By the time I reached home that night, the sky had already gone dark. The moment I stepped inside, I didn't even get the door fully shut before their voices hit me.
"Where were you?!"
"You said you'd be back in two minutes!"
"It's been three hours!"
I stood there for a second, still carrying everything from before, their words barely registering. They looked scared. Angry. Relieved. All at once.
Before they could continue, I stepped forward and pulled them into a hug.
Tight.
They froze instantly.
"I'm sorry," I said quietly. "I won't go anywhere like that again."
The words came out easily. Too easily.
They softened after that. Not completely—but enough. Questions followed, but I gave them something simple. Something believable. And eventually… they let it go.
The next two days passed without anything.
No shadows.
No pressure.
No voices.
Nothing.
At first, it felt like relief. Like everything had finally stopped.
But by the second day, it started to feel wrong.
Too quiet.
Too clean.No shadows.
I realized it the moment I stepped outside on the third morning.
He was there.
Leaning casually against the wall near the gate like he had always been there.
Lucien.
One foot pressed against the wall, a lighter flipping open and shut in his hand.
Click.
Flame.
Gone.
Click.
I stopped.
And then—
I understood. He was stopping them. Those shadows.
"…That's why," I said quietly.
The silence. The absence. The calm.
It wasn't gone.
It was him.
"You stayed," I said.
Click.
"Of course I did."
I looked at him properly then.
Not as someone training me.
Not as someone controlling everything.
But as someone who had been standing here—
for two days.
Protecting me.
"I didn't ask you to," I said.
"You didn't have to."
Silence stretched between us.
"I meant what I said," I continued. "I'm done."
The lighter paused mid-air.
Then—
click.
"You don't get to decide that."
"I already did."
This time, I didn't look away.
Didn't hesitate.
"You think it stopped?" he asked.
"No," I said honestly. "I don't."
A pause.
"I just don't care anymore."
That made him push himself off the wall.
"You will," he said. "When it comes for you again."
"It will," I replied quietly. "Stronger this time."
He didn't deny it.
"Then come with me," he said. "Train properly. Control it before that happens."
I shook my head.
"No."
Something in his expression tightened.
"You're choosing to stay unprepared."
"I'm choosing to live," I said.
The words settled between us.
"I have a life," I continued. "I have responsibilities. I can't just disappear into whatever this is."
His gaze didn't leave mine.
"You think you'll have that life if you ignore this?"
"No," I said.
A pause.
"I think I'll lose it anyway."
Silence.
"But at least I'll have it until then."
That hit.
Hard.
I took a breath, steadying myself. "I'm a scholarship student. The money I earn goes to the house… to my sisters. Liz is already working too. We stopped because of the holidays, but that won't last."
I looked away briefly, then back at him.
"Alexis doesn't need to worry about any of this. She just studies. That's how it's supposed to stay."
My voice softened slightly.
"I'm not throwing that away for something I don't even survive."
He stepped closer.
"You don't know that."
"I do."
A pause.
"I heard them," I said quietly. "They know me now. Next time… it won't be like before."
Silence.
"Then all the more reason to train," he said.
I shook my head again.
"No. That just makes it faster."
His jaw tightened.
"Nothing will happen to you," he said, his voice lower now, steadier. "Not while I'm here."
I didn't respond.
"If it comes to that," he continued, "I'll stand in front of you."
That made me look at him.
"And if death is the end of this—"
A pause.
"It won't reach you first."
The words settled deep.
For a second—
just a second—
I wavered.
Confusion.
Doubt.
Something pulling me back.
But then—
Three months.
Maybe less. That's the time I might survive if I don't have his training or what so ever.
That's what it felt like. But I want to live a normal life.
"I don't want that," I said quietly.
A pause.
"I don't want you to die for something I don't even understand."
Silence.
"I'm going to college," I continued. "I'm going to work again. I'm going to live my life like I'm supposed to."
I met his gaze one last time.
"Whatever happens after that… happens."
For the first time—
he didn't interrupt.
Didn't argue.
Just watched.
Like he was waiting for me to change my mind.
I didn't.
And this time—
I walked past him.
Without stopping.
Without turning.
Because I already knew—
This choice wouldn't save me.
But it was mine.