Silken Chains

chapter 15❗️

Chapter Fifteen: The Crimson Revelation

It had been days since the tension between Alex and Viktor had reached a boiling point. Alex had been keeping to himself, unsure of how to navigate the strange web of emotions he found himself caught in. He had convinced himself that things would settle down—that the distance he maintained from Viktor would bring some clarity.

But clarity was far from what he found.

The quiet of Viktor’s mansion, once a place that felt like a safe haven, now felt like a cage. Something had shifted. The air was thick with unease, and Alex couldn’t quite place his finger on why. It wasn’t just Viktor’s possessive looks or the way he seemed to always be watching—it was something else. Something deeper. Darker.

One evening, when the house had fallen into an eerie stillness, curiosity got the better of Alex. Viktor had been out of sight for hours, and a strange sense of foreboding gnawed at him. He hadn’t seen any of the staff around either, and the silence was unsettling.

He wandered down the hall, his bare feet padding quietly against the floor. The further he went, the more anxious he became. His heart thudded loudly in his chest as he reached a door he hadn’t noticed before. It was slightly ajar, the dim light spilling out into the hallway.

A basement?

Alex hesitated, but something—some instinct—pulled him forward. He pushed the door open gently, peeking down the stairs that led into the dimly lit basement below. His fingers tightened around the doorframe as he heard muffled sounds from below. A voice—Viktor’s voice—was speaking, low and commanding.

Despite every warning signal in his head telling him to turn around, Alex slowly descended the stairs. His heart raced, each step feeling like a dangerous gamble. The closer he got, the more distinct the noises became—grunts, low murmurs, and a sickening sound he couldn’t quite place.

As he reached the bottom, Alex’s blood ran cold.

There, in the middle of the dimly lit basement, Viktor stood over a man bound to a chair. The man’s face was bruised and bloodied, his eyes wide with fear and desperation. Viktor’s hand gripped a gun, its barrel still smoking from a shot that had just been fired.

Alex’s breath caught in his throat, a gasp escaping him before he could stop it. His eyes locked onto the blood splattered across the floor, the sight turning his stomach. The metallic scent filled the air, sharp and unmistakable.

Viktor turned his head, his cold gaze landing on Alex. For a moment, time seemed to stop.

“Alex,” Viktor said, his voice eerily calm, as if the situation wasn’t anything out of the ordinary.

Alex felt rooted to the spot, his legs shaking beneath him. His mind screamed at him to run, but all he could do was stare, his heart pounding in his ears. He could hardly breathe.

Viktor’s expression didn’t change—calm, collected, and terrifyingly unreadable. “You weren’t supposed to see this.”

Alex’s chest heaved, his vision blurring as reality crashed down on him. He had known Viktor was powerful. He had known Viktor was dangerous. But this—this was something else.

“I… I didn’t…” Alex stammered, his voice weak and trembling.

The dead man’s body slumped over in the chair, and the sound of it hitting the floor snapped Alex out of his frozen state. Panic surged through him, adrenaline flooding his veins. He stumbled backward, eyes wide with terror as he turned and bolted up the stairs.

“Alex!” Viktor’s voice thundered after him, but Alex didn’t stop. He couldn’t stop.

His legs carried him faster than they ever had before, his breath coming in short, panicked gasps. He didn’t know where he was going, didn’t know how far he could get. All he knew was that he had to get out—he had to escape.

The mansion loomed around him, a labyrinth of hallways and rooms, but Alex moved on instinct, his mind blank with fear. He shoved open the front door, the cold night air hitting him like a shock.

Rain poured down in sheets, soaking him within seconds, but Alex didn’t care. He sprinted into the darkness, the cold mud splashing beneath his feet. Viktor’s mansion disappeared behind him, but Alex didn’t dare look back. The only thought in his head was to keep running.

The rain mixed with his tears, blurring his vision as his chest heaved with exhaustion and terror. He couldn’t believe what he’d seen—couldn’t reconcile the man who had held him so gently with the monster he had just witnessed. The monster who had blood on his hands.

The cold bit into his skin, but he didn’t stop. He couldn’t.

And yet, somewhere deep inside, Alex knew the truth.

Viktor would come for him.

He wasn’t free. Not yet.

As Alex stumbled through the rain, a single thought echoed in his mind:

How far could he run before Viktor found him?