All that was left : what remains after darkness?

CHAPTER 4

Days turned into weeks, and Theo hardly acknowledged me. He didn't hurt me, not physically, at least not yet, but his silence was its own kind of violence. He drifted around the house like a shadow, smoking cigars, drinking from the mini bar, sometimes disappearing for hours, only to come back smelling of smoke and gasoline.

I cooked for him every day because I had to. Because it was easier than risking his anger. I'd place his meals on the table, and most times he didn't even say thank you. Sometimes he wouldn't touch the food at all, letting it sit until it went cold.

The rest of the time, I hid. My room became both sanctuary and prison. I locked the door behind me, curled up on my bed with books stacked high around me, novels my mother used to buy, the ones she said would take me to places the real world wouldn't let me go. And when the words on the pages failed to drown out the silence of the house, I found comfort in the glow of my screen.

Jonas.

He was my only friend, the only person who felt real to me beyond these suffocating walls. We met two years ago, online, through a video game. He had a strange way of making me laugh, even when I didn't want to. And even though we'd never met in person, he felt closer to me than anyone else ever had.

Sometimes I wanted to tell him everything, about my parents, about the funeral, about Theo. About how afraid I felt every single day. But I never did. I was scared he'd think I was crazy, or worse, that he'd pity me.

So instead, we just played. Hours lost to quests and battles and inside jokes. He called me "Zee," and I called him "J." It was simple, easy, safe.

But even Jonas didn't know the truth of my life, that I was a girl trapped in a house filled with ghosts.

Because if I told him, if I let someone know, then it wouldn't just be my secret anymore. It would be real.

And I wasn't ready for that.

——

The sound shattered through my headset, like glass breaking, wood splintering. I froze mid-game.

"Zee? What was that?" Jonas's voice crackled through my speakers, his usual playful tone now sharp with worry.

"I—I don't know," I whispered, my throat tight. My heart raced so hard I could hear it in my ears. "I should probably go check."

"Don't go alone," he urged. But I'd already pulled down my headset which now rested on my neck.

Each step down the staircase felt heavier than the last. My breath hitched as I reached the landing, and then I saw him.

Theo.

He was surrounded by chaos, the coffee table flipped, shards of glass scattered across the carpet, a chair broken clean in half. His eyes were bloodshot, his hair damp with sweat, his chest rising and falling like a man fighting invisible demons. He clutched an empty whiskey bottle, then let it slip from his hand, the sharp crash making me flinch.

"Theo?" My voice cracked as I stood frozen at the edge of the staircase, headset still snug over my ears. Jonas's voice came faint through the mic:

"Zara? What's happening?"

He heard it too... the crash, the chaos.

Theo didn't answer. His forehead slammed into the front door again and again, each dull thud vibrating through the walls.

"Theo, stop!" I cried, rushing forward without thinking.

"Get the f**k off me!!" His scream ripped through the house and through my headset, making Jonas flinch miles away. Theo shoved me hard, my body crashing onto the floor. Pain seared up my ankle as I cried out.

"Zara!" Jonas's panicked voice rang in my ear. "Talk to me, what's going on?! Zara!"

But I couldn't answer. Theo's bloodshot eyes locked onto me. His chest heaved, his breath sour with whiskey.

"Why the f**k are you crying?!" he roared.

"You're the cause of all this!" His voice shook the walls. "Sweet, innocent Zara. The golden child. The princess. Do you even know what it's like to be erased? To be forgotten?" He slammed his fist into the wall. "If you were never born, they would've loved me. They would've saved me."

"That's not true!" I screamed back, my voice trembling but loud enough for Jonas to hear. "You destroyed yourself, Theo! You did this!"

Theo's face twisted into pure hatred.

Two strides and he was over me, yanking me by the hair, dragging me across the floor. My screams tore through the mic, Jonas's frantic shouts echoing in my ear — "Zara!! Zara, please!!"

Theo flung me onto the couch like I was nothing.

"You think you're untouchable? Their perfect little princess?" His voice was venom. "I'll make you regret ever being born."

My headset slid, but didn't fall. Every scream, every sob, every crash carried straight into Jonas's ears. He shouted until his voice cracked, powerless on the other side of the screen.

I fought, begged, clawed, but Theo's rage crushed me. His shadow swallowed me whole, until his final words burned into me like fire:

"While you're under this roof, you're mine."

And then... everything shattered.