Just Us
932 Words
I didn’t expect Adrian to actually leave but he did. No lingering. No extra instructions.
Just a glance at Rook, then gone like everything else in this house moved around him. And suddenly—
It was just me and the guard I wasn’t supposed to trust.
“Well,” I muttered, pushing my chair back. “This should be fun.”
Rook didn’t react.
“Come on,” he said instead, already heading toward the door.
“Where?”
“You wanted to understand where you are.” I hesitated then followed anyway.
The house felt different with just him.
Quieter. Less… intense.
I could breathe without feeling like I was being watched from every direction.
Which made no sense because he was still watching me.
“This place is insane,” I said as we walked down a long hallway.
“Yeah.”
“That’s it? Just ‘yeah’?”
He glanced at me briefly. “What do you want me to say?”
“I don’t know. Something that makes it feel less… controlled.”
“It is controlled.” Well. At least he was consistent.
We turned down another corridor, this one lined with doors that all looked exactly the same.
“How do you even remember where everything is?” I asked.
“You learn.”
“That’s not helpful.”
“It’s not supposed to be.”
I almost smiled at that. Almost.
We stepped outside next.
The air was warm now, the storm completely gone. The grounds stretched out farther than I expected—open space, high walls, security I didn’t fully understand.
“You won’t get out that way either,” Rook said.
I frowned. “I wasn’t trying to.”
“You were looking.” He wasn’t wrong.
I hated that he noticed.
“Do you ever get tired of this?” I asked.
“Of what?”
“Watching people. Following orders. Pretending this is normal.” A pause.
“It is normal.”
“For you.”
“Yes.”
That answer felt too simple.
Like there was more behind it.
I slowed slightly, studying him.
“You don’t act like the others.”
That made him glance at me.
“Meaning?”
“You don’t feel like a guard.”
“What do I feel like?” I hesitated.
“I don’t know yet.”
Something flickered in his expression.
Gone just as fast. We kept walking.
Slower now. Less structured.
Like neither of us was in a rush to get anywhere. “Why did you really come here?” I asked suddenly. He didn’t look at me this time.
“Same reason everyone else does.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“It’s the only one you’re getting.” That should’ve annoyed me and it did but not enough to stop asking.
“You could leave,” I said.
“Could I?”
“You’re not locked in like I am.”
“No,” he said.
That made me stop walking.
“What do you mean ‘no’?”
He turned slightly, meeting my gaze.
“Everyone’s stuck somewhere.” That wasn’t what I asked but it felt like the truth anyway.
I looked away first, again.
I was starting to notice that.
“Why are you helping me?” I asked quietly.
He didn’t answer right away.
And this time, it didn’t feel like avoidance. It felt like hesitation.
“I’m doing my job,” he said.
“That’s not what I meant.”
“I know.” Silence stretched.
“You’re easier to deal with than most,” he added.
I blinked. “That’s your reason?”
“It’s one of them.”
I shook my head slightly. “That’s not convincing.”
“It’s not supposed to be.”
We started walking again but something had shifted. Slightly.
Like a line had been crossed without either of us saying it out loud.
“You don’t trust him,” Rook said after a minute. It wasn’t a question.
I exhaled slowly. “I don’t understand him.”
“Same thing.”
“No, it’s not.”
He glanced at me. “Then what is it?”
I thought about it. About Adrian.
About the way he spoke.
The way he didn’t lie. Didn’t pretend.
“I think he’s telling the truth,” I said finally.
Rook’s expression didn’t change.
“But that doesn’t make it better.”
We reached the edge of the grounds, where the walls stretched high enough to block everything beyond them. I stared at them for a second, then looked back at him.
“You’re different from him.”
“Obviously.”
“I mean it.”
A pause, then—
“I know.”
Something about the way he said that felt… off. Like he knew exactly how different he was. And why.
I crossed my arms slightly.
“You still haven’t told me your real name.”
“No.”
“You’re not going to, are you?”
“No.” At least he was consistent.
I let out a small breath, shaking my head.
“You’re frustrating.”
“I’ve been told that.”
“I don’t doubt it.”
Silence again. But this time—
It wasn’t uncomfortable. And that?
That was the problem.
Because I was starting to feel like I could talk to him, like I could figure things out here. Like maybe— I wasn’t as alone as I thought.
And I had a feeling—
That was exactly what I was supposed to think.
- Writer
