Journey To The Heart Novels & Stories

Ready for the complete unknown. The departure board becomes my altar of hope. Destinations blur past through tears I refuse to let fall. Some familiar, others completely foreign, all of them representing the possibility of breath, of life, of tomorrow. Then I spot a bus heading to a small city several hours from Cascade City's suffocating chaos, departing in twenty-eight minutes. My heart doesn't just hammer. It threatens to burst through my chest while I approach the ticket counter on legs that feel unstable. I'm silently begging whatever gods might listen that they have space, that this isn't where my escape dies.

“The poultice worked. We have maybe one more use. No more.” Kael’s voice cut through the tension, thin but clear. “The Heartspring.” All eyes turned to him. His gaze was shadowed but steady. “The water… it doesn’t just clean. It… quiets the noise inside. After that…” He gestured weakly where his father had stood. “I think we all need quiet.” It wasn’t a plan; it was simply a human need to wash away the grime of betrayal. They all felt it. The journey to the cave was tense and silent, they were no longer just hiding from monsters; they were hiding from their own people’s fear. Ash stayed so close to Liora that their hands sometimes brushed. Each touch was a silent promise: I’m here and this i

And not with that sharp, intimidating air he wore in business—he was more like a sad puppy, showing up outside my apartment all the time. "I'm starving," he'd complain. "Then go eat!" I'd shoot back. "I'm exhausted." "Then go to bed!" "I missed you…" And before I could come up with another retort, his kiss fell, sudden and overwhelming. "Aurora," he whispered against my lips, "I really, really missed you." My eyes burned, and before I knew it, I was holding him just as tightly as he held me. On my birthday, Michael took me to Sorrowin Lake. Snow covered the frozen ground, and the whole world was quiet and shining. Right there, he went down on one knee.

Russell felt a lightening jolt passed through his spine. And Daniel... His feelings were hard to describe. He felt like he touched the most softest piece of silk. Soft yet firm. His heart was yearning to touch again. How would it feel to twirk them in between his fingers? How would it feel to lick.... Damn... Daniel mentally slapped himself. And quickly button up his shirt. And hurried to the washroom leaving a heavy breathing flustered Russell. What they both were unaware was that their hearts were beating frantically and there was something very wrong happening in their southern region.

Then Kael exhaled — not relief, not resignation, but something in between. “Then what happens now?” he asked. Avery looked at the now-slumbering Heart, feeling its rhythm echo through her bones. “Now?” She turned toward the rising glow of the passage ahead. “Now we see what’s left of it.” Together they walked on, their reflections bending in the mirrored light. Behind them, the Heart stirred again — faintly, like a sleeping creature dreaming of the sun.

The fracture spoke, Marisol’s voice layered with every conductor, every passenger, every soul the city had swallowed: “The heart chooses. Not you. Not the wager. The city. One soul to keep the loop running. The rest get to leave. But the train only stops if the heart accepts.” The staircase reappeared, spiraling down into darkness lit by red emergency strips that pulsed like a heartbeat. The HEARTSTONE EXPRESS idled below, brass and mahogany, windows glowing red, doors open like a mouth. The passengers were there—Javier, Victor, Frankie, Etienne, Jenkins, us—frozen in their moments of betrayal, love, sacrifice. They turned, eyes red, mouths moving: “Board, Spitfire. Or the city drowns.” I to

“Is that… are you…?” He couldn’t speak. Couldn’t form words. Could only stand there in his beast form, watching her approach with the kind of directness that suggested she was either incredibly brave or completely broken. She reached out a hand small, pale, fragile and touched the dark fur of his chest. “Your heart,” she whispered. “It’s burning.” She could feel it. Through the fur, through the muscle and bone, she could feel the curse eating him alive. The Aethel-Stone in her chest was recognizing the dying heart in his, and something was happening at a level neither of them fully understood.

This wasn’t about if they found her. It was about when they decided to stop waiting. The knock came again. Harder this time. The door didn’t break. But it shifted slightly. And that was enough. Keisha moved. Fast. Into the hallway. Heart pounding now. Real fear. Real urgency. No more confusion. No more questions. Just survival. And somewhere out there in DC— Whatever Malik was doing… was already too late.

I pulled out my SIM card, snapped it cleanly in two, and let it fall into the trash, severing the last thread. I boarded the plane and turned off my phone. As the plane rose into the sky, I looked down at the city beneath the clouds, watching the place that held all my pain slowly fade from view. Silently, I whispered farewell to the life I once knew. … Ryan held his phone, waiting for a reply that never came. The screen went dark, and he pressed it to wake it again. A restless irritation twisted inside him, sharper and more relentless than ever. He loosened his tie, trying to shake off the strange discomfort.