The room was cloaked in the silence of early dawn when I stirred again. The faint warmth of the bed contrasted sharply with the icy weight in my chest. Alexander's voice had been like a blade, cutting through the fog of exhaustion and dragging me into a whirlwind of confusion and dread.
I remained still, barely daring to breathe. His chair creaked softly as he shifted, his silhouette visible in the faint light filtering through the curtains. He hadn't left. A part of me hoped he would, that the secrets he carried would dissipate into the night air, leaving me untouched. But hope was a fleeting thing in his presence.
"She had her mother's smile, you know," he began, his voice low, almost reverent. It wasn't meant for me, but I heard every word, each syllable laced with a weight I couldn't yet understand. "So full of life... so bright. She lit up every room she walked into."
My heart thudded in my chest, each beat louder than the last. He was speaking again, talking to himself—or so he thought. I dared not move, terrified he'd realize I was awake.
"But it didn't last." His voice cracked, bitterness replacing whatever softness had lingered. "That bastard took it all away. Ruined her. Shattered her mind until there was nothing left but darkness."
A chill crawled up my spine. Who was he talking about? What did he mean? My fingers curled into the sheets, gripping them tightly as his words spilled out, like poison seeping into the room.
"My little girl... locked away in that cold, endless dark." His breath hitched, and I could feel the fury radiating off him, a storm barely contained. "And why? Because of him. Because of his sins. He destroyed her. And now..." He paused, his voice dropping to a whisper, "Now, you're here. A cruel twist of fate, don't you think? His blood runs through your veins, Emma. You carry the same poison that broke her."
My stomach churned, nausea rising with every word. His little girl—locked away? Ruined? The pieces began to fall into place, jagged and incomplete, but enough to paint a grim picture. Alexander wasn't just cruel for cruelty's sake. He was punishing me for something—or someone—I had no control over.
"She'll never see the light again," he continued, his voice heavy with anguish. "And it's because of him. Because of your father."
My breath hitched. My father? What did he have to do with any of this? I hadn't seen him in years, hadn't even thought of him in what felt like forever. The connection seemed impossible, yet the venom in Alexander's tone was undeniable. My head spun with questions, each one more frantic than the last, twisting like a knot in my chest. My father? What does he have to do with this? What sins? What's going on?
"You'll pay for his sins," he muttered, the chair creaking again as he leaned back. "I'll make sure of it. Every tear she shed, every scream... you'll feel them all. Until you understand what it means to lose everything."
Tears pricked at the corners of my eyes, but I kept them at bay, my body trembling with the effort to stay still. The darkness in Alexander's voice was suffocating, his hatred a living, breathing thing. His sins? What is he talking about? I wanted to scream, to demand answers, but fear held me captive. I couldn't think. I couldn't breathe. What have I done? What could I possibly have done?
The words rang in my head like a death knell. My father. His sins. What had he done? What could he have done to provoke such madness? Memories flashed in my mind—fleeting, fragmented images of a man whose face I could barely recall. He had always been distant, a shadow in my childhood, more myth than reality. My mother never spoke of him, and I never dared to ask.
What did you do, Father? The question screamed in my mind, but the answers eluded me, shrouded in the same darkness that now enveloped my life. The thoughts spun faster now, an endless loop, growing louder, harder to ignore. Is this my fault? Panic tightened in my chest. I couldn't get out. I couldn't escape the relentless rush of thoughts—each one crashing into the other. Why won't they stop?
Alexander's voice pulled me back to the present, his words a cruel reminder of the nightmare I couldn't escape. His little girl. His daughter. That woman locked in that room is his daughter, and I couldn't bear to think about what she must be going through. The weight of the truth was suffocating, threatening to crush me under its unbearable burden. Locked away… ruined… just like me.
"She was perfect," he whispered, his tone softening in a way that made my chest ache. "Kind. Gentle. A soul so pure it was almost fragile. But he broke her. Stole her light. And now... now, she doesn't even recognize me. She doesn't recognize herself."
His voice cracked, and for a fleeting moment, I thought I saw a glimmer of humanity in him. A father mourning his child. But it was swallowed by the bitterness, the hatred that seemed to consume him whole. What does this have to do with me? How can I fix this?
"I lock her up so she can't hurt herself. So she can't leave me like her mother did." His words sent a chill down my spine, the weight of his pain palpable in the air around us. "Her laughter silenced, her eyes empty. I visit her, you know. I sit by her side and tell her stories, hoping... praying she'll come back to me. But she never does."
Tears burned my eyes, not for Alexander but for the girl he described. She seems to be loved and cared for, yet trapped in a prison of her own mind. The depth of his despair was heartbreaking, a reminder of the power of love and loss. But that's not my reality. I'm here. With him. And I can't breathe. What if I'm next? What if he does this to me too?
I don't know what so bad has happened to her; I have seen her once, and she seems like a ghost, haunting the halls of her own mind. It's as if she's lost in a world only she can see, unreachable to those who care for her. The pain in Alexander's voice spoke volumes about the toll her condition has taken on him.
But is my father the reason for her current state of mind? And just like Alexander said, is he making me pay for the sins of my father, the man who has never been a part of my life? The weight of these unanswered questions hangs heavy in the air, leaving me feeling helpless and lost in the midst of this chaotic storm of emotions, with my life caught in the hands of the devil. This is too much. I can't think straight. What do I do? What's happening to me?
"You're just like him," Alexander's voice was barely a whisper, but it cut through the air like a blade. "You carry his sins, his legacy... and one day, it will destroy you too."
I could feel the weight of his words pressing down on me, suffocating the breath from my lungs. My chest tightened, my heart racing, How can I escape this? How can I survive this?
"You think you're different," he continued, his voice growing colder, more detached. "But you're not. You're just another victim of his choices... a reminder of everything he ruined."
I tried to find my voice, but it failed me, lost in the darkness of the room. My mind was a tangled mess, my body frozen in place. Please, please let me wake up. Let this be a nightmare.
"Sleep tight, Emma," he murmured, his words like a curse. "This nightmare... it's only just begun." I felt the cold grip of his words, the weight of them settling over me like a shroud. My breath hitched, heart hammering in my chest, and I couldn't shake the feeling that I was already drowning in the dark. I can't escape. I can't breathe. I'm trapped.