I woke up the next morning in the same mansion. Same cold sheets. Same suffocating silence. The kind that creeps into your skin and makes you feel like you're not supposed to breathe too loud.
I didn't cry.
I was too angry for that.
He hadn't even come to check on me. Just sent some maid-looking woman with a tray of toast, eggs, and orange juice like we were playing house.
Spoiler alert: We weren't.
I flung the toast at the door after she left.
That was when the door opened again.
And he walked in.
Adam.
Looking perfect, of course.
Black shirt. Sleeves rolled up. One ring on his finger. Hair slightly messy like he just got out of bed — probably some massive velvet one surrounded by fire pits and gold statues of himself.
He glanced at the food on the floor and raised an eyebrow.
"Temper issues, I see."
I stood up. "Screw you."
"No, thanks," he replied coolly, and walked to the window like I wasn't a ticking bomb.
"You kidnapped me."
"Yes."
"You're ruining my life!"
"Good. It was getting boring."
I screamed, shoved the tray off the table.
His jaw clenched, just a little. A crack in the mask.
"You want to make me mad, Rhea?" he said, voice low. "You think I won't break you because you're seventeen and pretty?"
I froze.
"You're not special," he whispered. "You're dangerous. And I'm not keeping you here for fun. I'm keeping you here because if I don't—someone else will. And they won't be so nice."
I laughed bitterly. "You think you're nice?! You drugged me. You kidnapped me. You're blackmailing me—"
"Want to see what your mother said when she found out you were missing?" he cut me off.
He pulled out his phone and opened a video.
I stared.
It was a news clip.
My mother was standing outside our house. Perfect hair. Sunglasses. Looking bored.
"Yes, my daughter ran away," she was saying into the mic. "She's dramatic. Probably with a boyfriend. We've filed a report, but I'm not panicking. She'll come back when she runs out of attention."
I blinked.
That was it?
No crying?
No "Rhea, come home"?
Just… indifference.
My heart cracked a little.
But Adam wasn't done.
"She only filed the complaint because my team pushed it. She wasn't even going to bother," he said, watching me. "So maybe stop pretending I'm the worst thing in your life."
I looked at him like he was dirt. "You're still a monster."
His smile was sharp. "Good. Let's keep it that way."
He threw something at me.
A school uniform.
"Get dressed. You're still going to school."
My brain short-circuited. "What?! Are you kidding me?!"
"I'm not about to deal with a teen dropout sulking around my house," he said. "A car will drop you off every day. A guard will watch you. You can try running, but I'll ruin your life in ways you haven't even imagined."
I stared at him.
He wasn't bluffing.
I could feel it.
"You're disgusting," I spat.
"And you," he said, stepping closer, "are mine."
The air thickened.
I felt my skin crawl. But underneath it… something stirred. A weird, awful spark of tension neither of us wanted to name.
His eyes dropped to mine.
"You'll do as I say, Rhea. Or I'll make sure the world thinks you're insane. Your teachers, your friends, the police… I have power you haven't even tasted yet."
He paused, then added with a cruel smirk:
"And no one's coming for you."
He turned and left.
Just like that.
The door slammed shut.
I stood there, gripping the stupid school uniform, breathing like I'd run a marathon — tears threatening to rise, but never falling.
Because he was right.
No one was coming.
Not my mom.
Not the cops.
Not anyone.
And I didn't know what was worse…
That Adam hated me…
Or that it didn't feel that different from the house I came from.
The next day started like every other cursed day since I was thrown into Adam's glorified gothic prison disguised as a mansion. The only difference? There was a knock on the door. Not a maid. Not breakfast.
It was him.
"You're coming with me," he said, not even waiting for a reply. Black suit again. No tie this time. The man had a wardrobe stuck in the villain setting of a fashion simulator.
"Can I decline with style or just scream until I pass out?" I replied, rolling my eyes as I threw on the school uniform.
He didn't even blink. "You ask too many questions for someone in my custody."
"And you breathe too much for someone I can't legally slap."
He cracked the faintest smirk. Almost proud. Like I was a mouthy puppy he adopted from a shelter.
