Stay With Me
887 Words
The c***k in the wall glowed faintly beneath the light of the silver key.
It was just wide enough.
One person.
One chance.
Behind me, the soldiers were getting closer.
Their footsteps echoed through the tunnel like a heartbeat counting down the seconds I had left.
"Target is ten meters ahead."
"Proceed."
The mechanical voices bounced off the stone walls.
Cold.
Precise.
Unfeeling.
I looked at the opening.
Then back at the pile of rubble separating me from Tyla.
"Tyla!"
"I'm here," she answered, her voice strained.
"I found a way out."
Silence.
Then she understood.
"It's only big enough for one person, isn't it?"
I closed my eyes.
"Yeah."
"You have to go."
The words hit harder than any explosion.
"I'm not leaving you."
"You have to."
"No."
Another blast shook the tunnel.
Small rocks rained from the ceiling.
Dust filled the air between us.
The soldiers were almost here.
I dropped to my knees beside the collapsed passage, pulling at the broken stones with everything I had.
They barely moved.
My hands burned.
Sharp edges tore through my skin.
Blood streaked across the gray rock.
Still...
I kept pulling.
"Alex, stop."
"No."
"You can't move them in time."
"I'll find a way."
"You always say that."
"Because I always will."
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
Then I heard her laugh.
Not because anything was funny.
Because she was trying not to cry.
"You really are stubborn."
"I learned from you."
She rested her hand against the other side of the collapsed tunnel.
I couldn't see it.
But somehow...
I knew exactly where it was.
I placed my own hand against the cold stone.
Only a few centimeters separated us.
Yet it felt like another world.
"I don't want this to be goodbye," she whispered.
"It isn't."
"You don't know that."
"I know one thing."
"What?"
"I finally found someone worth remembering."
The tunnel fell silent.
Even the explosions seemed far away.
When she spoke again, her voice trembled.
"You make me remember who I am."
My heart stopped.
"Tyla..."
"I don't know what my real name is."
"I don't know who I used to be."
"But when I'm with you..."
"I don't feel lost anymore."
A tear rolled down my cheek.
I didn't wipe it away.
Not this time.
"I love you."
The words escaped before fear could stop them.
There.
They were real.
For a second...
Nothing happened.
No reply came from the other side.
Only silence.
Then I heard her take a shaky breath.
"I was hoping you'd say that first."
Despite everything...
I laughed.
"So..."
"Does that mean...?"
"Yes."
"I love you too, Alex."
The world seemed to stop.
Not because the danger was gone.
Because for one impossible moment...
Nothing else mattered.
Then the tunnel erupted.
A section of the ceiling collapsed between us with a deafening crash.
"Tyla!"
"I'm okay!"
But her voice sounded farther away.
The silver key suddenly burned against my chest.
So brightly that I had to shield my eyes.
The narrow c***k in the wall widened with a loud groan, revealing a hidden passage descending into darkness.
At the same instant, floodlights flooded the tunnel behind me.
The soldiers had arrived.
Their commander stepped through the dust, raising a weapon unlike any I had seen before.
He pointed it directly at me.
Then, to my horror...
He removed his helmet.
I stared at his face.
It wasn't a stranger.
It was the face from my memories.
The man the little boy had called...
"Dad."
The word slipped from my lips before I could stop it.
The man didn't react.
Not with surprise.
Not with anger.
He simply watched me.
His expression was unreadable.
Like he had been waiting years to hear me say it.
Around us, the soldiers held their positions.
None of them lowered their weapons.
None of them spoke.
It was as if the entire world had paused for this single moment.
The man took one slow step forward.
"Alex."
Hearing my name in his voice sent another wave of memories crashing through my mind.
A kitchen filled with sunlight.
The smell of fresh bread.
A small wooden table.
Someone laughing.
Then...
A pair of strong hands lifting a little boy into the air.
The memory vanished as quickly as it had come.
I stumbled backward, struggling to catch my breath.
"Who are you?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.
His jaw tightened.
"I've asked myself that same question every day for the last sixteen years."
Before I could understand what he meant, Tyla's voice echoed faintly from beyond the collapsed tunnel.
"Alex! Don't listen to him!"
The man glanced toward the rubble separating us.
Pain flickered across his face for just an instant.
"They've taught you to fear everything," he said quietly.
"But not everyone wearing this uniform is your enemy."
The silver key pulsed against my chest.
Brighter.
Faster.
Almost like a heartbeat.
The commander noticed it immediately.
His eyes widened.
"So..."
"It chose you after all."
A distant explosion shook the passage once more, sending cracks racing across the ceiling.
The commander looked up, then back at me.
For the first time, urgency replaced the calm in his voice.
"We're running out of time."
"You have one minute to decide."
"Come with me..."
"Or lose her forever."
- Writer
