MasukThe house came into view slower than I expected, not because I had reduced my speed but because something in me resisted the moment I would finally have to face whatever was waiting there and the longer I looked at it, the more something about it felt wrong in a way I could not immediately explain.Everything looked normal. The lights were on, steady and warm behind the windows, the front heard was undisturbed, no sign of struggled, no broken glass, nothing out of place in the way danger usually announce itself, and yet that normalcy settled into me with an unease that made it difficult to take comfort in it.I parked the truck quickly, cutting the engine as I stepped out, the quiet of the night wrapping around me in a way that made me feel amplified as I walked towards the front door.“Mia?” I called, my voice carrying across the space, steady but edge with something I could hit quite suppress.There was no response. I knocked, firm and deliberate, waiting a moment before knocking
The road stretched ahead of me in long, empty lines that blurred the more I drove, not because I wasn't paying attention but because my mind refused to stay anchored to anything in front of me when everything inside me was focused somewhere else.On her. On that call.On the way her name had sounded in Nora's voice when she told about it, strained in a way that didn't sit right now matter how many times I tried to convince myself it could have been nothing.I tightened my grip on the steering wheel slightly, exhaling through my nose as I leaned back just a fraction, forcing myself to focus on the road long enough to keep the truck steady.“This is a bad idea.” I muttered under my breath not because I believed it enough to turn around because saying it out loud felt like acknowledging the part of me that still understood consequences.My phone sat in the cup holder beside me, the screen dark, silent in a wha that felt louder than any notification could have been.I glanced at it briefl
The words he said did not leave the room as quickly as the other, when he had said them.They also didn't soften with time or distance. Or even breathe, because they settled into the space between us with a weight that made everything feel still.“I should punish you for that…”I did not move, not because I did not want to, but because every instinct in me understood that if I moved now, it could interpreted into something I could not take back.So instead, I held myself in place and let my breathing remain.Even my pulse climbed in a way that felt dangerously close to death, but I remained still regardless.Ben did not step closer either. That was the first thing that unsettled me, because I expected him to do that.I expected the shift into something physical, something immediately, something I could at least recognize and prepare for in a way that made sense.But instead, he remained where he was, watching me with the same careful attention that made it feel like he was waiting for
“I have to find a way to get to her.*“Yes, you do.” Nora agreed. Her voice was high pitched as she sat listening to me. Her gaze flickered between me and the television. I couldn't tell if she was listening to me or just distracted from her show by the sound of my voice.I stopped speaking for a few seconds. Her eyes remained on the screen for a while, eventually, she turned wide-eyed. “Did something happen?*“No. I just thought you weren't listening.*“I'm listening.”“I see that.”She adjusted.closer, Lily was in her room by now, distracted by a book or something else. The poor child hated that Mia wasn't here, but as the days went by, she started to grasp reality fast enough.“So what do you want to do now?” Nora distracted me from my thoughts as she poked me with the end of the remote.“I don't know.”“Look, I know you love this girl but I don't think you should do whatever's going through your mind.”“What's going through my mind?”She nodded. “I've known you for long, Ethan. I
There was something about the room that refused to let me breathe properly, not because the air itself was lacking but because everything within it felt deliberate.Like it was arranged in a way that had intention and made it impossible to ignore the prulspe behind it.From the position of the bed, to the faint lingering scent in the corners, something medicinal wouldn't stop ooIng from there corners.The more I sat on that bed, the more I noticed how unsettling everything seemed, I tried to understand, but I couldn't. I couldn't understand how anyone could have found comfort in such a place without puking.Ben stood close enough that I could feel the presence of him without needing to look directly, and even though his hand had left mine, the memory of his grip lingered against my skin in a way that made it difficult to forget how easily he could close that distance again, how quickly control could shift back into his hands if I gave him even the smallest reason to take it.“You’re q
The door opened before the guard announced anything, and I didn’t bother turning immediately because there was only one person who came in without knocking twice.Bruce stepped in, shut the door behind him, and took his seat like he owned the room, which in a way, he did.“You look settled,” he said.“I’m adapting,” I replied, finally looking at him. “You didn’t come here to check on my comfort.”“No,” he said. “I didn’t.”I leaned forward slightly. “Then say what you came to say.”He studied me for a second longer than necessary before speaking, and that hesitation told me whatever this was, it wasn’t small.“There’s been a development,” he said.“There’s always a development,” I replied. “Make this one worth my time.”He exhaled. “Mia is missing.”The name didn’t surprise me. The timing did.I leaned back slowly, letting that settle in properly before responding. “Missing,” I repeated, more to process it than to question it.“Yes.”“When?”“A few days ago.”I nodded once, my eyes st
The scarf was still warm, that was the first thing I noticed. It wasn't stiff with frost. It wasn't buried either. It laid there half crushed in the snow like it had fallen in a struggle.I picked it up slowly. My hands were steady, a little too steady. “She wouldn't have dropped this.” Lily whispe
The cold came back first. Not the air, not the snow. Inside me, it crept in through the space Bradley left behind, through the echo of his words, through the image of Ethan's hands striking bone. It settled somewhere behind my ribs and stayed there, heavy and unmoving. Ethan stood a few feet away w
Marriage was a crazy thing to say from the point I stood. I barely wanted to be near the man, not to mention having his last name.For once I regretted being present but I made no expression, I kept my calm and I smiled.“That's lovely, Lily.” Was all I could say. Ethan looked my way, he smiled gen
I did not look back. The choice did not come from strength but from instincts, the same quiet discipline that had always been what I governed my actions with.I stepped out of the hallway lightway and into the dim of the living room, shadows gathering around me as if they understood I needed to dis







