Chapter two
1000 Words
For a heartbeat, the world stood still.
The moment their eyes met, everything inside her screamed run.
Damian Volkov’s gaze locked on hers, unflinching, cold, as though he’d known she was there all along. Alessia’s lungs froze. Then his eyes narrowed, a flicker of command passing through the room like electricity.
Her heart punched her ribs, and she stumbled backward, breath snagging in her throat. Damian tilted his head, one corner of his mouth twisting into something between a smirk and a warning. He murmured something low, and his men shifted forward.
Alessia didn’t wait. She bolted.
The back door slammed shut behind her, the echo thunderous in the narrow alley. Her shoes slapped against the pavement as she sprinted toward the deeper dark. The air tore through her lungs, icy and sharp, but fear was sharper, carving a single thought into her head—don’t let them catch you.
One of his men turned. Then another.
And she knew. They had seen her.
Her body moved before her mind caught up. She spun on her heel, bolting down the hallway, the thud of her heartbeat so loud it drowned out the marble under her feet.
“Upstairs!” a voice barked behind her. Boots thundered in pursuit.
Alessia’s fingers fumbled against the banister as she vaulted off the last few steps, the rush of air sharp in her throat. Fear knifed through her chest, hot and raw, but she didn’t stop. Couldn’t. The mansion was a labyrinth she knew better than anyone, if she reached the back terrace, she could slip into the garden and vanish into the night.
Boots thundered behind her. Heavy, certain. Too many.
Her mind splintered into panic and memory, the crack of her mother’s scream, her father’s shadow swallowing her whole, the smell of blood on marble floors. Trauma clawed her chest as she ran, tears she couldn’t afford to shed burning her eyes.
She swung around the corner, nearly slipping, her palms skimming the rough bricks for balance. The alley forked, left or right?
A shout behind her.
“Get her!”
She turned right, praying.
But prayers were never enough.
One of them lunged from the dark, reaching for her arm. Instinct exploded, she twisted, driving her knee into his gut. He doubled over with a strangled gasp, and she didn’t stop. She slammed her elbow up into his jaw, heard the sick crack, and then kicked sideways into his ribs with all the fury of a cornered animal.
Bone crunched. His scream split the night.
She didn’t look back.
Her chest heaved, lungs begging for air, but adrenaline drowned out the pain. For the first time in years, she felt the fire her father had tried to breed in her, fight, survive, never bow.
But the other two were faster.
Damian’s men fanned out, shadows swallowing her escape routes. Her pulse turned into thunder, and every instinct told her to keep swinging, to keep clawing her way out of this hell.
"stay away from me" her breath ragged and tired from running.
Another man surged from behind. She barely had time to spin, grabbing a broken piece of wood from the ground. She swung wildly, the jagged edge slashing across his cheek. Blood streaked down his face, and his roar rattled the alley walls.
Her body burned with adrenaline, but she was no fighter. She knew it. Every strike was desperation wrapped in terror, not skill. And for every man she slowed, two more replaced him.
She darted down another turn, lungs begging for air, vision flickering with spots. Her hand brushed against the rough stone of the alley, grounding her, reminding her she was still alive, still moving.
“Don’t let her get away!”
Their voices boxed her in, echoing like wolves circling prey.
One reached for her hair, and she spun, nails slashing his cheek, the copper scent of blood flaring sharp in the cold. He cursed, staggering back.
But then a sharp, burning crack against the side of her skull.
Her vision burst white. She staggered, knees buckling, hands clawing for balance but finding only empty air. The world spun. The alley tilted sideways.
The strike came sudden and merciless. Something heavy cracked against the side of her head. The world tilted violently, colors bleeding into one another. She staggered, her body refusing to obey, her hands reaching instinctively for balance that wasn’t there.
Her knees hit the ground first, then her palms, scraping against stone. Her vision swam, torchlight blurring into a halo of fire. The taste of copper filled her mouth.
Boots surrounded her.
“Feisty little thing,” one of them sneered, his breath sour with alcohol as he crouched to seize her arm. “Almost worth the trouble.”
She tried to fight, her body jerking weakly, but her limbs felt heavy, unresponsive. She clawed at the ground, nails breaking against stone as she tried to crawl.
A laugh rang out above her, cruel and victorious.
“Damian will want her alive,” another voice muttered. “Careful.”
Alive. The word pierced through the fog in her head like ice.
She forced her eyes open, her lashes sticky with sweat and tears, and through the haze she saw the sky, dark, endless, indifferent. Her heart ached with rage, with fear, with grief that this night might end with her vanishing into shadows she’d never return from.
Still, she whispered, more to herself than anyone, “I’m not… like him.”
The blow to her head dragged her deeper into unconsciousness, her body sagging against the cobblestones. The men exchanged quick words, their voices distant now, muffled like she was sinking beneath water.
Damian’s voice cut through the ringing in her ears, deep and calm, like he had all the time in the world.
“Enough.”
Damian crouched low, his shadow swallowing her, his scent of smoke and leather coiling around her collapsing world.
“You should’ve looked the other way,”
- Writer
