Jake****
The silence was suffocating, broken only by the faint hum of the air conditioner. My pulse thundered in my ears as I stared at Belle, her fragile frame bathed in the dim light of the room. She looked so small, her face pale and her eyes distant, as if she were lost in a labyrinth of thoughts I couldn’t reach.
I wanted to bridge the chasm between us, to find the words that would assure her. But what could I say? That I was sorry? That it wasn’t my fault? She wouldn’t believe me—not now. Not after what she’d seen.
The blood on my hands felt like an indictment, staining more than my skin. It was a grotesque reminder of the lines I’d crossed, the rules I’d shattered, all in the name of protecting her. But had I protected her, really? Or had I only dragged her deeper into my world o
