Once.
The wood splinters.
Twice.
The frame cracks.
The door bursts wide open and I barrel into the room like a train and slam into a man, knocking him to the ground.
He hits the floor hard and I look down at him and immediately recognize him from the photos Victor gave me.
It's Maxim Volkov.
I run at him, but then I stop as a figure catches my eye.
In the corner, tucked down on the floor with her arms wrapped around her knees, shaking, is...
Oh my god.
It's her. It's really her.
Leni.
Her dark hair is tangled and longer than I remember. Her face is pale and hollowed out by whatever she's been through.
She looks different, but it's her.
Her eyes give it away. Those same eyes I've seen in every dream, every nightmare, every waking moment for eighteen months.
She's staring at me, wide eyed, and terrified.
I can't move. I can't breathe. I can't think.
It's exactly what happened the day the police told me she was dead.
Time fractures and I'm frozen in place, staring at her, unable to process that she's real, that she's here, that she's actually alive.
And then my legs move.
I run to her.
"Leni."
She flinches away from me. Why does she flinch?
"It's me," I say. "Elena. It's me."
Her eyes are wide, unfocused, like she doesn't recognize me. It's as if she's looking at a stranger.
“My angel,” I say, softer this time. "It's Adi."
10
ELENA
Iscream as a man barrels into the room and crashes into Maxim, knocking him to the floor. The impact is so hard it's as if I feel it beneath me.
I curl up in the corner, pressing my back hard against the wall as if I'm trying to disappear. I bring my knees to my chest like they can shield me from whatever this is. My heart pounds in my chest like it's trying to follow my lead and escape.