fire and chains
608 Words
Sylvia told herself she wouldn’t see him again.
It was a foolish distraction. A reckless, fleeting moment.
And yet, as the days passed, she found herself replaying Ryder’s words over and over. Running back to your golden cage?
By the time Friday night rolled around, she was standing outside a small underground club, the bass-heavy music vibrating through her bones. Her cousins had invited her again, and this time, she hadn’t hesitated.
Stepping inside, the air was thick with heat and music, bodies swaying under dim neon lights. Sylvia’s heart pounded—not just from the atmosphere but from the possibility that he might be here.
And then she saw him.
Ryder was on stage, gripping the microphone, sweat glistening on his skin under the flashing lights. His voice was raw, deep, full of something wild and untamed. And when his eyes landed on hers in the crowd, she swore his smirk deepened, as if he’d expected her all along.
As the song ended, Sylvia barely had time to collect her thoughts before he was in front of her, his presence as intoxicating as the air around them.
“Didn’t think I’d see you again, golden girl.” His voice was teasing, but there was something deeper beneath it. Something knowing.
“I needed a break.” She barely recognized her own voice.
Ryder leaned in, close enough that she could smell the faint scent of leather and something undeniably him. “You don’t strike me as the type that takes breaks. You strike me as the type that runs.”
Sylvia swallowed. “And what do you think I’m running from?”
His gaze flickered to her wrist. The gold bracelet. Daniel’s mark.
“You tell me.”
Her stomach twisted. She should walk away. She should not let herself fall deeper into whatever this was.
But when Ryder reached out and brushed a strand of hair behind her ear, his fingers lingering against her skin, Sylvia knew one thing with absolute certainty.
She didn’t want to run anymore.
She hadn’t even been home for an hour before Daniel called.
“Where were you?” His voice was sharp, controlled—but there was an underlying edge that made her pulse quicken.
“With my cousins.” It wasn’t a lie. Not entirely.
“I had someone check.” His words sent an icy chill down her spine. “You were at another concert.”
Sylvia’s grip tightened on her phone. “Daniel, you can’t just—”
“I can do whatever I need to. You’re my girlfriend, Sylvia. And I won’t have you embarrassing me by sneaking around like some reckless groupie.”
The disgust in his tone sent a spark of anger through her.
“Is that what I am to you?” she whispered. “Something to be controlled?”
Daniel sighed, as if she was a child throwing a tantrum. “You’re something to be protected. You don’t belong in places like that.”
Sylvia stared out the window, the city lights stretching endlessly before her. Just days ago, she might have let his words sink in. But now, they only fueled the fire in her chest.
“I think I’ll decide where I belong.”
A tense silence filled the line.
Then Daniel’s voice turned cold. “We’ll talk about this tomorrow.”
The call ended.
Sylvia exhaled, but the weight on her chest remained. Because she knew Daniel wasn’t just going to talk. He was going to fix her.
But she wasn’t sure she wanted to be fixed anymore.
She wanted to be free.
And freedom had a name.
Ryder.
- Writer
