Novel & Cerita You Can't Hide From Yourself

“This isn’t about fear, son. This is about survival, our survival as supernatural beings in a not-so-supernatural world. This is survival about our kind.” “No,” I said bitterly. “This is about control, Dad.” He stood too, looming now. “You better watch your tone.” “I’m sick of watching everything,” I shouted. “My tone, my steps, my breath. I’m sick of hiding. What fun is it if I can't be myself?” “Hiding keeps you alive. It's done for years and will keep doing so.” “Or it keeps you comfortable,” I fired back. “Because as long as I stay locked away, you don’t have to worry about me embarrassing you.”

“And then what? You seem to have thought it through and made up your mind, so tell me. What happens after you leave? You leave her with a lot of questions. You leave her wondering if she was the one that wronged you. You just don’t disappear on people Damian. It doesn’t work that way. The problem you’re running from is always going to be there except you solve it. Life will not solve your problems for you. It never will. You have to sit up and solve it yourself. Disappearing on Anna will only make it worse and one day, you will come back and I don’t care if you’re mated to her or if you’re destined to be together, she will move on from you and the bitch if us know that you can’t handle that”

“Not more than I deserve you.” The SUV slows as it approaches a narrow, unlit road. The driver takes it without hesitation, heading out of the city. The buildings fade behind us. The streets become emptier. The sound of traffic disappears. Inside the dark car, I say something I have held for hours. “I do not want to disappear.” Ale looks confused. “You suggested it.” “Yes. Because I thought it was the best strategy. But I am tired of hiding. I am tired of letting them control the narrative. I am tired of being afraid of a woman who survives on manipulation and cruelty.”

"About how far that feels from here." He was quiet for a moment. "It does," he said. "Not bad far," I said. "Just distance. Actual distance. Between who I was then and who I am now." "Who are you now?" he asked. I thought about it honestly. "The same person," I said. "Just less hidden." I paused. "Less hidden from myself, mostly. I always knew who I was. I just spent a long time not letting it be visible." I held his gaze in the dark. "You made it visible. Not by pushing. Just by being patient enough that the hiding stopped feeling necessary."

His hand was still on my head. "So stop hiding yourself. Learn to face the problem. You can't solve anything by hiding like this. It will only make people think that there is something wrong otherwise why would you hesitate to come out? Those people hide those who make mistakes. Why hide when we have not done anything wrong?" I hung my head down as my chin was touching my chest.

He was offering truth—the kind that left no room for self-deception. “I don’t want to lose you,” Adrian whispered. “Then stop hiding from me.” Tears burned at the back of Adrian’s eyes, and he turned his face away before they could fall. He had spent so long hiding—from his family, from his friends, from himself. And Liam… Liam was asking him to step into the light, fully exposed. But could he? Adrian opened his mouth, ready to try, when movement caught his eye across the park. A figure lingered near the trees—half-hidden, but unmistakable.

Not just for you, but for me. For a long time, I have tried to be what I thought others wanted. No, that’s not true. It wasn’t because of what others wanted. It was to hide in plain sight. I was so terrified I inherited some of that evil inside my dad. That my dad was right; there was something bad inside of me. So I did everything I could to hide that evil. I tried to be as good as I could be. Kind to everyone. A doormat, a teddybear, only ever standing up for those I loved, but never myself.”

He chuckled, "Were you talking to Mike? Did you spill our secret?" Luke was undeniably striking. At school, he was an iceberg, cold and untouchable. But in private, he was warm and almost clingy. In the past, I'd have melted into his arms, blushing. Now I just stepped back, creating distance. "Didn't you want to keep us hidden?" I muttered. His eyes flickered as he caught the edge of my tone. Still, he pressed on with the question that always lingered. "You know we can't go public."

Hugo asks. “ What do you want me to do? Hide here in Chicago like a fucking rat? You know that can never be me. If they want to get rid of me, they will have to try harder.” Hiding is not something I do especially not from a fucking coward who wants to eliminate me secretly. I am a self made man and that means I am used to danger striking anytime. Just because I don't openly deal with the cosa nostra doesn't mean that side of me is gone.

Just me. Always just me. I don’t know how long I sit there, frozen, before something shifts in me. Clicks into place. A heat. A spark. Logan won’t always come to my rescue. I repeat that out loud, voice trembling. “I need to stop being a coward.” I don’t believe it yet. But I say it again. “I need to stop being a coward.” Because I can’t keep hiding. I can’t keep living like this. Running. Flinching. Locking myself in dark rooms hoping monsters don’t find me.