Against Devil

17 - Watching

 I didn't know what hit me harder—the truth, or the silence that followed it.

My chest still ached from saying her name out loud. Lizzy.

I turned back to Alex, but he was already moving—slow, steady, like something inside him had clicked into its next command.

"Wait—where is she?" I asked, breath hitching.

He didn't speak at first. Just walked across the room with that eerie, controlled grace of his. He stopped in front of a towering wooden cupboard—dusty, ancient, and clearly too heavy for one person to move. But something about the wall behind it... it looked wrong. The stones were arranged differently. Slightly newer. Almost... patched.

Alex placed his hand on the edge of the cupboard and looked at me once over his shoulder. No words. Just a nod.

"This?" I asked, stepping closer. "She's behind this?"

He didn't answer. Just shifted the weight of the cupboard in one powerful motion, dragging it aside like it weighed nothing more than a curtain.

And there it was.

A seam in the wall.

A false panel, stone stacked just out of rhythm with the rest of the ruin. I hadn't noticed it before—too subtle, too intentional.

My pulse kicked.

He stepped back, clearing the way for me, but didn't move toward the hidden door.

I turned to him, frowning. "You're not coming?"

Alex didn't look at me. Just stared toward the far side of the room like he was listening for something only he could hear.

"Why are you leaving this to me?" I demanded, the edge of panic rising in my voice. "You dragged me into this world. You saved me, protected me, scared the hell out of me—and now you're just walking away?"

His jaw tightened, but his voice was steady. "My mission has always been to protect. Not interfere."

"That's a bullshit excuse and you know it," I snapped.

He finally looked at me, and there was something heavy in his expression. Not cold. Not cruel. Just... tired.

"I can smell them," he said quietly. "Humans. Closing in."

My breath caught. "Hunters?"

He didn't answer—but he didn't need to.

"I'll hold them off," he said. "As long as I can. But you're the one she'll listen to now."

I stepped forward, grabbing his arm before I could think twice. "You're really just going to leave me to figure all this out alone?"

His gaze softened—barely. "You were never really alone, Bella. You just didn't know what you were made of yet."

Then he pulled away, moving toward the broken doors like a shadow in motion.

And I was left standing in front of the secret wall, the echo of Lizzy's name still ringing in my chest.

I wanted to scream, to demand he stay. But before I could, he vanished through the broken doorway, and I was left with nothing but stone, silence, and the growing dread curling in my stomach.

I turned back to the wall, hands trembling as I felt along the seams. "Lizzy! Can you hear me?"

A muffled voice rang out. "Bella! I'm here. Behind the wall!"

My breath caught. "How the hell did you end up behind a wall?"

"No clue. But I can't get out."

I didn't waste time. I dropped to my knees and began clawing at the stones. Cold, wet earth under my fingernails. My shoulders screamed with effort.