Episode 7 : im A Coward
340 Words
*`[CLIFFORD’S POV]`*
I hid.
The second she looked at me by the river, I stepped back into the dark.
She said my name.
"Clifford."
Like a ghost.
I didn’t answer.
I couldn’t.
Because if I did, she’d run. And if she ran, my father’s men would see.
I watched her from the shadows.
She was crying. No sound. Just her shoulders shaking.
"Everyone lies," she whispered.
"No one saves me."
My hands shook.
Three years.
Three years I followed a name across countries.
Two weeks ago, I got a file. No name. Just a photo.
There was a note under it.
`Miguel was here. He’s not done.`
Miguel. My cousin. My father’s favorite dog.
The man who touched her once, three years ago. The man I buried in Romania.
Or thought I did.
I came to this city because of that file.
Not to see her. To kill him before he saw her again.
And now she was here. Ten feet away.
Broken. Alone.
I took one step forward.
The streetlight flickered. And I heard
A car slowed down across the river.
Black. Tinted windows.
My father’s car.
I knew the sound of that engine.
I froze.
Eve stood up.
She wiped her face. She didn’t look at me again.
She walked away.
I let her.
The car stopped.
The window rolled down.
"Clifford," my father said. "Get in."
I didn’t move.
"Now," he said. "Or I send Miguel to find her tonight."
My blood went cold.
He knew. He always knew.
"She’s bait," he said softly. "You chase her, I give Miguel her address."
I got in.
The door locked. Like a coffin.
I didn’t look back at the river.
Because if I did, I’d jump out of the car and chase her.
And she’d die before dawn.
That night, I sat in the backseat. Silent.
I didn’t know about Miguel.
I didn’t know someone tried to hurt her.
All I knew was her voice in the rain.
"Everyone lies."
And I was the first one.
*[END EPISODE 7]*
- Writer
