Victor slowly opened his eyes.
His surroundings had changed.He was lying on a simple hospital bed, an IV in his right arm, the tube connected to an empty translucent pouch hanging above him.
The pale light of the infirmary stung his eyes.He stayed still for a moment, staring at the ceiling, replaying the last events in his mind.
The fight with the dogs, the panther's sudden appearance, the faint despair that followed, the choice he had been forced to make and Lucie dragging him desperately back into the building.
He sighed and sat up. His left arm was still bandaged, yet he felt no pain.
Was he already healed ?
He doubted it, considering how bad the wound had been. He had seen it clearly — nearly half the flesh of his forearm had been torn away, the beast's fangs sinking deep enough to touch bone.
If he couldn't feel any pain despite that, it could only mean one thing…
Victor set his feet on the cold floor and walked toward the only door at the back of the room.
He stepped into a dark hallway, empty and silent.
For the first time, an unfamiliar feeling washed over him.
He felt lost.
He didn't know what to do.
It was an overwhelming, terrifying feeling — the kind you get when you forget the very reason for your own existence.
For a brief second, he wanted to curl up on the floor and let go of all the emotions he'd been repressing for years.
He felt crushed under the weight of everything that had happened in the past few days.
And no matter how indifferent and cold he might appear, deep down, he knew it —his sanity had been hanging by a thread for a long time now.
Suddenly, a faint murmur caught his attention. Voices.Human voices, coming from a nearby room.
He hesitated for a moment, then moved toward them.
Once again, he buried his emotions deep inside, and without bothering to knock, pushed the door open.
It was the old break room, rearranged into a sort of meeting space.Tables and chairs were arranged in an arc facing a man in his forties, his face stern.
The principal.
Out of the corner of his eye, Victor spotted Lucie, absent-mindedly toying with the fire axe, her gaze lost in the void.
Victor opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, the girl had already appeared beside him in the blink of an eye — leaving everyone in the room speechless.
Even he hadn't been able to follow her movements.
She grabbed his right arm and pulled him into the hallway, slamming the door behind her, leaving the people inside utterly confused.
Lucie dragged Victor a few meters before suddenly pushing him against the wall, her hand pressed in front of him as if to stop him from leaving — though she knew perfectly well he was stronger than her.
It was more symbolic than anything.
The sting of his back brushing against the rough wall made him clench his teeth, but, as always, he didn't let it show.
Two pairs of eyes — one dark as night, the other a dull green — locked onto each other, just inches apart.
Victor could see the anger boiling in hers.
« What the hell is wrong with you, Victor?! »
Lucie's voice echoed in the empty corridor, trembling slightly with a mix of anger and frustration.
Victor remained silent for a few seconds, trying to make sense of the outburst from the girl who had been by his side from the start. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't understand what she was so mad about.
He didn't even have a single guess.
He frowned, confused.
« I don't understand. What are you talking about? »
Lucie's eyes widened in disbelief.
« You don't understand?! You practically threw yourself into that damn cat's mouth! You could've died! »
Her voice rose higher with each word.
Victor shrugged.
Of course he could've died.If the beast had chosen to use its claws, or aimed somewhere else — his stomach or his thighs — he wouldn't have stood a chance.
He had simply gambled on the creature's instincts staying the same.
« We didn't have another choice. You know it as well as I do. Logically, it was the best move. If I hadn't done it, we wouldn't be having this conversation right now — or any other one, for that matter. »
He paused, studying Lucie's expression. She looked seconds away from exploding.
« And besides, it's my life. I don't see how that concerns you. Worst case, you could've escaped, found somewhere to hide, or used my death as a distraction to kill that thing. »
He could almost see the smoke rising from her head.
Before he could even regret his words, he got a very bad feeling — and ducked, just in time to dodge a slap that would've left a mark for days.
« You're such a goddamn asshole, Victor! How can you talk about dying like it's nothing? This isn't some fucking game — you don't get to restart when you die! It's game over, end of story, just darkness! »
« So what? »
Lucie froze.
