The moment seemed frozen — Jayden and Lucian locked in a silent, electric tension.
Every breath Jayden took felt heavy, every heartbeat like a drum heralding the inevitable clash.
This wasn't just about revenge.
It was about the pieces of himself that Lucian had stolen.
---
Lucian smirked, his voice a venomous whisper.
"You think you've grown stronger. But you're still the scared little boy who begged me to teach him how to survive."
Jayden didn't respond. Words were useless now.
He lunged forward, a blur of rage and precision.
Lucian was ready.
The two collided with a sickening crack — fists, blades, memories all slamming into each other.
Jayden's knife grazed Lucian's ribs. Lucian's elbow caught Jayden's jaw. Blood sprayed the floor, their bodies moving in a savage, desperate dance.
It wasn't clean. It wasn't beautiful.
It was messy, primal, human.
---
The others — Wendy, Jeff, Elias — fought off Lucian's guards, the compound erupting into chaos around them.
But Jayden and Lucian...
They were trapped in their own war.
Every strike Jayden landed brought flashes of the past — Sophia's laugh, the betrayal, the long nights when hope had seemed like a foreign language.
Lucian was laughing even as blood poured from his mouth.
"You think killing me will heal you?" he gasped.
"You'll always be broken."
Jayden hesitated for half a second.
And that was enough.
Lucian surged forward, stabbing a hidden blade deep into Jayden's side.
Pain exploded in Jayden's vision, white-hot and blinding.
But he didn't fall.
Not this time.
---
Jayden grabbed Lucian by the collar, dragging him close.
He whispered the words he had waited years to say:
"You never broke me. You just taught me how to survive without mercy."
With a guttural roar, Jayden slammed Lucian's head against the concrete wall, again and again, until Lucian slid to the ground in a broken heap.
Lucian coughed, blood staining his teeth, his smile finally slipping away.
Jayden stood over him, chest heaving, blood soaking his clothes.
"I'm not your weapon," Jayden said, his voice trembling with both rage and sadness.
"I'm the consequence of everything you did."
He raised his blade one last time —
—and drove it through Lucian's heart.
Silence.
---
When it was over, Jayden stumbled back, staring at the lifeless body.
He had dreamed of this moment so many times.
But now that it was real...
there was no victory.
No peace.
Just emptiness.
Wendy rushed to him, pressing her hands against the wound in his side, her voice panicked.
"Stay with me, Jayden! Stay with me!"
Jeff barked orders to secure the area.
Elias screamed for backup.
But Jayden barely heard them.
His gaze drifted upward to the ceiling, where a single, broken light flickered.
The room blurred, reality fracturing like glass under pressure.
Was it over?
Or had it just begun?
---