"I'm surprised, Skylar," Alex spoke up as he drove out of my driveway.

I picked up the cup of coffee he'd bought for me and wrapped my fingers around it. It was scalding hot, too strong for me, and exactly perfect to scare off the heavy sleep that was nagging behind my eyelids.

"It took some real hard work to wake you up in the mornings. Especially Mondays." He pointed out. "All it takes now is one honk from my car and you come running out."

I hummed in agreement, pulling off my hair tie from my wrist and tying up my hair in a loose ponytail.

"Is it because of that gang stuff you were telling me about?" He glanced at me with a small frown this time. "The stuff with Caden?"

I let out a deep sigh and leaned my forehead against the glove compartment box, right in front of me. "I don't know, Alex."

I felt exhausted. And maybe that was just because of the bare minimum sleep I got last night. I remembered tossing and turning and flipping around on my bed. It got to a point that even Chicken had thought it wasn't worth it sleeping next to me.

Alex gave me another glance. Though that was as much as he could've looked at me since he was driving. Then he hummed in response. And that was that I guess.

A few seconds later as I took a small peek out of the window and saw the school nearing, I couldn't help but feel the unease churning in my stomach. It wasn't a nice feeling.

"Alex?"

He glanced at me questioningly.

"Can we skip school today?" I whispered.

Alex seemed confused and surprised, both. I was a little surprised too. I never liked skipping school. Alex knew that. I knew that too. Yet I didn't know why I suggested doing exactly that then. Skipping school was never an option for me.

"Why should we?" He asked, still driving towards the school.

I looked down at my cup of coffee and couldn't avoid the anxiety crawling up my gut. "I'm tired."

I was tired, yes. But it wasn't just that. I didn't want to face Caden, even though the chances of coming across him were highly slim. I still couldn't wave off the feeling of unease ever since I came back home after meeting Blake.

Blake had said a lot last night. A lot, yet it still felt like I knew nothing. I needed my parents but they weren't at home either.

I just needed a few hours away from all of this. A few peaceful hours. And I think Alex got the message even when I said nothing.

"All right." He said, swerving the car to the right and driving the opposite way from the school.

I closed my eyes in relief, slumping back in my seat.

•••••

When I woke up, I was still inside Alex's car, half of me leaning against the window. A small yawn slipped past my lips as I rubbed my eyes, noticing that Alex was still sitting beside me. He had stopped the car somewhere that looked like a park and was busy scrolling on his phone, looking totally unbothered. I guess skipping school wasn't that unusual for him.

"Why didn't you wake me up?" I asked him. I was glad, however, that he hadn't woken me up. I felt a lot better now, even though the nap hadn't been for too long.

Alex looked up from his phone and passed me a sarcastic smile.

"Morning, sunshine." He said. "I cannot believe I thought you were done with your sleeping shit."

I grinned lazily. "But you did let me sleep." I pointed out. "That's so sweet of you."

He rolled his eyes and I opened the door, getting out of the car. It felt too cramped up in his car and the view outside looked fresh and welcoming. There was a tiny pond ahead, almost shrouded with bushes. This tiny secluded spot, in my not so clear opinion, was somewhere behind our school.

It was surprisingly less sunny today. And as I walked ahead and sat down on the nearest boulder settled a bit away from the pond, I noticed that nobody was out here except for Alex and me.

It was a quiet place.

I glanced over my shoulder and saw that Alex was still in the car. Then I took out my phone and switched it on, the screen flashing to life.

The first thing I saw was a missed call from Hanna. It was probably the first time she had ever called me since we always talked over texts. It was kind of sweet that she called.

I came across two more missed calls and saw Caden's name over them. One was timed a few minutes ago and the other one was from last night.

I hadn't called him back. Not when my phone's battery died right as I came back home. It wasn't like I was looking forward to it anyway. Talking to Caden, I mean.

Wiping my palms over my jeans, I switched off my phone and slid it back into my pocket.

I'd call him back soon, I told myself. He'd probably called to ask me about last night. I had texted him first after all. Though every time I thought about last night, the word death seemed to flash before my eyes every single time.

Whose death had Blake meant by that?

Even if I had wanted to know more, Blake hadn't told me anything else. And I was stuck here, stuck in between all those thoughts. Who died? And how?

It would be so much better if I stayed away.

And I could. Stay away, I mean. Maybe Blake hadn't been lying when he said there was nothing between him and my parents. Maybe this wasn't even related to me at all. Maybe it had all just been that. An unfortunate accident.

I looked ahead at the stagnant, clear water. Cupping my hands, I filled them with the cool water and splashed it on my face, the cold water trickling down my chin.

I'll stay away. I'll stay away and it'll all be fine.

•••••

I couldn't stay away, apparently.

Not when the exact moment I reached back home, after spending the majority of the day with Alex, there were a series of voicemails left on the house phone. Pressing the play button, I was a bit confused when I heard Mom's voice.

