Tied In Silence

— Fire in the Rain

The rain crashed down like war drums, but nothing compared to the chaos burning inside him.

Victor’s jaw clenched as the wipers slapped violently against the windshield. Every drop that hit the glass sounded like a countdown — a countdown to someone’s end.

His knuckles were white on his phone, the image still glowing.

Lyra.

Lying cold. Fainted. On a stone floor like she was nothing.

“I’m coming,” he whispered to the screen, his thumb gently caressing her bruised cheek in the photo. “I swear to God, baby, I’m coming.”

He had left her.

To know her past. To dig into her pain. And for what?

To learn truths that didn’t change a single thing.

She was his. His wife. His obsession. His little dove.

Nothing mattered more than her. Not her scars, not her secrets, not even her silence.

“I should’ve never walked away,” Victor muttered under his breath, guilt wrapping around his chest like chains.

Adrian was silent in the driver’s seat, focused. Lexa sat with her arms crossed, a tension in her posture that mirrored the storm.

Behind them, ten blacked-out vehicles followed like shadows of death. Armed. Ruthless. Ready to tear down the world if he gave the order.

He wasn’t going to rescue her.

He was going to burn everything that dared touch her.

______

The warehouse reeked of metal and damp wood. A single bulb swung above Lyra’s unconscious form, her body curled like a fallen petal on the concrete floor.

The man watched her, his eyes greedy and cruel.

Victor’s wife.

So soft. So delicate.

So breakable.

He crouched, a sneer tugging at his lips. “Victor never looked like the type to marry… but look at you,” he whispered to her lifeless face. “I wonder what his face will look like when he sees you like this.”

Another man stumbled in, panic in his voice. “He’s here. They’re all here—Victor’s fucking here!”

The first man’s smirk dropped.

“What?” he growled, standing.

“I didn’t expect him to find this place at night. I don’t know how, but he’s here.”

The smirk returned, shaky this time.

“He must really love you,” he said, glancing back at Lyra. “No man comes to hell  unless what’s waiting is heaven.”

He kicked the door shut behind him, locking her inside.

But he didn’t realize...

Hell had just arrived.

And his name was Victor.