CHAPTER 9 THE TRAP WAS ALREADY SET
368 Words
The place was abandoned. Quiet. Too quiet.
Erica hesitated at the entrance, her instincts screaming at her to turn back. But she didn’t. Because the truth is that no matter how dangerous it is, it was better than this confusion.
“Hello?” she called softly. No answer. Just silence.
And then, footsteps behind her. She turned sharply only to freeze.
Not Adrian. Not Lillian. Not Emerald. Someone else.
A man stepped out of the shadows. Tall. Unfamiliar.But his eyes held recognition. “You came,” he said.
Erica took a step back. “Who are you?” A pause.Then, “Someone who should have protected you.” Her heart skipped. “…What?” He stepped closer.
“Do you remember the night of the fire?”
Fire?
Her head throbbed instantly. Images flickered. Flames. Smoke. Screaming. She stumbled slightly.
“I—I don’t”
“You will,” he said.
Before he could say more,a voice cut through the darkness. Cold. Controlled. Furious. “That’s enough.” Erica froze. She knew that voice. Adrian stepped into view. His expression was darker than she had ever seen it. Dangerous. Not calm.Not controlled.Dangerous.
“You shouldn’t be here,” he said to her. But his eyes were on the man. “You really thought I wouldn’t find you?” Adrian added. The man smirked. “I was counting on it.”
Erica looked between them, her heart racing.
“What is going on?” she demanded. No one answered. So she shouted “STOP treating me like I don’t deserve the truth!” Silence. Heavy. Explosive. Then the man spoke. “You want the truth?” he said. A pause.
Then he pointed at Adrian.
“He was there the night your life was destroyed.”
Erica’s breath caught. “I know,” she whispered.
Adrian’s jaw tightened.
“But what you don’t know…” the man continued “…is that he didn’t just watch.”
A beat. A deadly one. “He chose who survived.”
The world stopped. Erica turned slowly toward Adrian.
Her voice barely whispers. “…Is that true?”
For the first time Adrian didn’t answer immediately. And that silence? It said everything.
- Writer
