Whispers in the Wings
img img Whispers in the Wings img Chapter 4 The Boy with the Red
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Chapter 6 Not Every Ghost Stays Dead img
Chapter 7 The Echo in the Wings img
Chapter 8 No One Claps for the Villain img
Chapter 9 The Curtain Doesn't Fall img
Chapter 10 The Man Behind the Curtain img
Chapter 11 The Second Stage img
Chapter 12 All the World's a Stage img
Chapter 13 BACKSTAGE HEAT img
Chapter 14 A MAN FROM BEFORE img
Chapter 15 LEO'S SMILE FADES img
Chapter 16 STORMS DON'T KNOCK img
Chapter 17 ASHES DON'T STAY BURIED img
Chapter 18 THE GHOSTS WE REHEARSE WITH img
Chapter 19 ECHOES UNDERNEATH img
Chapter 20 THE LAST MONOLOGUE img
Chapter 21 THE TRAPDOOR img
Chapter 22 THE SECOND ACT img
Chapter 23 THE STAGE BETWEEN WORLDS img
Chapter 24 NOTES IN BLOOD img
Chapter 25 THE PAGE THAT WRITES BACK img
Chapter 26 THE SCRIPT OF THE DEAD img
Chapter 27 THE FINAL REWRITE img
Chapter 28 THE TRIAL OF ELISE Laurent img
Chapter 29 THE MONOLOGUE OF THE MANY img
Chapter 30 THE STAGE THAT SHOULDN'T EXIST img
Chapter 31 BURN AFTER WRITING img
Chapter 32 THE CITY OF ECHOES img
Chapter 33 THE READER'S CUT img
Chapter 34 THE PAGE WITH NO LINES img
Chapter 35 THE UNWRITTEN MAN img
Chapter 36 THE UNFINISHED AUDIENCE img
Chapter 37 THE FINAL PAGE img
Chapter 38 THE TURNED PAGE img
Chapter 39 THE LONG SHADOW img
Chapter 40 THE NEXT STORY img
Chapter 41 THE ECHOED FLAME img
Chapter 42 THE FIRE REMEMBERS img
Chapter 43 BURN ME TWICE img
Chapter 44 THE SHADOW THAT REMEMBERS img
Chapter 45 THE WEIGHT OF A NAME img
Chapter 46 THE PRICE OF REMEMBERING img
Chapter 47 WRITE OR BURN img
Chapter 48 THE AUTHOR img
Chapter 49 THE FALL img
Chapter 50 ROUND TWO img
Chapter 51 WE WERE FALLING img
Chapter 52 THE INK THAT REMEMBERS img
Chapter 53 THE GHOST THAT KNOCKS img
Chapter 54 UNWRITTEN GRAVITY img
Chapter 55 THE FINAL DRAFT img
Chapter 56 DROWNING IN INK img
Chapter 57 INK BLEEDS BACKWARD img
Chapter 58 THE FIRST LIE img
Chapter 59 THE INK THAT BITES BACK img
Chapter 60 THE SACRIFICE SCRIPT img
Chapter 61 The Boy Who Forgot Her img
Chapter 62 THE INK GOD BLEEDS img
Chapter 63 THE INHERITED INK img
Chapter 64 THE INKWELL img
Chapter 65 THE PAGE BLEEDS BACK img
Chapter 66 THE RED PEN img
Chapter 67 THE AUTHOR'S ROOM img
Chapter 68 THE UNWRITTEN TRUTH img
Chapter 69 THE PRICE OF INK img
Chapter 70 GHOSTS IN THE INK img
Chapter 71 The Ties That Choke img
Chapter 72 The Ghost That Breathes img
Chapter 73 Caught in the Act img
Chapter 74 Smoke in the Spotlight img
Chapter 75 Curtain Call img
Chapter 76 The Ghost's Encore img
Chapter 77 Baptism of Fire img
Chapter 78 Exit Wounds img
Chapter 79 MIRRORS AND MARIONETTES img
Chapter 80 THE BODY DOUBLE img
Chapter 81 SMOKE AND ECHOES img
Chapter 82 THE FALL LINE img
Chapter 83 THE CHOICE img
Chapter 84 THE PROP ROOM img
Chapter 85 ACT ZERO img
Chapter 86 CURTAIN CALLS img
Chapter 87 HOUSE LIGHTS UP img
Chapter 88 THE FINAL GIRL DOESN'T RUN img
Chapter 89 THE DEAD DON'T STAY BURIED img
Chapter 90 GHOST LIGHTS img
Chapter 91 BIRTH RIGHTS img
Chapter 92 THE SCRIPTWRITER'S DAUGHTER img
Chapter 93 THE FEED img
Chapter 94 THE PERFORMANCE img
Chapter 95 ACT III img
Chapter 96 THE INTERMISSION ROOM img
Chapter 97 THE DIRECTOR'S CUT img
Chapter 98 CURTAIN RISES img
Chapter 99 THE REHEARSAL ROOM img
Chapter 100 GHOST DRAFT img
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Chapter 4 The Boy with the Red

Elise didn't sleep.Again.

The glass was still on the floor, sharp and glinting like it was daring her to pick it up wrong. She didn't. She swept it into a dustpan with slow, deliberate strokes-like if she could just control this moment, maybe the rest wouldn't fall apart.

Leo was gone.

Gone like he meant it.

Gone like the shadows swallowed him whole.

