Page 69 of Inescapable Darkness

It’s not a well-manicured lawn with park benches and wide paths for strolling. Quite the opposite. It’s packed with trees and bushes that rise like a wall of leaves, obscuring the rest of the park. It’s wild. Overgrown. And very out of place here.

The tall buildings press right up against the edges of the park. As if the original plan was to raze the park to the ground so that the houses could be built instead, only for someone to change their mind at the last minute and decide to keep both the buildings and the park.

“I never knew that there was something like this here,” Isabella says at last, sounding genuinely surprised.

I give her a smile. “Most people don’t.”

She follows me as I start into the vegetation. There are no streetlamps to light the path inside the park, so we have to move carefully as we walk farther in. Thick, gnarly roots grow across the narrow paths that were frequently used once upon a time but which have now been left for nature to reclaim. I push aside a low-hanging branch as I lead Isabella deeper into the dark trees.

Even though I can almost feel the questions brewing on her tongue, she says nothing. Only follows me in silence. It’s not lost on me that she is putting quite a lot of trust in me right now. But I don’t point that out. And neither does she.

At last, we reach the spot I was aiming for. Ducking down under a tangled web of branches, I motion for Isabella to do the same. She moves effortlessly underneath it and then straightens beside me on the other side.

She sucks in a breath. It’s not a gasp. It’s barely more than a rapid intake of breath. But it’s more surprise than I have ever heard from her.

“This is… beautiful,” she says, breathless, as she stares out at the view before her.

My heart aches as I let my gaze sweep across it as well.

We’re standing in front of a large pond. Thick trees and bushes stretch out on all sides, framing it with rustling leaves and blooming night flowers. And because it’s so far from any light source, the stars in the dark sky above are reflected in the water like silver stardust.

“Yes, it is,” I reply. That ache in my heart intensifies. But it’s a good ache. One that is filled with warm memories. “I have always loved coming here. Because it looks like a piece of the night sky has been placed here. Hidden by the trees in the middle of the city. Like a secret treasure.”

Tearing her gaze from the pond, she turns to look at me instead. Her eyes are wide and her mouth slightly open as she stares at me, looking lost for words.

A soft smile drifts over my lips. “I’ve always liked the stars. And that special scent that nature gets during the night.” I look out at the pond again. “What do you like?”

“I don’t know.” Her gaze doesn’t travel back to the pond. Instead, she continues watching the side of my face. “I’ve never thought about it.”

And the raw honesty in those words makes a piece of my heart crack. She doesn’t even know what she likes. How can she not know? How can she never even have considered what she does and doesn’t like?

I turn back to Isabella, meeting her gaze head on again.

Who is this girl? And what kind of life has she led up until now?

“I used to come here with my parents,” I find myself saying.

She flinches. It’s a barely perceptible stiffening of her posture. And if I hadn’t been watching her so closely, I wouldn’t have seen it.

“It used to be their secret spot,” I continue. “When they first started dating. And then when I was born, they shared it with me too.”

Pain bleeds from my heart at the memory. I haven’t been back here since the night they were killed. Just like everything I used to do before that night, I was never allowed to go back again. In case the assassins were watching it. Lying in wait to finish the job.

This place, this pond in the middle of an overgrown park, used to be such an important part of my life. And yet, this is the first time I have seen it in six years. Six years of stripping away everything that used to be a part of me. Six years of living a fake life. Six years…

“And now,” Isabella begins with a strange strain in her voice, “you’ve shared it with me.”

I hold her gaze. Starlight glitters in her eyes, adding a silver shimmer to that stunning color.

“Yes,” I reply simply.

She draws in a ragged breath. But she doesn’t ask me why. And I don’t tell her.

Instead, I turn back to the pond. “Did you ever do something like this with your parents?”

For a few seconds, she just continues staring at the side of my face. Then she turns and gazes out at the pond as well. “No.”

Silence falls over us like a silk sheet. In the bushes around us, insects perform their nightly serenades and a few birds flutter between the trees. Leaves rustle as a warm wind caresses the branches. But the surface of the pond remains still as a mirror, reflecting those glittering stars back at us.

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