"Sasha, can you hear my voice?" I asked.
"What's going on? It's so dark!" she replied, her voice laced with fear.
The air reeked of rust. I could hear droplets echoing in the distance—until footsteps grew louder, each one swallowing the next, drowning out everything else.
"Who's there?" I asked, struggling against the restraints around my hands and feet.
Then a familiar voice cut through the darkness and struck my ears with unexpected hope.
"Relax. The more you move, the more you'll get hurt."
The voice sent a chill through me. "Ren! I'm relieved! Look, you have to call for hel—"
My sentence stopped mid-breath. A sharp gust hit my face, tearing the sack from my head. The light blinded me for a second.
We were in a warehouse. Abandoned. Cold. Stale.
And right in front of me stood a childhood friend I once trusted. She didn't free me. She didn't run to me. She stood beside the same men who took Sasha and me.
"Help," I finished, barely audible.
The darkness of the warehouse mirrored her—empty, used up, cracked, waiting to collapse.
"Wh–wha—?" Sasha tried to speak, still covered.
Ren descended the crusty metal stairs, her heels clacking with cruel rhythm.
"What's happening, Keegan?" Sasha asked, confused.
Ren stood beside me. Her eyes sparkled—not with concern, but with obsession. With lust. With love.
"Keegan, I'm not here to save you from this kidnapping," she said, kneeling to meet my eyes. "I'm here to save you from the torment you've suffered all your life."
She leaned in. Her lips met mine—tasting like grapes. Her hand grazed my cheek. I froze, stunned.
"I love you so much, Keegan," she said, her voice echoing off the warehouse walls.
"What the fuck?" Sasha shouted from across the room. "He's with me, you bitch!"
Ren laughed—loud and hysterical. Her eyes flicked between me and Sasha, but they held no empathy. Just chaos.
And all I could think was: The same bitch who started my downfall... is back to finish it.
"What happened to your boyfriend?" I asked, venom seeping into my tone. "Did you betray him like you did me?"
My mind screamed: Kill her.
Ren stopped laughing. Her expression darkened. "No. I killed him."
She said it so casually it felt like a joke.
"You see," she continued, "you and I were always meant to be. We were born on the same day. That's fate, isn't it?"
"What the fuck do you mean?" Sasha snapped. "You abandoned him when he needed you most!"
Ren's face twitched. She turned to one of the men. "You talk too much. Hush."
He stepped toward Sasha, rolling up his sleeve.
"Wait—" I shouted, but Ren turned my head toward her again.
"You don't want to see this, babe."
A deep thud cracked through the room. Then came a wet splatter. For a moment, my ears rang.
Sasha screamed—a blood-curdling sound. Another thud. Silence.
"Finally. Now, where was I?" Ren stood, letting go of my face.
I turned my head just in time to see Sasha slumped forward, her sack soaked in blood, unmoving.
My heart pounded. Harder than the footsteps, louder than the world. The ropes around my wrists no longer mattered.
Sasha—my light in the dark world. My savior. The only one who pulled me back from the edge—was unconscious because of them. Because of her.
Rage ignited something in me. The ropes tore like paper as I lunged forward, tackling Ren to the cold floor. My hands, bruised and raw, wrapped around her neck.
And I squeezed.
She didn't fight. She waved her men off, surrendering herself to me.
My red, fury-filled eyes locked with hers—eyes glistening not with fear, but love. A twisted love.
"All I ever wanted to do was love you," she muttered.
"And yet, here you are... taking what I never offered. My love." Her voice shook. "Like always—selfish."
My grip loosened. Tears welled in my eyes.
Anger dissolved into something worse—grief.
Suddenly—CRACK—a pistol slammed against my head.
I dropped to the concrete. Blood pooled beneath me, warm and spreading.
Ren stood up, brushing dust from her clothes like nothing had happened.
"You hesitated," she said coldly. "Either way, you're not leaving alive."
She turned to the others. "Kill them."
Sirens howled outside. Red and blue lights flashed through the dirty windows.
"Don't panic. Just kill the girl. I'll deal with him. Prep to exit."
Sasha stirred. Her voice was faint. "I love you, Keegan..."
Then—BANG.
The gunshot rang out as the barrel pressed against her skull.
Blood spilled. Lifeless.
"You know," Ren said, cocking her gun, "maybe in another life, we'll be lovers forever."
No, I screamed in my head. I'll be your demise. No matter how many lives it takes. I'll make you suffer. I'll haunt your soul.
And then—
Darkness.
Silence.
My sad, broken life disappeared.
My effort to become someone better—gone.
And worst of all, the woman who saved me... was taken from me.