The first Attempt
813 Words
Elena pushed the covers off herself and stood quickly, ignoring the slight dizziness that followed. She moved toward the door first, her steps cautious but urgent, and reached for the handle. Locked. Of course it was. Her jaw tightened as frustration bubbled beneath her fear, but she didn’t stop there. She turned and hurried toward the windows, pulling the curtain aside fully.
Her heart sank.
The view confirmed what she already suspected. The mansion sat far from anything else, surrounded by high gates and guarded grounds. Even from this height, she could see movement below—men stationed at different points, watching, waiting. There was no easy way out. No obvious escape.
“No…” she whispered, shaking her head as reality settled heavily over her.
But she refused to accept it. She couldn’t.
Her gaze moved quickly around the room, searching for anything she could use, anything that could give her even the smallest advantage. Her eyes landed on a side table, then the door again. If she couldn’t get out quietly… maybe she could force her way out.
The sound of a lock clicking made her freeze.
The door opened.
Elena turned sharply, her pulse spiking as he stepped inside like he belonged there—like he owned not just the room, but the air she was breathing.
Alessandro.
He looked exactly the same as the night before—composed, controlled, untouched by everything that had happened. His presence alone shifted the atmosphere, turning the already suffocating silence into something sharper, more dangerous.
“You’re awake,” he said simply, closing the door behind him.
Elena took a step back instinctively, her body tensing. “Let me go.”
No hesitation. No greeting. Just the truth she held onto.
His gaze rested on her for a moment, unreadable. “Good morning to you too.”
“I’m serious,” she insisted, her voice tightening. “You can’t keep me here.”
“I can,” he replied calmly. “And I will.”
The certainty in his tone made her chest tighten painfully. “Why?” she demanded. “Why me? I told you—I won’t say anything. I just want to go home.”
He walked further into the room, slow and deliberate, his eyes never leaving her. “You keep repeating that like it changes something,” he said. “It doesn’t.”
“It should,” she snapped, frustration finally breaking through her fear. “I’m not part of your world. I don’t belong here.”
He stopped a few steps away from her, close enough to make her nervous but not close enough to touch. “You saw something you weren’t supposed to,” he said. “That makes you part of it.”
“That doesn’t mean you get to take my life away!”
His expression hardened slightly, though his voice remained even. “Your life is still yours. I’m just… redirecting it.”
Her breath caught in disbelief. “You think this is okay?”
“I don’t need it to be okay,” he said quietly. “I need it to be done.”
For a moment, neither of them spoke. The tension between them stretched thin, sharp enough to cut. Then Elena made a decision.
She moved.
Fast.
She grabbed the nearest object—a glass vase from the side table—and hurled it toward him with all the strength she had. It shattered against the wall just as he stepped aside, the sound breaking the heavy silence like a gunshot. Before he could react, she ran for the door, adrenaline pushing her forward.
This was her chance.
She reached it, her fingers fumbling with the handle even though she knew it was locked, panic rising as she tried anyway. “Open—come on—open!” she muttered desperately, her hands shaking.
She didn’t hear him move.
But she felt him.
His hand slammed against the door beside her, trapping her in place. Elena gasped as his other hand grabbed her arm, pulling her back just enough to stop her struggle.
“Done?” he asked quietly, his voice low near her ear.
“Let me go!” she cried, twisting against his grip, but it was useless. He turned her to face him in one swift motion, his hold firm but controlled.
Her chest rose and fell rapidly, her eyes wide with fear and anger as she looked up at him. “I’m not staying here,” she said, her voice shaking but determined. “I’ll find a way out. I swear I will.”
For a moment, he just looked at her, something unreadable flickering behind his gaze. Then, slowly, the corner of his mouth lifted—not in amusement, but in something darker.
“I know,” he said.
The response caught her off guard.
- Writer
