The Lies Begin

The knocks persisted.

steady. under control. far too patient.

My heart hammering like a warning siren in my chest, I froze in my flat.

Still shone on my screen the text message.

Your last warning is this one. Turn away from him.

Now, this.

Calm, smooth man's voice rang through the door.

"Liv Carter?"

I didn't reply.

I moved back. One first. Two. Three cautious steps, my ear hammering from my heartbeat.

One sensed something strange.

I choked hard and groped for my phone, fingers shaking as I typed.

Me: At my door someone is waiting. Who is unknown to me?

Before I could obsess about it, I forwarded it to Ethan.

Because deep down I knew.

This did not happen at random. This was not some stranger seeking guidance.

He was the cause of this.

The knocking came to an end.

Silence spread, dense and stifling.

After that, footsteps.

Gradual fading. Moving away.

I stopped to breathe. Counted eleven times.

I gently, deliberately moved toward the peephole.

There was nothing in the corridor.

That person who had been there vanished.

Nonetheless, the discomfort persisted.

And deep in my gut, I realized—this was the starting point.

Fifteen minutes later, my phone started to pulse.

Ethan: Outside right now.

With a rapid heartbeat, I grabbed my keys and down the stairs.

The second I emerged onto the street and saw his black Mustang parked at the curb, headlights slicing across the darkness.

I rushed over to rip open the passenger door.

Ethan greeted me not at all.

He simply turned to face me, genuinely looked at me.

eyes black. Jaw locked tightly. Like he already knew.

"What happened?" His voice had a low, measured quality.

I halted.

I ought to have covered everything with him.

About the knock-on. The vocals. The sensation in my gut suggesting observation of me.

Still, the words would not flow.

Rather, I said, " Another text."

His fingers curved against the wheel of direction. "Like number?"

I shook my head. Surely.

He blew out through his nose. "Damn it,"

I gasped. "Ethan... who are these people?"

Silent.

He shook his head after that. "Doesn't matter."

Burned in my chest was frustration. "It counts to me."

Ethan fixed me suddenly, something incomprehensible flaring in his eyes.

And then I realized he wouldn't be telling me.

Not quite accurate. Not quite yet.

I thus formed my own judgment.

Neither would I share with him.

I would not share the knock with him. The voice speaks. The way my skin crawled like something invisible was closing in.

Because perhaps, just maybe, it was time I started keeping some too if Ethan was hiding secrets.

I entered Tessa's flat the next day and found nothing unusual.

Like I hadn't spent half the night playing back the way Ethan's expression had darkened when I informed him about the book.

Like I was not drowning in secrets I was not sharing.

With a mug of coffee, Tessa greeted me and narrowed her eyes.

"You look like heaven."

I squatted. "Thanks." I needed to hear exactly what that is.

She collapsed upon the couch. "You hardly gave me a text yesterday. And you behaved strangely in the pub last night.

I started to giggle under duress. "I wasn't acting unusual."

Tessa peered at me. "Live."

I avoided her look by busying myself with my coffee. "I was merely exhausted."

Lie. -

Tessa sighs. "You know, you could tell me if something is happening."

Guilt turned around in my gut.

For I wanted to tell her. I followed through.

But in what way could I?

How could I tell my closest friend that I was with her brother in far too great depth?

How could I tell her I was under threat and explain I had no idea why?

I so forced a smile and said, "There's nothing to tell."

Lie's.

And the first actual fracture in our connection developed right then.

Ethan texted me late that evening.

Ethan: See me at the workout.

I stopped.

Since this was it.

This was the time I had to choose whether to let myself descend into whatever disaster Ethan Carter was entwined in.

Alternatively whether I would be leaving before it was too late.

I knew the solution, though, beforehand.

I pulled on my jacket and left.

The combat gym was barely lit when I got there, and the air smelled strongly of sweat and adrenaline.

Ethan was in the ring punching a bag like he intended to split in half.

I ate. Here, he appeared different.

darkest. more exact. Like the version of him he never displayed for public see.

He turned to face me, his countenance uninterpretable.

You visited.

I raised my arms. "You inquired."

Quiet.

Ethan then breathed out and ran a hand over his hair.

"I have an offer..."

My eyebrows shot up. "A proposition?"

She nodded. "You must be able to manage yourself if you will be around me."

I wrinkled. "What does that mean?" asks

Ethan moved closer, his voice low and deliberate.

"I am going to show you fighting techniques."

I blipped. "Excuse me?"

You have to be able to defend yourself. He fixed his eye on me. "I will not always be here."

Something in my gut turned upside down.

Because, in spite of all, I believed him.

This did not constitute a game.

Whatever that was approaching was real.

Plus, Ethan Carter?

He was getting ready for battle.

I am not sure why I consented.

Perhaps because, behind it all, I sensed my planet was changing. That following this I was not going to be the same.

Perhaps because I realized Ethan Carter was my weakness regardless of how hard I tried to resist.

Mainly, though?

I mostly agreed based on his eyes' appearance.

He felt afraid beneath the walls, beneath the secrets and the gloom.

And should Ethan Carter be afraid, perhaps I should be too.

I nodded.

"Okay."

And I sealed my doom exactly like that.

I let Ethan Carter drag me into his realm.

I let the lies entrench themselves.

And I ignored stopping to consider the repercussions.

Not now.

Liv tells Tessa her first honest lie—setting up significant later ramifications.

Ethan offers Liv training so she may fight.

Tension grows—between them as much as in the earth drawing in on them.

It will be more difficult to flee the deeper Liv travels.