22. Mila
MILA
T he stillness of the night was a cruel illusion, the kind that whispered sweet lies of safety into my mind. The warmth of the blankets swaddled me in a cocoon, and for one fleeting moment, I let myself believe it. Cipher would be back soon, strong and unyielding, with that steady presence that made me feel, for once, that I wasn’t alone.
“Cipher?” My voice was barely a whisper, heavy with the haze of sleep and desperate hope. The bed had shifted, the weight beside me a familiar comfort.
But it wasn’t him.
“Did you think I wouldn’t find you?”
The voice slithered into my ears like poison, cold and venomous, and my body froze.
Yulian.
His name carved itself into my chest like a brand, burning away the last remnants of the peaceful dream I was having.
I turned, slowly, my heart thundering in my chest. My gaze locked on his face, a vision pulled straight from my nightmares. His smirk was a cruel twist of amusement, his eyes dark pools of sadistic pleasure.
“No,” I breathed, the word escaping my lips like a prayer. A futile plea.
“Oh, Mila,” he murmured, his tone mocking, caressing my name like it was his possession. “Did you really think you could get away from me? How na?ve.”
My fight-or-flight instinct slammed into me, adrenaline coursing through my veins like wildfire. I lashed out, shoving him as hard as I could, my survival instinct ignited by sheer terror.
He laughed. A dark, guttural sound that pierced the silence and slithered down my spine. His hands shot out, gripping my wrists in an iron vise grip, his strength swallowing my resistance like it was nothing.
“Pathetic,” he sneered, his voice laced with disdain. “Did you think Cipher could save you? That tha nobody could hide you from me?” He yanked my wrists hard enough to cause pain and I cried out, nearly going to my knees. “Run all you want. I live for the chase. I always find what belongs to me, Mila.”
“Let me go!” I screamed, my voice cracking under the weight of my terror and fury.
“ Oh, let me go ,” He mimicked in ahigh pitched tone, his cruel smirk deepened, a devil savoring his power. “You’ll never escape me, Mila. See, because you are mine.”
The words hit me like a blow, but they also reignited the fire within me. I twisted and fought, clawing and thrashing, desperation sharpening my movements into a frenzy. My nails raked across his face, leaving a line of crimson in their wake. The sight of his blood should have been satisfying, but his reaction chilled me to my core.
He grinned, a sadistic glint in his eyes as his hand connected with my jaw in a sharp crack that sent me sprawling. Pain erupted across my face, the metallic taste of blood coated my tongue. My vision became blurred, but it wasn’t enough to break me.
Through the haze of pain, I pushed myself up. My body screamed in protest, but my soul roared louder. “You will never own me,” I spat, my voice trembling but defiant.
“Oh, Mila,” he cooed, his smile a twisted mockery of affection. “I already do.”
He lunged, but I was ready. With a burst of strength I didn’t know I had, I twisted free, scrambling off the bed. My bare feet hit the cold floor, and I bolted for the door, my heart pounding like a war drum.
The night air was a brutal slap against my skin as I burst outside. Snow blanketed the ground, an endless sea of white that offered no cover, no safety. The cold sliced through me, but it only fueled me, reminding me I couldn’t stop. My breaths came in ragged gasps, clouds of desperation hanging in the frigid air as I stumbled down the mountain path.
Behind me, his voice rang out, a sinister melody carried by the wind. “Run, Mila. Make it interesting for me.”
I didn’t look back. I couldn’t. The sound of his footsteps thundered behind me, relentless and unyielding. Each crunch of snow under his boots was a death note, a grim reminder that he was closing in.
A sharp crack split the night—a gunshot. The bullet whizzed past me, so close I felt its icy kiss. Fear clawed at my chest, but it wasn’t enough to stop me. I veered off the path, plunging into the trees, the snow swallowing my bare footsteps as I ran blindly through the darkness.
The world narrowed to the sound of my breathing, the pounding of my heart, and the relentless pursuit behind me. My legs burned, each step a battle against the freezing cold and the exhaustion threatening to drag me down. But Yulian’s voice, dark and mocking, spurred me on.
“You’re only making this more enjoyable, Mila,” he called out, his tone dripping with sickening glee.
