The Silence After
The quiet in the room felt suffocating, like the air had thickened and now pressed against Karina’s lungs. She had barely registered how she’d gotten there, how her own mind seemed to blank every time she tried to piece the fragments of the last few hours together. Her body still ached from the blow, her head throbbing with each passing second.
Winter’s presence was the only thing that grounded her in that moment—her eyes, dark and still, like the calm before a storm. Winter had seen her wake up, watched her confusion, her fear, but did nothing to answer the torrent of questions swirling in Karina’s mind.
“You’re safe now,” Winter repeated, her voice a soft monotone that Karina couldn’t quite read. But it wasn’t comforting—it didn’t feel like reassurance. It felt like a warning.
“Safe?” Karina’s voice came out hoarse, still unsteady. She pushed herself up from the bed, feeling the dizziness threaten to consume her again. “What happened? Where am I?”
Winter was still standing near the window, her posture too perfect, too still. For a brief moment, Karina wondered if Winter had always been this… detached. Had she always been so composed, so in control? The strange calmness in Winter’s eyes was unsettling. Karina’s mind raced, but nothing made sense.
The more Karina looked at Winter, the more she realized that nothing did make sense. How had she gotten here? Why was Winter here? Karina remembered the cold, the fear, the mask, and the soft touch that had seemed so *wrong*—and yet, Winter hadn’t been the one who had attacked her. She hadn’t hurt her.
But still…
“Where are my friends?” Karina demanded suddenly, her pulse quickening. “Is anyone else okay?”
Winter didn’t flinch. She didn’t react at all. “Your friends are fine. You don’t need to worry about them.”
Karina’s heart skipped a beat, but something about the way Winter said it made her feel even more unsettled. It was like she was dismissing her concerns, as if they didn’t matter.
But they did. Karina needed to know if everyone was safe. If they were all still alive.
"What happened to me?" Karina asked again, her voice trembling, fear creeping up her spine. Her gaze remained fixed on Winter, trying to read her, trying to understand her. But Winter’s calm gaze didn’t offer any answers.
“You were… attacked.” Winter’s words were carefully measured. “But you're not the one they’re after. Not yet.”
The coldness in Winter’s voice sent another chill down Karina’s back. Not yet? What did that mean?
"What the hell does that mean?" Karina shot up from the bed, her movements jerky as the dizziness hit her again. But she ignored it, pressing on. "Who was it? Who did this?"
Winter didn’t answer right away. Instead, she stepped closer, her eyes never leaving Karina’s face, her gaze as intense as it was unreadable. "You’re not the first, Karina. And you won’t be the last. This is just the beginning."
The words felt like ice on her skin. Karina opened her mouth to protest, but the words caught in her throat. Something about Winter’s presence—her cold, calculated demeanor—made her heart race faster than before. She couldn’t understand why it felt like Winter was *hiding* something, why it felt like there was something else beneath that mask of indifference.
Winter was watching her. Studying her.
"Why are you here?" Karina demanded. "Why did you bring me here? Why—"
But before she could finish, Winter placed a hand on her shoulder, her touch surprisingly gentle. It grounded Karina, for a moment, until the unspoken weight of that hand pressed against her.
"Because you need to understand," Winter whispered. “You don’t get to ask all the questions yet, Karina. Not until you realize what’s really going on here.”
Karina’s breath caught in her throat. She could feel her pulse quickening, her senses alerting her to every small movement Winter made. The world felt strange, distorted, like she was on the edge of something dark and dangerous, and the person standing in front of her—Winter—might have been the only one who knew the way through it.
And that thought… that thought made Karina uneasy in a way she couldn’t explain.
"Are you going to tell me what’s really happening?" Karina asked, her voice tight.
Winter didn’t answer immediately. She just stared at her, her hand still on Karina’s shoulder, her grip light but firm. Karina could feel the coldness of it, and she couldn’t ignore the unsettling feeling that had settled deep in her stomach.
"You’ll find out soon enough," Winter said, her voice barely a whisper. "When they come for you again. When you’re ready."
Karina’s chest tightened. "Who’s ‘they’?"
Winter tilted her head slightly, almost as if she were amused by Karina’s desperation.
"The ones who are hunting you."
Karina shook her head. None of this made sense. She felt like she was losing her grip on reality, the lines between what was real and what was not becoming blurred with every word Winter spoke. The more she looked at Winter, the more she realized that there were pieces of this puzzle she wasn’t seeing.
Karina took a step back, trying to distance herself from the girl who had once been her friend—her close friend—and now seemed more like a stranger than ever before.
“Don’t worry,” Winter said softly, her voice unnervingly calm. "I’ll protect you. For now."
For now.
Karina wanted to scream, wanted to run, but she couldn’t find the strength to move. She wanted to ask more, wanted to demand answers. But the words got caught in her throat as she stared at Winter’s face. Something was off. Winter’s eyes were cold, distant—but there was something else there too. Something dangerous.
And that was when Karina realized—maybe too late—that she wasn’t safe at all.
Maybe Winter wasn’t just protecting her. Maybe Winter was waiting for something. Waiting for the right moment to let it all fall apart.
But before she could speak again, Winter turned away, heading for the door.
“Get some rest,” Winter said, her voice cool and dismissive. “Tomorrow is going to be a long day.”
Karina opened her mouth to say something, to question her, but the words didn’t come. Winter was already gone, disappearing into the hallway with a final glance over her shoulder, leaving Karina in that unfamiliar room, lost in the silence that followed.
Karina sat back down on the bed, her heart pounding against her chest. What had just happened?
What was happening?
And why, deep down, did she have this sinking feeling that Winter knew more than she was letting on?