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Chapter 23: And Then the Door Opened

Author: Emel Emerald
last update Last Updated: 2025-04-20 14:09:53

The door creaked open slowly.

Slow.

Creaking.

Intentional.

Leya did not move.

Not yet.

She was curled tight in the bend of the bed, turned away from the door, towards the wall. She was motionless, breathing even and deep, the only sound in a room still heavy with the scent of silence and stale air.

Then there were footsteps.

Two sets.

Heavy. Deliberate.

Harrison.

And—

Nathaniel.

She had their pace now. The way they moved. The way one moved like he owned the world and the other like he never wanted to ever hit the ground.

Harrison's feet first on the ground. Closer to the center of the room.

Nathaniel is close by the door.

Not a sound.

Leya didn't turn. She didn't even blink. She let them gawk.

Let them know what they have done.

She didn’t need to perform pain. It was written on her skin. It bled into the room from the pale blue under her eyes, from the sharp edge of her cheekbones, from the chapped split of her lower lip.

She had wasted away beautifully.

Harrison’s voice broke the sil
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