We got in the car.
"Where are we going? And don't say 'hell' because I've been living there since you came into my life."
"Not hell," Adam said, staring straight ahead. "Just the beginning."
Which was not ominous at all.
---
The Chamber
It was underground. Like, actual secret-lair-vibes underground. The elevator didn't even have buttons. Just a key he turned with a smirk and a fingerprint scanner. Of course.
When the doors opened, my jaw nearly fell off.
It looked like a magical science lab. Glowing runes on the walls. Ancient books floating. Mirrors that shimmered when you walked past them. One creepy statue in the corner with six eyes. (Totally normal. Definitely not cursed.)
"Is this where you sacrifice virgins or just store your secrets like Voldemort?" I muttered.
He chuckled. "Both."
"...What?"
He ignored me.
"This is where my mother discovered her powers. Where I watched her for years. Before they killed her."
Okay. That hit different.
His voice had a crack in it. A chip in the marble. The mention of her didn't make him smirk or mock. It made him human.
"She was like you. Powerful. Unpredictable. Dangerous. Beautiful."
"You forgot 'emotionally unstable and kidnapped,'" I added helpfully.
He walked over to a carved altar and placed his hand on a crystal.
"Do you know what your real power is, Rhea?"
I stared. "No, Adam. I've just been busy being blackmailed and threatened to discover that."
He didn't look up. "Pain. You absorb it. You feel it. You reflect it. But that's only one of your gifts."
I stepped back. "How do you know that?"
He looked at me. "Because I've seen it before. In her."
The room fell silent.
Then he reached into a drawer and pulled out an ancient-looking parchment.
"This," he said slowly, "is the chant. She used it to unlock new gifts. I memorized it as a child."
"Why do I feel like this is going to hurt?"
"Because it will."
Lovely.
He began chanting. The words sounded like thunder underwater. Echoing in my head. The floor shook slightly. My heartbeat tripled. My skin felt like it was glowing from inside.
Then BOOM.
My back arched. Fire burned through my veins. Not literal fire—worse. Emotional fire. Like every breakup song and childhood trauma condensed into lightning and shot through my soul.
I screamed.
Adam didn't move.
But when I collapsed, panting, something was different.
I could hear his heartbeat.
His thoughts.
"What the hell?" I gasped.
He looked shocked too. "You can hear me?"
"Why is your inner monologue in British?" I blinked. "You're American!"
"That's not the point!" he barked.
I groaned. "Oh, great. I can hear the thoughts of the person I hate most in the world. That's my new power? Mind reading?"
"Only if you're in pain," he said.
"Wait, my pain or yours?"
He took a step closer. "Try."
I pinched myself. Nothing.
He grabbed my wrist and twisted.
"Ow! Jerk!" I hissed.
And then—thoughts.
She doesn't even know what she is. She's not ready.
I jerked back. "You think I'm not ready?!"
He blinked. "Stop reading my mind!"
"Stop being in it!"
We glared.
The silence lasted a long second.
"You have more," he said finally. "Much more. But each will be unlocked with pain."
"Of course," I snapped. "Because my life wasn't already a tragic YA novel."
"You're the key to something ancient. Dangerous."
I crossed my arms. "You keep saying that like it's supposed to make me grateful to be your prisoner."
His eyes darkened. "You're not my prisoner. You're my weapon."
My stomach dropped.
"I am not your anything."
He smiled slowly. "We'll see."
---
Back to School: Pretending I'm Fine 101
The next morning, the black SUV dropped me off like I was attending a prep school for kidnapped witches.
Lucien waved at me.
"You look... rough. Like, you fought a demon in your dreams."
"More like a demon in a suit," I muttered.
"What?"
"Nothing."
We walked together. I tried to act normal. But something in me had changed.
My senses were sharper. My reflexes? Scary good.
A paper airplane flew past us, and I caught it with two fingers like a ninja.
Lucien blinked. "What are you, Neo now?"
"Just lucky," I said, smiling too wide.
But inside, I was screaming.
My powers were growing.
And I didn't know what Adam wanted.
But worse—I didn't know if a part of me... wanted it too..