Chapter 21: Still Stuck

ELOWEN BENNETT

I couldn’t stop thinking about it.

All day at school, the guilt had sat heavy in my stomach. I never got the chance to apologize to Alaric in person. Every time I saw him, he was either surrounded by his friends or Tasha was glued to his side. And after the hallway incident with Jace, things felt even more tense.

By the time I got home, I decided I couldn’t leave it like this.

I remembered the anonymous number he had used to message me before, the same one he used when he first ordered me to meet him. I stared at my phone for almost twenty minutes, chewing on my bottom lip, before finally typing the message.

Me: Hey, it’s Elowen. I’m really sorry about yesterday at the cafe. I shouldn’t have asked about your family. I crossed a line. I just wanted to say sorry.

I hit send and waited.

Ten minutes passed. No reply.

Thirty minutes. Still nothing.

An hour later, my phone stayed silent.

The longer I waited, the worse I felt. I kept remembering the look on his face when I asked if he was okay, that flash of pain he quickly covered with anger. I hated that I had caused it. Even if he was mean to me most of the time, I didn’t want to be the reason he looked like that.

I didn’t want to go to his house.

The thought made my stomach twist with anxiety. After hearing his parents fighting yesterday, showing up uninvited felt dangerous. But the guilt was eating me alive.

At around 7:30 PM, I told my mom I was going for a walk to clear my head. She didn’t question it. I put on a hoodie, slipped my phone into my pocket, and started walking toward Alaric’s neighborhood.

The walk took almost forty minutes. By the time I reached his street, the sky had turned dark and the air felt cooler. My heart was pounding as I stood in front of his large modern house. The lights were on inside, but I hesitated for a long time on the sidewalk.

What if he got even angrier?

What if his parents were still fighting?

I almost turned around and went home.

But I forced myself to walk up to the front door and ring the doorbell. My hands were trembling.

The door opened faster than I expected.

It wasn’t Alaric.

A tall, sharp-featured man stood in the doorway. He had the same dark hair and intense blue eyes as Alaric, but his face looked more tired, more hardened. This had to be his father — Nate Hayes.

He looked me up and down, eyebrows slightly raised.

“Can I help you?” His voice was deep and smooth, but there was something unsettling about it.

I swallowed hard. “Um… hi. I’m Elowen Bennett. I’m… a classmate of Alaric’s. Is he home?”

Nate’s eyes sharpened with sudden interest. “Elowen Bennett,” he repeated slowly, like he was tasting the name. “So you’re the girl.”

My stomach dropped. The way he said it made me feel exposed.

He stepped aside. “Come in.”

I didn’t want to, but refusing felt rude. I stepped into the house hesitantly, clutching the strap of my bag tightly.

Nate closed the door behind me and gestured toward the living room. “Have a seat. Alaric should be back soon.”

I perched awkwardly on the edge of the couch, feeling completely out of place. Nate sat across from me, studying me with an intensity that made my skin crawl.

“So,” he started, leaning forward, “you and my son have been spending quite a bit of time together lately.”

I nodded nervously. “We’re… working on a biology project together.”

“Hmm.” He tilted his head. “Interesting. Your father was Bennett, right? The one who worked in security systems a few years back?”

The question caught me completely off guard. My father’s name felt like a punch to the chest.

“Yes…” I answered quietly. “He passed away when I was fourteen.”

Nate’s eyes didn’t leave my face. “Tragic. Did he ever talk to you about his work? Any special projects? Codes? Security protocols?”

I frowned, feeling more and more uncomfortable. “Not really. He kept his work private. Why?”

He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Just curious. Powerful men like your father often leave behind important things. Information. Keys. You never found anything unusual after he passed? Old notebooks? USB drives? Anything like that?”

My heart was racing now. These questions felt too personal. Too probing. I shifted on the couch, wanting to leave.

“I… I don’t think so,” I mumbled. “We didn’t really go through his things much.”

Before Nate could ask another question, I heard footsteps coming down the stairs.

I turned my head.

Alaric stood at the bottom of the staircase, frozen.

He was wearing a black t-shirt and sweatpants, his dark hair messy like he had just run his hands through it. The moment his eyes landed on me sitting on his couch talking to his father, his expression changed from confusion to pure anger.

“What are you doing here?!” he demanded, his voice loud and sharp.

I stood up quickly, my legs feeling weak. “I… I came to apologize. You didn’t reply to my message and I felt bad about yesterday. I didn’t mean to—”

Alaric cut me off, stalking toward us. “You shouldn’t be here.”

Nate leaned back in his chair, watching the scene with obvious amusement. “Relax, son. The girl was just keeping me company.”

Alaric shot his father a hard look before turning back to me. His blue eyes were blazing.

“Go home, Elowen,” he said coldly. “Now.”

The anger in his voice made my throat tighten. I nodded quickly, too embarrassed and overwhelmed to argue.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered one last time, then hurried toward the front door.

As I stepped outside into the cool night air, I could still feel both of their eyes on my back — Nate’s calculating and curious, Alaric’s furious and guarded.

I walked home fast, my mind spinning.

Why had his father asked me all those strange questions about my dad?

Why was Alaric so angry that I was in his house?

And why did it feel like I had just walked into something much bigger and darker than a simple apology?

I pulled my hoodie tighter around myself and kept walking, the weight of unanswered questions pressing down on me heavier than ever.