Episode---- 8
Night returned heavy with the hush of distant thunder.
The villa felt like a mausoleum of forgotten memories — each cracked stone holding secrets Raian had buried long ago.
Aria found him on the broken balcony, shirt open to the cool night air. Scars mapped his skin: pale, twisted lines; deep, angry ridges; old wounds that refused to fade.
She couldn't help it — her doctor's instinct and her heart warring. "Raian," she whispered, "these… you should let them heal."
"They never stay healed," he said, voice low, as if reciting something he'd accepted long ago.
She stepped closer, fingertips hovering over the longest scar down his ribs. "Tell me about this one?"
His breath caught, but he didn't pull away. "Knife. I was seventeen. Thought it would be the end."
"And this?" she asked, hand trembling as it brushed a puckered bullet scar on his shoulder.
"Someone I trusted," Raian murmured. "Taught me that loyalty can kill."
Aria's chest tightened. "Does it still hurt?"
Raian's gaze met hers — not the devil now, but the boy who had once been wounded and left to bleed. "Some nights," he admitted. "But the memories hurt more."
"And me?" she asked, voice barely a breath. "Am I just another wound waiting to happen?"
His hand rose, brushing her cheek, cold fingers trembling. "Yes," he whispered. "And still, I can't let you go."
For a moment, the storm outside felt distant. It was only them — scars and fears laid bare, bound together by something neither could name.
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Blood-soaked battlefields, secrets in the shadows... What darkness will Aria uncover tonight? Stay tuned for Episode 9: "Night of Fire"