Chapter 124 Chapter 124

Chapter 124 Chapter 124
No one spoke.

The locker room had become so quiet that the faint ticking of the clock above Coach Bennett's office seemed louder than it had any right to be.

Mike sat on the wooden bench with both hands wrapped around the bottle of water.

His breathing had steadied.

The colour hadn't returned to his face.

But he no longer looked as though he would collapse at any second.

Mr. Harris sat beside him now. Not close enough to crowd him, just close enough that if Mike needed someone...

He wouldn't have to reach very far.

Coach Bennett folded his hands together.

"When you're ready."

Mike nodded slowly.

He stared at the floor for several long seconds.

"I've replayed that night in my head so many times..."

His voice was barely above a whisper.

"...that I don't even know where to begin anymore."

"Begin where your heart keeps returning," Coach Bennett said gently.

Mike closed his eyes.

"It always returns home."

A lump formed in my throat.

He took a slow breath.

"The night after practice...I was supposed to come home, get changed and then prepare myself for the disciplinary meeting."

His shoulders slumped.

"I spent the whole walk home trying to figure out how to tell my dad I'd disappointed him."

His laugh came out broken.

"I even imagined him yelling. I remember thinking...Maybe he'll ground me until graduation."

A few faint smiles appeared around the room only for a second.Then they disappeared again.

"When I got home..."

"The front door was open."

His fingers tightened around the bottle.

"My dad never left it open.....Ever."

"I called for him. No answer. I searched every room. The kitchen, the living room, his bedroom."

"Nothing."

He swallowed hard.

"Then my phone rang."

"It was my dad's number."

The room became still.

"I answered immediately." His eyes grew distant.

"I thought he was going to tell me he'd gone to buy something."

A tear rolled down his cheek.

"But..."

"It wasn't him."

His voice trembled.

"It was a man. I didn't know his voice but he knew mine."

"He knew I played for western Helms, he knew I played hockey"

My stomach tightened.

"He told me..."

Mike's fingers began shaking again.

"...if I wanted to see my father alive..."

"...I had to do exactly what I was told."

He stopped speaking.

Mr. Harris quietly rested a hand over his shoulder.

Mike leaned into it ever so slightly before continuing.

"I thought it was a prank."

"I actually shouted at him. I told him to stop joking."

His breathing became uneven.

"Then..."

"He let me hear my dad."

Mike squeezed his eyes shut.

"I've never heard him sound so afraid."

The room remained silent.

"He kept saying...Mike... don't..."

Mike couldn't continue for several moments and no one hurried him.

When he finally spoke again, his voice was raw.

"The call ended and a message came through."

"Come alone."

"Tell no one."

"Or your father dies."

Coach Bennett lowered his eyes.

"So I went."

Ryder spoke for the first time.

"By yourself?"

Mike nodded.

"What else was I supposed to do?"

His question wasn't defensive. It was heartbreaking.

"I couldn't risk my dad."

He rubbed tiredly at his face.

"Before I left..."

"I remembered my little brother. He was supposed to come home later that evening."

A weak smile appeared.

"I kept thinking..."

"If those people found Dad..."

"What if they came back?"

His breathing hitched.

"So I called my aunt."

"I told her to pick him up from school."

"I lied."

"I told her Dad had travelled unexpectedly."

His eyes filled again.

"I begged her not to bring him home until she heard from me."

He laughed bitterly.

"She kept asking questions."

"I just... I hung up."

My chest tightened painfully.

"So all this time..."

Sofia whispered.

"...your little brother thought you had disappeared too."

Mike nodded.

"He still doesn't know everything."

Mr. Harris quietly handed him another piece of the sandwich.

Mike looked at it then at him. A tiny smile touched his lips.

"You really mean it."

Mr. Harris raised an eyebrow.

"What?"

"That I have to eat before talking."

Mr. Harris folded his arms.

"I've waited months to make sure one of my boys eats properly again."

His smile was warm despite the tears still shining in his eyes.

"I'm not wasting the opportunity."

A few soft chuckles escaped around the room.

Mike obeyed. He took another bite and chewed slowly then swallowed. Only then did Coach Bennett nod.

"Go on."

Mike drew another breath.

"They moved me."

"Over..."

"And over."

"I stopped knowing where I was, what day it was."

"They took my phone."

"My wallet."

"Everything."

"I couldn't call anyone."

"I couldn't even tell if people were looking for me."

His eyes drifted toward the Western Helms crest painted proudly across the opposite wall.

"The only thing I could remember..."

"...was today's date."

I frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"I remembered the tournament."

He looked at me.

"I had it marked in my head."

His voice softened.

"I kept telling myself..."

"Western Helms plays today."

"Western Helms plays today."

"Every morning..."

"I repeated it."

"Over..."

"And over."

Ryder stared at him.

"You remembered... the tournament?"

Mike nodded.

"It gave me....Hope."

Silence.

"I didn't know if I'd ever get out."

"But if I did..."

A tear slipped down his cheek.

"...I knew where I'd go."

He looked around the locker room.

At Coach Bennett, Mr. Harris, Ryder, Blake and the rest of the team then finally...

At me.

"I wasn't trying to get back to a hockey game."

His voice cracked.

"I was trying to get back..."

"...to home."

No one moved or even seemed to breathe.

"I didn't care how I looked."

He glanced down at his torn hoodie and mud-stained jeans.

"I didn't go home."

"I didn't change."

"I didn't even stop to wash my face."

His eyes glistened.

"I was scared they'd change their minds."

"I was scared if I stopped running..."

"...I'd never make it here."

"So I just kept walking."

He laughed weakly through tears.

"I must've looked like a madman."

"You looked like someone fighting to get home," Mr. Harris said softly.

Mike looked at him.

"I kept hearing your voice."

Mr. Harris frowned gently.

"My voice?"

Mike nodded.

"You remember the first week I joined the team?"

Mr. Harris smiled faintly.

"I remember."

"You told me..."

Mike's voice shook as he repeated the words.

"No matter how badly practice goes..."

"This locker room is still yours."

Mr. Harris froze.

"I held onto that."

Mike wiped at his eyes.

"Every step."

"I kept telling myself..."

"Just make it to the locker room."

"Just make it to Mr. Harris."

"Just make it to Coach."

"Just make it to the team."

His shoulders finally gave way.

"I didn't know where else to go."

Mr. Harris didn't speak.

He simply reached over and pulled Mike into another quiet embrace.

This time...

Mike didn't apologize. He simply closed his eyes. He allowed himself to rest.

Coach Bennett waited until the room settled again before speaking.

"We're stopping there for tonight."

Mike looked up.

"But I've barely told you anything."

"You've told us enough."

Coach's voice was gentle but firm.

"The rest can wait."

"You've carried this alone for far too long."

He stood, looking around at the entire team.

"Tonight..."

"...you sleep."

"...you eat."

"...and you remember that you don't have to carry it by yourself anymore."

Looking around the room, I realized something.

The tournament had given Western Helms a victory.

But somehow...

The greatest thing they'd won today...

Was one of their own finding his way back home.