Episode 38 — A House Built from Ashes
"This morning is too quiet… too comfortable," Rae murmured as she pulled up the zipper of her thin jacket and walked slowly down the hallway. The house felt emptier than usual.
There were no signs that anything had happened the night before. No sounds. No stains. No screams. Everything was clean… too clean.
Kenny appeared from the kitchen, dressed neatly like always. A cup of black coffee steamed calmly in his hand.
“Did you sleep well, Rae?” he asked casually, as if there was nothing hidden behind the calm of the morning.
Rae nodded slowly. “Weird that you’re asking. Last night I actually felt... safer.”
Kenny raised an eyebrow slightly. He was hiding something, but his eyes stayed calm. “That’s good, Rae. Happy to hear that....”
Then, without much pause, he continued, “Rae, I need you to come with me today. There’s something I need to make sure of.”
Rae squinted. “Where you wanna take me?”
“The penthouse. South side of the city. Just for a while. This house… needs some repairs. I want to make sure your place is clean from any kind of disturbance,” Kenny said.
Rae turned quickly. “Disturbance? What do you mean??”
“Nothing serious,” Kenny replied quickly. “Just... I don’t like small things that try to sneak around.”
Rae frowned, but didn’t ask any more questions. She felt there was something he wasn’t telling her. And strangely, she stayed quiet. She even looked at Kenny with a softer heart than usual....
They got into a black luxury car waiting outside. The streets were still empty. The sun had just started to rise over the edge of the sky. Inside the car, neither of them spoke much.
Rae just looked out the window, watching the world move on, as if it had no idea what was really happening beneath the surface of this city.
The penthouse stood tall in the south part of the city. Three floors high, covered in glass, with a balcony that faced directly toward the construction site of Blackwood Dreamland.
The building felt like a fortress, or maybe a golden cage. It depended on how Rae chose to see it....
When they arrived, Kenny stepped out first and opened the door for Rae.
They walked into the luxury residence building.
Rae looked around the high-class lobby with its towering pillars and polished floors.
“Let’s go straight to the elevator,” Kenny said.
“This is a private lift?” Rae asked.
“Yes, it's made that way to avoid... reporters,” Kenny replied calmly.
They rode up to the 55th floor, where the three-level penthouse was located.
“Come in. Treat this as your home... for now,” he said quietly.
Rae stepped inside. The cold marble floor greeted her feet. High ceilings, minimalist decor, and a soft scent of lavender filled the air. The penthouse was too neat, too quiet. Like a stage waiting for its actors.
She walked slowly through the first floor, then climbed the marble stairs to the second. There, she found one large room with full glass walls. It looked like an empty gallery. Her heart felt heavy. Not out of fear, but out of something emptier.
Then, she walked up to the third floor. Her steps were slow. Her breath was steady. It felt like her body was moving without a clear purpose.
And there she stood.... at the edge of the balcony. Facing the wind that carried the smell of salt from the sea and the dust of the nearby construction.
The morning breeze touched Rae’s hair gently, lifting the loose strands as if trying to whisper something from afar.
From where she stood, the whole city stretched before her. Far to the south, like an old scar, stood the massive project site with a huge banner:
"Blackwood Dreamland – Future Living Begins Here."
Construction trucks moved back and forth like ants. Cranes turned slowly in the sky. A new life was being built over ruins Rae once knew well....
Ruins she once called home. The place where her mother had planted lavender by the window. Where her father had drawn dreams with hands that no longer moved with ease.
And now...
It was all gone.... just layers of dirt, erased by machines.
Rae took a deep breath. Her chest felt full, but not in pain. Her eyes didn’t cry, but they weren’t calm either. Something hung inside her, something without a name, something..... unfinished.
“The place that made me. The place that broke me. The place I can’t even find on a map anymore,” she whispered inside her thoughts.
The sky above was clear, but inside her chest, it was raining.
She looked forward, but it felt like she saw nothing. Just the horizon..... which too far, too still....
Soft footsteps came closer...
Kenny stopped beside her. Neither of them said anything. They just stood there, letting the wind fill the space between them.
Rae kept her eyes on the distance.
Kenny slipped his hands into his pockets. His voice was flat but deep.
“Rae… You always make everything more complicated…”
He paused for a moment. Then turned slightly toward Rae, without forcing her to look back.
“But that’s why I can’t stop....”
Rae didn’t answer. Her eyes stayed on the project site pulsing in the distance.
“Why do you keep doing all this, Kenny?” she finally asked, her voice nearly a whisper.
Kenny tilted his chin up, staring at the sky that gave him no answer.
“Because I know you can’t be controlled. But.... you also can’t run.”
They both went silent again...
As if even a single sentence was too heavy to push out of the mouth.
Finally, Rae turned her head. Slowly. Her eyes met Kenny’s.
But it wasn’t a sharp look. It wasn’t anger either.
What appeared was a smile....
Thin. Unclear. Like a riddle with no answer.
A smile from someone who knew she was trapped… but not yet defeated.
A smile from someone who understood that even without the key, she could still stand tall without bending.
Kenny frowned. That smile... wasn’t what he had hoped for. But it also wasn’t something he hated.
He looked back at her. Quietly. Then spoke in a soft voice, almost like a whisper:
“When you smile like that... I don’t know if I’m winning or losing.”
Rae just shrugged. “Maybe it’s not a game...”
“Everything’s a game, Rae.”
“No... This is a home.”
“A home you burned yourself,” Kenny said.
“A home I never built myself,” Rae replied quietly.
From inside the penthouse, their shadows appeared behind the glass wall. Standing side by side on the upper balcony, like two figures looking at the future.
Or maybe just watching the ruins of the past....
The sky was starting to change color. The city slowly came to life, but on that balcony, time felt frozen.
Down below, the symbols of modern life kept moving: rumbling construction trucks, tall cranes, and glowing LED banners full of fake optimism.
While Rae and Kenny stayed silent, standing like two poles that could never really connect. Or maybe they already had, just in a broken way.
Love? Control? Pain?
No one could tell the difference anymore.
The first season had ended.
But the questions it left behind only echoed louder:
“Can love grow from control?
Or is this just the beginning of a deeper fall?”
Rae turned and walked back inside the penthouse. Leaving the horizon behind her.
Kenny stayed where he was. He reached for his phone. The screen lit up.
One new message.
“The clearing is done. Can we proceed the next step quickly?”
He stared at the message for a long moment, then typed back:
“Yes... The protest leader has been silenced. We can move forward.”
He looked up at the sky.
The sky above the city was starting to darken, as if the rain was waiting to fall.
And the penthouse… stayed silent.
But within that silence, something was growing.
Not flowers. Not love.
But a feeling.... maybe a sense of ownership… or maybe betrayal.
Something that, one day,
would bring it all crashing down....
\-END OF SEASON 1-