Chapter 7: Echoes in the Grass
Mia had invited me to her family's country house for the weekend—a quiet escape, she said, just the two of us and her brother, who was visiting from Zurich.
I hadn't been sure at first.
Being in someone else's home, with people I barely knew, had felt... risky.
But Mia had that warmth in her voice that disarmed me. And I trusted her.
"Just come," she'd said. "No pressure. Good food, good air, no noise. You need it."
She was right.
The house stood on the edge of a forest, its white shutters thrown open to let in sunlight and birdsong.
Everything about it felt soft—like exhaling after holding your breath too long.
And for the first time in weeks, I laughed.
Mia's older brother, Leo, had come down from Zurich for a few days.
He was easy-going, charming, the kind of man who made you feel seen without being intense.
At first, I didn't think much of his gentle glances or the way he remembered how I liked my coffee.
But that night, after a relaxed dinner and countless laughs under the string lights in the garden, I found myself alone beneath the stars, trying to breathe in the silence.
I didn't hear him approach until he was beside me.
"Beautiful night," he said.
I nodded. "It is."
There was a long pause, and then he turned toward me. "Lina..."
I looked up.
He leaned in. It wasn't abrupt or forceful.
It was gentle. Measured. Kind.
And I let him.
Just for a moment.
But even before our lips touched, a pang hit me in the gut.
This wasn't who I wanted.
It wasn't his lips I imagined.
It wasn't his breath I longed to feel against my skin.
It was Jonas.
I pulled back.
"I'm sorry," I whispered.
Leo smiled, soft and understanding. "Don't be."
We didn't speak of it again.
The next morning, hunters had been scheduled to use a part of the nearby forest.
I didn't want to be alone in the big house, but I also couldn't bring myself to join the hunting group.
So Mia and I took a walk instead, through the fields and toward the forest's edge.
It was peaceful. The kind of peace that settles into your bones and makes you forget you were ever afraid.
Then we saw her.
A doe, poised in the tall grass, watching us.
We stopped, breathless, admiring her elegance, the softness in her dark eyes.
"Look," Mia whispered. "There's something behind her."
It was a fawn.
Barely visible, its spotted coat almost disappearing in the shadows of the grass.
Mia took a step forward.
"Don't," I said, gently but firmly.
"She hasn't abandoned him. Does leave their young hidden to keep them safe. If we touch him, she might reject him. Our scent... it can change everything."
Mia froze, her eyes wide. "I didn't know."
Before I could say more, a gunshot rang out.
It echoed off the trees like thunder.
We both flinched, stumbling back in panic.
The doe bolted. The fawn ducked low.
Our hearts thundered in our chests.
Moments later, Leo and one of the forest rangers appeared, breathless.
"Are you okay?" he asked, grabbing Mia's shoulders.
"Someone fired! Too close!" Mia cried.
"They weren't supposed to shoot without clearance," the ranger muttered angrily.
"That wasn't safe. Not even close."
The fawn was still there, trembling but unharmed.
I exhaled shakily.
We were all safe. For now.
But something in me remained unsettled.
Even peace, I realized, can be fragile as glass.
Chapter 7 (continued): Shadows and Lanterns
The last night at Mia's countryside home was filled with the golden hue of lanterns and the scent of roasted chestnuts.
Laughter echoed across the garden, but I felt a knot tightening in my chest.
Leo had been kind, gentle—everything a person could hope for after pain.
And yet, as we sat together by the crackling fire, something inside me remained quiet.
Still. Distant.
"I wanted to say something," I said, turning to him.
He smiled, expectant.
"You're… amazing. Truly. I could love someone like you," I started, and his expression changed subtly, hope flickering behind his eyes.
"But?"
I swallowed. "But there's someone else.
Someone who doesn't even know how I feel. I didn't mean to… lead you. I didn't expect any of this."
He nodded, looking down at the drink in his hands. "Jonas?"
I blinked. "You knew?"
"I saw it. The way you look at him. You don't look at me like that."
I sighed, shoulders slumping. "I'm sorry."
Before I could say more, Mia stepped out of the shadows.
I hadn't realized she was nearby. She came straight to me and wrapped her arms around me tightly.
"I heard," she whispered.
We sat together on the old wooden bench beneath the stars. Something inside me broke open.
"I ran away," I said.
"From a man who told me he loved me... and hit me.
Belittled me.
Controlled every piece of my world until I couldn't even recognize myself in the mirror. I saw the same pattern in a friend's life, and I couldn't let that be me."
Tears streamed freely down my face. "This is the first time I've said it out loud."
Mia's eyes shimmered. Her lips trembled.
"I know more than you think," she said softly.
"I've never told anyone either."
Leo stood nearby, silent but visibly tense.
She inhaled shakily. "It happened in our final year of high school. It was supposed to be just a prank, some silly goodbye mischief.
A group of older boys surrounded me—three, maybe four. One held my left arm, another the right. One grabbed my chest, laughed... and then someone forced me down."
Leo's fists clenched. I watched him pale, eyes narrowing like a wolf sensing danger.
"One of them reached into my pants... I fought, Lina. I told them to stop. Begged. They didn't care."
She paused, eyes filling.
"Then Marco came. He pulled them off me. Threw one against a locker, screamed at them like a madman. They ran. If he hadn't come…"
She trailed off.
Leo stepped forward, jaw tight. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"I couldn't," she said. "I was scared. Ashamed."
His voice trembled. "Tell me who they are.
Please. I need to know."
"It was years ago."
"I don't care," he growled. "Just because time passes doesn't mean justice expires.
The silence of others—that's what lets them walk free. That's how they keep doing it."
A pause. Heavy. Sacred.
He turned to both of us.
"People stay quiet out of fear. But the silence protects the wrong ones. And it chains the ones already hurting."
No one spoke for a while.
Just the soft rustle of leaves and the stars, listening.