know it.

The passport slipped from my hand and landed softly on the wooden floor.

Neither of us moved to pick it up.

I sank onto the edge of the sofa, elbows resting on my knees.

My hands covered my face.

Neither of us spoke.

I could hear the clock in the kitchen.

The refrigerator humming.

A car passing somewhere outside.

Ordinary sounds.

It felt strange that the world hadn’t stopped.

After a while, I let out a short laugh.

It sounded unfamiliar.

"A few months ago," I said quietly, "my biggest problem was getting design revisions approved before Friday."

I looked down at the passport lying on the floor.

"Now I’m reading a ransom note."

Susan remained silent.

She knew I wasn’t really talking to her.

I rubbed both hands over my face.

"I keep thinking I’ll wake up and discover this has all been some ridiculous dream or a misunderstanding."

I shook my head.

"But every day somehow gets worse."

Without thinking, I reached for my phone.

My thumb hovered over my contacts.

The first name my mind reached for wasn’t Kuro or anyone .

It was Raina.

I stared at the screen.

For a second, instinct told me to call her.

To tell her everything.

To ask her what to do.

Slowly, I locked the phone and set it back on the table.

"I still forget," I admitted.

"I still think I can call her."

The words came out almost as a whisper.

"Then I remember I don’t even know who she really is anymore."

The apartment fell quiet again.

Susan crossed the room and sat beside me.

She picked the passport up from the floor, closed it carefully, and placed it back inside the box.

Then she looked at me.

"We’ll figure out what this means."

Her voice was steady.

"Then we’ll decide what comes next."

She reached over and rested a hand gently against mine.

"You don’t have to carry this by yourself."

I looked at her.

For the first time in days, someone wasn’t expecting me to have an answer.

They were simply there.

The knot I’d been holding inside my chest since Jade disappeared loosened, if only a little.

Susan stood and pulled me into a quiet embrace.

This time, I didn’t hesitate.

I returned it.

I hadn’t realized how exhausted I was until I stopped pretending I wasn’t.

For a few seconds, neither of us spoke.

We didn’t need to.

Outside, the evening carried on as though nothing had changed.

Inside, everything had.

For the first time in what felt like forever, the noise in my head faded.

Susan didn’t try to tell me everything would be alright. She didn’t offer advice or ask me to stay strong. She simply held me, and for a few quiet moments I let myself stop carrying everything alone.

I rested my forehead lightly against her shoulder and let out a slow breath.

"Thank you," I said.

She gave me a small, tired smile.

"You don’t have to thank me."

Her hand lingered briefly on my arm before she added, "I’ll always be here when you need me."

I managed a faint smile.

"I know."

The apartment door suddenly swung open.

"What the fuck is going on here?"

Susan and I stepped apart at the same time.

My stomach dropped.

"Raina..."

to be continued...