A Love Unseen

When Silence Screams

Chapter 6: When Silence Screams

While Aurora had successfully made it home and was already relishing the comfort of her bed, on the other side of the city that never sleeps, Landon Wellesley was still driving aimlessly down a secluded road — one that most certainly did not lead to the two-story villa he called home. In fact, he couldn’t even remember telling the driver to stop.

One moment, he was seated in the back of the Bentley, the glitter and champagne of the engagement party still clinging to him like dust, and the next, his voice — low and clipped — had filled the cabin.

“Pull over.”

The driver hesitated, noting their surroundings. The road had grown serpentine and narrow, framed by gnarled trees that reached out like claws. But as usual, the order was not up for debate. A menacing, low growl followed.

“Now.”

A single word, but more than sufficient. The tires hissed as the car slowed to a halt at the edge of a quiet overlook. Without waiting for the vehicle to fully stop, Landon slid into the driver’s seat. The man at the wheel stepped out wordlessly, his expression unreadable — trained by years of watching the powerful unravel in silence. With practiced ease, he whipped out his phone, typed something out, and hit send.

Landon drove off without a word. Past the city limits. Past sense. Past the reach of anything or anyone.

The road twisted like a question he had no answer to. The headlights cut through the dark like a scalpel. Wind hissed past the open window like a warning. Trees blurred by, skeletal and cold, as if urging him to turn back.

But as the skyline of the bustling city faded behind him — swallowed whole by the hills and the night — so did the last thread of rationality within him.

"You always close your eyes when you're afraid of what you feel."

Aurora’s voice echoed in his head. He could envision the concern that usually appeared between her brows whenever she said that. His grip on the steering wheel tightened.

He rolled down the window further despite the chill and pulled on his tie harshly, almost strangling himself in the process. Then, sticking his head out briefly, he seemed to dare the wind to slap sense into him.

Instead, a different voice took over — taunting every fiber in his being.

"No one sees you like I do, Landon. That terrifies you, doesn't it?"

He swerved slightly, pressing harder on the gas as the voices in his mind grew louder.

"You never have to speak, and yet I always hear you."

With a growl, he switched lanes too fast, tires screeching on the asphalt. The echo was swallowed by the empty road.

“This feeling just isn’t enough anymore.”

He exhaled sharply, gritting his teeth. He wasn’t crying, but his breath hitched like someone who almost could. Despite the stinging sensation in his eyes, he clenched his jaw, determined not to let a sound escape.

"I loved you long before you let me."

He hit the steering wheel with the heel of his palm. Once. Twice. Again.

“I already let you go. Now it's your turn to free me.”

The city lights were long behind him now. The stars above looked unfamiliar. Indifferent.

When he finally pulled into a deserted stretch of forest road, the tires crunched over uneven gravel. He drove until the trees opened into a vast open field, shrouded in moonlight. Grass stretched endlessly around him — tall and whispering — as though it too remembered things it couldn’t bear to say aloud.

He threw the car into park and stumbled out, hoping to escape the cramped space. But the moment he stood, his body seized — a tightness in his chest, a blurring at the edges of his vision. The air felt too thin.

It was happening again.

His hands trembled violently as he dug into his coat pocket. "Where is it?!" he yelled into the night.

A small orange bottle tumbled out. Pills scattered across the dew-drenched grass, catching the moonlight like fallen stars.

“No, no, no...” he choked, dropping to all fours. He couldn’t afford to lose them — not now. Not here.

The grass soaked through his pants as he crawled, groping for the scattered pills. But as seconds ticked away, his breathing became more labored, the dull ache in his chest spreading through his body, making even the smallest movements painful.

"Must f-find it," he muttered. The cold bit into his knees and fingers, but none of it mattered. The pain gave way to numbness. The world tilted.

Then — nothing.

Darkness swallowed him whole.