My knee hit the ground.
The impact sent a dull shock through my body, but pain barely registered anymore. Blood dripped from my chest and arms, splashing against the concrete in slow, uneven drops. Rainwater washed over it immediately, thinning it, spreading it, turning the ground beneath me into a dark, slippery mirror.
I couldn't tell where the pain ended anymore.
Everything burned.
Everything screamed.
Pain no longer had a shape.
It wasn't sharp or dull anymore—it was everywhere at once, layered and indistinguishable, like my body had been thrown into static. Signals fired without meaning. Muscles locked, released, locked again. I couldn't tell if I was injured or simply falling apart.
My hands felt distant.
My legs felt borrowed.
Like my body had already started disconnecting pieces it didn't think I needed.
My body shook uncontrollably, nerves firing without order, muscles spasming and failing in waves. Every breath scraped my lungs raw, air coming in sharp, uneven pulls that never felt like enough.
Jacklin laughed softly.
Not nervous.
Not apologetic.
Almost… distant.
The sound didn't match her face.
She stepped closer. Close enough that I could feel her presence through the rain. Close enough that the world narrowed to her shadow falling over me. Water slid down her hair and jacket, dripping from her chin in slow, measured drops.
She leaned down.
Her breath brushed my ear.
"You're predictable," she whispered.
The words came out clean — then she inhaled, like the breath had been late.
Then, even softer—
"You were easy to get close to."
Her voice didn't tremble.
Didn't waver.
Too steady.
Like something memorized, not felt.
This wasn't the Jacklin I knew.
The girl in front of me wore her face, but nothing else.
Her memories crashed into me without permission.
I remembered the night she'd said it first.
No crowd. No drama.
Just her sitting too close, fingers twisting together like she was nervous about something that mattered.
"Stay with me," she'd said.
Those memories didn't feel real anymore.
They felt edited—like scenes I'd watched too many times without noticing what had been cut between frames. The pauses. The silences. The way she'd always known where to stand so I couldn't see past her.
I had mistaken proximity for honesty.
Mistaken warmth for truth.
"Not just now. Later too."
I'd smiled and nodded like it was obvious.
Like there was ever going to be another answer.
Her laughing under streetlights.
Her stealing fries from my tray and pretending it wasn't her.
Jacklin leaning close and saying, You're safe with me.
My chest hitched violently.
My loved one had become my enemy.
If that was love—
Then what was betrayal?
"Why?!" I screamed.
The word tore out of me raw and broken, shredding my throat. "Why my family?! We did nothing wrong!"
My voice cracked completely, splintering into something ugly and desperate. The sound echoed off the hospital walls and vanished into the rain.
My legs gave out.
There was no strength left to hold myself upright.
I collapsed forward, hands slapping against the concrete, palms scraping skin away. Pain flared briefly, then drowned under everything else.
And then it hit me—
I hadn't saved her.
I had stepped exactly where she wanted me.
Jacklin straightened slowly.
Rain streaked down her face, but her expression didn't change. Her eyes weren't cruel.
They were empty.
Almost bored.
I had never thought of Jacklin as someone temporary.
She wasn't a moment.
She wasn't a comfort.
She was a tomorrow I never questioned.
And now she stood in front of me, unraveling it with hands that knew exactly where to pull.
"Your family was…" she paused.
Not hesitation — correction.
"…interesting."
She said it the way someone talks about an object.
Not with curiosity.
Not with cruelty.
With evaluation.
Like my family wasn't a tragedy—
but a variable.
Something inside me shattered.
Pain exploded everywhere at once.
I tried to rise.
My arms shook violently as I pushed against the ground, elbows trembling under my weight. Blood poured freely now, soaking my sleeves, dripping from my fingers.
An inch.
Then nothing.
I reached for the sword.
My fingers brushed the hilt—
And slipped.
It clattered weakly against the ground and slid just out of reach. The neon-blue veins along its blade pulsed faintly, unevenly.
Like it wasn't sure about me anymore.
A sound escaped my throat before I could stop it.
"Please…" I whispered.
My voice broke completely,"Please… leave him…"
Rain poured harder, cold and relentless.
Jacklin watched me.
She didn't look at the sword.
She didn't look at the blood.
Her eyes stayed on me.
More shadows closed in.
I felt them before I saw them — pressure shifting, movement tightening around me. Steel flashed.
A knife sank into my arm.
Another pierced my leg.
Something sharp tore across my ribs.
My body jerked violently with each impact, nerves screaming as pain finally cut through the haze. My clothes darkened rapidly as warmth spread beneath me.
I was losing strength.
Fast.
My vision tunneled. Rain streaked sideways. Dark shapes blurred together.
Renya's small body rested in Jacklin's arms.
My world shattered.
If this was love's betrayal—
Then I would survive long enough
to make it regret choosing me.
Everything I trusted—
gone.
The girl I loved stood in front of me.
My enemy held my nephew.
No — Renya was still in danger.
Jacklin tilted her head, watching me bleed.
She smiled.
But her eyes never left Renya.
Not even once.
"You're still breathing?" she said softly.
Not mocking.
Almost… observational.
"I'm not done yet."
The words landed — then her jaw tightened, just for a moment.
She turned.
Toward Renya.
My heart stopped.
"Please—!" I screamed.
The word tore out of me thin and breaking. "Please… take me instead."
I dragged myself forward, nails scraping uselessly against the concrete. Skin tore. Blood smeared beneath me.
"He's just a child," I sobbed.
"Please… I'm begging."
The word echoed inside my skull.
Begging.
I tasted it like poison.
I had always believed dignity was something you lost when you gave up. I had never considered that it could be stripped away by love instead—peeled back layer by layer until all that remained was desperation wearing my face.
This wasn't courage.
This wasn't sacrifice.
This was me offering myself because I had nothing else left to give.
My voice collapsed completely.
"Please leave him."
Jacklin didn't answer.
Her grip on Renya tightened — then loosened, like she'd caught herself.
That was the future I'd agreed to.
And now she was standing here, tearing it apart — not in anger, not in hatred — but with the same calm she'd used when she asked me to believe in it.
I realized what I'd done.
Begged.
The word burned hotter than the wounds in my body.
I had never begged anyone. Not in training. Not in pain. Not when my lungs screamed or my vision went black. I had always endured. Always stood. Always swallowed it and moved forward.
And now I was on my knees in the rain, voice broken, hands shaking, offering myself like something cheap.
Shame flooded me — thick, suffocating, heavier than fear.
I couldn't meet her eyes.
Not because I was weak.
Because I hated what I'd let myself become.
Rain fell between us.
And for the first time—
It felt like she was standing somewhere else, using her body as a doorway.
My vision collapsed inward, darkness swallowing the edges first.
My heartbeat began to stagger.
Not slow.
Not fast.
Lost.
Each beat arrived late, like it was struggling to remember why it was still going. Sound distorted—the rain stretching, snapping back, fading again. Gravity felt optional.
I couldn't feel my fingers anymore.
The rain faded.
The pain dulled.
The last thing I felt was the ground rushing up to meet me — and the weight of something closing around my wrist before everything went black.
✦ End of Chapter 11 — The Betrayal ✦