Blood trickles down his forehead, warm and thick, staining the ground beneath him. Each breath Ethan takes feels like fire in his lungs. His vision blurs, the faint outline of a figure standing over him just out of reach. Another blow lands hard against his side—he doesn't even flinch anymore. Pain has become a part of him, a constant rhythm in his life, no longer something to fear, but something to endure.
Through the haze, faces flash before him—his parents, smiling, their voices distant. Rowan, offering him a way out of a life he'd never wanted. And his friends... Julian, Lucas, Gabriel, Alexander—all of them. For a moment, he wonders if they'll forgive him for giving up, for not being strong enough.
I'm sorry...
The words slip out, soft and broken. He's apologizing to them all, to his mother and father for not being the son they needed, to his friends for not fighting hard enough, and to himself... for believing he could ever win.
But even as he feels the darkness closing in, there’s a flicker of something deep inside—rage, pain, and the desperate desire to fight one last time. Ethan’s fists clench, blood and tears mingling on his skin. If this was the end, he would make sure they remembered him.
YOU ARE READING
Bloodlines and Secrets
Mistério / SuspenseIn a world where secrets lurk in every shadow, 17-year-old Ethan Blackwood is no stranger to darkness. Raised by his abusive relatives after the mysterious deaths of his parents, he's learned to survive-but not without scars. Just when he thinks lif...
