🩸 Bound by Blood, Tied by Heart — Episode 2
Raian's words rang in Aria's ears: Get her out.
Before she could speak, the man in black was at her side, gripping her arm — not roughly, but firmly enough to send a chill down her spine.
"Come with me, Doctor," he murmured, his tone brooking no refusal.
"But my shift—" Aria protested, even as the sirens outside grew louder, merging with the thrum of her racing heart.
Raian's storm-grey gaze pinned her. "Go. Now."
Something in his eyes — a silent promise of danger — rooted her protest in her throat.
---
They moved quickly, slipping out a side corridor rarely used except by staff. Rain lashed against the windows; thunder rolled like distant drums.
"Where are you taking me?" Aria demanded, breath coming in sharp bursts.
"Somewhere safe," the man replied, scanning every corner as though expecting shadows to strike.
They reached an unmarked door near the back of the hospital. Outside, a sleek black car idled, its engine humming low. Another suited figure opened the rear door without a word.
Aria hesitated at the threshold, the night pressing close around her. "I can't just leave. I'm a doctor. I have patients—"
"And if you stay, you'll be dead before sunrise," Raian's voice cut through the rain.
He was already inside the car, blood seeping through the fresh stitches she'd placed, yet his presence felt impossibly commanding.
"Get in, Aria," he ordered, softer this time — but no less final.
---
Inside, the air smelled faintly of leather and gun oil. Raian leaned back, pain flickering across his face as the car sped into the wet Kolkata night.
"I didn't ask for this," Aria whispered, voice trembling.
"No one does," he replied, eyes half-closed. "But choices have consequences."
She swallowed, staring at her trembling hands. "Why me?"
Raian opened his eyes, gaze locking onto hers. "Because you saved my life. And now, you're part of this — whether you want to be or not."
Lightning split the sky outside, illuminating the scars along his jaw, the hardened lines of a man who had seen too much.
---
For a moment, silence settled between them, heavy with truths left unspoken. Then Raian spoke, voice barely above the hum of rain.
"Aria… what scares you more? The darkness you see in me… or the darkness you've yet to see in yourself?"
Her breath caught. She had no answer.
---
As the city lights blurred past, Aria realized this wasn't a rescue.
It was an abduction — disguised as protection.
And in that single night, her life had been severed from everything she knew…
… tied instead to a stranger whose secrets might destroy them both.