Victor straightened, facing her again, close enough to feel her breath on his skin.
« We're all gonna die someday, Lucie — whether you like it or not. I'm not asking you to think like me. Hell, I'm not even asking you to understand. I just want you to stop trying to make me value life the way you do. »
Lucie went silent, her fury giving way to shock.
« And what about the people who care about you? Your friends, your family — don't you even think about what they'd feel if they heard you say that? »
Victor's eyes turned cold instantly. A twisted grimace of disgust crossed his face at the mention of his family.
A freezing silence fell between them.
Lucie realized she'd touched a nerve.
But it was already too late.
His jaw clenched tight, his facial muscles trembling with restrained anger.
When he spoke again, his voice was sharp, steady — shielded once more behind that emotional armor of his.
« Don't talk about things you can't begin to understand, Lucie. You have no idea what my fucking family is like. »
Lucie swallowed hard.
For the first time, she felt his anger, cold, quiet, buried deep inside, the kind that had been festering for years and was just waiting to erupt.
Victor stepped forward, forcing Lucie back until she was the one pinned against the wall.
Long seconds passed without a word.
His usually dull, lifeless eyes now flickered with a storm of emotion — anger, exhaustion, helplessness, pain.
And suddenly, Lucie understood.
The boy she thought was cold and emotionless wasn't empty at all.
He just felt too much.
Far too much.
He kept everything locked inside a cage, its bars eroding a little more each day.
That indifference he wore like armor wasn't strength. It was survival.
Victor kept staring at her, breathing hard. His fingers trembled slightly without him realizing it.
His vision blurred. His breath quickened. His teeth ground together under the pressure of emotions he couldn't contain anymore.
He was losing control.
And still, he couldn't stop himself from speaking.
« You'll never understand what I've been through, Lucie. What I've had to do just to fight the constant urge to wrap a rope around my neck and end the pain that's been with me longer than I can remember. »
Lucie bit her lip, her eyes — once blazing with anger — now shimmering with tears that threatened to fall.
Seeing her expression so close to his, Victor's voice softened.
« I'm not saying this to get your sympathy, or to make you sad, or to make you pity me. I just need you to understand that you and I are different. And no matter what you say or do, you can't change that truth. »
Victor lifted his hand from the wall, ready to leave.
He wanted to lash out.
No — he needed to.
But Lucie's expression suddenly changed. The sadness vanished, replaced by fierce determination.
She grabbed a handful of his sweatshirt and yanked him toward her. Their faces were barely two centimeters apart now — close enough to feel each other's breath.
« I don't give a damn. »
Victor blinked.
« What— »
« Your opinion ? You can shove it. »
He barely had time to react before she continued.
« Listen to me, asshole. I just beat the crap out of a fucking panther, so I will find whatever this pain of yours is, and I'll smash it to pieces — whether you like it or not. »
Victor was speechless.
He'd said all that to make her back off, to keep her from getting tangled up in his messed-up life.
But instead, his words had done the exact opposite.
Lucie let go of him, but he didn't move. Her last words echoed in his mind.
It might've sounded foolish — even ridiculous — to anyone else.
But for Victor, who had long forgotten what kindness or compassion felt like, it was enough to shake him to his core.
A gentle touch on his shoulder snapped him out of his daze.
Lucie was looking at him, her green eyes gleaming like jewels, a faint smile curling her lips.
Her hand rested softly against his skin.
And for the first time in his life, that touch didn't disgust him.
On the contrary, something new stirred inside him.
If he had to name it, he would've called it a light or maybe a firefly.
Victor's voice came again, fragile, worn.
« You don't know what you're getting yourself into, Lucie. »
Her radiant smile didn't fade — it only grew.
« But I've already won this battle, haven't I ? »
Victor didn't answer.
He didn't know how.
She looked so certain — so sure she could help him.
He didn't have the heart to tell her that he was far beyond saving.
At best, he thought, maybe she could patch the cracks between his sanity and his madness.
Maybe, if she was lucky, she could even rebuild the wall.
But it would never be unbreakable.