Shadows Heart

The apartment is too quiet. I sit at the kitchen table, the untouched plate of food from breakfast still in front of me. Sao's barely spoken to me since last night, and the weight of her anger hangs in the air like a storm waiting to break.

I know she's planning something. I see it in the way her eyes dart to the door, in the tension in her shoulders whenever I'm near. She's always been stubborn—that fire inside her, that refusal to give up, is something I've always admired. But now, that fire feels like a threat, like it might burn everything I'm trying to hold together.

---

It happens in the middle of the night.

I wake to the faint sound of movement, and my stomach sinks. I throw off the covers and step into the hallway, my bare feet silent against the hardwood floor.

Sao's door is open. Her room is empty.

Panic rises in my chest as I glance around. Then I hear it—the quiet creak of the front door.

I bolt down the hall, my pulse racing, and catch her just as she's stepping out into the cool night. She's wearing the jeans and sweater Janus sent her, her portable IV strapped to her back. Her curls are messy, her face pale and tired, and for a fleeting moment, she looks like she's slipping away, a shadow disappearing into the dark.

"Sao!" I call, grabbing her arm.

She yelps in surprise, trying to pull away, but she's too weak to fight me off.

"Let me go!" she cries, her voice shaking.

"Are you insane?" I snap, dragging her back inside. "You haven't eaten in days, and you're trying to run off in the middle of the night?"

"I can't stay here, Oriel," she says, her voice breaking. "I can't do this anymore."

"You're not leaving," I say firmly, slamming the door shut and locking it.

"You can't keep me here!" she yells, tears streaming down her face. "You don't own me!"

"I'm keeping you safe," I say through gritted teeth, dragging her back toward the bedroom.

"This isn't safety!" she screams, struggling against me. "This is a prison!"

Her words cut like knives, but I don't let go.

---

By the time I get her back into the bedroom, she's shaking, her breaths shallow and uneven.

"Sao," I say, trying to keep my voice calm. "You need to sit down. You're going to hurt yourself."

"I don't care," she whispers, her legs buckling beneath her.

I catch her before she hits the ground, and that's when I notice just how pale she is, how fragile she feels in my arms.

"Sao?" I say, panic creeping into my voice. "Sao, look at me."

Her eyes flutter, her head lolling against my shoulder, and then she goes completely limp.

For a moment, I freeze, the weight of the situation crashing down on me. She's passed out. From exhaustion. From hunger. From my own mistakes.

I lift her onto the bed, my hands trembling as I lay her down. Her face is so pale, her breathing so shallow, and the guilt hits me like a tidal wave.

I've pushed her too far.

---

When she wakes hours later, her eyes barely open, I'm sitting by her side with a glass of water and a plate of toast.

"Eat," I say softly, my voice gentler than it's been in days.

She blinks at me, confusion flashing across her face. Then she glances at her wrist—and freezes.

The cuffs glint in the dim light, the chain connecting her to the bedpost.

Her eyes snap to mine, wide with disbelief. "What did you do?"

"I'm keeping you here," I say, my voice calm but resolute. "You can't run off like that again, Sao. It's too dangerous."

She stares at me, her mouth opening and closing as if she's trying to find the words. Then, finally, she screams.

"Are you insane?!" she yells, her voice hoarse. "You chained me to the bed! What is wrong with you?!"

"I'm protecting you," I say, standing up and crossing my arms.

"Protecting me?" she snaps, her voice trembling with rage. "You're trapping me, Oriel! This isn't protection—this is madness!"

"You passed out, Sao," I say, my voice rising. "You could've died out there! What was I supposed to do, let you leave and hope you didn't collapse on the sidewalk?"

"You were supposed to let me make my own decisions!" she shouts, tears streaming down her face.

"And watch you destroy yourself?" I fire back. "No. I'm not doing that. I'm not losing you, Sao."

She glares at me, her voice breaking. "You already have."

---

I leave the room after a while, sitting back at the kitchen table with my head in my hands. My thoughts are a whirlwind of anger, fear, and guilt, all tangled together in a way I can't unravel.

This isn't how it was supposed to go.

I told myself I was doing the right thing, that I was keeping her safe. But the look in her eyes—the sheer betrayal and devastation—I can't get it out of my head.

I glance at the crane resting on the table, its worn edges a silent reminder of Janus's promise.

"Take care of her."

I thought I was.

But as the hours pass, a single question keeps repeating in my mind, over and over, like the tick of a clock I can't stop.

What if I'm wrong?