Trapped In Sin: Ava’s Story

The Shadows Remember

Ava POV

My hands trembled as I pressed myself tighter against the wall, as if the plaster could shield me from the storm standing just a few feet away from me.

Azrael didn’t move, and he didn’t talk. He just stood there in the silence—looking like a God carved from ice, watching me break.

“I’m begging you…” My voice cracked, and hot tears blurred my vision- I haven’t cried in front of someone in a very long time, but I didn’t care right now. “Please… just let me go.”

His face showed no signs of sympathy. “Begging doesn’t suit you.”

“I didn’t do anything!” I cried out. “I don’t even know what you want from me!”

He ignored me, and turned away from me, the quiet shift of his coat echoed in the room like a warning. And when he looked at me again, He didn’t look like a man, there was something colder in his eyes. As if he watched a thousand people cry and not once cared.

“You lied.” He spoke as calm as death.

I shook my head violently. “No—”

“You told me your name was Anne.” He voiced out, I could hear the irritation in his voice.

My heart dropped, I opened my mouth to speak, but my words were caught somewhere behind my ribs.

“You think you the only one who’s observant?” He continued. “I knew who you were before you sat at my table, but I wanted to see what you’d say. I wanted to see how far you’d go, even when you were afraid.”

He stepped closer to me, the murder in his eyes scared everything in me. I scrambled back until I tripped, and fell flat on my bum. Painful sobs were rising in my throat like acid as I stared at the huge man above me.

“I was taught to always use a fake name, I had no choice—” I tried to plead, but he cut me off.

“No one forced you to lie to me.” He said darkly. “You made that decision yourself.”

A sob escaped before I could swallow it. “Please, I don’t want to die…”

That made something flicker in his expression—but it wasn’t mercy, it was amusement, and maybe. Something darker.

“If I wanted you dead.” He crouched down so we were eye level. “You wouldn’t be on the floor begging.”

My breath stuttered, I felt the air leave my lungs, and my whole world shattered.

“You not safe here anymore. Not with what you know, and not with what you’ve seen.” He added.

I cried harder, I felt so vulnerable and weak - it was pathetic. “I won’t tell anyone, I swear—” I tried to reason with him.

“You already told lies.” He remarked, as his cold fingers brushed a strand of hair from my tear-streaked cheek. I instantly flinched from his touch. “Why should I believe you now?” He questioned.

My body was shaking uncontrollably, and my mind was spinning between the memory of our encounter at the club, the weird dreams, and the news headlines.

“Are you the Beast?” I whispered, my voice trembling. “Is that what this is about?”

His lips twitched, but it wasn’t a smile. Not really.

“I don’t answer to fairy tales.” He responded bitterly.

And yet, everything in me screamed that the monster in those stories was standing right here, in front of me.

“You are leaving this hotel with me.” He said as he stood up slowly. His voice was lower now, but no less commanding. “Or something very bad will happen. And not just to you.”

I blinked. “What… what does that mean?”

He didn’t respond to my question, but his face showed just how much he was done with the conversation. He looked at me with those eyes of a predator’s. “You have ten seconds.” He declared.

I felt my breath leave me, it felt like someone punched me in the stomach. My hands shook as I pushed myself up from the floor. Azrael only brought me to his room so he could get me alone, and I walked right into his trap.

Every instinct screamed at me to not follow him—but something deeper in me knew that worse things waited for me if I didn’t walk out that door with him.

He opened the door without saying another word to me, and I walked straight into the darkness with him.

—————————————————————

The hum of the car, and the endless blur of trees became the lullaby that pulled me into an uneasy sleep. I don’t know how long I was passed out for —it felt like hours have passed by since we left the hotel. I stirred in my seat, my neck ached, and my hands trembled in my lap.

I blinked blearily at the shifting scenery outside the car window. No more city lights. No familiar signs or streets. There was just endless stretches of untamed wilderness, the kind that swallowed things whole.

I turned my head slowly, and stared at the man beside me, his jaw was tight — and his eyes were focused on the road.

Azrael hadn’t moved once. He sat beside me like a statue carved from shadow—still, unreadable, but very dangerous.

He hasn’t said a single word to me since we left the hotel. His silence was worse than any threat, because it gave my mind too much room to spiral.

Every possibility turned violent. Every glance he gave the road felt like a countdown to something awful.

I gripped the edge of my seat, my palms damp with sweat. I couldn’t stop thinking about Esmeralda— and how furious she’ll be when she finds out that I’m no longer in Blackthorn Hollow.

Will she scream, and curse me? I have no doubts that she might hunt me down or send someone worse than her to find me. But even her wrath felt like a whisper compared to the storm that sat beside me.

The road narrowed and curved upward, cutting through ancient forest like a vein. We drove for miles until a house finally came into view.

It wasn’t just a house—it was a fortress. Gothic spires rose into a bruised sky, shrouded by fog, and flanked by towering black iron gates. It felt like I stepped into a dark fairytale.

Ivy strangled the stone walls like veins across a corpse. The place bled wealth and secrecy. It reeked of power and death. I swallowed hard as I stared at the place in awe.

