Dark. Deep. Heavy. They locked on mine the second he faced me, and I felt like I couldn’t move, couldn’t look away. There was something in them I couldn’t read—something sharp and assessing, but also calm, like he had already figured me out before I’d said a single word.
We just stared at each other for what felt like far too long.
It wasn’t a normal kind of silence. It was heavier, like the air in the room had thickened and gotten warmer somehow. Every second that ticked by made me more aware of how loud my heartbeat was. I could feel it pulsing in my throat, in my fingertips. I couldn’t even tell if it was from nerves or… something else I didn’t want to think about.
Finally, I broke the stare. My eyes darted away, landing on the corner of the cell as if it suddenly deserved my full at
