blood orange sky (bwwm horror)

more than life

The night had fallen, casting shadows across the cabin. Calliope had been working all day—washing Lucas's clothes, cooking, and keeping herself as busy as possible, trying to ignore the growing sense of dread that lingered in the air. The cabin felt more suffocating with each passing hour, the walls closing in around her as the days dragged on.

As she climbed into the bed, she settled onto one side, pulling the thin blanket over her body. The small cabin was silent except for the crackling of the fire in the fireplace. She knew Lucas was still awake, but she didn't look at him. She couldn't.

After a few minutes of silence, she felt the bed shift. Lucas moved closer, his presence overwhelming in the small space. The bed creaked under his weight as he settled next to her, and her breath hitched. She kept her eyes on the wall, not wanting to acknowledge the way her heart raced at his nearness.

"Calliope," Lucas whispered, his voice low but gentle. She didn't respond, afraid of what might happen if she did. She wasn't ready to deal with him again—not tonight. She wanted to escape into sleep, to forget the way he'd been watching her, how he'd made her feel trapped.

But then, his arm snaked around her waist, pulling her gently against him.

Calliope froze. She didn't expect it, didn't know how to respond. Her body tensed, but for some reason, she didn't pull away. The warmth of his touch was unfamiliar but strangely comforting, and that strange, conflicting sense of needing comfort in the midst of chaos made her hesitate.

"Just for tonight," Lucas murmured into her hair, his hand smoothing down her side. His voice was soft, but there was an unmistakable undercurrent of control. "You'll be safe here, Calliope. You don't have to be scared."

Calliope lay still, unsure of what to do. Her mind screamed at her to pull away, to push him off. She should feel repulsed, but instead, her body was exhausted, drained from everything that had happened, and she couldn't find the strength to protest. Her thoughts raced, but they felt far away—distant, as if they belonged to someone else.

His warmth was so close now, his breath even and slow as he held her.

And though every instinct told her she should resist, she didn't move.

The bed was too small for both of them, and his body pressed too close to hers, his hand wrapped tightly around her waist. She could hear the steady beat of his heart, matching the rhythm of her own, and, for a moment, she forgot about the fear and the anger that had been simmering inside her.

It was almost comforting, in a way she couldn't explain. She was exhausted, emotionally and physically drained, and the thought of being held, of not being alone for just a little while, was too tempting to push away.

She kept her eyes shut, trying to shut off her thoughts, and slowly allowed her body to relax against his, just for tonight.

Lucas didn't say anything more, just held her close, his breathing steady as they both settled into a silence that felt heavy and strange.

—————

The morning light filtered through the small cabin window, casting a pale glow across the kitchen. Calliope sat across from Lucas at the wooden table, her stomach tied in knots. Her hands fidgeted in her lap, trying to calm the swirling storm of fear and frustration inside her. She couldn't take it anymore. She had to leave, or at least try.

As Lucas scooped a portion of eggs onto his plate, the silence between them was suffocating. Calliope felt her heart pounding in her chest, her mind racing with a thousand thoughts. She had to ask, had to beg if she needed to. It didn't matter how humiliating it was. She had to escape.