Keifer's POV:
Chapter: The Moment I Almost Lost Her
(Keifer's POV)
I should've never left her alone.
That thought keeps replaying in my head like a curse.
She was curled slightly in the passenger seat of my car, one hand pressing against her stomach, the other holding my sleeve like she didn't want me to go.
"I'll be back in two minutes," I told her.
"I don't need chocolate," she muttered weakly.
"You do," I replied.
She rolled her eyes, but she didn't argue again.
That should've been my sign.
Jay never stops arguing.
I closed the door gently and walked into the convenience store. It was just across the parking lot. I could see my car through the glass window.
She was still there.
Head leaning against the seat.
Eyes closed.
I grabbed dark chocolate. The one she pretends not to like but finishes anyway.
The cashier was too slow.
Too calm.
Too normal.
And something in my chest started feeling wrong.
I glanced outside again.
The car door was open.
My heart stopped.
I dropped the change on the counter and ran.
The parking lot felt bigger than before. Colder.
The driver's side door was open.
The passenger side was empty.
Her phone was on the seat.
"Jay."
Silence.
No scream.
No struggle.
Just emptiness.
My hands started shaking.
No. No. No.
I looked around wildly.
Then my phone rang.
Erdix.
I answered instantly.
"Where are you?" I demanded.
"Keif—" his voice sounded tense. "Rory just saw Ram's van near the back exit road."
Everything inside me went cold.
Ram.
Of course.
"Did you see Jay?" I asked.
"They grabbed someone. Rory thinks it was her."
My vision blurred for a second.
"Which direction?"
"Highway south. They're heading out of the city."
Out of the city.
I hung up and jumped into the driver's seat.
The engine roared as I slammed the accelerator.
You idiot.
You left her.
Two minutes.
That's all it took.
My hands gripped the steering wheel so hard my knuckles turned white.
Call her.
Her phone was in my car.
Of course.
Think.
Ram doesn't do small revenge. He makes statements.
If he takes her out of the city—
He's not planning to negotiate.
I drove faster.
I called Rory.
"Location."
"Old industrial road," he said quickly. "Near the abandoned warehouse by the railway line."
I knew the place.
Too isolated.
Too quiet.
Too perfect for something bad.
"Don't follow," I ordered.
"Keif—"
"Don't."
I hung up.
This is my mess.
I'm finishing it.
The warehouse came into view ten minutes later.
Too long.
Way too long.
A black van was parked near the entrance.
Lights inside.
My chest tightened.
I stepped out of the car quietly.
No plan.
Just instinct.
As I walked closer, I heard something.
A muffled sound.
A chair scraping.
A shaky breath.
Jay.
My heart started pounding violently.
I moved toward the side entrance.
The door was slightly open.
Inside—
Ram.
And three of his men.
Jay was tied to a chair.
Her face was pale.
Terrified.
And there was blood on the floor.
Not hers.
Someone else's.
But she was staring at it like it was a nightmare brought to life.
Her breathing looked uneven.
Too fast.
Too sharp.
Ram noticed me first.
"Well," he smiled. "Hero arrived."
I stepped inside slowly.
"Let her go."
He laughed.
"Do you know how long I've been waiting to see you look desperate?"
My eyes stayed on Jay.
She looked at me.
And the fear in her eyes—
I've never seen her that scared.
Not even with Yuri.
"Keif…" she whispered.
That broke something in me.
"I said let her go."
Ram picked up a metal rod from the ground casually.
"You think this is about her?" he asked. "No. This is about you."
One of his men kicked a bucket aside.
It made a loud metallic sound.
Jay flinched violently.
Her eyes went back to the blood on the floor.
Something shifted in her expression.
Not just fear.
Something darker.
"Don't," I told Ram quietly.
He smirked.
"Or what?"
I stepped forward.
Wrong move.
Something hit the back of my head.
Hard.
Everything exploded in white.
I fell to one knee.
Another hit.
Metal.
Sharp pain across my shoulder.
My vision blurred.
I heard Jay scream.
"STOP!"
Ram's voice sounded distant.
"Look at him now."
I tried to stand.
My body didn't cooperate.
Another strike.
I hit the ground fully this time.
The world spun.
My ears rang.
Through the haze—
I saw Jay shaking.
Her breathing changed.
Not fast.
Not panicked.
Slow.
Controlled.
Too controlled.
Her eyes weren't the same anymore.
She wasn't looking at me.
She wasn't looking scared.
She was staring at the blood.
And then at Ram.
Something snapped.
She screamed.
Not in fear.
In rage.
She broke free from the chair like she didn't even feel the rope.
I don't know how.
Adrenaline.
Trauma.
Something else.
She lunged at Ram.
He wasn't expecting it.
None of them were.
She grabbed the rod from his hand.
Her movements weren't wild.
They were precise.
Too precise.
Ram tried to push her back.
She hit him.
Once.
Twice.
He stumbled.
She didn't stop.
I tried to move.
"Jay—" my voice barely came out.
She didn't hear me.
Or maybe she did and couldn't stop.
Her face looked different.
Not angry.
Not crying.
Empty.
Like something old inside her took control.
One of the men tried to grab her.
She turned and struck him hard enough that he backed away instantly.
Ram fell backward.
She followed.
The rod clattered away somewhere.
But she kept hitting.
With her fists.
Her hands.
Anything she could reach.
Ram stopped moving.
She didn't.
"Jay," I forced out louder.
She froze.
Her breathing was heavy.
Her hands were shaking.
She looked down at him.
Then at her hands.
Then at me.
And in that second—
The rage disappeared.
Replaced by horror.
"What did I do?" she whispered.
I pushed myself up painfully and crawled toward her.
"You protected yourself," I said, even though my head was spinning.
She stepped back like she was scared of herself.
"I couldn't stop," she said. "I saw the blood and I— I—"
I pulled her into my arms before she could spiral further.
She resisted for half a second.
Then collapsed against me.
Shaking.
Sobbing.
"I didn't mean—"
"It's okay," I said firmly.
Even if I wasn't sure it was.
The other men had run.
Ram wasn't moving.
I didn't check further.
I didn't want to.
My priority was her.
Her breathing was unstable.
Her hands ice cold.
"Look at me," I said gently.
She did.
And now she looked like my Jay again.
Scared.
Not violent.
Not empty.
Just overwhelmed.
"I'm here," I said.
"You got hurt," she whispered when she noticed the blood near my temple.
"I've had worse."
She started crying harder.
"This is my fault."
"No."
"If I wasn't—"
"No."
I held her face gently.
"This is not your fault."
Sirens sounded faintly in the distance.
Probably someone heard something.
Or maybe Rory ignored my order and called it in.
Jay stiffened at the sound.
"It's okay," I reassured her.
But inside—
Nothing felt okay.
Because I saw something tonight.
Not just Ram's stupidity.
Not just violence.
I saw how deep Jay's trauma goes.
Blood doesn't scare her.
It triggers her.
Transforms her.
And that terrifies me more than anything.
Because I don't want her to carry that weight.
I don't want her to become something she hates just to survive.
As I held her there in that cold warehouse, I made one silent promise:
No one will ever put her in a position where she has to lose herself like that again.
Not Ram.
Not Yuri.
Not anyone.
Even if I have to stand between her and the entire world.
Because tonight—
I almost lost her.
And I won't survive that twice.