*Anastasia*“I thought you could use a friend, just about now.”The word—friend—hangs over me, almost mockingly, slicing through the stillness of the room. It catches in my throat, sharp and bitter, a shard of glass impossible to swallow. Behind me, the fire in the grate sputters and hisses, a dying serpent casting its last embers across stone-gray walls. Each spark feels like a taunting whisper, a brittle laugh echoing the fractures of the day.Not because his words were untrue—but because they laid bare the raw, bleeding wound of what had transpired between Hidi and me. The memory burns like a brand, fresh and searing, leaving no room for excuse because the fight is still too fresh, no time yet to heal or balm.My fingers curl around the door knob, knuckles bleaching white, tendons straining beneath skin pulled taut with tension. I should close the door right now. Dismiss him. Do anything but stand here, suspended between the hollow emptiness of the hallway and the dangerous promise
Last Updated : 2025-12-29 Read more