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I join her by the window, the cold glass sending shivers up my spine. The familiarity of this room brings back a flood of memories – stolen kisses and whispered secrets shared in the dead of night. It feels like a lifetime ago, back when our love was innocent and a lot less complicated. Now, everything is tangled in a web of secrets and lies.
Odi turns to me, her eyes filled with uncertainty. “What if everything falls apart tomorrow?” she asks, her voice barely above a whisper.
I take her trembling hands in mine, trying to infuse them with the strength that I desperately need myself. “We’ve come too far to let that happen,” I say, my voice laced with determination. “Axel never leaves anything to chance. Even his back ups have a back up. But, if anything happens, we’ll face whatever comes together.”
She searches my eyes for reassurance, and I offer her a faint smile. It’s all I can muster amidst the chaos that surrounds us – the impending wedding, the hidden agendas lurking within our families, the dangers of the day-to-day running of the empire we’ve built, and the one which we’re poised to take over.
“Let’s get you into bed,” I say, preparing to sleep on the floor like I used to.
“Will you sleep with me? Please?”
I freeze at her request, my heart pounding. It’s not the first time she’s asked this of me, but the circumstances have changed. We’re no longer the carefree teenagers sneaking into each other’s rooms. To all the world, my best friend and her are about to become husband and wife, with responsibilities and expectations weighing on their shoulders.
But as I look into her eyes, filled with vulnerability and a flicker of hope, I realise that we need each other now more than ever. Tomorrow is uncertain, and we have to find solace in the present moment, in the love that has carried us through so many trials.
With a nod, I release her hands and walk towards the bed. I strip down to my boxers as a mix of nervousness and anticipation swirls within me. I slide under the covers, making space for her to join me. The mattress creaks as she settles beside me, her warmth seeping into my soul.
As we lie there, side by side, a sense of calm washes over us. The outside world fades away, and for a moment it’s just thetwo of us. Two souls bound by fate and fueled by a love that has weathered storms.
The moon casts shadows across the room, creating a dance of light and darkness that mirrors our own journey. From childhood friends to strangers, enemies to lovers entangled in dangerous alliances, we’ve defied odds and faced unimaginable challenges together and apart, but we’ve always found our way back to one another.
I reach out to brush a lock of hair away from Odi’s face, my fingers lingering on her cheek. She leans into my touch, closing her eyes as if seeking comfort in this moment of vulnerability. I trace the curve of her jawline, my touch gentle yet filled with a silent promise.
“I don’t know what tomorrow holds,” I whisper, my voice barely audible in the stillness of the room. “But I do know that I’ll fight tooth and nail to protect you, to keep you safe.”
Her eyes flutter open, and they shine with a mixture of gratitude and determination. “And I’ll fight alongside you, Kai,” she responds, her voice unwavering. “No matter what comes our way, we’ll face it together. All four of us.”
As exhaustion finally starts to claim us both, our whispered conversations blend with the rhythm of our breathing. With every rise and fall of our chests, I find solace in the unity of our hearts. The weight of tomorrow’s uncertainties is temporarily lifted. Sleep slowly creeps over us, and I can’t help but hope that when we wake, the world will have shifted in our favour.
It’s several hours later,though it feels like minutes since I finally closed my eyes, when I’m startled out of a deep slumber by a bang and a curse. For a moment I forget where I am, howold I am, and I’m transported back to my teenage years when my father would come home drunk and I’d have to decide if it was worth hiding or just accepting the beating coming my way. If he couldn’t find me, it often made it ten times worse the next day.
I lie there in the darkness, my heart pounding against my ribcage, waiting for the echoes of the past to fade away. The room is still, save for the distant hum of the refrigerator and the rhythmic ticking of a clock on the wall in my father’s office. I become aware of the heaviness in the air, a weight that hangs over me like an unspoken truth.
Pushing myself up from the bed, I glance around with weary eyes, but relax when I come across Odi still sleeping peacefully beside me.
The sound of heavy footsteps outside brings me back to the present moment. My heart races once again as I consider my options. Do I confront whoever has entered the house or do I grab Odi and retreat further into the shadows? A faint glimmer of rebellion ignites within me; I refuse to be a helpless victim any longer.
With resolute determination, I grab my gun from my bedside drawer, check that it’s loaded, release the safety, and leave it on the bedside table next to Odi. Grabbing her knife instead, I step toward the creaking doorway. It’s better this way. There’s no way I’d leave her unarmed and unprotected, and I don’t want anyone getting close enough to her that she’d need a knife to defend herself. Besides, the knife is silent. If there is trouble, I won’t want to wake her with a scare or risk any neighbours coming to investigate.
Moonlight filters through cracked windows, casting ethereal patterns on the worn floorboards. Shadows dance and sway with each gust of wind that seeps into the house. As I inch closer to the source of commotion coming from my father’s study, I steady my breathing, attempting to silence the fear thatthreatens to consume me. Not fear for myself, but fear for Odi. The fear that with my brothers gone, her safety falls solely on my shoulders.
The scent of stale tobacco fills the air, mingling with the mustiness of neglected books. I pause outside the study, my hand trembling as I reach for the doorknob.
The door swings open with a soft groan, revealing a scene bathed in darkness save for eerie silhouettes across the room. My eyes adjust to the dim light, and I catch sight of a hunched figure rummaging through drawers and tossing papers aside with reckless abandon.
A surge of anger replaces my initial trepidation. How dare this intruder disrupt the fragile peace I’ve managed to carve out for myself in this place? Memories of my father’s drunken rages ignite a fire within me – a fire that refuses to be extinguished by fear.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” I demand, my voice echoing through the empty room.
The figure freezes, a sharp intake of breath audible in the silence. Slowly, they turn around, their face hidden beneath a tattered hood. The dim light casts haunting shadows across their features, accentuating the weariness etched into their expression.
My heart skips a beat as recognition dawns upon me. The figure standing before me is a mere shadow of the man I once knew. Time has etched deep lines on his face, and the glimmer of youth that once danced in his eyes has long since faded. But there’s something else too; a flicker of desperation, a hunger for something more than what this dilapidated house has to offer.
“Father?” I whisper, the word catching in my throat.
He doesn’t respond, merely regards me with weary eyes, heavy with regret. For a long moment, we stand there in silence, two broken souls caught in the unforgiving embrace of the past.
“What happened to you?” I finally manage to ask, my voice trembling with a mixture of anger and sadness. “What are you searching for?”
