Chapter 79: Done hoping on someone else

Elara’s POV

Night settled over the mansion with an eerie kind of silence.

It wasn’t peaceful. It was the heavy, watchful kind that made every creak of old wood and every distant footstep feel louder than it should. Moonlight slipped through the narrow window high above our room, painting pale silver strips across the cold stone floor. Somewhere far off, a grandfather clock echoed through the corridors, marking time like it was counting down to something none of us wanted to face. I lay on my back on the thin mattress, staring at the ceiling, unable to close my eyes for more than a few seconds before Vincent’s face found its way back into my thoughts.

His expression in the dining room.

That tiny pause when our eyes met.

The way he had looked at me… and then looked away like I was nothing.

I rolled onto my side with a frustrated sigh, pulling the thin blanket tighter around myself. No. I wasn’t doing this to myself again. Whatever I’d thought was between us, whatever stupid hope I’d let myself hold onto the moment I saw him — I’d been wrong. It didn’t matter anymore. Thinking about him wasn’t going to get me out of this place, and it sure as hell wasn’t going to save Raye or her mother.

“You’re still awake,” Raye’s voice broke the silence.

I turned my head to look across the small room to where she lay on the other narrow bed, facing me. Even in the dim moonlight, I could see the exhaustion etched into her face. Neither of us had slept much since we’d been brought here, and tonight didn’t seem like it would be any different.

“So are you,” I whispered back.

She gave a weak, tired smile. “I don’t think anyone sleeps well in this place.”

I couldn’t argue with that.

For a few moments, neither of us spoke. The quiet stretched between us until another thought hit me so suddenly that I sat up against the headboard.

“Our test.”

Raye blinked, confused. “What?”

“We missed it.”

The words left a bitter taste in my mouth. “I completely forgot.”

She slowly pushed herself upright, wrapping her arms around her knees. “So did I.”

Another silence settled over us.

“I studied for that test all week,” she murmured, voice small. “Now we’ve probably been marked absent… or failed it completely.”

I let out a humorless laugh that sounded more like a sigh. “I fought so hard just to get back to school after my mom died. I kept telling myself that if I could just survive the funeral… if I could just keep going… everything would eventually start getting better.”

Instead, I’d ended up here.

Trapped.

Missing another exam.

Watching my entire future slip farther and farther away while the outside world kept spinning without me.

“I can’t lose school too,” I whispered, my throat tight. “Mom would hate that. She was so proud when I decided to go back. It was my dream… not anyone else’s.”

Raye looked at me, her eyes filling with the same fear I’d been trying so hard to ignore. “I don’t think they care about our classes.”

“No,” I said, meeting her gaze. “They don’t.”

The silence grew heavier. I drew in a slow breath before speaking again.

“Where did they take my mom?” she asked quietly.

My shoulders stiffened. I hesitated for a long moment. “Underground. I saw them drag her through that iron gate earlier.”

I thought back to the heavy doors and the hallway the guards hadn’t wanted me anywhere near. “They’re keeping her somewhere down there.”

Raye lowered her eyes. “I keep thinking about her. What if she’s hurt? What if they’re doing something awful to her right now?”

“So do I,” I admitted. I shifted closer on the bed. “She’s the only person here who might actually know this place. If she’s been here for months… then she probably knows where they keep people, how the guards move, maybe even a way out.”

Raye stared at me as the realization slowly settled over her. “You want to find her.”

“I have to.”

She immediately shook her head. “No.”

“Raye—”

“No, Elara.” She climbed off the bed and started pacing the tiny room with restless steps. “You saw how many guards there are. You saw what they did to my mom. If they catch us wandering around…” She stopped, swallowing hard. “They won’t just punish us. They’ll kill us.”

“I know.”

The words hung heavily between us.

I stood up and walked closer until only a few feet separated us. “And if we stay here? We’ll spend every single day waiting for someone else to decide what happens to us. I can’t do that. I’ve already lost my mother. I’ve lost my home. I’ve lost my freedom. I’m not losing myself too.”

Raye looked away, blinking rapidly as tears gathered in her eyes. “I want to leave. I want to go home so badly it hurts.”

“Then help me.”

She covered her face with both hands. “I’m scared.”

“So am I.” I reached out and gently lowered her hands until she looked at me again. “I’ve never been this scared in my life. But being scared doesn’t mean we stop trying.”

Her breathing was uneven. “What if we don’t find her?”

“Then we’ll know we tried.”

“And if we get caught?”

I glanced toward the closed door. “Then I’ll deal with it.”

Her eyes widened. “You’d go alone?”

“If I have to.”

She stared at me for several long seconds before letting out a shaky breath. “I don’t want you going alone.”

“Then come with me.”

She chewed nervously on her bottom lip. “I…”

Another long pause.

Finally, she nodded. “Okay.”

Relief washed over me, warm and fragile. “We won’t do anything reckless. We’ll watch. We’ll learn. And if we see your mom, we’ll figure out what to do next.”

Raye managed a faint nod, though fear still lingered in her eyes. “When?”

I glanced toward the dark window. “Tomorrow night. After everyone’s settled. When they think we’re exactly where we’re supposed to be.”

Neither of us spoke after that. The plan wasn’t perfect. It probably wasn’t even smart. But it was something. And for the first time since waking up inside this nightmare, I felt like I was making a choice instead of simply waiting for someone else to make one for me.

The door to the room creaked open.