Silent Rage
1450 Words
Rylan didn’t speak on the walk back to the cabin. He didn’t need to. Every step carried a pressure that made the air feel thinner, heavier. Pine needles crunched under their feet, but even the forest seemed cautious—quiet, waiting.
Leah kept glancing at him.
“Say something,” she whispered. “You’re too quiet.”
“I’m thinking,” Rylan answered, voice low. “That man in the woods wasn’t random. Someone sent him. Someone close.”
“Close to who? You or me?”
“Both,” Rylan said. “That’s what worries me.”
She slowed her steps. “Then tell me everything.”
“Not here.” His tone was sharp enough to stop her from pressing further.
They reached the cabin. Rylan pushed the door open, scanning the room the way only a hunted man would—corners first, windows second, shadows last. Nothing out of place.
He still didn’t relax.
Leah entered behind him. “Do you ever breathe?”
“Breathing gets you killed if you do it at the wrong time.”
“That’s not normal.”
“Normal kept me weak,” he said.
He walked to the table where the forbidden file still lay open. A page was slightly bent, a detail Leah would never notice but Rylan did.
He stiffened.
“Don’t move,” he said.
Leah froze. “What?”
Rylan raised a hand, signaling silence. He leaned over the table slowly, eyes narrowing. He lifted the page... then the one under it.
A small square device glinted between the sheets—thin, metallic.
A tracker.
Rylan’s voice dropped to a growl.
“They were here.”
Leah’s breath hitched. “You’re sure?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t they kill us?”
“They didn’t need to,” Rylan muttered. “Not when they want us to run.”
Leah swallowed. “So what do we do now?”
Rylan closed the file with a snap. “We stop playing their game.”
He tossed the tracker into the fireplace. Flames devoured it with a hiss.
Leah watched him, worry etched across her face. “Rylan this isn’t just survival anymore, is it?”
“No.” He met her eyes. “This is war.”
Silence settled, cold and sharp.
Then Leah stepped closer. “If they’re after me because of the file… why are they after you?”
Rylan’s jaw tightened. “I was supposed to stay forgotten.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“It’s the only one you’re getting right now.”
He turned away, but Leah grabbed his arm. “Rylan. Look at me.”
He hesitated, then faced her.
“You’re shutting me out,” she said. “Again.”
“And you’re stepping into something you don’t understand.”
“Then explain it.”
Her voice wasn’t loud, but it carried weight. Something stubborn. Something he couldn’t ignore.
Rylan sighed. “Fine. You want the truth? I didn’t disappear because I failed. I disappeared because someone made me disappear. They erased me from every file, every database, every record. I lost my name, my career, my life.”
Leah stared. “Who would do that?”
“A group I used to work against,” he said. “A group that doesn’t exist on paper.”
“The Hunters?”
Rylan blinked. “Where did you hear that name?”
“You said it last night under your breath. You looked terrified.”
He didn’t remember saying it. But the name alone made the air colder.
“They’re not a group,” Rylan said quietly. “They’re a system. They infiltrate governments, military, media. They destroy threats before the threats can rise.”
“And you were a threat?”
“I was an arena champion who got too close to something I shouldn’t have.”
“Which is?”
Rylan’s eyes darkened. “You don’t want to know.”
Leah stepped forward, refusing to back down. “Try me.”
He stared at her for several seconds, then finally said, “I discovered the Hunters weren’t just eliminating criminals. They were creating them.”
Leah froze. “Creating criminals?”
“Staging crimes. Manipulating public opinion. Eliminating people who threatened their agenda.”
“And you found proof.”
“Yes.”
“So they erased you.”
“And now they’re trying to erase you,” Rylan added. “Because the forbidden file you found touches the same nerve I once exposed.”
Leah covered her mouth. “Rylan… this is bigger than both of us.”
“That’s why you need to leave.”
“No.”
“Leah.”
“No,” she repeated firmly. “I’m not leaving you alone in this.”
Rylan stepped closer, frustration tightening his expression. “You don’t understand. Staying near me is death.”
“And going away from you is safer? They already know my name, my face, my profession. I’m in the file, Rylan. Running won’t erase that.”
He opened his mouth, but nothing came out. Because she was right.
She lowered her voice. “You’re not protecting me by sending me away. You’re protecting yourself from having someone to lose.”
He stiffened.
Her words hit deeper than she understood.
Leah exhaled shakily. “I’m scared. But I’d rather face it with you than alone.”
Rylan looked at her, really looked at her.
Her trembling hands.
The fear she tried to hide.
The determination she refused to suppress.
She wasn’t weak.
She wasn’t fragile.
She wasn’t someone who needed saving.
She was someone who would walk beside him into hell.
He spoke quietly. “If you stay… you stay on my terms.”
She nodded slowly. “Okay. What terms?”
He met her eyes. “Rule one: You listen to me. Always.”
“Done.”
“Rule two: You don’t run off alone.”
“I won’t.”
“Rule three:” He stepped even closer, heat building between them. “You trust me.”
Leah swallowed. “I already do.”
His breath hitched, just slightly.
Then he stepped back, breaking the tension.
“We’re leaving,” he said.
“Where?”
“To the mountain hermit.”
Leah blinked. “The who?”
“He’s the only one left who remembers me. And if we’re going to survive, if we’re going to understand the file, we need him.”
Leah grabbed her jacket. “Then let’s go.”
Rylan moved to the door, but before he opened it, something flickered at the corner of his eye.
A reflection in the window.
Motion.
He jerked Leah back. “Down!”
Glass shattered.
A bullet tore through the room.
Splinters exploded across the walls.
Leah screamed as Rylan shielded her, dragging her to the floor.
More shots. Silenced, precise.
Rylan cursed under his breath.
“They found us faster than I thought.”
Leah’s hands trembled. “What do we do?!”
Rylan’s eyes blazed the lion waking inside him.
“We hunt the hunters.”
He crawled to the overturned shelf, grabbed the rifle hidden behind it, loaded it with calm, deadly precision.
“Stay behind me,” he ordered.
“But.”
“Stay. Behind. Me.”
Leah nodded, breath shaky.
Rylan peered out the broken window. Shadows moved between the trees—three men, approaching silently, rifles raised.
Professional.
Efficient.
Hunters.
Rylan whispered, “They’re not here to capture. They’re here to finish what they started.”
Leah gripped his arm. “Rylan, please don’t die.”
He didn’t look at her. His focus was razor-sharp, deadly.
“I don’t die,” he said. “I kill.”
He rose in a swift, fluid motion and fired.
One hunter fell instantly.
The other two scattered.
Leah gasped. “There are more of them—”
“I know.”
A shadow moved across the rooftop.
Rylan’s jaw tightened. “They’re surrounding the cabin.”
Leah’s panic rose. “We’re trapped.”
Rylan lifted his rifle again, eyes blazing with cold fury.
“No,” he said. “They are.”
The doorknob clicked.
Someone was on the other side.
Leah’s breath caught.
Rylan raised the rifle—
And the door slowly creaked open.
A tall silhouette stood in the frame.
Rylan’s finger tightened on the trigger—
Until the figure spoke.
“Rylan Cross,” the voice said.
“Long time.”
Rylan froze.
Leah stared.
The shadow stepped fully into the room—
And Rylan’s expression changed from rage…
…to pure disbelief.
“Impossible,” he whispered.
The figure smirked.
“Hello, Fallen King.”
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