Bound by shadows

Ethan woke up in a nightmare from which he couldn't escape. His eyes opened, but the world still seemed to spin around him. The walls of Adrien's room were dark, and the only light that filtered through the window came from the full moon, casting long, threatening shadows. He was alone, but he didn't feel free.

The night before, he had tried to escape once again. The chains, the invisible shackles, always seemed to find a way to keep him trapped. Something inside him kept him there, something he couldn't understand, but that he felt almost viscerally.

Ethan carefully got out of bed, trying not to make a sound. He knew Adrien was still nearby, always watching, waiting, ready to pull him back if he tried to escape. But Ethan didn't care. He needed to find a way out, even if it was just a temporary escape.

The door was locked. Of course, Adrien always locked it, but not with a key. The key was just a symbol. The real cage was deeper. He tried to ignore the feeling of being watched, as though an invisible shadow followed him wherever he went.

As he walked down the empty corridor, Ethan's footsteps were muffled by the thick carpet that covered the floor. Every turn, every door he passed, seemed to lead him deeper into a house he knew too well, but at the same time, it was an endless maze.

In one room, he stopped in front of an old mirror, his reflection showing an Ethan he barely recognized. Tired eyes, a pale face, and a thin body. He looked like someone who had been broken, or someone who was still in the process of being destroyed. It was as if his very essence had been shaped by Adrien.

— "I'm not yours," Ethan whispered to his reflection, but the words sounded empty, as if they were lost in the echo of the mental labyrinth he had created for himself.

He needed to leave. The air was heavy, and a throbbing pain pulsed at the back of his mind. But the truth he tried to deny hit hard in his chest: he didn't want to leave. Or rather, he no longer knew if he could live without Adrien.

Ethan touched the door to the room, unsure if he should keep going. He wondered if there really was a way out, or if, in the end, he was just running in circles, trapped in his own mind. And, as always, the silence consumed him. Adrien's presence surrounded him, without needing to see or hear the man.

The feeling of being captive was more than physical. It was psychological. And deep down, Ethan knew that, as long as Adrien had control over his mind, the escape would never be complete.

And perhaps, in truth, he didn't even know what it meant to be free anymore.