The storm broke overhead as Marcus crossed the lot. Rain poured in sheets, soaking his clothes, plastering his hair to his forehead, but he didn't stop. His fists were clenched, his jaw set, his eyes locked on Ethan like a predator finally given permission to strike.
Sophie's heart lurched. She ran to him, grabbing his arm. "Marcus, don't—please!"
He didn't look at her. His chest heaved, his muscles trembling with restraint. "He brought you here."
"Yes," Sophie whispered, desperate. "But I came because—because I thought maybe if I faced him alone, I could protect you."
Marcus's head snapped toward her, fury blazing in his eyes. "Protect me? Sophie, he's not after you. He's after me. And you put yourself right in his hands."
Her tears mixed with the rain, her hands clutching his sleeve. "I didn't want you to burn for me."
His voice broke, raw and guttural. "I would burn a thousand times for you."
Ethan laughed then, the sound sharp and cruel, slicing through the storm. He stepped closer, his smirk gleaming in the flickering light of the broken streetlamp. "This is beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. She lies to you, sneaks away, and you still throw yourself at her feet like a dog."
Marcus lunged, but Sophie clung to him, screaming his name. He stopped, trembling violently, his breath a ragged snarl.
Ethan's eyes glittered. "Look at you. You're mine already, Marcus. You're wearing the leash, even if you can't feel it. Every time you think of blood, every time your fists ache, that's me. I am in you."
"Shut up!" Marcus roared, his voice shaking the air.
Sophie pressed herself to him, her notebook falling into the mud. Her hands framed his face, forcing him to look at her instead of Ethan. "You're not his! You hear me? You're not his!"
Marcus's chest heaved, his wild eyes softening only slightly as they met hers. For a moment, Sophie thought she'd pulled him back, that her voice had anchored him against the storm inside.
But Ethan wasn't finished.
He stepped closer, his words a dagger. "She can't save you. She'll leave you, just like everyone else. And when she does, I'll be the only one left. You know it. Deep down, you know I'm the truth you've been running from."
Marcus's scream tore from his throat, animal and raw. He ripped himself from Sophie's grip and charged.
Her scream split the storm. "Marcus, no!"
The two collided, fists and fury crashing like thunder. Ethan dodged the first blow, laughing, but Marcus was faster now, more feral. His fist connected with Ethan's jaw, the crack audible even over the storm. Ethan staggered back, spitting blood, but his grin never faltered.
"Yes!" Ethan shouted. "That's it! Show her what you are!"
Marcus swung again, and again, each blow harder, wilder, more desperate. Sophie sobbed, running toward them, trying to wedge herself between them, but the storm swallowed her voice.
Ethan caught Marcus's fist mid-swing, their eyes locking. His smile widened. "You feel it, don't you? How good it is. How natural. This is who you are, Marcus. My shadow. My mirror."
Marcus's face twisted in rage, his fist trembling against Ethan's grip. "I am not you."
"Prove it," Ethan whispered.
And Marcus drove his knee into Ethan's gut, sending him crashing to the ground.
Sophie reached them then, throwing herself against Marcus, clinging to him with every ounce of strength she had. "Stop! Please, stop! If you keep going, he wins!"
Marcus froze, his chest heaving, his fist raised above Ethan's bloodied face. His whole body shook, torn between the fire raging inside and the soft, broken voice at his side.
Slowly, trembling violently, Marcus lowered his fist.
Ethan lay in the mud, laughing even as blood poured from his lip. "See? She owns you now. And when she breaks, you'll come crawling to me. That's the game, Marcus. And it's only just beginning."
Sophie dragged Marcus back, her arms around him, her tears soaking his shirt. Marcus's breath rattled, his body convulsing with restraint, his eyes wild.
He didn't speak. He couldn't.
The storm raged on, drowning them in water and thunder, as Ethan lay grinning in the mud.
And Sophie knew, with a terrible certainty, that tonight hadn't ended anything.
It had only begun.
