Page 115 of When the Storm Breaks
Even though I’m not sure I want to.
Chapter 35
Haiyden
The road is too long. Too straight.
It stretches on, endless—each mile a reminder of where I’m headed, even when I pretend to forget.
My fingers grip the steering wheel so tightly my bones ache, muscles screaming with every turn.
The tension in my jaw. The tightness in my chest.
It’s like I’m suffocating under the weight of something I can’t outrun.
The trees blur together as we pass them, a distorted mess of green and brown, pulling me back to the first time I drove down this road.
Back when things were different. When I was different.
Calla sits beside me, her silence loud. I can feel her watching me. Waiting.
I’ve scared her.
I can see it in the way she stiffens when she thinks I’m not looking. She wants to ask—but she’s afraid to push.
I’m afraid to let her.
I shouldn’t be doing this. Shouldn’t be dragging her into it. Draggingmyselfback into it.
I spent months burying it, pretending it didn’t exist. And now I’m unearthing everything I swore I’d leave behind.
The closer we get, the harder it is to breathe. Pressure builds in my chest, almost suffocating.
Calla shifts beside me. Inhales—like she’s about to speak.
But I can’t let her.
I can’t let this become real.
Not yet.
“Just—”
The word catches in my throat. I can’t look at her.
When I finally force it out, my voice is rough.
“Just wait.”
When I spot the small break in the trees, I pull off the road, tires skidding slightly over packed snow. The spot is unmarked, indistinguishable from the miles of forest surrounding it—but I know exactly where we are.
My hand tightens around the key, gripping it like a lifeline before I force myself to cut the ignition.
I should restart the car.
I should leave.
But before I can talk myself out of it, I push the door open and step out into the cold. The air bites at my skin, but it doesn’t touch the ice already settled deep in my chest.
