Fractured Freedom Novels & Stories

Sparks of glass scattered like cruel confetti. I stared at the shattered phone, my whole body trembling. “That’s it,” I whispered hoarsely. “We’re done. All of us. Forever.” At that moment, when our last fragile bond was broken, I also let go of the part of me that believed in forever. When I finally stumbled into my apartment, the silence hit me harder than the betrayal itself. The door slammed shut behind me, rattling in its frame. My keys slipped through my fingers and clattered against the wooden floor. The sound echoed far too loudly in the suffocating quiet.

“Most people, when they see this picture, might say that they only see a black and white picture of a bunch of homeless people happy to get a free meal, but I see more. I see a group of people who are having a hard time, but they created a family. They are looking out for one another.” The closer I move towards the picture, the more his eyes stay glued to me. Raising my hand to point out a part of the picture that people would ignore. “See, they are breaking their sandwiches in half to make sure that everyone has something to eat. They are taking care of one another, and that gives me hope. It gives me hope that no matter what cruelty we face in this world, we as human beings can still show

“This place is a monument to everything I helped build. Being here makes it harder to pretend any of this is only happening to us and not because of me.” His hand tightened slightly. “We already settled that you’re not walking back into their control. The rest we deal with one fight at a time.” I turned in the circle of his arm. For a moment we just looked at each other in the half-dark. The weight of the unresolved sat between us, the failsafe still living in his blood, the corporate kill-switches, Varen’s obsession, the fractured pack, the love I had spoken in a moment of pure desperation and that neither of us had fully returned to since.

Luckily, he did not keep pressing the matter. Once at the hospital, the doctor gave him a full examination. Once it was confirmed that his arm only had a minor fracture and that there were no internal injuries, I let out a sigh of relief. I was truly worried something would happen to Charlie because of me. If it did, I would never be able to get rid of him again for the rest of my life. By the time the treatment was done, two hours had passed. Then, we drove to the police station. Jamie called and said that the driver and the person behind the crash had both been caught.

] [Yvette, you deserve better. [He is not worthy of you.] [Go. Go as far as you can. Don’t look back.] I had waited for three years. I never expected anyone to understand me. But that night, under the stars, I finally met people who understood all the grievances I had carried for three years. I thanked them one at a time. [Thank you.] [Also, I’m already divorced.] I casually posted the divorce judgment. The post quickly went viral and was pushed to the top of trending topics.

He used to hold my hand and talk about saving up to buy a place and building a life together. I'd believed him then. I thought the frugality was about the future we were building, that splitting everything was about fairness, and that every cent we nickel-and-dimed over would eventually solidify into security. But what I finally understood was that some people weren't entirely incapable of love. They'd just weaponize their logic against someone and save their love for someone else. And I'd spent five years figuring that out. The lights outside reflected in the glass, and in them, so did I.

Freedom was supposed to taste clean. But it didn’t. It tasted like metal on my tongue, like rain dripping through rusted gutters, like smoke that never cleared from your lungs. Maybe because freedom wasn’t real, not for people like me, like us. Franca was gone, buried in the chaos of bullets and betrayal, but the silence she left behind was heavier than her voice ever was.

He was again on feet and hands being kicked and slapped. "And if you disagree, this girl will be dead". His brother pulled his hair but what scared him was the murder of Nattasha. ". You can’t do it. She is your child ". Win was crying in pain on the floor. He couldn’t imagine his brother turn animal. He wasn’t worried a bit about himself. They could do whatever they wanted to do, but yes he was hesitant and scared. Denzel had always protected him in the past. He accepted the job of being a male prostitute only to save Win from the dirt and today Denzel was the one in most pain. His daughter was at stake and he couldn’t do anything.

After a sigh she continues. "The other planets decided that human males weren't strong enough to actually provide aid... (Tursa licks her lips) To be honest the Shikaz, Gaimo, Vaal, Frole, Peulo, Glortinon and Kea people are still free because the Cok, Hassin, Bronkark, and Makskin people joined them. If they hadn't we would have already fallen. Physically we are too weak against our enemy," Tursa says before meeting my eyes again and I gasp as I see her tears.

I paced the library, the paper clenched in my fist, the words echoing in my head. Madison finally slammed her notebook shut. “You’re going to break,” she hissed. “Just like him. That’s what this is — pressure, until you fracture. Until you can’t tell what’s yours and what’s his.” I stopped, meeting her gaze, my voice low. “Then maybe the only way forward is to fracture.” For the first time, she looked shaken. Just for a moment. Then the steel returned. “You’re not thinking clearly.” “Neither are you,” I said.