CHAPTER 5: THE THIRD NAME IN THE ROOM
796 Words
The lock clicked again.
This time, it was not a warning.
It was an entrance.
Aria’s body went rigid as the door slowly opened wider without force, without violence just certainty. Like whoever stood on the other side had never needed permission in the first place.
And then she saw him.
Damien Cross stood in the doorway.
Still calm.
Still composed.
But something about him had changed.
Not his appearance.
His presence.
He stepped inside first.
Then paused, holding the door open—not for her, but for whoever was behind him.
Aria’s eyes snapped to the hallway instantly.
And that was when she saw it.
A second man.
Leaning casually against the wall outside her apartment like he belonged there.
Unlike Damien, he did not look controlled.
He looked entertained.
Dark hair slightly messy. A faint smirk on his lips. Expensive watch. Relaxed posture.
But his eyes,
His eyes did not match his smile.
They scanned her slowly.
Like recognition.
Like memory.
Like hunger for answers.
Aria took a step back without realizing it.
Damien noticed immediately.
“So it’s true,” the second man said softly.
His voice was smoother than Damien’s. Less controlled. More dangerous in a different way.
He pushed off the wall and walked inside.
Damien did not stop him.
That alone made Aria’s chest tighten.
Because Damien Cross did not allow unknown variables near him.
Yet this man was here.
Standing in her space.
Breathing her air.
Like he had been invited.
“I’ve finally found you,” the man continued, tilting his head slightly.
His gaze locked on her.
“Or… what’s left of you.”
Aria’s fingers curled at her sides.
“Who are you?” she asked sharply.
The man smiled faintly.
“That depends,” he said.
“On which name you remember me by.”
Silence.
Heavy.
Damien stepped further into the room, closing the door behind him.
Click.
Locked.
Aria turned instantly.
“What are you doing?” she demanded.
Damien’s eyes didn’t leave the second man.
“He insisted on coming,” Damien said calmly.
“That’s not an answer,” Aria snapped.
The second man chuckled softly.
“She still talks like that,” he murmured.
Damien finally spoke again.
“His name is Adrian Vale.”
The air changed instantly.
Aria had never heard the name.
But something about it made her stomach twist.
Not recognition.
Not memory.
Instinct.
Danger.
Adrian walked a little closer, stopping a few steps away from her.
“Interesting,” he said.
“You don’t remember me.”
A pause.
Then softer,
“Or you’ve learned how to forget very well.”
Aria’s breathing tightened.
“I don’t know you,” she said firmly.
Adrian studied her face.
Then smiled again but it didn’t reach his eyes.
“That’s what they always say,” he replied.
Damien’s voice cut in sharply for the first time.
“Focus.”
Adrian sighed, as if annoyed.
“Fine,” he said. “Let’s talk about the Ruins Night.”
Everything in Aria froze.
The room felt smaller.
Colder.
The name hit the air like a blade.
Damien watched her reaction carefully.
Adrian noticed it too.
And smiled wider.
“Oh,” he said quietly.
“So you do react to that.”
Aria stepped back again.
“No,” she said quickly. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Adrian tilted his head.
“That’s the problem,” he said.
“You always say that right before the truth catches up.”
Damien finally turned slightly toward her.
His voice lowered.
“This is why I brought him,” he said.
Aria’s eyes snapped to him.
“You brought him into my house?”
“Your hiding place,” Damien corrected calmly.
A pause.
Then,
“Not your safety.”
Aria’s breath caught.
Adrian moved to sit on the edge of her couch like he belonged there.
“Let’s make this simple,” he said casually.
“I’ve been looking for the girl who survived that night.”
He looked at her again.
“Damien thinks you’re her.”
A beat.
“But I think you’re something else entirely.”
Aria’s heart hammered.
“And what is that supposed to mean?”
Adrian smiled faintly.
“It means,” he said softly,
“that Elena Marlowe didn’t just disappear.”
A pause.
“She was taken.”
Silence.
The room went completely still.
Even Damien didn’t interrupt this time.
Aria’s voice came out quieter now.
“…Taken by who?”
Adrian leaned forward slightly.
And for the first time,
His expression lost its playfulness.
“By someone who is still watching,” he said.
“And someone who will not like that you’ve started remembering again.”
- Writer
