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349words
He said he needed me under his watch to feel at ease.
But tonight,he wouldn't return.
While he was with Claire,I studied the room.
I accidentally pressed a button.
Behind the bookshelf,a hidden passage revealed itself.
I hesitated,then entered.
The passage was long,dark,damp,eerie.
What was there?
At the end,a cage.
Something—or someone—was inside.
With each step,my heart ached more,as if in that cage was my own carved-out heart.
In dim light,a skeletal figure was sitting in there,his head lowered,and he was completelystill.
A barely touched meal sat nearby.
Hearing me,he didn't look up,but scoffing hoarsely instead,"What torture for me today?"
That voice had me frozen,tears surging uncontrollably.
The voice I longed to hear again every single minute.
Was I dreaming?
How else could I hear Luke’s voicein this cage?He was already dead!
When I didn't answer,he raised his head.
Light and shadow,standing and bowed,outside and inside—we locked eyes.
My Luke wasn't dead.
His hands,curled,showed only two fingers each.
All bones.hunched,his former vigor was completely gone.
I'd avoided picturing what Luke would look like before he died.
How much pain had he endured?
Now,facing him,tears streamed.
Luke,my Luke,you've suffered so much.
He looked at me,the sneer on his face turning into disbelief."Emily...Emily?"
I fled to a corner he couldn't see,biting my wrist,sobbing silently.
Luke once said he'd recognize me no matter what.
I teased,what if I was unrecognizable,my face changed?
He'd said firmly,"I'd still know."
"Because my heart beats only for you."
How did he recognize me?In this moment?
It shouldn't be like this.
I bit my wrist so hard until it bled.
I'm tainted,Luke.
I'm Nathan's lover now—the lover of the man who tortured you.
How can I face you?How can I answer to"Emily"?
As I wept,someone approached.
Nathan.
His shadow loomed,voice icy."Sarah,why are you crying here?"
He yanked me from the passage,threw me onto the bed,kisses raining down on me.
The cage behind us rattled loudly.
Nathan's kisses were merciless Rather than tender like they were a let-out of his anger
"What were you doing in the passage?"
"Who were you seeing?"
