Chapter 108 Chapter 108

Chapter 108 Chapter 108
  Cass didn’t go back home.
  Not yet.
  She needed space that didn’t belong to anyone else. No memories in the walls. No voices waiting with answers she wasn’t ready to hear.
  So she walked.
  Jace stayed close, not crowding her, just there. Lena trailed a little behind at first, watching, giving her room to breathe, but never far enough to lose her.
  They didn’t talk for a while.
  Just footsteps. Wind. The sound of the world continuing like nothing had changed.
  But everything had.
  Cass finally stopped near the edge of the park, fingers gripping the cold railing again.
  “I keep thinking,” she said, voice low, “if I remember it… it might kill me.”
  Jace didn’t interrupt.
  Lena didn’t either.
  Because this wasn’t something you cut into.
  It had to come out on its own.
  Cass swallowed.
  “But not remembering is worse.”
  That was the truth.
  It sat heavy between them.
  Jace stepped closer.
  “Then we don’t force it,” he said quietly. “We piece it together.”
  Cass shook her head.
  “That’s what everyone’s been doing. And look where it got us.”
  Lena sighed softly.
  “Okay then,” she said. “We stop guessing.”
  Cass turned slightly.
  “What does that mean?”
  Lena’s eyes sharpened.
  “It means we go to the source.”
  Silence.
  Because they all knew what that meant.
  The house.
  The night.
  Where it actually happened.
  Jace’s jaw tightened immediately.
  “No.”
  Cass looked at him.
  “Why not?”
  “Because it’s not safe,” he said, too quickly.
  Lena raised an eyebrow.
  “Since when do you care about safe?”
  Jace didn’t answer her.
  His focus stayed on Cass.
  “That place is closed off for a reason.”
  Cass held his gaze.
  “And that reason is exactly why we need to go.”
  That landed.
  Hard.
  Jace exhaled slowly.
  “You don’t know what you’re walking into.”
  Cass’s voice didn’t shake this time.
  “No,” she said. “But I know I can’t keep walking blind.”
  Silence again.
  Longer.
  He studied her.
  Really studied her.
  And something in her expression made him stop arguing.
  Not stubbornness.
  Not impulse.
  Something else.
  Something steady.
  “Fine,” he said finally.
  Lena blinked.
  “That was easier than I expected.”
  Jace shot her a look.
  “Don’t make me change my mind.”
  She grinned faintly.
  “Relax. I’m in.”
  Cass let out a breath she didn’t realize she was holding.
  “Then we go now.”
  The drive felt heavier than before.
  No music.
  No distractions.
  Just the road stretching ahead like it knew where they were going before they did.
  Cass watched everything pass by again, but this time—
  It didn’t feel distant.
  It felt like it was leading her somewhere she had already been.
  And that thought made her chest tighten.
  The house stood exactly where it always had.
  Quiet.
  Still.
  Like it had been waiting.
  Cass stepped out of the car slowly.
  Her feet felt heavier on the ground.
  Like something in her body recognized the place before her mind did.
  Lena came up beside her.
  “Creepy,” she muttered.
  Jace didn’t say anything.
  His eyes stayed on the house.
  Tense.
  Alert.
  “Door’s supposed to be locked,” he said.
  Cass walked forward anyway.
  One step.
  Then another.
  Her heartbeat picking up.
  Not fast.
  Just… louder.
  She reached the door.
  Hesitated.
  Then pushed.
  It opened.
  Too easily.
  They all froze.
  Lena whispered—
  “Yeah… that’s not normal.”
  Jace moved slightly in front of Cass.
  “Stay close.”
  But Cass didn’t step back.
  She stepped inside.
  The air inside was different.
  Stale.
  Heavy.
  Like time had stopped here and refused to move on.
  Dust clung to the edges of everything, but not enough to feel abandoned.
  Just enough to feel… untouched.
  Cass’s breath caught.
