𝓢𝓮𝓮 𝓜𝓮

BONUS CHAPTER

✧༝┉˚ℤ𝕒𝕕𝕖 𝕂𝕖𝕟𝕥˚┉༝✧

Her voice still haunted me. That soft, barely conscious murmur of my name slipping from her lips before she was fully awake. The way she said it, like it was some instinctive reaction—something she couldn't control. It was so painfully familiar, yet now it felt like a knife twisting in my chest. When she finally opened her eyes and looked at me, everything changed. The confusion, the brief flash of relief, and then...nothing.

She shut me out, turned away before I could even explain. Refused to hear me out, refused to look at me. Even as I stood there, desperate to say something, to reassure her that I wasn't going anywhere, she made it clear that she didn't want me there. And the worst part? I didn't blame her. I couldn't. She'd been through hell—things I didn't even know if I could piece together yet. But that didn't stop the hurt from clawing at me every second since.

I was losing my mind. Completely unraveling in a way that scared me. Every breath felt like a struggle, like it was catching in my throat because she wouldn't leave my thoughts. I needed to fix this—fix us—by any means possible. But she wouldn't let me.

Still, I forced myself to push thoughts of Amelia to the back of my mind as I walked through the hallways, heading toward Emmaline's room. At the end of the day, Emma was what mattered the most.

I hadn't seen Emmaline once since she came back yesterday. Not even for a second. The relief I'd felt when they'd found her, when she was finally back—it had been like the world fell back into place, like I could breathe again for the first time in days. But now? Now I felt this gnawing emptiness, like I was still missing something because I hadn't seen her, hadn't spoken to her. God, I missed her. I missed her presence, her voice, everything. Even if she was bullying me for Kai's sake.

My pace quickened as I neared her room, only to slow when I noticed Juliette slowly closing the door, careful not to make a sound. I blinked, watching her for a second before stepping forward.

"Hey," I said quietly, not wanting to startle her but failing anyway.

Juliette's head snapped up in surprise, a slight gasp escaping her lips as her hand hovered over the door handle. "Zade—" she breathed out, then sighed, shaking her head as if to clear her thoughts. "You scared me."

"Sorry," I muttered, shifting my gaze to the closed door behind her. "What's wrong? Is she okay?" I paused, thinking back to the empty seat at breakfast. "She didn't come out to eat with us this morning."

Juliette's lips pressed into a thin line, the concern etched across her face deepening. "She hasn't gotten out since yesterday," she admitted, her gaze dropping momentarily. "She barely said anything when she came back. She doesn't even want to leave her bed now."

"I actually sent Kai after breakfast to go check on her, convince her to at least take a walk outside." Juliette continued when I didn't say anything, nodding towards the outdoor patio visible through the hallway windows. "But..." She sighed again, looking almost guilty as she glanced at the closed door behind her. "I just checked on them a few minutes ago and found them both sleeping in there."