SHADOWS BENEATH THE FLAME (completed)

The Lies That Keep Us Alive

📘 Chapter 10: The Lies That Keep Us Alive

The cave was barely more than a dent in the earth — a hollowed-out shelter cut into the ravine wall. Cold, damp, but hidden.

Jay leaned against the rock, his face pale, blood soaking through the makeshift wrap Lena had tied around his shoulder. His breathing was shallow but steady. His eyes tracked her — always alert, even in pain.

“You should’ve told me you were hit harder,” she muttered, kneeling beside him.

“You had enough to worry about,” he replied through gritted teeth.

“You nearly passed out in the dirt.”

Jay gave a faint, humourless smile. “I’ve passed out in worse places.”

She didn’t laugh. She reached into the first-aid pouch he kept in his pack and pulled out a needle and thread. “You’ll need stitches.”

Jay sighed, leaning back. “You know how to sew?”

“I watched my dad stitch up a horse once.”

“Great. I’m in safe hands.”

The sarcasm made her lips twitch, but she didn’t answer. She sewed in silence. Slow, steady, focused.

Jay barely flinched.

When it was done, she sat beside him, arms wrapped around her knees. Their shoulders touched in the dark, their breathing syncing in silence.

“I read more of the files while you slept,” she said.

He turned to look at her.

“Project Valken,” she continued. “Illegal experiments. People injected, monitored, and left to die. Your name isn’t in the files, but… it’s in the logs.”

Jay’s jaw tensed.

“I was on the ground team,” he admitted. “Security. I didn’t know what they were doing at first.”

“But you helped cover it up.”

His silence was answered enough.

Lena stood.

“Everything makes sense now.”

Jay didn’t try to stop her.

She paused at the mouth of the cave.

“You buried the truth, Jay. And now it’s trying to bury me.”

Then she stepped into the darkness.

And left him behind.