Frames Of Blood

CHAPTER 13: SCARLETT

I stared at the phone long after I hung up.

It was still warm in my hand—cheap plastic, no weight to it. Just numbers and signal. Just a line between me and someone I barely knew.

But for some reason, it felt heavier than a gun.

---

Calling him wasn’t the plan.

I’d been parked outside Harold’s estate for four hours, watching the light in his office go out at the same damn minute it always did. Routine. Predictable. Calculated.

But tonight, I couldn’t shake the pressure in my chest.

Not fear. Not anxiety.

Just a gnawing sense that everything was moving too fast and not fast enough. Like the revenge I’d built in my mind was too clean, too cold—and reality never played fair.

I wasn’t used to waiting. I was used to surviving.

And for the first time in years, I wasn’t trapped in a cell, but I still didn’t feel free.

---

So I pulled out the phone. His number was already saved—D. I didn’t ask him to program it, but he did. Like he knew I’d call eventually, even if I told him I wouldn’t.

And I did.

I called.

It wasn’t some grand gesture. It wasn’t trust.

But it wasn’t nothing, either.

---

He picked up like he was ready for me, even though I could hear the surprise in his voice. He didn’t ask too many questions. Didn’t make it weird. Just... talked.

And for a second, it felt normal.

And normal scared me more than anything.

---

I looked out the windshield. Harold’s house sat quiet behind the gate, bathed in security lights and shadows. I thought of all the years I spent hating that silhouette. Dreaming of what I’d do if I ever got the chance to come back.

Now I was here. And I wasn’t alone.

That part still didn’t sit right with me.

But I hadn’t thrown the phone away.

I’d used it.

And that meant something, even if I didn’t have the language for it yet.

---

I set the phone down in the cupholder.

Pulled my jacket tighter around me.

And whispered to no one, “Still in.”

Then I went back to watching the house.

Because tomorrow, we move.

And tonight... I let myself breathe.

Just for a minute.