Chapter 12
878 Words
đź“– CHAPTER 12: Elena Vale
“No.”
The word left Elara instantly.
Sharp.
Certain.
Like rejecting it would somehow make it untrue.
⸻
The woman’s eyes softened painfully.
“That was your name before they changed it.”
Elara stepped back again.
“My name is Elara Vance.”
“It is now,” the woman whispered.
⸻
Silence crashed over the room.
Elara’s chest felt tight.
Too tight.
Like every answer she got only opened ten more questions underneath it.
⸻
She looked directly at Adrian.
“You knew this whole time?”
His expression remained unreadable.
But he answered.
“Yes.”
That hurt more than it should have.
⸻
“And you still brought me into this?”
“You were already in it.”
“There you go again!” she snapped. “Speaking in riddles like that explains anything!”
The room went still.
⸻
The woman spoke softly.
“Adrian…”
He raised a hand slightly.
Not harsh.
Just enough to stop her.
⸻
Elara laughed once—but there was no humor in it.
“So what now?” she asked. “You tell me I’m secretly someone else and expect me to just accept it?”
“No,” Adrian replied calmly.
A pause.
“I expect you to survive long enough to understand it.”
⸻
That sentence made anger flare hotter inside her.
“You don’t get to act mysterious every time things get difficult!”
For the first time—
His composure slipped slightly.
“You think I want this?” he said quietly.
The room fell silent instantly.
Because that was emotion.
Real emotion.
And somehow it sounded exhausted.
⸻
Elara stared at him.
He looked away first.
⸻
The woman slowly sat back down.
Still watching Elara carefully.
Like she was afraid she might disappear again.
“You were seven when it happened,” she said softly.
Elara frowned.
“What happened?”
The woman hesitated.
Then:
“The fire.”
⸻
Another sharp flicker hit Elara instantly.
Smoke.
Alarms.
A child crying.
Hands pulling her through heat—
⸻
She grabbed her head suddenly.
“Stop.”
The woman’s expression tightened with worry.
“Elena—”
“Don’t call me that!”
Her voice echoed louder than expected.
Breathing uneven now.
⸻
Adrian stepped closer immediately.
“Elara.”
“I said stop!”
She backed away from both of them.
Heart racing.
Everything felt unstable.
Wrong.
⸻
“You’re telling me my name is fake, my past is fake, people are hunting me, and somehow everyone here already knows more about me than I do!”
No one argued.
Because it was true.
⸻
A long silence followed.
Then Adrian said quietly:
“You deserve the full truth.”
Elara laughed bitterly.
“Finally.”
A pause.
Then he added:
“But not tonight.”
Her jaw dropped slightly.
“You cannot be serious.”
⸻
He looked tired suddenly.
Not physically.
Mentally.
Like he had been carrying this conversation for years before it ever happened.
“You’re remembering in fragments,” he said. “If you force it too fast, it could destabilize everything.”
“That sounds fake.”
“It isn’t.”
⸻
The woman looked between them quietly.
Then whispered:
“She trusted you before.”
That changed the room instantly.
Elara looked sharply at Adrian.
“What does that mean?”
Neither of them answered immediately.
Which was answer enough.
⸻
Her stomach dropped slightly.
“…I knew you before?”
Adrian’s silence stretched too long.
Then finally:
“Yes.”
⸻
Everything inside her paused.
“No.”
“You did.”
“How?!”
“You don’t remember.”
“That’s not an answer!”
⸻
Something flickered in Adrian’s eyes again.
Not coldness this time.
Regret.
Deep enough that it almost looked dangerous.
⸻
“You were never supposed to lose your memory,” he said quietly.
Silence.
Absolute silence.
⸻
Elara stared at him.
“…what?”
The woman covered her mouth slightly.
Like even hearing it out loud hurt.
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Adrian looked at Elara carefully now.
“No one planned for the fire to erase everything.”
Erase.
Everything.
⸻
Another flash slammed into her mind.
A hallway burning red.
Someone shouting:
“Take Elena and GO!”
Then—
A pair of hands grabbing hers.
Warm.
Steady.
Familiar.
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Elara gasped softly.
And suddenly—
She knew those hands.
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Her eyes snapped to Adrian.
He noticed instantly.
⸻
“You,” she whispered.
His jaw tightened.
⸻
The memory vanished before she could hold it fully.
But the feeling stayed.
Safety.
Even inside fear.
⸻
Elara stepped back slowly.
“You were there.”
No denial.
No explanation.
Just silence again.
But this time the silence confirmed everything.
⸻
The woman looked stunned.
“You remember him?”
Adrian’s eyes never left Elara’s face.
Neither did hers.
⸻
Then, quietly—
Too quietly—
He said:
“I was the one who got you out.”
⸻
The room stopped breathing.
⸻
And suddenly Elara understood something terrifying:
This wasn’t the beginning of their story.
It was the continuation of one she forgot.
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đź“Ś END OF CHAPTER 12
- Writer
