One Temptation

Gran Maria (Chapter 18)

"So, now what?" I ask, glancing around the empty house, the silence heavy.

"I don't know," Aiden shrugs. "It's Tuesday."

"Yeah?" I raise an eyebrow, unsure where he's going with that.

"When are they supposed to come back?" he asks, a little too quiet, like the question itself feels wrong.

"By Friday, apparently," I mutter.

"Do you really think it's a business trip?" His voice dips, low and serious, as if he's been holding back from asking this the whole time.

I exhale, "If I'm being real... no. That's complete bullshit." I pause "They've never left this suddenly. Sure, they travel, but it's always with a heads-up, like weeks in advance. They've been gone for over a week now."

"True," Aiden admits.

"And how many times have they called you? Checked in at all?" I press.

"Dad called once. But he's been spamming me with texts and emails. Mum's called maybe four times, left a few messages."

"Exactly," I say,  "I've had, what, three calls? Dad hasn't even bothered checking in—just some half-assed texts. Normally, they'd be calling every hour, freaking out, asking a million questions. It'd be annoying."

"So, what do you think they're really doing?" Aiden asks, leaning forward now.

I shake my head. "I don't know. But they're not just out of town. They're gone, like out of the area. And they won't tell us where. Normally, we'd get a whole detailed fucking essay, down to what street corner they're on."

"Maybe it's just because we're older now?" Aiden suggests, but even he doesn't sound convinced.

"Bullshit," I scoff. "Our parents don't care how old we are—they're paranoid freaks about safety. You don't remember that time they almost pulled us out of school because of that camp incident?"

"That was a camp, Madison. There was a fire—we could've died. Of course, they cared," he shoots back, defensive.

"Exactly! They freak out over everything. Mum has a meltdown if we're five minutes late getting home," I point out.

"Yeah," Aiden agrees.

"I don't even think they are going to tell us when they get back home." I say.

"I don't know man, I just feel like something is wrong." Aiden sighs.

"Mhm."

The room felt too quiet, the ticking of the clock too loud, each tap of Aiden's foot against the floor drumming in my ears.

"Do you think... it could be something to do with Linda?" Aiden suddenly asked, his voice dropping low.

I snapped my head up. "What?"

I'd had my suspicions that it might involve the West family. Alex hadn't been at school lately, and Linda—who was practically glued to my mum—hadn't contacted us since that awkward dinner. 

And Simon... well, I hadn't given him much thought since that dinner. Not like I cared.

Even West seemed different—on edge. Though he's always a bitch.

"I mean, my friends and I haven't seen Alex around at all," Aiden continued.

Right. He and Alex were close. Of course, he'd notice.

"Linda hasn't said a word to anyone. Actually," Aiden added, leaning in a little, "when my friend dropped me off the other day, we drove by their street. The house was... empty. Not a single car in the driveway, no lights on—nothing. And you know how Linda loves her lights. The house is usually glowing like it's Christmas year-round."