Sarah POV
The mansion had always felt like a cage, its walls pressing in from all sides, suffocating any chance of escape. But tonight, for the first time, I had made a break for it.
No one noticed my absence, or if they did, they didn't care enough to acknowledge it. It wasn't until I had returned, nearly an hour later, that Axel's sharp eyes caught me as I stepped back through the front door, the heavy wooden frame closing softly behind me.
He was standing by the fireplace, his hand resting lightly on the stone mantle, his eyes scanning the room with that ever-present intensity. When he saw me, he straightened, his expression unreadable, though a flicker of something passed over his face—concern, maybe. I couldn't be sure.
"You left," he said, his voice a low murmur, laced with something that bordered on suspicion. "Where did you go?"
I met his gaze, unflinching. For a moment, I considered telling him the truth—telling him that I had ventured out into the night to uncover the truth about the chamber, about the women who had suffered there, about the ties that bound my parents to the Blackwoods. But I couldn't. Not yet.
The knowledge I had gained in those few hours was too dangerous, too raw. I wasn't ready to confront it fully, not when I could still feel the sting of those images burned into my mind. Not when the truth threatened to shatter everything I thought I knew about my family.
So, I lied.
"I needed some air," I said, my voice steady, though I felt the pulse of anxiety thrumming beneath the calm exterior. "I couldn't sleep."
Axel raised an eyebrow, clearly unconvinced, but he said nothing more. I knew him well enough by now to recognize the way he was reading me, the way his sharp mind was turning over my every word, every movement. But I held my ground, refusing to let him see any trace of what I had learned—or what I had seen.
He took a step closer, his gaze lingering on me for a beat too long. Then, as if he had come to some conclusion, he nodded.
"Don't go wandering off again," he said quietly, his tone surprisingly gentle. "It's not safe out there."
"I won't," I answered quickly, the words slipping from my mouth almost too easily. I wasn't sure whether I was reassuring him or myself.
Axel studied me for a moment longer, his eyes searching mine, but I kept my face neutral, carefully masking the turmoil inside. He didn't know that I had uncovered the dark history of this place, that I had seen the remnants of the horrors Victor and Eleanor had kept hidden. He didn't know that I had seen the faces of the women who were in that chamber, their lives discarded like so many broken things.
And I wasn't going to let him know. Not yet.
"I'll be upstairs if you need me," Axel said, breaking the silence between us. His voice was even, but I could sense the weight of something unsaid in his words. He turned then, heading toward the staircase, his footsteps quiet against the floor.
I didn't move right away, staying rooted to the spot as I tried to steady the erratic beat of my heart. The tension that had built up over the past few hours still clung to me, and I could feel the lingering effects of my brief escape. But I wasn't sure whether it was the physical exertion or the mental strain that had left me so shaken. Maybe it was both.
I couldn't let myself slip now. Not when I had finally started to see the Blackwoods for what they truly were—not when I had come so close to uncovering the truth about my parents, about everything they had tried to bury.
I made my way upstairs, careful to avoid drawing any attention to myself, but my mind was anything but calm. Every step felt like it was leading me closer to a precipice, and I wasn't sure if I was ready to leap—or if I even had a choice anymore.
As I entered my room, I locked the door behind me and leaned against it, closing my eyes for a moment. The silence in the room was deafening, but it didn't calm me. Instead, it magnified everything—the whispers of the past, the echoes of the chamber, the heavy weight of the secrets that hung between us.
I couldn't keep lying to myself, pretending I didn't know what I had uncovered. The Blackwoods weren't just a family shrouded in mystery; they were a family of monsters. And I was tangled up in their web, whether I liked it or not.
But even as the truth gnawed at me, even as the anger and fear threatened to overwhelm me, I knew one thing for certain: I wasn't going to let them win.
I wasn't going to be their pawn. Not anymore.
The decisions I had to make from here on out would be mine. And I would face whatever came next with the same determination I had found within myself earlier.
I had taken the first step. I had left the mansion, ventured into the night, and confronted the truth—at least a small piece of it. And while Axel's watchful eyes had seen me return, what he hadn't seen was that I was changing. The girl who had fled the mansion earlier, uncertain and confused, was no longer the one standing in this room.
I was someone else now. Someone who knew that to survive, to escape, I would have to be ruthless. I would have to play the game as they had—without hesitation, without fear.
And I would find the answers, no matter what it took.
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The moonlight filtered through the heavy curtains of my room, casting faint, uneven shadows on the walls. I hadn't bothered to turn on the lights; the darkness felt like a cloak, concealing my thoughts, my emotions. The silence of the mansion was a constant presence, oppressive and suffocating, and tonight, it felt even more so.
I moved toward the window, my fingertips brushing lightly against the glass. The garden below was bathed in silver, the flowers muted under the pale light. I had been here long enough to know the layout of every corner, every path, every hidden alcove. But it wasn't the garden that held my attention now. It was the chamber. The chamber I had stumbled upon, the chamber that had shown me the true darkness of the Blackwood family. The faces of the two women, their eyes wide with terror, their bodies bound in that cold, forgotten corner, haunted me still.
And yet, I couldn't shake the feeling that there was more I had yet to uncover. More that tied my family to the Blackwoods in ways I didn't yet understand.
The lies I had been told, the lies I had lived, were unraveling before me, and there was no going back.
I took a deep breath, steadying myself. The weight of the truth was heavy, but it wasn't the truth alone that scared me. It was the realization of how deeply I was entangled in all of this. Eren. Axel. Victor. Eleanor. They were all pieces of a puzzle I wasn't sure I wanted to solve, yet I knew I had no choice but to see it through.
The door creaked softly behind me, and I turned, my heart skipping a beat as I saw the silhouette in the doorway. Axel.
He hadn't knocked, hadn't announced his presence. He just stood there, watching me with that unreadable look on his face. There was a moment of tension between us, thick and heavy, as if the air itself had been charged with something unsaid, something dangerous.
"Can I come in?" His voice was calm, but there was something in it—a subtle edge that made my pulse quicken.
I nodded, stepping away from the window to make space for him. He entered slowly, his eyes scanning the room as if he were looking for something—anything—out of place.
"Don't worry, I'm not here to make trouble," he said, his gaze lingering on me for a moment longer than necessary. He was looking for signs, I knew. Signs that I was lying, signs that something was wrong. But I didn't give him the satisfaction.
"I didn't mean to make you worry," I said, my voice steady despite the turmoil inside. "I just needed some time alone."
Axel didn't respond immediately. He seemed to be weighing my words, his sharp eyes flicking over me, as though trying to gauge the truth behind them. After a long moment, he exhaled softly, his shoulders relaxing just a fraction.
"I don't want you wandering off like that again," he said, his tone surprisingly gentle, though there was still an underlying firmness to it. "It's not safe, Sarah."
I nodded again, more out of habit than genuine agreement. I knew Axel was only trying to protect me in his own way, but he didn't understand. He didn't know what I had seen, what I had learned. He didn't know that there was no safety for me in this mansion, no safety in the Blackwoods, not for me, not for anyone.
"I'll be careful," I replied, the lie slipping easily from my lips.