LOGIN~MARCELLA~The most important thing I care about right now is getting to Lucas fast.I grab my keys and rush out of the house, almost forgetting my phone before running back to grab it.Then I’m out again, running.My heart pounds wildly against my chest as I jump into my car.My fingers shake so badly I almost drop the keys, fumbling before finally jamming them into the ignition.The engine roars to life, and I’m already driving before I fully process it.The road blurs past me.Everything feels too slow, too far.My hands grip the steering wheel tightly, my knuckles turning white.“Please be okay…” I whisper under my breath, my voice trembling.“Please… Lucas…”The entire drive is torture and my mind won't stop spiralling into different thoughts.What if he’s worse than they said?What if I’m too late?What if….“Stop it!” I snap at myself, my breathing uneven.Tears sting my eyes, but I blink them away.Not now.I can’t break now.“You don’t get to fall apart,”
~MARCELLA~Yesterday was terrible for me, and before I could sleep, I had to force myself, hoping that tomorrow morning comes with peace and calm to the storm in my heart and head.But morning comes slowly and painfully.It doesn’t rush in with light or warmth or peace that I want…. It creeps in, dragging me out of sleep.My eyes flutter open, but they don’t stay open for long. Everything feels heavy… my head, my body, even my chest.I let out a soft groan, turning slightly on the bed as if I could escape the weight pressing down on me. But it follows… clinging to me like a shadow I can’t shake off. I stare blankly at the ceiling for a few seconds, trying to gather myself as I suddenly remember yesterday.God… yesterday.The image flashes in my head immediately…Lucas standing there in the rain, the look in his eyes… hurt, disbelief… and then me, getting into Albert’s car.I fucking left him in the rain, and went with Albert.The memory hits harder this time,
~LUCAS~The realization that I almost died all because of a woman hits me hard.Something inside me snaps and my breathing stutters.My fingers curl weakly against the sheets, and my chest suddenly tightens from fear…real, raw and uncontrollable.My breathing starts to pick up, uneven and shallow.“Hey… hey, relax…” Fred steps closer quickly, noticing.But I can’t.I almost died!!!I was lying there…bleeding out and alone.A shaky breath leaves me, then another, then it spirals.My heart starts racing too fast, slamming painfully against my ribs.“I… I couldn’t move…” I mutter, my voice trembling now. “I remember… I couldn’t…my body just…”My hand lifts slightly, shaking uncontrollably before dropping back to the bed.“Lucas….”“What if you didn’t come?” I cut in suddenly, my voice rising despite how weak I am. “What if you didn’t find me?!”Fred freezes.“I would’ve just….what?!” My breathing turns erratic. “Bled out there like some….like some nobody on the st
~LUCAS~I feel like something heavy is pressing against my skull… like I’m being dragged up from the bottom of a deep, suffocating ocean where everything is cold, silent, and endless.It feels like I’ve been down there for hours, days, maybe longer.Then something shifts….a flicker, a pull, and suddenly, I'm rising.Fighting my way back.The first thing I feel is pain….not sharp or sudden.But deep… aching… spreading through every inch of my body like it has settled into my bones and made a home there.It’s heavy, relentless and unforgiving.A low, broken groan slips past my lips before I can stop it, my face tightening slightly.“Fuck…..”My throat is dry, painfully dry, like I haven’t spoken in days. My voice comes out hoarse, cracked, almost unrecognizable.Even breathing feels… wrong, too heavy, too strained.My eyelids feel like they’re weighed down by something…..too heavy to lift.But I force them open anyway, just a little, and light hits me instantly….too bright, too harsh.It
~LUCAS~The first drop of rain hits my cheek, then another, and then, it pours…. heavy and relentless.Within seconds, we’re soaked.The ground turns slick beneath our feet, water splashing with every movement.He comes at me again, faster this time, throwing a combination of punches.I block, deflect, step back, then counter with a sharp kick to his side and a punch to his jaw.He stumbles slightly, but recovers fast, grabbing my arm and trying to slam me down.I twist out of it, using his momentum against him, sweeping his leg out from under him.He hits the ground hard, but rolls immediately, springing back up like it’s nothing.I let out a breathless laugh.“Not bad,” I mutter.He charges again.This time, I meet him head-on.We clash hard, fists colliding, bodies slamming into each other as the rain pours harder, soaking through my clothes, dripping into my eyes.Pain explodes across my ribs when he lands a hit.I grunt, staggering slightly, then snap back
~LUCAS~The sound of the engine roars louder, aggressive, like it’s not slowing down… like it’s not even trying to.The noise cuts through the night like a blade, too loud, too sudden, echoing off the empty street and bouncing inside my skull. It feels wrong immediately…..too deliberate, too directFor a split second, my brain doesn’t process it.It just… freezes.The light gets closer, and closer.Too close.I should step away, but I can't, as I just find myself frozen on the spot in shock and watching as the car comes faster and faster at me.“What the hell…..”My voice comes out quieter than I expect, almost swallowed by the roar of the engine, like even sound is afraid of what’s about to happen.My heart slams violently against my ribs as my body finally reacts, stumbling a step back, my breath catching in my throat.It’s not stopping.It’s not.The tires screech suddenly, loud and violent, cutting through the night as the car swerves hard, right in front
~MARCELLA~The rude girl is still yapping her mouth.“Okay, I think I have heard enough and I'm done watching,” I tell Stephanie and take a step forward without thinking.But Stephanie is already moving.She grips my wrist firmly, nails pressing into my skin, grounding me befo
~MARCELLA~I don’t go to school the next day.I wake up to sunlight spilling through my curtains, my phone buzzing with notifications I don’t bother checking, and a strange hollowness sitting right in the center of my chest.For the first time in a long time, it isn’t money, clothes, or playing game
~ELENA~That night, when the house finally grows quiet, reality settles in.Not the fear kind, but the good kind.The kind that hums softly in your chest and tells you this….this moment….is real.The nursery light glows faintly down the hall.I sit in bed, pillows stacked behi
~TWENTY TWO YEARS LATER~ ~MARCELLA~I weave my way onto the dance floor with Stephanie, my best friend, finding the beat as I sway my hips and lose myself in the groove, erupting loud cheering noises from the hungry crowd whose hungry eyes are ravaging all over my body.I'm p







