MasukEvelineThe bright morning sun hit the glass windows of the busy coffee shop downtown.It was the day after Lucien had dragged her out of Shane's apartment.Eveline sat at a corner table near the entrance, her hands wrapped tightly around a hot paper cup. Her phone lay on the small table right next to her hand.An hour ago, a text message had popped up on her screen from a number she didn't recognize at first. Surprisingly, it was Shane, asking her to meet him in public so they could talk one last time.She almost deleted it and blocked the number immediately. Her wrists still had faint red marks under her long sleeves where the ropes had dug into her skin.Every single part of her body told her to stay far away from him. But curiosity and anger had won the argument inside her head. She picked a crowded coffee shop right in the middle of the city center during peak morning hours.There were dozens of people sitting around, talking loudly, drinking coffee, and typing on laptops. If he
Lucien Lucien stood in the middle of the hospital hallway, his jaw shut so tightly that his teeth ached in time with his racing heart. The morning work change was starting around him, the nurses hurried past with files held to their chests, the sound of heart monitors rang from the rooms, and the smell of floor soap filled the air. None of it felt real. Everything seemed to be happening behind a thick sheet of glass. He had called Eveline five times. Each try ended the same way, with a flat, robot sound followed by the silence of her voicemail. He moved toward the breakroom, pushing the fire door open. Belinda was sitting at the small, scratched plastic table, holding a paper cup of warm coffee. She looked up, her tired eyes softening as she knew him, but the sharp, hard stress in Lucien's shoulders made her smile fade fast. "Belinda," Lucien said, keeping his voice low and steady, though a hammer seemed to be hitting against his ribs. "Have you seen Eveline?" Belinda set
EvelineEveline pushed open the glass doors of the hospital. The cold night air hit her skin immediately and she took a long breath, trying to shake off the fatigue from an eight-hour shift.Her shoulder bag felt heavy against her side. She walked across the dimly lit parking lot toward her dark blue sedan. The overhead lights buzzed above her, flickering every few seconds.All she wanted was to drive home, take a hot shower, and crash into bed. She was so exhausted her eyes burned. She pulled her car keys out of her purse and pressed the unlock button on the key fob.The car lights blinked twice, and the locks clicked open. She reached out and took hold of the driver's side door handle. But before she could pull the door open, a dark shadow moved behind her as a pair of strong arms wrapped around her waist and chest, pulling her backward."Hey!" Eveline yelled, dropping her keys onto the cold pavement.She tried to twist her body around, but the grip on her was tight and crushing. Be
LucienLucien walked out of the hospital doors into the cool night air. He took a deep breath, trying to clear the scent of chemicals and blood from his head.It didn't work. He got into his car, slammed the door shut, and sat there in silence for a long moment. His mind was fried, buzzing with exhaustion and anger that refused to settle down.He started the engine and drove back to his apartment. He hadn't stepped foot in his house in days. The place felt cold and abandoned the second he unlocked the front door and pushed it open. He kicked off his shoes in the hallway, not even bothering to turn on the living room lights."Eveline?" he called out into the dark.Silence answered him. She wasn't there. He stood in the middle of his dark living room, rubbing the back of his neck with a sigh.Deep down, he knew she wouldn't be here. He didn't really expect her to be waiting around for him anyway, not after...He had dragged her into his messy world, pushed her away when things got too c
LucienThe low, steady hum of the heart monitor in the corner was the only thing keeping Lucien grounded, but it did nothing to quiet the noise inside his head.He stood by the edge of the bed, staring at Michael’s motionless form, watching the shallow rise and fall of his brother’s chest beneath the hospital gown. Every line on Michael’s face felt like a blade twisting in Lucien’s stomach. Ten years. Ten long, wasted years, and yet the memory of that night still sat in the back of his throat like ash, ready to suffocate him the second he let his guard down.His eyes tracked the old, faded scar near Michael’s hairline. That mark didn’t come from some harmless childhood fall. It came from the night their lives changed.Lucien closed his eyes, and just like that, the smell of disinfectant faded, replaced by the one of rain, cheap liquor, and leather.Ten years ago Lucien had been sitting at his desk, surrounded by stacks of textbooks, his mind focused on his upcoming midterms. The doo
Eveline Eveline sagged against the back rest of the chair in the break room, her coffee—now cold—spilling over the cup’s rim and on to her fingers. She glanced down at it, but didn’t make any attempt to reach for a napkin, tissue or…anything. She didn’t turn either, when the door to the room opened. She just wanted some quiet. She wanted to be left alone—but it was impossible, when she had been on her feet all day, handling various activities on her floor. And then, for some reason, the director asked her to help down in the ER. There’d been a fatal accident on the highway, and they needed capable hands. Somehow, she was one of the extra hands he chose. She couldn’t say no. The busyness gave her mind something else to think about, but now that the hospital was a little quieter and she was back in the mental health ward, her thoughts were spiraling again. It’d been less than twenty four hours since she found the photograph of her father and Gerald Roswood, but it felt like more
Eveline Belinda pulled Eveline into a storage room, closing the door with a soft thud. She placed a finger to her lips before Eveline could speak. “Shh.” She opened the door again, a small crack, peeped through, and closed it slowly so that it wouldn’t make the slightest noise. Then she sighe
“Miss Storm.” Eveline stood rooted to the spot as he walked into the room, a polite smile on his lips. He walked over to her, stretching out his hand. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Dr. Roswood. I’ll be handling your father’s case.” She couldn’t say a word. Her lips wouldn’t move and her brain wen
The elevator doors opened with a soft chime, and Eveline rushed out, panting softly. She’d run through the parking lot—from the free spot she found to park her car, through the hospital lobby, narrowly avoiding a man in a wheelchair and an IV hooked to his arm, barely making it into the elevator be
Eveline pinched the card between her fingers as she spun around, hiding it behind her back. Her heart thumped behind her ribcage, and from the way he was staring at her, she was almost certain he could hear it. Lucien’s lips twitched with a flat smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “That’s not how yo







