LOGINElara's POVI couldn't breathe as the phone trembled so badly in my hand that I almost dropped it.The picture on the screen looked dark and blurry, but I recognized her immediately. Sister Selena.She was sitting on a cold concrete floor with her hands tied behind her back. Her white habit was dirty, and there was a bruise on her forehead. A single lightbulb hung above her, making the shadows around her look even more terrifying.My heart stopped. Below the picture was a message. 'She shouldn't have known so much'.Another message appeared after.'Meet me at the rooftop of St. Gabriel Medical Center. Come alone'.I stared at the words over and over again."No…" I whispered.Beside me, Adrian frowned. "What happened?"I quickly locked my phone. "N..Nothing."But that doesn't make him not to immediately looked suspicious."Elara."I forced a smile. "It's really nothing.""You've been shaking for the last minute."I turned towards the window instead. The city lights blurred before my ey
Elara's POVFor several seconds after the gunshot, nobody moved.The rain continued falling around us, heavy and relentless, washing over the road, the trees, the blood spreading beneath the masked man's body.I couldn't breathe, couldn't think, couldn't look away.The image of him collapsing kept replaying inside my head. His last words echoed louder than the gunshot itself."...the paint... nails... young... handsome... innocent guy. Find him."Then nothing, just silence.The man who had spent weeks haunting my life through phone calls, photographs, riddles and fear was dead and somehow I had more questions now than I did before meeting him.A hand touched my shoulder, I flinched violently."It's me."Adrian voice cut through the fog inside my head.Slowly, I turned towards him.Rain dripped from his hair and jawline. His dark eyes studied me carefully, searching for injuries, panic, anything."You okay?"The question sounded ridiculous after everything that had happened.I nodded a
Elara's POVThe sound of his laughter sent a chill down my spine. It wasn't loud or wasn't dramatic. If anything, it was calm... Far too calm.The kind of laugh that belonged to someone who knew something nobody else did.Rain continued pouring from the sky, soaking the road and turning the abandoned area around us into a blur of shadows and darkness.I couldn't stop staring at the masked man, neither could Helen.The smile vanished from her face almost immediately."What is wrong with you?" she snapped. "Do you even understand what you've done?"The man tilted his head slightly."I understand more than you think."Helen let out an angry laugh. "No. You don't."For a brief second, something dangerous flashed across her face.I could clearly see fear. Real fear in crystal clear and that was what unsettled me most.Helen wasn't afraid of many people. I knew that much from Annette.Yet standing here, in the rain, facing this stranger, she looked genuinely frightene, it makes my heart pou
Elara's POVThe first thing I became aware of was the cold. Not the kind that comes from rain or air conditioning.This cold felt deeper. It settled beneath my skin and wrapped itself around my bones.For several long seconds, I didn't open my eyes, I simply listened. A faint humming sound, the steady rhythm of an engine, the occasional splash of tires moving through water... A vehicle.I was inside a vehicle. My eyes flew open immediately. Darkness greeted me, not complete darkness. Just enough to make everything difficult to see.My heart started racing. I tried moving and immediately realized my wrists weren't tied. That should have made me feel relieved, instead it terrified me.Because people who wanted hostages usually tied them up. People who didn't bother... Usually weren't afraid of them escaping.I pushed myself upright slowly. The movement made my head ache. A sharp pain pulsed behind my eyes.I lifted a trembling hand and touched the side of my head. There was a small bump
Adrian's POVThe moment I received that photograph of Elara standing outside the hospital, every instinct inside me screamed that something was wrong.I started the car immediately.Rain pounded against the windshield as I drove through the city.The photograph kept replaying in my head.The angle, the timing, the message.Somebody was watching her, not randomly, not by chance but deliberately.My grip tightened around the steering wheel.And despite everything that had happened between us earlier, despite the disappointment and frustration still burning inside me, one thing remained painfully clear.If anything happened to Elara, I would never forgive myself.The first person who came to mind was Helen. I didn't like it. I didn't want it to be her.But she had appeared out of nowhere after years of silence.She knew things she shouldn't know and she always had terrible timing.Twenty minutes later, I was standing outside her penthouse apartment.The doorman recognized me as usual, im
Adrian's POVThe first time Elara called, I ignored it. The second time, I stared at the screen until it stopped ringing.By the third call, I threw my phone onto the passenger seat and pressed harder on the accelerator.Rain hammered against the windshield, blurring the city lights into streaks of gold and white.I should have answered, I knew that.Every instinct inside me wanted to, but anger is a dangerous thing especially when it comes from disappointment and right now, disappointment was exactly what I felt.The hospital was already several minutes behind me, yet I could still hear her voice in my head."My real name isn't Elara."Then tell me who you are. Tell me why you're terrified. Tell me why some psychopath keeps calling you. Tell me why an old nun disappears during a blackout. Tell me something... anything.Instead, she gave me nothing.I tightened my grip on the steering wheel. The problem wasn't that she had secrets. Everyone had secrets. Hell, my entire life was built
Adrian’s POVI didn’t go back to my room.Didn’t feel like it.Didn’t feel like doing anything normal, not after that.Instead, I stayed in the car for a while after leaving the church grounds, one hand resting lazily on the steering wheel while the other tapped slowly against my thigh.My mind wa
Elara’s POV “Who are you dating, Sister Elara?” My heart stopped, not slowed, not skipped. It just stopped. For a brief, terrifying second, I couldn’t even turn around. My fingers tightened slightly around my phone, the screen still lit up with that ridiculous contact name that now felt like evi
Elara’s POVFor a moment, no one moved.The air in the room felt heavy, like it had been pulled too tight and might snap at any second. My heart was still racing, my breath uneven, my body betraying me in ways I didn’t understand anymore.Sister Annette stood at the door, her eyes fixed on us.On m
Elara’s POVI don’t remember deciding.I don’t remember thinking it through or weighing right against wrong the way I always used to.All I remember was when my legs reversed back inside the room and the way he first looked surprised when I walked in."I... I don't know if this is right" I said wit







