Suddenly, I heard the sound of the bolt being opened. The door to the room. The door that had swallowed her screams. I slowly raised my head, my heart frozen in my chest.

  An old man came out of the room. He was short and thin, wearing luxurious clothes that didn't fit the filth of this place. His skin was wrinkled, and his small eyes shone like those of a satisfied lizard. He didn't even look at me. He looked at two guards who were waiting in the corridor and said in an arrogant, hoarse voice: "In a few minutes, take her. She is my concubine now."

  He walked away down the corridor, leaving the door open behind him.

  I forced myself to look into the room. It was a simple bedroom, with a single white bed. And in the far corner, she was sitting on the floor. It was Aline.

  She was hugging her knees, staring at the empty wall. Her dress was slightly torn at the shoulder, and her blonde hair, which had always been a symbol of life, hung limply over her face. On the white bed, there was a spot of blood.

  Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

  She wasn't crying. She wasn't screaming. There was nothing. She was just a void.

  She slowly turned, and I felt her gaze pierce through me. Her eyes, which had once been a clear sky, were now just cold, grey glass, reflecting nothing. "I knew you were at the door," she said.

  Her voice was not a whisper, nor was it a scream. It was just a sound. Flat, quiet, and devoid of any trace of life. Her few words, with the silence that followed, were heavier than any accusation. I wanted to scream, to justify, to apologize, to say anything. But no words came out. I had no voice. I remained standing, paralyzed under the weight of her gaze that held everything and nothing at once.

  At that moment, the two guards entered the room. They grabbed her arms forcefully and pulled her to her feet. She didn't resist. She didn't even look at them. Her eyes were fixed on me until the end, an empty gaze that carved a wound in my soul that would never heal.

  They dragged her out of the room, passing right in front of me. I remained standing in my place, alone in the empty corridor. I listened to the sound of their footsteps as they receded, and with them, the sound of her feet being dragged on the floor, until the silence swallowed them.

  My sun... had been extinguished.