When a Break Becomes a New Hell
337 Words
Andrei had barely made it a few meters from the house before he stopped running.
He couldn’t.
Lucian was watching.
He was breathing like his lungs were full of glass.
Every muscle trembled—not from fear, but from restraint.
Because if he had shown even a hint of escaping, not just walking away, Lucian would’ve been on him in a second.
The air was cold, heavy, soaked with night moisture.
For the first time in a long time, Andrei felt real, fresh air—not the stale underground suffocation.
But even then…
he didn’t feel free.
He felt only Elara.
And the silence that threatened to devour everything.
When he finally reached the bend in the road, his knees gave out.
He caught himself against a tree, shaking.
“Elara…” he whispered.
Not a prayer.
Not a call.
A confession—he was breaking because he left her behind.
For the first time since Lucian released him, his eyes filled with tears—of rage, helplessness, and something he couldn’t name.
Then—
doing something he hadn’t had the strength to do since he was a kid—
he pulled out the phone Elara had slipped into his hand without Lucian noticing.
He turned it on.
One message.
One sentence.
From her.
“If you trust me, don’t come back. Yet.”
His heart clenched.
“Yet.”
He knew what it meant.
She stayed inside.
Alone.
With him.
And she knew Andrei wanted to run back, break the door down, and tear her from Lucian’s hands.
That’s why she wrote yet.
To stop him.
To make him survive.
To make him trust her at the cost of everything.
Andrei gripped the phone as if it were the only thing keeping him alive.
“Hold on, Ela… hold on a little longer…” he whispered.
Then he moved.
Not rushing.
Walking.
Steady.
Vengeful.
Because only one thought pulsed in his skull:
“I’m coming back for you. But this time… I’m not coming alone.”
- Writer
