Mag-log inACEFour days.Four days of an unsettling silence—one that even walls this thick couldn’t swallow.Sera tried to hide her restlessness behind polite smiles and casual conversations, as if her mind were stuck in a meeting room or a library somewhere. As if she thought I wouldn’t notice the way her eyes lingered just a second too long on every door, or how her head snapped up too quickly whenever an engine echoed in the courtyard. And the most obvious part: for four nights now, her bedroom had been empty.Because she was sleeping in Damon’s room.I knew without asking. The rhythm of her footsteps, the doors she left ajar, even the faint trace of her perfume lingering in the west wing corridor. She was waiting for Damon. And I
SERAI slipped into the car in a hurry, holding my breath as the cold night air mixed with the leftover mist in my hair. Cal closed the driver’s-side door and turned on the heater right away. The soft hum of the engine blended with the faint smell of rain clinging to our coats.“Take off your coat,” he said quietly. “It’ll warm you up faster.”I looked at him for a second before doing what he said. He shrugged off his own coat too, then leaned over the seat, reaching for a gray blanket in the back. With the kind of gentleness that always catches me off guard, he draped it around my shoulders, making sure every corner tucked neatly against my body.Before I could thank him, Cal took both of my hands and held them between his warm palms.
CAL“It’s always like that, isn’t it? The higher you go, the quieter it gets.”I watched her for a few seconds. The night wind was starting to cut through my coat, but somehow it felt grounding instead of cold. I let out a slow breath, eyes lowering to the metal cup in my hands, now cooling fast.Sera was still staring at the view below, though I could feel her gaze drifting to me every now and then.“Sera,” I said at last.She turned toward me calmly, as if she’d been waiting for me to speak.“There’s a reason I brought you up here.”“Okay,” she murmured. “I’m listening.”I lowered my eyes, thumb brushing the rim of the cup. “I’ve been … seeing a therapist. For the last two years. Because I wasn’t well.”She didn’t look surprised. If anything, her expression softened like she’d been expecting me to say it.I let out a dry, crooked smile. “You already knew, didn’t you?”A small nod.“Who told you?”“No one,” she answered honestly. “I just … assumed. A few times, maybe.” A pause. “Are
CAL“Stop trying to be the flawless hero. She doesn’t need that. She needs Callum. The man with scars, not the shadow with a shield.”“What am I supposed to do then?”“Let her see the cracks too. Not all at once, just enough so you’re not alone in there. You just have to start caring differently.”I remember staring at the floor when Dr. White said that. My hands clenched in my lap, trying to understand what those words even meant.Care differently. As if it were that simple.She didn’t know that every time I tried to pull away from Sera, my body felt as if it were losing its compass. And every time I got close—every time I looked directly into her eyes—everything I’d buried clawed its way back to the surface: the water, the screams, and the hand I couldn’t save.Two days after that session, I was here.The Blackwood Tower basement was quiet, lit only by the reflection of neon lights on concrete walls. I had just closed the small notebook on my lap when I saw her step out of the eleva
SERAI woke up slowly, still half-dreaming, still wanting to stay adrift. For a few seconds, I couldn’t remember where I was. Then my eyes found something too beautiful to make sense of: Beck sitting on the floor, resting his chin on the edge of the couch, looking at me like he needed to make sure I was real.His hair was a mess, a smear of dry paint marked his neck, and a faint blue line streaked across his cheek. He looked like someone completely unaware of how distractingly beautiful he was—and maybe that was exactly what made him so.“Am I in heaven or something?” I mumbled, dazed.He let out a soft chuckle. “Pretty close.”I stretched lazily, noticing my laptop still open on the coffee table and a thin blanket draped over my legs. “What time is it?”“Almost sunset,” he said, brushing a thumb along my cheek. “You passed out in the middle of your world domination plan, by the way.”I groaned. “And you just let me sleep?”“You looked peaceful,” he said gently. His gaze lingered on m
CALAs soon as the glass doors slid open, the warmth hit me. The faint scent of orange mixed with new paper filled the air. At the reception desk, the middle-aged woman with reading glasses gave me a thin smile. She didn’t ask for my name, just a small nod, like an unspoken agreement that I was one of her “regulars.”My hand brushed against the water bottle in my jacket pocket while I waited for the small door at the end of the hallway to open.“Come in, Callum.”I stepped inside.The room was simple. Soft gray couch, a small bookshelf, light that wasn’t too harsh. The kind of silence that makes people believe they’re safe.Like always, I took the seat near the window. From there, I could see a thin layer of fog hanging outside.Dr. White, with her silver hair pulled a little too tight, scribbled something in her leather notebook. “Rough morning?”I twisted the bottle cap, took a sip, and nodded. “Something like that.”“You look tired today.”Leaning back, I closed my eyes for a secon







