All that was left : what remains after darkness?

CHAPTER 5

Morning crept in like a cruel stranger. The first thing I noticed was the silence, no broken glass, no screaming, no heavy footsteps. Just silence.

I opened my eyes slowly. My body screamed with pain, every movement a reminder of what Theo had done. The bedsheets clung to me like chains, soaked with tears and blood. The room smelled of smoke and whiskey, of something I would never forget.

But he was gone.

Theo was nowhere. His presence lingered only in the mess he left behind, the overturned furniture, the shattered bottles, the walls scarred with his fists.

For a moment, I thought maybe I had dreamed it. That it was all in my head. But then I tried to sit up and felt the bruises bloom across my skin, the sharp ache in my ankle, the fire burning in my chest. No, it was real. All of it.

"Zara..."

Jonas's voice drifted into my mind like a ghost, though my headset had been ripped away at some point during the night. I remembered his screams, his helpless cries while he listened to me break apart. I thought of him still sitting there, staring at an empty screen, powerless.

Somewhere, miles away, Jonas was losing his mind.

He didn't sleep. He couldn't. He replayed my screams over and over until they carved themselves into him. He promised himself he wouldn't let me disappear into silence. He did the only thing he could: he traced my username, hacked through firewalls, begged strangers for help until at last he found it, my address.

And then he called 911.

By the time they arrived, I was already gone in a different way. Passed out cold on the floor, bruises painting my skin, the house a wreck of broken glass and splintered wood.

But Theo was gone.

No footprints. No backpack. No trace of him but the destruction he left behind.

The paramedics lifted me gently, their voices muffled like they were speaking underwater. Someone whispered "trauma," another said "hospital." All I could think about was Jonas, how he must've felt, helpless, chained to the other side of the world, forced to hear the worst night of my life through a headset.

And as they carried me out into the morning light, one truth settled into me like stone:

Theo wasn't finished.

He would be back.

——

Jonas's POV

I'll never forget the sound of her voice that night. The way it cracked when she whispered her brother's name. The way it turned into screams... raw, torn, agonizing. I sat frozen in front of my screen, begging her to answer me, to fight, to do something.

But I was powerless.

"Zara! Zara!" I yelled until my throat was raw, until my neighbors banged on the wall for me to shut up. But I couldn't. How could I, when the only friend I had, the only girl who ever made me feel like I wasn't alone, was being destroyed on the other side of a screen?

Her screams went on until they stopped. And that silence was worse than all the rest.

I couldn't just sit there. I had to do something. Anything.

I searched for her. I scoured every piece of digital trail she had ever left me. old chats, gaming accounts, usernames, IP traces. I begged strangers online for help, sold the little I had for programs I didn't even know how to use. Hours blurred together, desperation burning me alive.

And then I found it. Her address.

My hands shook so badly I almost dropped the phone when I dialed 911.

"There's a girl... she's in trouble, I heard everything, she's hurt...please just send someone, please."

The dispatcher's voice was calm, too calm, as if they couldn't understand the urgency in mine. But I gave them the address. I gave them everything. And then all I could do was wait.

I stayed there, headset still on, staring at her empty screen. Every siren I heard in the distance felt like it wasn't moving fast enough.

When the call finally came back, when they told me she was alive, bruised but alive, I broke. I cried harder than I ever had in my life.

But Theo was gone.

And in that moment, as relief and fury tore through me, I made myself a promise:

If Zara's brother came back, if he ever touched her again, I wouldn't stay powerless.

Not again.

——

Three hours. That's all that separated me from her. Three hours that suddenly felt like a lifetime.

I don't even remember packing. I grabbed a jacket, my wallet, and my phone. I didn't care that I barely had enough money for gas. I didn't care that my hands were still shaking so badly I could barely hold the wheel. All I knew was that Zara was lying in some hospital bed, and I needed to see her with my own eyes.

The drive was a blur. Headlights, endless road, the echo of her screams replaying in my head like a broken record. Every mile I drove felt like I was racing against time, like if I didn't get there fast enough she would slip away from me again.

By the time I reached the hospital, it was still dark outside. My chest was tight, my throat raw from hours of silence and clenched teeth. I pushed through the sliding doors, the antiseptic smell hitting me hard.

"Zarana Jacobs," I told the nurse at the desk. My voice cracked on her name. "She was brought in last night. Please, I just... I need to know she's okay."

The nurse looked at me with tired eyes, suspicion flickering for a second, but then she checked the chart. "She's stable. Room 304. Visiting hours don't start until eight—"

I didn't wait for her to finish.

The elevator ride felt endless, my heart pounding with every floor it passed. And then I was there.

Room 304.

I stopped at the door, suddenly terrified. What if she didn't want to see me? What if I was just some online friend who crossed a line?

But then I pushed the door open anyway.

And there she was.

Zara. Pale, bruised, an IV in her arm, but breathing. Alive.

Something inside me broke and healed all at once. I stepped closer, careful not to wake her. She looked smaller somehow, fragile in a way that made my chest ache.

I pulled a chair to her bedside, sat down, and just... watched her. For hours.

I didn't care that security might throw me out. I didn't care that she had no idea I was there.

All I cared about was that she wasn't alone anymore. Not while I was here.

And as I sat there, one thought burned in my mind, steady and unshakable:

I'd protect her. With everything I had.