CHAPTER 7 — He Knows
1079 Words
Elara didn’t like this room.
That was the first thing she was sure of.
Not because it looked dangerous.
But because it didn’t.
Everything was too clean. Too controlled. Too normal.
Like something bad could happen here… and no one would ever know.
“Sit.”
The man’s voice was flat, uninterested.
Elara didn’t move immediately.
“…you people really don’t do introductions here?” she asked, trying to keep her tone light.
Her voice sounded thinner than she wanted.
The man didn’t react.
Didn’t blink.
Didn’t care.
Yeah.
That was worse.
Elara swallowed and slowly sat down, keeping her eyes on him as he flipped through the file in his hands.
Her file.
Her stomach tightened.
“You’ve been resisting treatment,” he said.
She let out a small breath. “I’ve been locked in a room.”
“That is part of your treatment.”
Elara blinked.
“…right.”
Okay.
Sure.
That made absolutely no sense.
“You don’t believe you’re sick,” he continued.
Her fingers curled slightly in her lap.
Careful.
“Should I?” she asked quietly.
The man looked up at her.
For the first time.
His eyes were sharp. Observing. Measuring.
Like he was trying to decide something.
“That depends on how cooperative you’re willing to be.”
Her chest tightened.
There it was again.
That feeling.
Like every answer she gave was a test she didn’t understand.
“We can increase your dosage,” he went on calmly. “Help you stabilize.”
Her breath hitched.
The words hit something buried deep in her mind.
Something she couldn’t fully remember.
But felt.
Wrong.
“Or…” he added.
Elara’s throat went dry.
“Or what?” she asked.
A pause.
Then
“We try something more… direct.”
Something cold slid down her spine.
That didn’t sound better.
That sounded worse.
Much worse.
The door behind her clicked open.
Elara’s head turned immediately.
Her body reacted before her mind could.
And then
Silence.
Not the empty kind.
The heavy kind.
The kind that changed everything in the room.
Her stomach dropped.
No.
No, no, no
She knew that feeling.
Before she even saw him
She knew.
Slow footsteps.
Unhurried.
Certain.
Elara’s fingers tightened against the edge of the chair as her breathing became uneven.
Please don’t be him.
Please
“I believe,” a familiar voice said calmly, “this one is mine.”
Her eyes shut briefly.
Of course it was him.
Of course.
Because things couldn’t just be bad
They had to be worse.
Slowly, she turned.
Dominic stood near the door, like he’d always been there.
Like he belonged there.
Like this place answered to him.
Her chest tightened.
He looked the same.
Calm.
Controlled.
Watching.
Always watching.
The man across from her frowned slightly. “This is a restricted”
“I’m aware,” Dominic cut in smoothly.
He didn’t raise his voice.
Didn’t look annoyed.
But the interruption landed like a command.
The man stiffened.
Elara noticed.
And that scared her more than anything else.
Dominic’s gaze shifted to her.
Slowly.
Deliberately.
Her breath caught the moment it landed.
There it was again.
That look.
Like she was something he had already decided on.
“You look tired,” he said.
Her brows pulled together slightly.
What?
“I don’t"
“You didn’t sleep,” he continued.
Elara froze.
Her lips parted slightly.
“I"
“You don’t sleep after they increase your dosage,” he added casually.
Her stomach dropped.
“How do you—”
“You pace,” he went on, like she hadn’t spoken. “Three steps. Turn. Three steps. Turn.”
Her chest tightened.
No.
No, no
“That’s not”
“You count the walls when you can’t think,” he finished softly.
Silence.
Heavy.
Suffocating.
Elara’s hands started shaking.
“How do you know that?” she whispered.
Dominic tilted his head slightly.
Like the question itself was interesting.
Not strange.
Not wrong.
Just… expected.
“I watch,” he said simply.
The answer settled in her chest like something alive.
Cold.
Wrong.
Too honest.
Her heart started racing.
“That’s not possible,” she said quickly, shaking her head. “You weren’t you can’t have been”
“Your favorite drink is iced coffee,” he continued.
Her voice died instantly.
“You hate it when it melts too much,” he added. “You say it tastes like regret.”
Her breathing stopped.
“You always sit by the window,” he went on, eyes still on her. “Even when there are better seats.”
Her throat tightened painfully.
Because
Because that was true.
All of it.
Things she never told anyone.
Things that weren’t important.
Things no one should know.
“Stop…” she whispered.
Dominic took a step closer.
Just one.
It was enough.
“You laugh louder when you’re uncomfortable,” he said quietly.
Her chest hitched.
A tear slipped down her cheek before she could stop it.
And just like before
He noticed.
Of course he did.
His gaze dropped to it, tracking it slowly.
Like it mattered.
Like it belonged to him.
Elara shook her head weakly, panic rising fast now.
“You’re lying… you have to be”
“I don’t lie to you,” he said.
Soft.
Certain.
That made it worse.
Because she didn’t know if that was true.
And the fact that she didn’t know
Terrified her.
“You don’t know me,” she said, her voice breaking.
Dominic’s expression didn’t change.
“That’s where you’re wrong.”
The room felt smaller.
Tighter.
Like the walls were closing in again.
Except this time
It wasn’t the place.
It was him.
The man across the table finally spoke, tension creeping into his voice. “This is highly inappropriate. She is under our”
“No,” Dominic said.
Just one word.
But it cut through everything.
“She’s not.”
Silence.
Elara’s heart pounded violently in her chest.
Because somehow…
That didn’t feel like freedom.
That felt like ownership.
And she didn’t know which was worse.
Dominic’s eyes never left hers.
“Come with me,” he said.
Not a question.
Elara didn’t move.
Couldn’t move.
Because for the first time since she got here
She wasn’t just scared of this place.
She was scared of him.
And the worst part?
A small, terrifying voice in her head whispered
He might be the only way out.
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