- Vaughn Blackmore:
The silence stretches longer than it should.
I don't move right away. I just stand there near the edge of the lake, my senses sharper now, eyes scanning the trees again, trying to catch whatever made that sound.
Then I hear it again.
A shift of weight. A step.
Closer this time.
I turn, slower now, more controlled—
And that's when I see him.
Ryland.
Standing a few feet back, partially framed by the trees, like he's been there longer than I realized. His posture is relaxed, arms at his sides, expression unreadable as his eyes settle on me.
For a second, something in my chest loosens.
A quiet exhale slips out before I can stop it.
Because it's just him.
Not some stranger. Not someone watching from the shadows. Not something worse.
It could've been anything out here.
Anyone.
And somehow, the fact that it's him—him of all people—feels like the lesser problem.
I push that thought away immediately.
I straighten, already stepping back from the water.
