𝐓𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐎𝐛𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 | 18+

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟐𝟗

Content Warning: This chapter contains strong language and graphic depictions of violence.

𝐄𝐋𝐎𝐈𝐒𝐄 𝐏𝐎𝐕

• • •

⋆༺𓆩☠︎︎𓆪༻⋆

𝙽𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝟷𝟶𝚝𝚑, 𝟸𝟶𝟸𝟹 - 𝟹:𝟷𝟶𝙿.𝙼.

We slipped into the girl's locker room, the door shutting behind us with a soft thud that echoed off the tiled walls. The place was dark, almost too quiet, and the tension in the air was so thick you could choke on it. I could practically feel Claire's anxiety buzzing behind me, like she was ready to bolt at any second. Rowan, though, was strangely calm—or at least he pretended to be.

"Okay," I whispered, scanning the rows of lockers. "How the hell are we going to find the right one?"

Rowan sighed, rubbing the back of his neck as he glanced at the sea of identical metal doors. "I can open them, but it's gonna take some time," he said, pulling out a pair of worn leather gloves from his back pocket. The way he slipped them on, like he'd done this a thousand times before, made me raise an eyebrow. I didn't know much about Rowan's past, but clearly, there was a reason he was so damn good at this.

Claire was already pacing, chewing on her thumbnail as she cast nervous glances toward the door. "Fuck, hurry up. We don't have time to sit around," she hissed, her voice on edge.

"Would you calm the fuck down?" I snapped back, shooting her a sharp look. "Let him work. Freaking out isn't gonna make him go any faster."

She glared at me but kept quiet, though her pacing didn't stop. Rowan crouched down by the first locker and started working, his fingers moving deftly as he twisted the dial back and forth. There was a soft click, and the locker swung open, revealing nothing but a mess of clothes and a stray hairbrush.

"One down, a shitload more to go," he muttered, moving to the next.

"Great," Claire grumbled, crossing her arms as she watched him. "This is taking too long. We're screwed if someone shows up."

"Would you shut up?" I hissed, glaring at her. "Do you want him to mess up? We don't need your panicking right now."

Rowan, to his credit, kept his cool. He moved from locker to locker, his hands quick as he guessed each combination, opening one after the other. But every time, it was the same story: nothing but shoes, gym bags, and random crap. No drive.

"Jesus, how many more?" Claire groaned, her voice rising a little too high for my liking.

"Just give him a minute," I snapped again, my patience thinning. "He's going as fast as he can. You freaking out isn't helping."

Rowan cracked open another locker, this time revealing an empty water bottle and some crumpled up notes. His jaw tightened as he shut it again and moved to the next, his gloves creaking as he gripped the lock.

"Almost there," he muttered under his breath. The beads of sweat starting to form on his forehead betrayed his calm demeanor, but he kept going, determination driving his fingers to work faster.

As he cracked open another locker, Claire leaned in anxiously, only to let out an exasperated sigh when it turned up empty. "For fuck's sake," she muttered. "This better not be a dead end."

"Shut up and let him work," I said again, my voice harder now. The panic was creeping up on me too, but I wasn't about to let her spiral out of control. Not now.