A dull ache throbbed in my skull as my senses stirred, dragging me back from the depths of unconsciousness. My body felt heavy, unresponsive, weighed down by something more than just pain. The moment I tried to move, I felt it-the rough bite of rope digging into my wrists. I was tied up.
The cold air clung to my skin, and as my vision slowly adjusted to the dim light, I realized where I was. A confined space. Bare walls, an old wooden floor, the faint scent of rust and dampness. The air was thick, suffocating, as if the room itself was a grave waiting to be sealed.
I turned my head slightly, and that's when I saw her.
Ayane.
She was slumped beside me, unconscious, her arms bound just like mine. Blood stained the fabric near her leg wound, but it had stopped bleeding. Her clothes were barely covering her, torn from our fight, exposing the bruises left behind. Even in this state, her face was expressionless-empty. As if whatever fight she had left had been drained away.
A shiver ran down my spine.
Before I could process anything further, the door creaked open.
Footsteps echoed in the silence. Slow. Purposeful. And then-
A smirk.
He stood before us, his presence filling the room like a shadow that had long been waiting to consume us.
I couldn't see his face clearly, not with the way the dim light played tricks on my vision, but I didn't need to. My body knew. My instincts knew.
It was him.
A cold, suffocating dread wrapped itself around my chest. My fingers twitched against the restraints as I forced myself to stay still.
The past I had tried to bury had finally caught up to me.
Everything I had done-leaving Ayane, running from the life I swore never to return to-it was all in vain.
"Looks like you're finally awake," the man mused, his voice smooth, amused. As if we were nothing more than pieces on a board he had arranged.
Ayane stirred beside me. I turned my head slightly, watching as her lashes fluttered open. Her gaze was unfocused at first, but then, as her surroundings registered, her body tensed.
Slowly, she lifted her head, her eyes landing on the man before us.
There was no fear. No anger.
Just emptiness.
A look I had never wanted to see on her face.
She didn't react, didn't speak. Just stared at him like she had already expected this betrayal. Like she had already lost everything before she had even opened her eyes.
And then she looked at me.
For the first time since she had returned, Ayane didn't glare at me with hatred or challenge me with sharp words.
Instead, she seemed...confused.
Because I was trembling.
I clenched my fists, trying to stop the shaking, but my body refused to listen. It wasn't from fear of death-I had accepted that possibility long ago.
No, it was something worse.
A realization that no matter what I had done, no matter how much I had tried to escape, I had failed her.
I could see it in her expression.
She had been betrayed before. And now, she had been betrayed again.
And I was the reason why.