When The Lights Went Off
611 Words
The scream shattered the silence of the villa.
Elena’s body tensed instantly.
Somewhere downstairs, glass broke violently followed by hurried footsteps echoing through the dark halls.
Adrian moved first.
He grabbed Elena’s wrist carefully but firmly.
“Stay behind me.”
The command in his voice left no room for argument.
The only light came from distant flashes of lightning outside the windows as they hurried into the hallway.
The once-beautiful estate now felt terrifying in darkness.
Shadows stretched across the marble floors.
Paintings seemed to watch them from the walls.
Every sound felt too loud.
Another scream echoed below.
Elena’s heartbeat quickened.
“What’s happening?” she whispered.
Adrian didn’t answer immediately.
His entire posture had changed — alert, tense, dangerous.
Like a man preparing for war.
⸻
They reached the main staircase just as emergency lights flickered dimly throughout the villa.
Staff members gathered nervously near the entrance hall.
One woman was crying.
A security guard lay unconscious near shattered glass doors, blood visible near his forehead.
Elena froze.
“Oh my God…”
Adrian immediately moved toward the guard while another member of security approached him.
“The intruder escaped before backup arrived,” the man said quickly.
“Did anyone see his face?” Adrian asked coldly.
The guard hesitated.
“No, sir. But…”
“But what?”
The man swallowed nervously.
“He kept asking for the letter.”
Silence.
Adrian’s expression darkened instantly.
Slowly, his eyes lifted toward Elena.
She instinctively tightened her grip on the folded paper hidden inside her sweater pocket.
⸻
Minutes later, Adrian led Elena into a private study upstairs.
Unlike the rest of the estate, this room felt personal.
Bookshelves lined the walls.
A piano stood near the fireplace.
Half-finished whiskey rested beside scattered documents.
This was the first room in the villa that actually felt lived in.
Adrian locked the door behind them.
“From now on, you don’t go anywhere alone.”
Elena crossed her arms immediately.
“You still haven’t explained what’s happening.”
“Because the less you know, the safer you are.”
“Stop deciding things for me.”
Their eyes locked.
The tension between them burned hotter now — no longer just suspicion.
Something else had entered the space between them.
Something dangerous.
Adrian stepped closer slowly.
“You think this is a game?” he asked quietly.
“I think you’re hiding something.”
“And I think you should’ve left the moment you arrived.”
Elena’s breathing slowed.
Neither of them moved away.
Lightning flashed outside, briefly illuminating the room.
Close enough now, Elena noticed the exhaustion beneath Adrian’s calm expression.
The faint scar near his jaw.
The sleeplessness in his eyes.
The loneliness.
For the first time, he didn’t look untouchable.
He looked human.
And somehow, that was worse.
⸻
A sudden knock interrupted them.
Adrian opened the door sharply.
The housekeeper stood there pale-faced.
“Mr. Vale… there’s something else.”
“What?”
She hesitated.
“The security cameras captured the intruder before the power went out.”
Adrian frowned.
“Show me.”
Minutes later, Elena stood beside him in the security room while footage played across multiple screens.
A masked figure moved through the dark hallway toward the gallery.
Then the camera angle shifted briefly—
And the intruder’s mask slipped slightly.
Elena’s stomach dropped.
Not because she recognized the man.
But because Adrian did.
His entire face changed instantly.
Cold.
Furious.
Shaken.
“That’s impossible,” he whispered.
Elena looked at him carefully.
“You know him.”
Adrian stared silently at the frozen screen.
Then finally:
“He’s supposed to be dead.”
- Writer
