Echo of a Lost Love

ETHAN'S POV;

I stared at the crumpled photo in my hand, the edges worn smooth from years of being clutched and re-clutched. Lucas, all of eleven years old, grinned back at me, a mischievous glint in my eyes. "Remember this, Lucas?" I whispered, my voice rough with emotion. "Remember how we felt?"

The memory of that grin, that spark of mischief, was what had kept me tethered to this world, even as it had become a prison of my own making. I traced the lines of Lucas's face with my thumb, a familiar ache blooming in my chest. "We were invincible then, weren't we?" I murmured, the words a hollow echo in the quiet room.

It had been a love born in the innocence of childhood, a bond forged in shared secrets and whispered dreams. We had been inseparable, two souls intertwined in a way neither could comprehend. "We were meant to be," I whispered, my voice laced with a desperate hope.

But our world was small, our love a fragile flame flickering in the face of adult disapproval. Lucas's mother, a woman of rigid morals and unwavering control, had seen our bond as a threat, a deviation from the path she had meticulously planned for her son. "She couldn't understand," I muttered, my eyes hardening with resentment. "She tried to tear us apart, but we were stronger."

She had tried to separate us, to extinguish the flame before it could truly ignite. "She tried to control you, Lucas," I said, my voice a low growl. "She tried to make you forget."

But Lucas, stubborn and fiercely independent, had refused to be controlled. He had chosen me, choosing the warmth of our shared world over the cold, sterile reality his mother sought to impose. "You chose me," I said, my voice filled with a bittersweet longing. "You chose our love."

The memory of that day, the day they ran, was etched into my mind. Lucas, his hand clasped tightly in mine, his eyes filled with a mix of fear and exhilaration. "Remember how we ran, Lucas?" I asked, a ghost of a smile playing on my lips. "We were free."

We had run, a desperate sprint into the unknown, fueled by the conviction that our love was worth the risk. But the world, as it often does, had intervened. The screech of brakes, the sickening impact, the world tilting on its axis.

I had seen the fear in Lucas's eyes as he crumpled to the pavement, a scream caught in his throat, a plea for a life they had barely begun. "I saw the fear in your eyes, Lucas," I whispered, my voice cracking with emotion. "I saw the world crumble around you."

And then, silence. The silence of a world that had been ripped apart, the silence of a love that had been stolen. "And then, silence," I said, my voice a hollow whisper. "The silence of a love lost."

I had watched as Lucas was rushed away, my heart splintering into a million pieces. I had been left behind, a ghost in a world that no longer held meaning. "I was lost, Lucas," I admitted, my voice filled with a raw vulnerability. "Lost without you."

I had spent years searching for Lucas, my hope slowly fading with each passing day. "I searched for you, Lucas," I said, my voice filled with desperation. "I never stopped searching."

I had found him, but not in the way I had imagined. Lucas was a stranger, his eyes devoid of the spark that had once ignited my soul. "You were a stranger, Lucas," I said, my voice filled with a mix of pain and anger. "A shadow of the boy I loved."

But even in the face of Lucas's amnesia, my obsession had only intensified. I had watched him, followed him, a silent observer in a world that had become my own personal hell. "I watched you, Lucas," I said, my voice filled with a chilling intensity. "I never let you out of my sight."

I had seen the flicker of recognition in Lucas's eyes, the ghost of a smile that whispered of a love that had been lost but not forgotten. "I saw you remember," I said, my voice filled with a triumphant gleam. "I saw the spark rekindle."

And now, I was determined to reclaim what had been taken from me. I would rekindle the flame, even if it meant burning the world around me. I would make Lucas remember, even if it meant breaking him. I would have him, even if it meant losing everything. "You are mine, Lucas," I whispered, my voice filled with a chilling certainty. "And I will have you back."

END OF SEASON 1