Episode5:FakeSavior
524 Words
---
[EVE’S POV]
Lisbon, Portugal.
They gave me a new name. A new passport. A new life.
They didn’t give me a reason to live.
I work in a bakery. 4 AM shift. Flour on my hands. No one talks to me.
I like it that way.
Because talking means remembering.
And remembering means him.
Clifford.
Three years. No word. No sign.
He chose to be heir. He chose to let me go.
Good.
---
There’s a man. Miguel.
He works at the market across the street.
He brings me bread. Free. Every morning.
“Eve,” he says. “You look tired.”
“I am,” I say.
He smiles. I don’t.
He asks me out. Coffee. Dinner. A walk.
I say no. Every time.
“You’re hurt,” he says one day. “Let me help you heal.”
I don’t want to heal.
Healing means I forgot Clifford.
I haven’t.
---
It happened on a Tuesday.
I was walking to work. 3:30 AM. Dark. Empty street.
Three men stepped out from an alley.
“Hey, pretty,” one said.
My blood went cold.
I ran.
They caught me.
One hand over my mouth. One hand on my thigh.
I bit. I kicked. I screamed.
No one came.
“Please,” I choked.
Then a voice.
“Get off her.”
Miguel.
He had a pipe in his hand.
He swung. Hard.
The men ran.
Miguel pulled me up. Held me.
“You’re safe,” he said. “I’m here.”
I shook. I cried.
He took me home. Gave me tea.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
For the first time in years, I looked at him.
Really looked.
Maybe he was safe.
Maybe he was good.
---
Two weeks later.
I saw them.
The three men.
Laughing with Miguel outside a bar.
He handed them money.
A lot of it.
One of them clapped his shoulder. “Good job, man. She believed it.”
My chest stopped.
Miguel looked up. Saw me.
His face changed.
Guilt. Panic.
I didn’t run.
I just stood there.
Because I realized.
He staged it.
He paid them to scare me. To hurt me.
So he could save me.
So I’d trust him.
“Eve,” he said, walking toward me. “It’s not what it looks like.”
I laughed.
It came out broken.
“Get away from me,” I said.
He reached for me.
I stepped back.
“You’re just like him,” I said.
And I ran.
---
That night, I didn’t go home.
I walked to the river.
I sat on the edge. Feet in the water.
Cold.
Everyone lies.
Clifford lied when he said he’d find me.
Miguel lied when he said he’d save me.
No one saves me.
I pull my knees to my chest.
And in the dark, I hear footsteps.
Slow. Behind me.
I don’t turn.
“Eve,” a voice says.
His voice.
The one I hear in my dreams.
The one I hate.
The one I waited for.
I close my eyes.
“Clifford,” I whisper.
The rain starts.
*[END EPISODE 5]
- Writer
