Never Once Did We Walk Alone Novels & Stories

We walked out together hand in hand, no hiding, no looking back. The hallway was quiet. But the world outside felt louder. Brighter. Ours. Finally.

Instead, I walk in silence, listening to our footsteps echo off the high walls on either side of the alleyway as we make our way, tugged into the unknown. ━━━━━━･❪ ❁ ❫ ･━━━━━━ T O B E C O N T I N U E D...

I asked him. "I don't need any help." he said. "Maybe you stop following me then, stalker!" I said to him. "I have to make sure you are okay," he said. "At least don't follow right behind my tail. And I want to walk home ALONE!" I shouted at him, "Do you need the definition of alone? Or do you want me to spell the word alone for you. And you could at least walk on that street and still watch me." I didn't wait for him to answer and I continue to walk. I walked along the tree. I extend my hand to touch the bark of the tree. I walked all the way home. I walked up to the house, but I stayed outside. I could hear their conversation.

But what I did know, in my bones, was that we would be ready. We had to be. “I just wish we didn’t have to go back alone,” I murmured. Elias finally looked up. “We’re not alone.” “No Caelum. No Lucien. No Ronan. No Kellan.” I glanced at my hands. “Just us.” “For now.” He said. His voice even. “And maybe that’s enough. We’ll show them what Ember Hills stands for.” I quirked my lips at that. “Emberbound.”

The show of strength for our allies and our enemies. Lydia linked her arm with mine, giving it a squeeze. “Remember. We are right here. You are not alone.” We walked out of the room together, with our heels clicking on the tiles in steady rhythm. With every step towards the grand staircase, towards the waiting cars and the watching eyes, I repeated Salome’s words in my head. No union is perfect. Observe Be present. And beneath it all, there was a more quiet, colder thought that echoed the warning my bond had already given me….

This song we sang was ours to sing, dance, and feel, for only we knew how deep it really went. 'The Boulevard Of Broken Dreams' played from the box, glowing a vibrant shade of violet, and as he took my hand I pulled him to his feet and held him close as if I didn't I might lose him forever. We turned around to see the path ahead, and sure enough, it hadn't changed since the last time we walked it. We were terrified, to say the least, neither of us wanted to leave because all we had were each other, but together we would walk this path in this life and the next. Whatever fate had in store for us, we would conquer it together, we knew no fear so long as we had each other; And as we approached

I tightened my grip on the crutch and moved forward, each step slow but determined. “This time, I won’t beg again. I won’t fight for any of them. Not family. Not love. Not anything.” I didn’t look back as I walked away.

“You don’t have to do everything alone.” “I know,” I said. “But sometimes alone is the only way I remember who I am.” “You don’t have to be alone with me in the room to remember that,” he said. The words landed somewhere in my chest that made me flinch and smile at the same time. It was a small thread and we’d both started pulling it. I didn’t know if it would fray or hold. Right now, it existed, and that was enough. We walked out together into the wet air. The world hummed with its own life: cars, distant music, someone laughing too loud at a bar. For a moment, everything else fell away.

“With me.” I bump my shoulder lightly into hers. “Idiot.” She laughs. We stay in human form. That way no one pays attention. Just two girls walking at night. Nothing special. But for me, everything feels special. The path to the forest is calm. I hear crickets. Leaves moving in the wind. Our footsteps on the ground. “I used to come here alone sometimes,” Lyra says quietly. “Why alone?” She shrugs. “I did not have many people.”

The kind of sound that comes from someone trying very hard not to fall apart. I tightened my embrace. "You don't have to carry this alone." She said nothing. "You hear me?" Still nothing. Yet I felt her fingers clutch the fabric of my shirt. And somehow that was enough. We remained there for several minutes. Neither speaking. Neither moving. Just existing. Just breathing. Just surviving another impossible day. Eventually, we continued walking. The rest of the journey passed in silence. When we finally reached our chambers, the familiar sight should have comforted me. Instead, it felt strange.