The car rolled to a stop, and the iron gates groaned as they closed behind us. No words were spoken by Azrael, he completely ignored my existence.

Azrael stepped out of the car first, his huge frame circled around the car as he came to my side.

The cold air poured in as soon as he opened the door for me. And for a moment, I just stayed seated, I was too afraid to even move.

“Ava.” He said flatly, but I could hear the warning in his tone.

My name in his mouth sent a chill down my spine, he made it sound so… never mind.

I didn’t want to make him angry so I stepped out of the car, my legs were unsteady, and my heels were crunching on the gravel as I walked with him.

The mansion loomed above me, the windows looked like dark watching eyes — It felt like the house could see through my shattered soul.

Servants appeared as if they were summoned by an invisible command—stern-faced men in black suits, and pale women with braided hair, and eyes that were lowered to the ground.

None of them dared to look directly at Azrael. They all bowed, and stood on either side of the door — no one said a word, not even a greeting.

He walked ahead like a King that was entering his castle, I followed him quietly, because what else could I do? Run? And go where?

The doors swung open, revealing a grand hall, Candles lined the walls, they were flickering like dying stars. It felt like I stepped into a mausoleum made for kings. Or killers.

My heart thundered against my ribs as I hesitated at the threshold. And still, Azrael said nothing to me. His silence was deafening, and that wasn’t helping with my anxiety.

I followed him through winding halls, and opulent rooms soaked in shadow, until we stopped before tall double doors.

“This is where you’ll stay.” Those were his first words to me after hours of silence, his voice was as cold as the winter wind outside.

I stared at him, my lips parted and trembled. “Wh- why are you doing this?”

He tilted his head slightly, and in that moment he looked like a predator that was considering whether he should strike or flee. “Because you lied, Ava. Because you intrigued me — and because you don’t get to choose anymore.”

His words cut like glass, and all my hopes I had of freedom were extinguished.

“Are you going to kill me?” I asked, my voice cracking. Even looking at him scared me, but a sick part of me was also happy to see him again…

His eyes were winter storms—beautiful, and merciless.

“No. Not yet.” His words felt a dagger that was piercing into my heart, repeatedly. My eyes widened with both fear, and shock.

But he didn’t even spare me another glance, he turned and walked away, leaving me trembling in the doorway, trapped in a mansion I didn’t belong in, with a man who stole my heart, my freedom, and possibly my future.

And still, some sick, terrifying part of me wanted to know more. I wanted to understand the man behind the monster.

But I wasn’t sure If I’d survive long enough to get the answers.

The door clicked shut behind me, it was a soft sound that might as well have been a gunshot in the quiet room. I stood frozen in the middle of the room, I was wrapped in silence that was thick enough to choke on.

The walls were tall, and painted in deep charcoal and gold, the furniture was elegant and old. There was a fireplace crackling low, throwing shadows across the floor. Everything was beautiful. Expensive. And untouched. It was a cage with satin bars, and I was its prisoner.

My legs gave out before I realized I was falling, I sank onto the edge of the bed— it was one of those massive, ornate beds that was dressed in blood-red silk. My hands gripped the sheets like they might hold me together, but nothing was helping — I was falling apart.

I couldn’t cry. Not yet. My body was locked in some horrible in-between, I was trying to figure out if I escaped one hell only to step into something much worse.

Azrael Volkov.

I whispered the name in my head again and again, it felt like I was trying to convince myself he was real. He was the man from the club—the ghost I couldn’t forget, the stranger who haunted my dreams every night since I saw him. Azrael walked into Esmeralda’s world and asked specifically for me.

Not Lilith. Not Anne. Me.

That realisation sat like fire in my chest, and It burned through the numbness. He wanted me. And he took me. And he played everyone just to get me, including me.

I ran my hands over my face, my breath caught in my throat. Esmeralda had no idea, she had no idea who she sold me to.

Or maybe she did and she just didn’t care—maybe she pocketed the cash, and shrugged. Or maybe she was still laughing now, and thinking she won. But Azrael wasn’t at that hotel for pleasure. He came with purpose. A plan. And a trap.

I stared at the closed door, but I didn’t move to make my escape. I didn’t know where I was. The trip had stretched on endlessly, and I was too scared to stay awake.

There was nowhere for me to run to, I had no roads to follow, no phone— and no allies. There was just servants with silent eyes, and a man who could cut with a look, and kill with a whisper.

A part of me felt liberated. Esmeralda was gone, and she was no longer in my life. Her claws weren’t in my skin anymore, and the chains she had around me were broken — I was free of her, and her abuse.

But that part was small, and drowned out by the heavier realization that I might have traded one monster for another—and this one didn’t scream or slap. He didn’t need to. Azrael was quiet chaos, and beautiful violence…

I curled myself into a ball on the soft bed, wrapping my arms around myself, and finally letting a few hot tears slip down my cheeks. I wasn’t ready for this change. I don’t know what he wants from me, or what he has planned for me. I don’t even know if I’ll still be alive by morning.