The Ruins By Scott Smith Novels & Stories

She scrambled past him and bolted out of the elevator. Roman, in rage, lunged after her. "You bitch! I'll-" His threat died in his throat. Actually, both of them froze, staring at the darkened suite. The room was a masterpiece, lit only by the cold, unforgiving glow of the moonlight and the dim light in the room. In the room, seated in a lone armchair, was a man. He sat with his legs crossed, a crystal glass of scotch in one hand. The man simply lifted his head, his grey eyes fell on them.

“Y-yes, sir.” The ride back home was fucking silent. Unbearable. I didn’t speak. Neither did Bram. Just… silence. And rain. So much rain it sounded like the sky was trying to drown us. My palms were still sweating even though they were freezing. My shoulder ached like hell. My heart hadn’t slowed down since the crash. I kept seeing it again and again—us sliding, that moment of weightlessness, that stupid second where I thought we were going to die. Fuck.

"I'm so sorry." Because I'd failed already, and I had no idea how to fix this. No idea how to survive this. I just knew that Damien Cross had broken me. And I didn't know if I'd ever be whole again. Morgan POV Matured Audience The world had narrowed to the space between his sheets, to the scent of his skin and the crushing weight of a need so profound I felt like dying. I was on all fours, my body bowed and trembling. The air was cold on my heated skin, but the fire he stoked within me was an inferno.

He started at my sandals, moved up my tanned legs, lingered on the curve of my hips in my denim shorts, and finally locked onto my eyes with an intensity that made my stomach flip. "Took you long enough," he said. His voice had dropped an octave, turning into a low, gravelly rumble that vibrated in my chest. He didn't wait for a greeting. He stepped forward, his scent hitting me instantly—a mix of cedar, salt, and raw masculinity. He reached past me to grab my suitcase, his arm brushing against my shoulder. The brief contact felt like an electric shock. He didn't pull away immediately, letting his body hover just inches from mine for a heartbeat too long before he stepped back and gestured i

Suddenly, the ground started to shake again. The pain in my body spiked, and I couldn’t stop coughing up blood. Feeling the tremors grow stronger, I cried out to them through tears, “Just… go! Don’t worry about me!” However, no matter what I said, not a single person was willing to leave me behind. At last, the rebar behind me was cut in time. They lifted me onto a stretcher and sprinted for the exit. The moment we reached solid ground, the floor behind us gave way.

We came to the clearing and found ourselves on the edge of a rugged cliff. As soon as I stepped closer, I ceased breathing for a moment. There were ruins, ruins beneath our feet, ruins of a large city carved out of huge blocks of stone. Towers. Collapsed walls. Archways half-buried under vines. Moon glow fell upon the ruins of an abandoned city. No fires. No movement. No signs of life. Yet somehow it didn't feel abandoned. It felt waiting. As if the ruins had been expecting us. Matthew stepped beside me. “What is this place?”

Silver flames burned along the walls without heat, casting eerie light across hundreds of kneeling figures below. Hollows. Thousands of them. Their heads bowed in absolute silence. And at the center of it all. me. No. Her. The first Queen of Ruin sat upon a throne of obsidian, draped in dark armor lined with glowing cracks. A silver crown rested upon her head like it belonged there. Like it had never belonged anywhere else. Her face slowly lifted. And I was staring at myself. Same eyes. Same face. Only colder. Older. Broken in ways I couldn’t understand.

But this time, he stared through her, his face dark with resentment. If not for her, he wouldn't have lost me. If not for her, his family wouldn't be in ruins. The butler threw her out, but Sam's phone buzzed incessantly with calls from creditors and ex-partners. In frustration, he smashed it against the floor, finally understanding what it meant to be abandoned when the chips were down. He sank to the ground, haunted by the image of me smiling on Fabio's arm outside City Hall. His heart ached, the pain suffocating.

“The part where someone starts mattering enough to ruin me.” Her breath caught. The rain outside intensified, thunder rumbling somewhere far across the city. Sienna reached for his hand slowly, threading their fingers together. “You’re not ruined.” “You don’t know that yet.” The sadness hidden beneath the joke nearly destroyed her. For the first time since meeting him, Sienna realized Luca wasn’t fearless at all. He was terrified. Terrified of needing someone, of loving someone. Terrified they would eventually leave anyway. Sienna squeezed his hand gently.

The heavy wooden door slammed shut, plunging her into absolute darkness. The finality of the sound, the heavy thud of the bar locking into place from the outside, echoed in the small space, sealing her in. For a long moment, she didn't move from the spot on the hard-packed dirt floor where the guards had thrown her. The air was thick with the smell of damp earth and the faint, sweet scent of rot. It was cold. A deep, seeping cold that had nothing to do with the lack of sunlight and everything to do with the utter, soul-crushing loneliness that was now her entire world.