Episode11:No More Quiet
543 Words
Aria did not scream.
She did not cry.
She sat on the edge of the bed and listened to the house breathe around her. Jack’s footsteps moved away down the hall, calm and unhurried, as if he had all the time in the world.
That was when she understood something important.
Jack was not angry.
He was confident.
And that made him dangerous.
She checked the window. The cliff beyond it dropped sharply into darkness. The wind howled below, strong and unforgiving. Escape that way meant death.
She turned back to the room.
Her phone was gone.
Jack had thought of everything.
But he had forgotten one thing.
Aria remembered details.
She lifted the mattress and reached beneath the frame. Her fingers brushed paper. The copies she had hidden days ago. Old documents. Names. Dates. Proof.
Jack’s secrets.
She slipped them into her bag and waited.
Downstairs, Jack stood in his study, watching the security feed. Aria’s door remained closed.
“Good,” he murmured. “She’s learning.”
Outside, Sebastian moved carefully toward the house. The sea wind cut through his coat, but he did not slow down. Victor’s voice whispered in his ear.
“Lena remembered more.”
Sebastian stopped. “Tell me.”
“She said Jack ordered the fire. Not just the estate. Others. Years ago.”
Sebastian clenched his fists. “He’s been erasing people.”
“Yes,” Victor said. “And Aria fits the pattern.”
Sebastian’s chest tightened. “Then this ends tonight.”
Inside the house, Aria waited until the hallway lights dimmed. She stepped out quietly, her heart pounding. She moved toward the study, guided by memory.
The door was unlocked.
Jack sat inside, his back to her.
“I knew you’d come,” he said without turning.
“I heard your call,” Aria replied. “You’re planning something.”
Jack smiled faintly. “I’m finishing something.”
She stepped closer. “You used fire to hide the truth.”
Jack finally faced her. “Fire cleans.”
“No,” she said. “Fire destroys.”
“Only lies,” Jack replied.
She pulled the papers from her bag and held them out. “Then explain these.”
For the first time, Jack looked unsettled.
“Where did you get those?” he asked.
“You left them behind,” Aria said. “Like you left behind the woman in the photographs.”
Silence fell between them.
“You were supposed to observe,” Jack said quietly. “Not understand.”
“I was supposed to be invisible,” she replied. “But I’m not.”
Jack stood slowly. “This ends if you hand those over.”
“And if I don’t?”
Jack’s eyes hardened. “Then people get hurt.”
At that moment, glass shattered downstairs.
Jack turned sharply.
Outside, Sebastian forced his way in.
The alarm began to scream.
Aria stepped back, her heart racing.
Jack looked at her one last time.
“You chose the wrong side,” he said.
“No,” Aria answered. “I chose the truth.”
The house filled with noise. Footsteps. Shouts. The sound of everything breaking open.
And somewhere beneath it all, the smell of smoke began to rise.
- Writer