"Skylar, listen carefully." There was this weird urgency lacing her voice, something that I couldn't have ignored. "In the attic, there's a locker in there. Do not let anyone near it."

I couldn't help but frown at that, wobbling a little on my feet as I took off my boots. What was she even talking about? The attic? Wasn't our attic sealed shut ever since I was twelve?

"Keep it safe, Sky. Lock all the doors and windows, okay?" A loud shuffling noise came from her end before she spoke up again. It was surprising because she sounded worried. "Please be safe, honey."

It was almost a sweet punch to my gut. Did I hear her right? This was probably the first time she had ever shown any affection in so long. And that confused me more. I looked down at the phone, repeating her words in my head.

Close all the doors and windows. Keep the locker safe. What exactly was going on?

I looked over at Chicken who trailed out of the kitchen towards me, letting out a soft purr. I picked her up and walked towards the backdoor in my socks, locking the door slowly as I once again pondered over my mother's words.

She had sounded genuinely worried and that made me freak out a bit.

I looked outside at the backyard and found it empty and dark under the night sky. For some reason, I found my heart gradually hammering inside my chest.

After my fifth attempt at calling Mom or Dad and failing when they didn't pick up, I left a voicemail on their phones, asking them to call me as soon as they can.

Then I walked upstairs, vaguely remembering a tiny staircase that used to lead us up to the attic, right opposite my own bedroom. But when I reached up there, all I saw was a wall. It was sealed shut like always.

Why had she asked me to go to the attic then?

My eyes roamed around the huge boxes lined up against the wall. Picking up one of them with a small grunt, I set it aside and saw a narrow door about the same pale colour as the rest of the wall.

And then realization hit me. It was painted like that on purpose, almost as if they wanted to hide the door from someone. Me being me, I hadn't even noticed it until now. And why would I? I hadn't thought my parents had been lying to me about it.

I'd say you've got real nice experience believing in lies.

I scowled at the familiarity of Blake's words and pushed open the door. To my disbelief, an even smaller room was in front of my eyes.

I reached out my hand that wasn't curled up around Chicken, flailing around and trying to look for a light switch. And when I managed to feel one beneath my fingertips, I flipped it open and a dimly lit bulb came to life. It was a typical storeroom. Huge brown boxes stacked up everywhere--most of them stuffed with files and old stuff.

There was no locker.

My frown deepened and I kept looking around, thinking that I might've just missed it. It was a really small room, how could I not see an obvious locker in here?

Right at the exact moment, I heard a very loud creak, freezing me to my spot. Even Chicken stopped shuffling in my arms. It had been a loud noise and I was sure I hadn't imagined it.

It sounded like a door being opened.

My eyes widened at that thought and I could feel horror knotting in my stomach.

"I closed all the doors," I whispered to no one in particular. "I locked the back door. I locked the front door." I'd even locked the windows.

Chicken let out a small meow and my eyes widened even more. It was true terror I was feeling at that very exact moment.

The sliding glass windows, I thought. I hadn't bolted its broken lock. Why hadn't I thought of it before?

Somebody else was in the house. A break-in, just like that day. That was what my brain was shouting at me. Alarming and panicking, it felt like I might throw up then. I still remembered that night quite vividly; that deep gash on my hand, that creepy guy who had broken in. I thought about locking myself inside this small storeroom. I didn't want to go outside. I didn't want to face whatever was waiting outside for me. But then I heard light footsteps against the floorboards below and the blood almost drained out of me.

I was so royally screwed.

Looking around for something, I picked up a dusty candle stand and looked down at its pointy edges. Even if my hands were practically shaking at this point, I still walked out of that room and carefully closed the door behind me.

Keep the locker safe, that's what Mom had said.

I was scared, so much so that I wished I could run away from this situation. But I needed to keep that locker safe, even when I didn't know where the hell it was. Besides, this was all my careless fault anyway.

I placed Chicken down and motioned for her to stay upstairs. She curled up around the door and didn't bother following me. Perhaps she knew how much foolish it would be to follow me downstairs, especially right now.

I slowly crept downstairs, all the while holding my breath. This was such a déjà vu moment and that made me feel queasy in the stomach.

Gripping the candle stand, I waited. But there was not even a single sign of any human presence apart from me, even when I stepped into my lounge. I was so sure I had heard those footsteps. I furrowed my brows and looked around. Surprisingly, even the sliding glass windows were closed shut.

I anxiously inspected every perimeter of the lounge, even the kitchen, but failed to spot anyone. There was no one here.

It could've just been a sound from outside.

It could've been. I licked my dry lips and looked over at the sliding glass windows once again. They were closed. No one was there. It was fine.

A sigh of relief was just about to pass out of my lips when I felt a hand reach out beside me.

______

Xoxo,

Crystal 🌿