The Center Cannot Hold Novels & Stories

I couldn't—no, I wouldn't—let anyone take over my dream. However, I felt like I was being choked by the pressure I was under. For me, the center was everything. It was more than just a company; it was a space where artists could express themselves and creativity could thrive. Everything would fall apart if I didn't acquire the money I required. I said, "I’m not sure," before I could stop speaking. "I don’t think I can just—" "I understand," he broke off, his eyes sparkling with humor or possibly comprehension. "I'm not requesting that you decide right now. But Miss Hart, give it some thought.

The Wells Corporation would once again be on the brink of collapse. This time, though, Grace didn’t try to force me away. She just told me the whole story. From start to finish, she remained calm and composed.

Now there's no going back. No holding back.

Uneasy and necessary and held together entirely by the fact that something outside was worse than anything inside. It would hold. For now. It only needed to hold long enough.

It didn’t slow. It stopped, locked in place. “It can't be…”

The circle held. Complete. Unbroken. Burning still.

Self-sustaining. Self-growing. And I was at its center. Trapped. “No…” I breathed. I tried to pull back. Tried to loosen my hold. But the moment I did The connection snapped violently. Screams flooded my mind. Pain surged from every direction. I collapsed to my knees again, gasping. “I’m sorry!” I cried out. I couldn’t let go. If I did They would fall apart again. And this time They wouldn’t come back. Which meant I was the only thing holding them together.

Because now it wasn’t just defending. It was holding something. Something it didn’t want to lose. This is necessary. “Not like this.” The energy surged again and this time I didn’t just push. I pulled. At the fragment. At the connection. At the piece being taken. The resistance was brutal. Like trying to tear something from the center of a storm. You cannot separate what is already becoming one. “I don’t need to separate all of it,” I said through clenched teeth.

Nothing can stop them. The End.

Cesare didn't say a word and simply drove away. It was a rainy night, and I couldn't get a ride. The roads were slippery, and I fell, slicing my calf with a wound nearly ten inches long. I lay there for what felt like forever before I could even move. Once the pain subsided, I limped and gritted my teeth, walking four hours back to my apartment. After tending to my wound, I saw his message. [Stop obsessing over one person. There are plenty of fish in the sea.]