  Something flickered in her mind.
  A feeling.
  Not a memory.
  Not yet.
  But close.
  Lena walked in behind her, looking around carefully.
  “This place gives bad energy,” she muttered.
  Jace shut the door quietly behind them.
  That sound echoed.
  Too loud.
  Too final.
  Cass moved forward slowly.
  Each step pulling something tighter inside her.
  The hallway.
  The walls.
  The faint outline of something familiar she couldn’t fully grab.
  “Cass,” Jace said softly. “If this is too much—”
  “It’s not,” she cut in.
  But her voice wasn’t steady.
  She turned a corner.
  And stopped.
  Because there it was.
  The room.
  She knew it before she even stepped in.
  Her body knew.
  Her chest tightened sharply.
  Her breath caught.
  Lena noticed immediately.
  “Hey—”
  Cass didn’t answer.
  She walked into the room slowly.
  Everything felt smaller than it should.
  Or maybe she was just seeing it differently now.
  Her eyes scanned the space.
  The floor.
  The walls.
  The window.
  And then—
  It hit.
  Not a full memory.
  Not clear.
  But enough.
  A sound.
  Raised voices.
  Fear.
  She took a step back, shaking her head.
  “No…”
  Jace was beside her instantly.
  “What is it?”
  Cass pressed her hand to her temple.
  “I hear them,” she whispered. “I hear them arguing.”
  Her breathing picked up.
  Lena stepped closer.
  “Cass, slow down—”
  “I see him,” Cass said, voice breaking now. “I see my dad.”
  The room felt like it was closing in.
  Jace’s grip on her arm tightened slightly.
  “Stay with me,” he said.
  But Cass wasn’t fully there anymore.
  Her eyes were locked on a spot near the center of the room.
  “He’s turning,” she whispered. “He’s looking at me—”
  And then—
  A voice.
  Behind them.
  Real.
  Not memory.
  Not imagined.
  “You shouldn’t be here.”
  All three of them froze.
  Slowly—
  They turned.
  A man stood in the doorway.
  Older.
  Composed.
  Watching them like he had been expecting this exact moment.
  Cass’s heart dropped.
  Because something about him felt familiar.
  Not from school.
  Not from now.
  From before.
  He stepped inside.
  Calm.
  Measured.
  His eyes settled on Cass.
  And didn’t move.
  “I wondered how long it would take,” he said quietly.
  Silence.
  Jace stepped forward slightly.
  “Who are you?”
  The man didn’t look at him.
  He kept his gaze on Cass.
  Then—
  “I’m the one who ended that night,” he said.
  The words hit like a shockwave.
  Cass’s breath caught.
  “What?”
  The man tilted his head slightly.
  Studying her.
  “You’ve been told pieces,” he said. “Half-truths. Protecting lies.”
  A pause.
  Then—
  “You didn’t cause it.”
  Everything stopped.
  Cass felt it.
  Deep.
  Immediate.
  “What are you talking about?” she whispered.
  The man’s voice didn’t change.
  “Your father didn’t fall because of you.”
  Jace went still.
  Lena frowned.
  “Then what happened?”
  The man finally looked at them.
  And said something no one expected—
  “I pushed him.”
  Silence.
  Absolute.
  Cass felt like the ground disappeared beneath her.
  “You’re lying,” she said immediately.
  But her voice shook.
  Because part of her—
  Part of her knew—
  This felt different.
  The man didn’t react.
  “I didn’t mean to kill him,” he said. “But I did.”
  Jace’s voice hardened.
  “Why?”
  The man exhaled slowly.
  “Because your fathers weren’t the only ones fighting for control that night.”
  He looked back at Cass.
  And this time—
  There was no distance in his voice.
  Just truth.
  “I was protecting something,” he said.
  A pause.
  Then the final twist—
  “I was protecting you.”
  Everything changed again.
  Not just what happened.
  But who was responsible.
  And why