Another gunshot. This one grazed my arm, the searing pain ripping a scream from my throat. I stumbled, nearly falling, but the adrenaline kept me moving. Tears blurred my vision, but I didn’t stop. I couldn’t.
The forest around me grew denser, the trees like towering specters reaching out to ensnare me. My breath came in ragged sobs, my lungs burning, but I pushed forward, my will to survive outweighing the agony.
Then I heard him. Too close. His breath, ragged and hungry, was right behind me.
I pushed harder, my body on the brink of collapse, when his hand closed around my arm like a steel trap. His fingers bit into my skin, unyielding and cold as iron. The raw strength behind his grip was enough to steal the air from my lungs.
I screamed, twisting and thrashing, my feet slipping on the icy snow as I tried to break free. My nails clawed at his hand, at his arm, desperate to tear him away. But Yulian didn’t falter. His grip tightened, pulling me closer, his breath hot and sinister against my ear, a cruel contrast to the freezing night air.
“Did you really think you could escape me?” he hissed, his voice dripping with venom, each word slicing through me like a blade.
Before I could even think, he yanked me backward with such force that my knees buckled. The snow burned like ice against my bare skin as I fell, but I barely felt it over the rush of terror. His laughter rumbled low and dark, sending chills down my spine.
“This game is over, Mila. And I’ve won.”
He started to drag me back, his strength overpowering my every struggle. I kicked wildly, my heels digging into the snow, trying to gain any leverage. The cold seeped into my bones, but I ignored it, using every ounce of energy to fight him. My free hand grabbed at the ground, clawing at the frozen earth, at tree roots, anything to slow him down.
“Let me go!” I screamed, thrashing harder, my legs flailing. I kicked backward, my heel slamming into his shin, and for a moment, I felt the satisfying give of his flesh.
It wasn’t enough.
His snarl ripped through the night, more animal than man. He wrenched me up from the ground as if I weighed nothing, one arm curling around my waist like a vise, pinning me against his unyielding body. “You can kick and scream all you want,” he growled, his lips brushing cruelly against my ear, “but it won’t change a damn thing. You’re mine.”
I flailed harder, twisting and jerking, my body writhing like a wild animal in a trap. I’d fight until my last breath but I couldn’t go back, not to him. My fists pounded against his chest, his arms, anywhere I could reach, but he didn’t even flinch.
The snow beneath us turned into a churned mess as he dragged me back toward the path. Each step he took was deliberate, his boots crunching through the frost, while my bare feet slid and scraped uselessly against the icy ground. I tried to dig my heels into the snow again, to anchor myself, but it was no use.
My cries echoed into the night, swallowed by the dark void around us. I clawed at his arms, reaching up to his face, raking my nails down his cheek, desperate for any sign of weakness. His head snapped to the side, a hiss escaping his lips as blood welled up in thin lines across his skin.
“Good,” he said, his tone almost amused, his lips curling into a wicked grin. “You make me hard when you fight.”
His words ignited a fresh wave of fury in me. I screamed again, my voice raw and hoarse, thrashing so violently that his hold faltered for half a second. It was all I needed. I lunged forward, trying to slip free, but he caught me again, his arms locking around me like a cage.
“You’ll regret that,” he snarled, his tone dropped into something cold and menacing. He bent down, forcing my feet off the ground, and threw me over his shoulder like I was nothing more than a sack of flour.
“No!” I shrieked, hammering my fists against his back, kicking my legs as hard as I could. My vision blurred with tears, the snowy world around us spinning as he carried me back through the frozen wasteland.
Every ounce of my strength was spent in fighting him, but it was like hitting stone. Yulian didn’t slow, didn’t stumble, didn’t stop. His grip on me was unrelenting, his body a wall of cruel determination.
The cold wind tore at my skin, but the heat radiating off him was suffocating, a reminder of the nightmare closing in around me. His laughter, deep and guttural, echoed in my ears, drowning out the pounding of my heart.
With every step he took, the last shreds of hope slipped further and further from my grasp, the realization hitting me with the force of a dagger: this was no dream. This was hell, and Yulian was its gatekeeper.