Caught

The rain poured heavily that night, drenching the blood-stained earth as she stood amidst the ruins of what was once her home. Smoke curled from the charred remains of the wooden walls, the scent of blood and burning flesh lingering in the air. Her knees threatened to give out, but she couldn't afford to fall. Not yet. They were all gone. Her mother, her father, her little brother—ripped away by faceless monsters who had left nothing but destruction in their wake. She had seen their bodies, twisted and broken, their final moments etched into her memory like a scar that would never heal. Her fists clenched. If justice wouldn’t come for them, she would carve it out herself. With nothing but the clothes on her back and a heart fueled by vengeance, she set out into the unknown, searching for the truth. She didn’t expect to find someone like him—a man with sharp eyes and a mind just as keen. He saw the clues she missed, guided her through the shadows, and, in the quiet moments between the hunt, reminded her what it was like to feel something other than rage. But the deeper they dug, the more the edges of her world began to blur. Whispers clawed at the corners of her mind, memories shifting like sand slipping through her fingers,throwing her in an endless war inside her mind.