Page 6 of Wraith

“Why can’t you just…” My voice broke, trembling under the weight of everything I wanted to say but couldn’t. “Why can’t you just leave me alone?”

Lucian smirked, the kind of cruel smile that curled at the edges, his amusement feeding off my misery. “Why would we?” he shot back, his words laced with venom. “It’s too easy.”

Thorne chuckled darkly, leaning back against the wall, his gaze piercing. “And too entertaining.”

Their laughter grew louder, a cacophony of mockery that seemed to rise and swell until it pressed down on me, suffocating. My throat tightened as the sting of humiliation burned behind my eyes. I couldn’t stay here, not with their sneers crawling under my skin like venom.

I turned and bolted for the door, my chest heaving with suppressed sobs. The cool night air hit me like a slap, sharp and jarring against my flushed cheeks. It did nothing to ease the ache in my chest, the hollow, suffocating pressure that had taken root there. My steps faltered, the weight of everything pulling me down like chains.

“Why can’t they just respect me?” I whispered into the empty night, the words splintering in my throat. “Why is that so fucking hard?”

The streetlights blurred through my tears as I kept walking, my legs moving without direction. Each step felt heavier than the last, dragging me farther into the darkness. My breaths came in short, shaky gasps, the cold biting at my skin as the night stretched endlessly before me.

Somewhere deep inside, a small voice whispered that this was it—the breaking point. That something inside me had finally cracked under the weight of their cruelty. I tried to swallow it down, to push it away, but it clung to me, heavy and unyielding.

I slowed to a stop beneath the orange glow of a flickering streetlight. My hands trembled as I wiped at my cheeks, smearing the tears that refused to stop falling. The world around me was quiet, save for the faint hum of distant traffic and the hollow echo of my own breaths.

And then, something shifted.

No.

The word hit me like a spark, igniting a fire that had been smoldering somewhere deep within. It wasn’t loud or angry, but it was steady, unrelenting. A defiant beat against the suffocating weight of their words.

No. Not this time.

I clenched my fists, my nails digging into my palms as the heat in my chest began to grow, sharp and insistent. Morphing into something harder, something sharper. I wasn’t going to keep running. I wasn’t going to let them see me break again.

“Fuck this,” I said aloud, the words trembling but fierce, cutting through the stillness. My voice carried on the cold wind, brittle but stronger than I’d expected. “I’m done hiding. I’m done letting them win.”

The fire in my chest burned brighter, my steps steadying as I turned on my heel and headed back toward the theater. The night seemed darker now, the shadows longer, but I welcomed it. Let them see me coming. Let them face me, for once.

I didn’t know what I was going to say when I got there. I didn’t even know if they’d still be there. But I wasn’t going to run anymore.

Not from them. Not from this.

The theater loomed in the distance, its dark silhouette etched against the night sky. My heart pounded in my chest, but it wasn’t from fear this time. It was from something else—something hotter, fiercer, and far more dangerous.

I felt the stirrings of something I hadn’t felt in years.

Control.

And I wasn’t going to let go of it.

Four

The theater’sfaint glow seemed to mock me as I pushed the door open again, the sound of their laughter grating against my nerves. My steps echoed across the empty space, each one feeling heavier than the last. The air smelled of stale beer, whiskey, and old wood, the remnants of their revelry scattered across the floor. Even though it was just an hour later, not a single one of them was in the same place I last saw them in, and they hadn't noticed me yet.

Lucian lounged in one of the theater seats, his legs stretched out as he swirled a drink in his hand. Kael perched on the edge of the piano, lazily tapping a discordant tune on the keys, while Thorne leaned casually against the side of the stage, a beer bottle in his hand and his ever-present sneer on his face. Aeron sat near the stage steps, his dark gaze sharp but detached, and Ciaran stood off to the side, arms crossed, his expression unreadable.

I froze near the entrance, my hands curling into fists at my sides. Their laughter filled the space, unbothered and cruel. Itwasn’t just the mockery they’d thrown at me earlier—it was the way they moved together so seamlessly, as if I’d never even existed. As if I were nothing but a shadow haunting their edges.

Thorne’s gaze flicked toward me from where he lounged casually on the edge of the stage, his long legs stretched out in front of him. His smirk curled with cruel delight as he leaned back on his hands. “Well, well. Look who’s back,” he drawled. “Couldn’t stay away, could you?”

Lucian sat a few feet away, balanced on a chair he’d dragged up onto the stage, his elbows resting lazily on his knees. His smirk mirrored Thorne’s, cold and sharp. “Persistent, isn’t she? You’d think she’d get the hint by now.”

Kael was seated near the piano, spinning his coin between his fingers with the same infuriating ease he always had, watching me approach with an amused glint in his eye.

Aeron, however, was the picture of disinterest. He leaned against the stage's far edge, his eyes glued to his phone as if the entire scene unfolding before him wasn’t worth his attention. His fingers moved with casual precision, scrolling as though he hadn’t a care in the world, but the slight furrow in his brow hinted at his quiet judgment.

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