Vansh leaned against the cold brick wall outside the school, the weight of his phone in his pocket pressing against his chest. He stared out into the quiet, empty street, his thoughts heavy. The messages from @love_peace kept replaying in his mind. The cryptic warning: "You don't know what you're dealing with."
There was a bitter taste in his mouth as he replayed those words. He knew exactly what they meant—he'd lived it. And the fact that someone else knew about his past... it unsettled him more than he wanted to admit.
The messages weren't new. Not for him. They were too familiar—too close to something he thought was buried long ago.
The sound of his phone vibrating in his pocket broke him from his thoughts. Another message from @love_peace. His fingers hovered over the screen, but he didn't open it right away. He already knew what was in it. And it wasn't a conversation he was prepared to have.
His past wasn't something he could share with Pearl. Not now. Not ever. There were things that, if she knew, would change everything—things that were too dark, too dangerous. She'd never look at him the same way again. And he couldn't bear that.
@love_peace(texting): "She's asking questions. You better keep her away from the truth. Or you'll lose her."
The words burned in his chest.
He took a deep breath, feeling the cool night air scrape against his skin. The weight of it all pressed down on him. He couldn't risk Pearl getting involved. He couldn't risk her knowing anything about the past he was desperately trying to keep hidden.
For years, he'd buried the truth. For years, he'd pushed it into the darkest corners of his mind, telling himself that it didn't matter anymore. But now, with @love_peace resurfacing, it was like the past was clawing its way back into his life, dragging him into the same mess he thought he'd escaped.
And Pearl… she was at the center of it now. He couldn't let her get dragged in.
He shoved his phone back into his pocket, running a hand through his hair. The temptation to reach out to her, to warn her, gnawed at him. But he knew better. Pearl was stubborn—too stubborn. If he told her the truth, she'd only dig deeper. And if she kept digging, there was no telling what she'd uncover. No telling how deep the darkness went.
A part of him hated the secrecy. He hated how it kept him from being honest with her, from telling her what was really going on. But the other part of him—the part that had learned to survive in the shadows—knew that some things were better left untouched. Some truths weren't meant to see the light of day.
A sudden memory flashed in his mind, one that he hadn't thought about in years. His eyes narrowed as he recalled the last time he had received a message like this—cryptic, threatening, warning him about the consequences of revealing too much. It had been a long time, but the feeling was the same.
His heart started to race. There was someone—someone from his past—who knew too much. Someone who had a way of getting inside his head, of manipulating him. They had always been watching. Always lurking, waiting for the right moment to strike.
He shook the thought off, willing himself to stay focused.
He couldn't afford to lose Pearl—not because of his past. But keeping her in the dark was becoming harder by the day.
What would she think if she knew? What if she found out? He couldn't let her see him as anything other than the person he wanted her to see. The good version of himself. The version that wasn't buried in darkness.
His phone buzzed again, another message from @love_peace.
@love_peace(texting): "Don't think you can protect her forever. The truth has a way of catching up to us all."
He cursed under his breath, gripping the phone tightly in his hand. The past was coming for him, and this time, there was no way to outrun it.
But what terrified him more was the thought of Pearl getting caught in the crossfire. The last thing he wanted was for her to get tangled in this mess.
But somehow, he knew it was already too late