1
AMELIA
The shadowsof the recent weeks lingered at the edge of my mind, leaving me torn and haunted.
I thought that the worst of it was over, that the darkness of my past would retreat like the winter snow, leaving behind a fresh canvas for my life.
But as I stood in the living room of Shane and Sabrina’s cozy home, watching the flickering flames of the fireplace, I felt a heaviness still clinging to me like a second skin.
It was a Saturday evening, and the atmosphere was warm and inviting, filled with laughter and the scent of Sabrina’s homemade chili.
She made us all promise to come over regularly, an attempt to create a sense of family, a haven of sorts, especially for Caiden, who had nowhere else to go after losing his home.
Sabrina and Shane were wrapped up in their own world, teasing and flirting like newlyweds, while I sat on the couch across from them, my heart caught in a web of uncertainty.
Next to me, Alex leaned in, his easy smile brightening the room. We had been spending more time together lately, drawn to each other like moths to a flame.
Yet, every laugh we shared felt like a betrayal to the complicated feelings I had for Caiden.
“Amelia, you have to try this,” Alex said, handing me a bowl of chili. Our fingers brushed, and a jolt of electricity shot through me.
I forced a smile, but my heart raced for reasons I couldn’t fully understand.
“Thanks, Alex,” I replied, my voice steady despite the turmoil inside. As I took a bite, I stole a glance at Caiden across the room.
He was leaning against the wall, arms crossed, his jaw clenched tight. His dark eyes were fixed on me, but the expression on his face was unreadable, a mixture of anger and something else I couldn’t quite place.
It sent a shiver down my spine.
Memories came crashing down onto me of our time in the wilderness together. Wandering through the endless trees and rocky terrain. Being trapped together in a cage with a serial killer.
Blake's voice whispered in my ear. A phantom memory that still had the power to freeze my blood.You're mine now. Both of you.The clink of metal against metal. The smell of earth and blood. The endless darkness of that cage.
Goosebumps crawled along my skin as I recalled his chilling confessions in the near-total darkness. His husky whisper of longing, that he craved me, was completely unexpected.
Sabrina swept into the room, a tray in her hands. “Who’s hungry? I made those little prosciutto things you loved last time, Amelia. Did you eat today?” She set the tray down and shot me a worried glance disguised as a smile.
I nodded, didn’t trust myself to talk. My stomach twisted. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d eaten anything that didn’t taste like ash. Food was just another performance: chew,swallow, smile, pretend the ghosts weren’t gnawing you hollow from the inside out.
Shane clicked the TV off, his smile a little too wide. “Let’s do something fun. Board game? Cards? Or Sabrina’s gonna just keep feeding us until we all explode.”
Alex looked at me for approval, like my answer was the only one that mattered. “Your call, Amelia. What’s your poison?”
My poison was memory. My poison was the way four walls could close in on you, even if there were no locks, no cages anymore. My poison was the way I could still smell mildew and blood and Blake’s cologne underneath all the fake candles Sabrina littered around her house.
But I smiled. “Cards are good. Something that doesn’t require too much thinking.”
The game started. Cards, shuffling, the rhythm of it pulling me out of myself for a second. Shane made dad jokes. Sabrina kept refilling the snacks. It almost worked.
Caiden barely played. He watched. The cards, the way my hand hovered over the table, the way Alex never stopped touching me. To anyone else, Caiden was just bored, maybe tired.
But I saw the way his jaw clenched, the white tension in his knuckles when he lost a hand to Alex.
It made me feel sick. Or maybe vindicated. Or maybe just alive, in a way that reminded me of blood rushing to the wound.
The conversation surfaced and sank. Sabrina asked about Colorado. Soft, tiptoeing around the word, like it was a landmine. “Are you…sleeping any better, Amelia?”
Alex’s brow furrowed. He squeezed my hand, as if he could absorb the question before it could unstitch me. “You know anyone would be a wreck after that shit.”
