CHAPTER FIFTY SEVEN

Arc

Arc stood transfixed, the tempest outside mirroring the turmoil within. Thunderclaps shook the air, but he didn't flinch, his gaze entranced by the rain-lashed darkness.

Raindrops slapped his face, icy fingers grasping his skin, yet he felt nothing. Numbness had long been his shield, his protector against the agonies of his past.

But tonight, the dam cracked.

Memories he'd long suppressed rose like a deluge, threatening to engulf him. The echoes of his past traumas resurfaced, haunting his Memories he'd desperately buried surged forth, a tidal wave of anguish. The waste truck's putrid stench, Big Mac's sadistic laughter, Jax's menacing sneer, the cackling of the menacing woman – all assaulted his mind.

Arc's chest tightened, his breathing shallow. He felt like he was drowning, unable to escape the abyss of his memories. Though, his expression remained impassive, a mask he'd perfected over years of concealment. But his eyes betrayed him, a fleeting glimmer of