Chapter 3

• Five years later
• Eton Bar. Top floor. Silent hallway reeking of spilled whiskey and desperation.
• I’d been drinking all night. Again. Another party. Another forced smile. Another table of investors who liked their liquor strong and their women silent. The lights blurred at the edges of my vision, the beat of the bass in the club below vibrating in my chest like a warning I was too numb to heed.
• I just needed to breathe. Somewhere quiet. Somewhere I wouldn’t have to pretend to be grateful for another unwanted hand on my waist.
• I was halfway down the empty corridor when I heard the clack of heels behind me. I knew that sound. Precise. Cold. And annoyingly persistent.
• Candice.
• Of course.
• I braced myself, swallowing down the wave of nausea climbing my throat, and turned to face her. “ Candice,” I said, my voice sharper than I intended, “is there something you want?”
• She didn’t waste time. She never did when she was angry.
• “Ava,” she snapped, “did you sign up to audition for the lead in Land Under Heaven?”
• I nodded. “Yeah. Why?”
• Her lips curled. “You’re not going.”
• There it was. Straight to the point.
• The role was a game-changer every studio in the industry was clawing for it. And yet here she was, telling me not to show up like I was some naive newcomer who didn’t know how this business worked.
• I didn’t flinch. “You’re my manager, not my owner,” I said coolly. “I signed up. I’m showing up.”
• “You went behind my back,” she hissed, stepping closer, her perfume suffocating. “You think you can move without my permission?”
• I arched a brow. “Why does it matter if I did? Unless... you’re not here for yourself.”
• A pause.
• “You’re here for her, aren’t you?”
• Her silence was the answer.
• I laughed, soft and bitter. “Let me guess Vanessa sent you.”
• She didn’t deny it.
• So typical.
• “She’s afraid I’ll take the role?” I asked, keeping my tone light even though my fists were clenched tight. “Funny. Last I checked, I was still just the ‘nobody’ actress she left in the dirt.”
• “You think you can take anything from Vanessa?” she sneered. “Keep dreaming. The Carter Family just dropped thirty million into this film. The role’s already hers.”
• “Then why are you so scared?” I said quietly.
• That struck a nerve. Her nostrils flared.
• “You’re under my contract. That means you follow my rules,” she spat, as if the truth was a whip she could snap across my back.
• I smiled. “Nice of you to remember I’m your artist. You only say that when it benefits you.”
• “I don’t have time to argue.” Her voice dropped, low and sharp. “Since you won’t listen, don’t blame me for doing things the hard way.”
• Before I could react, something slammed into my back.
• Hard.
• Pain shot through my spine as I was shoved forward too fast, too sudden and then the world tilted. My shoulder hit something cold and metal, and I stumbled into a dark room.
• A storage closet.
• I heard the scrape of a lock turning. The heavy click of finality.
• My phone was gone.
• Silence swallowed me.
• I stood there, motionless, staring at the door that had just been slammed shut in my face. The walls around me were narrow, boxed in. It smelled like dust and old wood. I didn't scream. I knew better. No one was coming. No one ever did.
• I slid down against the door, my legs folding beneath me like paper. My head rested against the splintered frame as I exhaled slowly.
• So this was how low they were willing to go.
• Five years ago, I might’ve cried. I might’ve begged.
• But I wasn’t her anymore.
• I didn’t need their spotlight to shine.
• I'd carve out my own with blood if I had to.
• They thought they could bury me in the dark.
• What they didn’t know was, the darkness was where I came alive.
• When I first signed with Starlight Entertainment, I knew I was stepping into a world built on illusion and knives. But back then, Vanessa still had a mask on. She played sweet, even as she handed me roles that scraped the bottom of the industry villains, side characters, faces meant to be forgotten.
• At least then, she pretended.
• Now? She didn’t even bother. Tonight’s stunt locking me in a bar storeroom like some disposable prop was a new low, even for her.
• If I didn’t land this role, I had to leave. I’d known it for a while. But this? This was confirmation. If I stayed, they’d bury me alive.
• I leaned my head back against the wall, eyes closed, trying to breathe through the pounding in my skull. The smell of dust and stale air coated my lungs. I couldn’t even scream I knew how that would end. My voice, like everything else I had, would just vanish into silence.
• But then… something shifted.
• A faint rustle. Like paper brushing against cardboard. Barely there, but enough to snap me out of my spiral.
• I turned slowly, heart suddenly alert.
• A mouse?
• No too steady.
• My eyes adjusted to the gloom, and that’s when I saw him.
• A small figure crouched behind a stack of boxes.
• My breath caught.
• A boy. No older than five.
• He looked like a porcelain doll carved out of moonlight. Pale skin, tousled black hair, and eyes so dark they swallowed the dim light whole. He stared at me like a trapped animal wide-eyed, trembling, like he expected me to strike him.
• What the hell was a child doing in a place like this?
• “Hey, little bun…” I kept my voice low, gentle. “Who are you? How did you get in here?”
• No answer.
• “Did you sneak in?”
• Still nothing. Just more shaking. His little arms were wrapped tight around his knees.
• “Did someone lock you in too?”
• His eyes flinched at that.
• Bingo.
• “Do you eat sweets?” I added, trying to smile. “I don’t have any, but if we get out of here, I’ll buy you something better than this dusty air.”
• Not a word. Just silence and more trembling.
• God, he looked terrified.
• I sighed and stopped trying. If he wanted to play statue, fine. I wasn’t in the mood to chase anyone down, not even a kid. We sat there, quietly occupying opposite corners of the same prison.
• I folded my arms and tilted my head back again, drifting in and out of thought. I didn’t know what was more exhausting the fight outside, or the quiet in here.
• Then the bulb above us flickered… once, twice… and went out completely.
• Darkness swallowed the room.
• And with it came a soft sound.
• Click-click-click. Rapid. Shaky.
• I froze, listening.
• Teeth. It was the sound of teeth chattering.
• I turned toward him instinctively. “Are you scared of the dark?”
• The chattering paused. For one breath. Then it picked up again, louder this time.
• I couldn’t help it I let out a small laugh, even if it sounded strange in the dark. “You’re really that scared, huh?”
• I pushed myself off the floor and walked slowly toward him. No sudden movements.
• “Relax, I’m not going to hurt you.”
• He didn’t move, but I could feel the way his energy spiked as I got closer. Like he was one second from bolting except there was nowhere to go.
• I crouched down beside him and waited.
• “No one’s coming,” I said softly. “But we’ll be fine. We just wait this out, alright?”
• Still nothing.
• But he didn’t move away.
• That was something.
• For the first time in a long while, I wasn’t alone in the dark. And strangely, I didn’t mind it.