𝐀𝐑𝐂𝐀𝐃𝐄 ~ | 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘓𝘦𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘳𝘤

XIII

Chapter Thirteen:

~ Just an Inchident? ~

Everything was good.

My life was good right now. More than good. I was so fucking lucky. I had the world at my feet and the girl of my dreams.

Bit of a risky thing to say, hm?

Jinxed it.

I knew as soon as I opened the door, the still warm pastry in a paper bag in my hand, that something was off. The room was too quiet. I dismissed the feeling, heading to the bedroom where I expected to find her still sleeping or at least lounging in bed, enjoying the quiet morning.

But no.

The room was empty.

And so, to my confusion, was the closet.

Her clothes were gone. The bed was made as if she had never been there. But the smell of her perfume still lingered in the air.

"Biche?" I called.

No reply.

I almost ran back out into the living room. My eyes were searching desperately for a clue, for anything that would explain why she wasn't there. And then I saw it.

My phone.

Face down on the ground, small shards of glass from the shattered screen glinted up at me like a sadistic puzzle. I could hear something coming from it. A glitching, static mess of noise.

But amidst the chaos, I recognized it. Lando's voice. 

And then my own.

My stomach twisted into a knot so tight it felt like it could crush my very soul. I knew what it was. That damn recording.

I approached the phone with the same trepidation one might approach a venomous snake. Carefully, I picked it up, the shards of glass digging into my palm, but I couldn't feel it. I couldn't feel anything but the cold dread that was creeping up my spine.

The room was spinning, the walls closing in. It was like someone had reached into my chest and was squeezing my heart in their fist. I couldn't listen to myself anymore.

Because that wasn't me.

It wasn't.

That was the old me. The one who didn't know what love was. The one who didn't understand the value of a heart.

The one who didn't deserve hers.

Panic set in. My breaths were shallow, my vision blurred. I dropped the phone like it was a hot coal. It clattered to the floor, the recording silenced by the impact. The words hung in the air like a noose around my neck, tightening with every second.

I had to find her. I had to explain. Make her understand. Make her see that I had changed. I HAD changed.

You fucking idiot.

I tugged at my hair, trying to pull myself together.

This is all your fault. What the hell is wrong with you? How could you be so stupid?

The voice in my head was a taunting echo of the words I knew she'd be thinking. I was finally able to pull myself back from the spiral of self-loathing I was falling into. 

I had to find her.

I dashed down the hallway, knocking on the first door that I recognized. Max and Sabrina's. I waited, my finger tapping anxiously against my leg.