Ch 20: Walk With Me
The bathroom door opened.
Elena did not look up. The shell remained in the chair, one hand clutching the torn nightdress closed, the other limp on her thigh.
Beside her, the pearl button sat where Kazimir had placed it.
Kazimir crossed the room. He pulled another chair and placed it directly across from hers. He sat down.
The shell stared at the floor between his feet. At the small scatter of pearl buttons still lying where they had fallen.
"You need to eat. To drink water."
Elena did not respond.
A muscle jumped in his jaw. He leaned forward. "Look at me."
Her head did not move.
Kazimir waited. Seconds stretched into a minute. Then another.
When he spoke again, his voice had changed. "Are you in there? What did they do to you?"
The words turned the lock.
The concrete. The hands. The weight. The laughter. The smell of them.
The shell flinched—a full-body recoil that sent pain through her ribs. The nightdress gaped where her hand lost its grip.
The sensation of pain—sharp, immediate, real—pulled her consciousness back into her body. Suddenly she was back. In the chair. In the torn nightdress. In the room with him. Every nerve ending screamed. Every bruise pulsed with fresh fire. Every detail crashed over her like a wave, dragging her under.
No no no no no—
She tried to leave. Tried to find the floating place where none of this could touch her.
It wouldn't open.
Her breathing accelerated—short, sharp gasps. Her hands shook. Her eyes darted around without fixing on anything.
Kazimir saw.
"Elena." Low. Controlled.
She couldn't respond. The cellar pressed in. She could smell it—mold, concrete dust, the foul stench.
"Elena. Look at me."
She couldn't. Her hands flew to her head. A thin, keening whine escaped her. She folded forward, arms wrapped around her head, making herself small.
Be small. Be nothing. Be—
But the mantra wouldn't work. She was too here. Too present.
Then Kazimir moved. His hand reached out.
She felt his fingers brush her arm.
Her body reacted—a violent flinch. She jerked away, back slamming into the chair, ribs screaming. Her arms came up to shield her face, her chest.
No no no no no—
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
She squeezed her eyes shut. Waited for the blow.
But it didn't come.
Kazimir had frozen. His hand was still extended, but he wasn't moving. He withdrew it and placed it on his knee where she could see it.
Then he waited.
Her breathing remained ragged. Her eyes darted. But he wasn't advancing. Wasn't touching.
Both hands on his knees. Palms up.
Elena stared at his hands. At the raw knuckles. At the way they rested there, open and still.
Minutes passed. Her breathing slowly began to ease.
Kazimir hadn't moved.
When he spoke again, his voice was careful. "I'm not going to touch you again."
Elena’s eyes darted from his hands to his face.
"You need to breathe. Just breathe."
She tried. The air came in fits and starts, but she tried. Slowly, her arms lowered. They stayed crossed over her chest, her hands gripping her own shoulders. But she could see him now. Could see that he wasn't moving.
Her eyes met his.
"You're here." His voice was quiet. "You're in this room. Not there. Here."
She listened to the words. They were anchoring sounds.
He kept talking, low and steady. "They're gone. All of them. You won't see them again."
Gone. The word registered. She didn't know what it meant, but she understood the finality in his voice.
Kazimir leaned forward slowly, watching her face. She tensed. He stopped.
When she she stopped shaking, he moved again—picking up a glass of water from a nearby table. He held it out. "You need to drink."
Elena stared at the glass. At his hand wrapped around it.
Water. Safe.
Slowly, she reached out. Her fingers brushed his as she took the cup. The contact was brief but she froze, the glass trembling in her grip.
Kazimir didn't move. Didn't reach for her.
She brought the glass to her lips. The water was cool. Clean. She drank—too fast, spilling down her chin—but she couldn't stop. She took desperate gulps, draining the glass in seconds.
When it was empty, she stared at it.
Then Kazimir stood.
Her eyes tracked him. Her body tensed.
He noticed and stopped. "I'm not going to hurt you. But you can't stay here."
Elena did not understand.
"The bedroom. You need to lie down and rest."
She shook her head. She couldn't leave this chair. Couldn't lie down in that bed.
Kazimir watched her. "Can you walk?"
Elena didn't respond.
He made a decision. "I'll carry you."
No!
The word screamed inside her skull. She scrambled back in the chair, arms coming up.
Kazimir stopped. "Then walk. I'll be beside you. Just stand up."
Elena stared at him. At the space between them. At the door.
Slowly, she began to move. When she tried to stand, her legs buckled. She caught herself on the arm of the chair.
Kazimir stepped forward but didn't reach for her. He stood close enough to catch her, far enough that she could see he wasn't going to touch.
"Try again."
She did. Her legs held. She stood, swaying, one hand gripping the chair, the other clutching the nightdress closed.
She took a step toward the door. He moved with her.
He opened the door. The guard outside stepped aside, eyes averted.
The hallway stretched before her. Her body shuddered.
I can't! I can’t! I can’t—
But Kazimir's voice broke through: "Look at me."
She turned.
"I'm here. I'm walking with you. You’re not alone."
She took another step. Then another.
She finally made it back to the bedroom.
Kazimir stopped at the threshold. "Sleep. I'll be in the office. The guard is outside. No one will come in."
He stepped back into the hall and pulled the door nearly closed, leaving a crack.
She watched him walk away. His footsteps faded.
She stood there for a long time. Then she turned and looked at the bed.
Sleep?
She lowered herself onto the mattress and sat at the edge. The sheets were soft. The pillow was soft.
Slowly, she leaned back until her head touched the pillow. The scent of him—cedar—surrounded her.
She closed her eyes.
The cellar reached for her. The laughter echoed.
But the scent held. She clung to it as the darkness thickened. Her breathing slowed.
The last thing she felt before sleep took her was the strange warmth building in her bones.
Last edited by Feiya Phia 5/5/26