Adrian
Morning came too quietly.
No sounds from the kitchen.
No arguing voices drifting through the house.
No footsteps that belonged to people who were supposed to be there forever.
Just silence.
I woke up staring at a ceiling that didn't belong to me.
For a moment, my mind tried to pretend everything was normal.
That this was just a strange sleepover somewhere.
That I could walk downstairs and see my parents reading the news, Lucian stealing food from the fridge like he always did.
But the memory of last night came back all at once.
The crash.
The lights.
Lucian being taken away.
My chest tightened again.
I sat up slowly.
The room still felt unfamiliar even in daylight. Sunlight poured through the tall windows, lighting the polished floor and the bookshelves along the wall.
Everything looked perfect.
Too perfect.
Like a place designed to keep emotions from touching it.
I got out of bed and walked to the window.
The estate stretched far beyond what I had noticed last night. Gardens carefully shaped, long paths winding through trees, a tall fence lining the distant edge of the property.
A controlled world.
A contained one.
I wondered if Lucian had woken up yet.
If he was somewhere looking for me too.
The thought made my stomach twist.
I left the room and stepped into the hallway.
The house was quiet, but I could hear voices faintly drifting from downstairs.
Marcus's voice.
And someone else.
I moved carefully toward the staircase.
"…it's already in motion," Marcus was saying.
The other voice replied, lower, harder to hear.
"You're certain the separation will hold?"
"Yes."
My grip tightened on the railing.
Separation.
They kept saying it like it was a normal thing.
"Lucian has been relocated?" the other voice asked.
"Yes."
"And the boy?"
"He's here. Stable."
There was a pause.
Then the voice asked something that made my heart pound.
"Does Adrian suspect anything?"
Marcus didn't answer immediately.
"Not yet."
I stepped back quietly before they could notice me listening.
My mind was spinning.
Suspect what?
Before I could think about it further, I heard footsteps coming toward the stairs.
I moved quickly down the last few steps as if I had just arrived.
Marcus appeared in the hallway moments later.
He looked slightly surprised to see me awake so early.
"Good morning."
I didn't respond right away.
"Did you sleep at all?" he asked.
"A little."
That wasn't entirely true.
He studied me for a moment.
Then his expression softened slightly.
"Evelyn is making breakfast."
I nodded faintly.
But the question that had been sitting in my chest since last night forced its way out.
"Where is Lucian?"
Marcus held my gaze.
"For now, somewhere secure."
That answer again.
I felt frustration rising.
"You said we'd see each other again."
"And you will."
"When?"
"Not today."
The certainty in his voice made my stomach sink.
"Why?"
Marcus seemed to consider how much he should say.
"Because emotions are high right now. People need time to think clearly."
"You mean you think I'll attack him again."
Marcus didn't deny it.
"That wasn't fair," I said quietly.
"No," he agreed. "But grief rarely is."
I clenched my fists slightly.
"I want to talk to him."
"Not yet."
The firmness in his voice ended the conversation.
Or at least, that's what he expected.
But something inside me had already begun to notice things.
The whispers.
The phone calls.
The careful way adults were speaking around me.
And one thought kept growing stronger.
Maybe the accident wasn't the only thing that had happened last night.
Marcus placed a hand on my shoulder again.
"Come eat."
I followed him into the dining room, but my mind wasn't there.
Because somewhere out there…
My brother was waking up in a place I didn't know.
And the people around us were making decisions that would shape the rest of our lives.