Chapter 4: The Locked Garden
548 Words
The silence in the room pressed against Aria’s ears like heavy fog.
She didn’t trust him. Not his cold smirks, not his fake calm, and definitely not the tea he’d left behind. Her instincts screamed one thing:
Find a way out.
She paced the room like a caged animal. Her eyes scanned the walls, the high windows, the massive mirror. The voices she’d heard earlier had vanished. But she couldn’t shake the feeling that someone had been watching her.
And maybe still was.
With trembling hands, she pushed open the balcony doors.
The outside air hit her like a slap—cold, fresh, real.
A stone balcony overlooked a private garden below, lit faintly by golden lamps. The walls were too high to climb, but a narrow staircase spiraled down along the side. Aria hesitated… then slipped through, barefoot, careful not to make a sound.
She reached the garden.
The ground was soft with dew. White flowers bloomed along the stone paths—wild, untouched. It was eerily quiet.
Too quiet.
She tiptoed to a gate covered in ivy. Her fingers reached for the lock—
Click.
“Going somewhere?”
Lucien’s voice didn’t shout. It didn’t need to.
It wrapped around her like silk dipped in warning.
Aria spun around, eyes wide. He was standing at the top of the stairs, shirt sleeves still rolled, hair slightly damp as if he'd just washed his face. Or perhaps he had known she’d try this.
She glared. “Is this all a game to you?”
“No,” he said, slowly descending toward her. “If it was a game, I would’ve already won.”
“You can’t just—kidnap people, dress them like dolls, lock them up and act like it’s normal!”
“I don’t care about normal,” Lucien snapped. “I care about alive. And you wouldn’t be if I hadn’t brought you here.”
His eyes flicked toward the gate behind her.
“That door?” He tilted his head. “That leads to the forest. And beyond that… the eyes waiting in the dark. You think I’m the monster, but they’re the ones who kill with no warning.”
Aria swallowed, throat dry.
“What are you hiding from me?”
Lucien stepped closer. She backed into the gate, the metal cold against her back.
“I’m hiding you,” he said softly. “From a world that wants to use you. Break you. Trade you.”
He reached out, brushing a strand of her hair behind her ear. The touch was gentle—but possessive.
“You don’t understand it yet,” he whispered. “But you will.”
She opened her mouth to reply—but stopped.
Behind Lucien, in the second-story window above, she saw it.
A woman.
Watching from the shadows. Pale. Expressionless.
Gone in an instant.
Aria’s voice trembled. “Who else lives here?”
Lucien didn’t turn around. Didn’t even blink.
“No one you need to worry about.”
Then he leaned in, lips close enough to her ear to send a chill down her spine.
“But if you run again, Aria… I won’t be this gentle next time.”
He stepped back, offering his hand.
She stared at it.
And took it.
- Writer