"They feel like I have a problem ... so it's probably time that I'm one. ,,

With his words, high compared to silence, high compared to broken glass, pulsating behind the eyes is tall than pain.

She sat on the edge of the couch, the hem in her rebellion grip in the fist They feel like I have a problem ... The city outside her window buzzed like a threat. Somewhere, people were laughing, drinking, living.

She was drowning in the space he used to fill.

Her phone stayed cold and blank. No texts. No calls. No word from the boy who kissed her like he had nothing to lose. Maybe he didn't.

By 9 a.m., she was at the studio.

Coffee in one hand. Rage in the other.

The dean's assistant tried to intercept her in the hallway. "Elise, Dean Keller's in a meeting-"

"He'll want to see me."

She didn't knock. She slammed the door open.

Dean Keller sat on his table, dropped his sleeves, loose, already pale with the beginning of an excuse.

He said, "You didn't waste time,"with a sighing expression

"You kicked him out?" Her voice wasn't loud, but it cut.

"He's a student, Elise. Not staff. He doesn't have the same protections."

"You threw him away."

"He's had chances. You don't know everything."

Her heart punched her ribs. "Then tell me. What don't I know?"

The dean rubbed his temple, like she was a migraine.

"His mother's in a psychiatric facility. Schizophrenia. Long-term. His father? Died in prison. Armed robbery. Violence. Leo's been arrested twice-before eighteen."

Elise swallowed. Her throat burned. "Why isn't that in his file?"

"Because I kept it out. I believed in him."

She didn't expect that.

"But now," he continued, "he's unstable. That video, that behavior, this scandal? I can't shield him anymore. I have to protect the program."

"I don't need protection," she snapped.

He looked at her, long and quiet. Then said something that slid under her skin.

"You remind me of him."

She Flickered. "What are you trying to say?"

"You both walk in with ghosts behind you. And you think no one notices."

He picked up a folder and gestured to the door. Conversation over.

She stormed out into the street. Couldn't breathe. Couldn't stop shaking.

He had a past. So what?

She had one too.

Her fingers tapped at her phone as she walked, searching until her thumbs were numb.

LEO RUIZ – ARREST – 2019

FATHER – PRISON

MOTHER – INSTITUTIONALIZED

And then-

A small local article. Buried. Forgotten. Until now.

Teen Caught Setting Fire to Abandoned Theater – Claims It Was "For the Art."

Her breath caught in her throat.

Seventeen.

Hair shorter.

Eyes colder.

A red lighter in his hand like it belonged to him.

She scrolled. Read.

"I wanted to watch something beautiful burn."

It didn't say he was charged. Just "taken in." No official statement. No one hurt. But the picture stuck.

The way he looked at the camera like it didn't matter if the world judged him or not.

She closed the browser.

Her heart beat a little faster.

That night, rain returned like a memory.

Cold and hard.

She looked at the empty wine glass she put on the counter. No appetite. No courage. No Leo.

Until the buzzer rang.

She checked the window.

He was across the street. Hoodie soaked. Face pale. Hands in his pockets.

She opened the door.

"You are crazy ," she whispered

He didn't answer. He just moved fast.

His mouth crashed into hers. Cold lips. Hot breath. Everything is desperate. Like he needed to kiss her just to stay standing.

She pulled back. "Leo-what happened?"

"They kicked me off the cast."

"What?"

"No warning. No meeting. Just gone."

Her blood turned to ice. "Who?"

"Dean Keller."

She walked on the sidewalk and grabbed his hoodie. "I'll fix it ."

He shook his head. "No. I need to go."

"Go where?"

He didn't answer.

"Leo."

His voice was quiet, but lethal. "They think I'm a problem, Elise. Maybe I should give them what they want."

He turned.

Disappeared into the dark before she could stop him.

And then the wine glass in her hand hit the floor-

Shattering loud enough to wake the dead.

She didn't hear from him for a day.

Two.

Then-

He showed up at her door.

No warning.

No apology.

Rain in his hair. Rain in his eyes.

He didn't speak as she let him in.

" I didn't light it," he finally said, standing in the middle of the living room and dripping.

"I know," she said. She thought she meant it.

He peeled off his wet hoodie. She offered him a towel. He took it with shaking hands.

"I read about the fire," she said.

He shrugged. "People always do."

"You had a red lighter."

"So did half the kids at that school."

"Why'd they blame you?"

He looked up.

"Because I'd already done worse things."

Her throat clenched.

He looked tired. Not just from the weather. From life.

"I'm not afraid of you," she murmured.

"You should be."

And then he kissed her again.

This time it wasn't desperate-it was wreckage.

Clothes hit the floor. Her robe. His shirt. Her breath.

He pushed her against the wall. Then the bed. Then her soul.

It wasn't soft.

It wasn't kind.

It was real.

It was everything she'd been running from.

He entered her like a promise and a punishment all at once. Her nails dug into his shoulders. His name came out of her mouth like a secret prayer.

They moved like they had nothing left to lose.

When it was over, they were wrapped in silence.

She listened to his breathing like it was music.

Then he sat up. Slowly.

His eyes drifted across her bookshelf.

Paused.

Read a spine out loud.

"Adrien Laurent. That's your ex-husband, right?"

Her heart stopped.

She sat up. "How do you know that?"

He turned his head. His face unreadable.

"Because he's my uncle."

            
            

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