Marcus didn't remember how they got home. One moment, he was standing over Ethan's bleeding body, Sophie's arms around him like chains of mercy. The next, he was in Sophie's room, his clothes soaked through, his fists trembling with the phantom memory of Ethan's skin splitting beneath them.
He sat on the floor, his back against her bed, his knees drawn up like a child's. Sophie knelt beside him, her hands carefully unwrapping his bleeding knuckles. Neither of them spoke. The only sound was the storm still raging outside, echoing the war inside him.
When she finished, Sophie leaned back, tears streaking her face. "You scared me," she whispered.
Marcus shut his eyes. "I scare myself."
Silence thickened the air between them, suffocating, pressing. Finally, Marcus rasped, "He's right, isn't he? He's inside me. Every time I hit him, it felt—" His voice broke. He pressed his bloody hands to his eyes. "It felt good."
Sophie grabbed his wrists, forcing him to look at her. "That's not him. That's anger. That's pain. But it's not who you are."
His laugh was bitter, hollow. "How would you know? You've never felt it. That fire that eats you alive. That voice that whispers, do it again, do it harder."
Tears blurred her vision. "You think I don't feel it? You think I don't wake up every night hearing him in my head, telling me I'll lose you, that you'll slip away into his shadow? Marcus, I'm terrified every second of losing you. But I fight. For you. For us. And so can you."
He stared at her, his chest heaving, his eyes broken glass. Slowly, his trembling stilled. He touched her cheek, his thumb tracing her tear-stained skin. "You're the only thing keeping me from falling."
She pressed her forehead to his. "Then hold on to me. Don't let go, no matter what he says."
For a fleeting moment, there was peace. Their breaths mingled, their hearts slowing to the same rhythm. But it was fragile, a glass bubble in a world of knives.
The next day at school, whispers spread like wildfire. People had seen Marcus and Ethan at the lot, had seen the fight through sheets of rain. They spoke in hushed tones, eyes darting toward Marcus as though he were a bomb waiting to detonate.
Sophie walked beside him, her hand in his, chin lifted defiantly. She would not let them break him with their stares. But inside, her chest ached. She could still hear Ethan's laughter, still see his bloodied smile in the mud.
Between classes, a slip of paper fell from her locker. She froze, her stomach twisting. She didn't need to read it to know who it was from. But she did anyway.
You can't save him forever. The fire always wins.
Her vision blurred. She crumpled the note, shoving it deep into her pocket before Marcus could see.
But Marcus noticed the way her hands shook. He caught her wrist, his eyes narrowing. "What was that?"
"Nothing," she lied, too quickly.
His grip tightened. "Sophie—"
She pulled away, her voice sharp with desperation. "Please, just trust me."
Marcus's jaw clenched. Pain flashed in his eyes, but he nodded, barely.
That night, Sophie couldn't sleep. The storm had passed, but her mind was a hurricane. She sat at her desk, her notebook open, words spilling across the page like blood.
He is not yours. He will never be yours. Even if it breaks me, I will keep him from you.
The window creaked open. Marcus climbed in, his face shadowed, his body restless. Sophie snapped her notebook shut, shoving it under papers.
"Couldn't stay home," he muttered, pacing.
Sophie rose, grabbing his hands, pulling him to her. "Stay. Just stay."
His eyes softened, but the storm didn't leave them. He kissed her then, fierce and desperate, as though she were the last light in a world of dark. Sophie clung to him, her tears wetting his lips.
When they broke apart, Marcus whispered, "If he takes me, promise me you'll run. Promise me you won't follow."
Her heart shattered. "I can't promise that."
His eyes burned. "Sophie—"
She pressed her hand to his mouth. "If you go, I go. That's the only promise I can make."
Marcus trembled, his arms crushing her to him. "God, Sophie. You'll be the death of me."
Her whisper was fierce against his ear. "Then we'll die together."
The night swallowed them, two broken souls clinging to each other against a shadow that laughed in the distance.
Ethan was still out there, waiting.
And Sophie knew the silent war had only just begun.