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Chapter 26

I entered my house slowly, trying not to make a sound. The lights were off, which meant my dad and Aunt Sarah were asleep. They moved in together not long after I caught them making out. I've never seen either of them so happy in my entire life.

I was halfway upstairs when the lights switched on. I grimaced. I was caught. I didn't turn around to see whether it was Aunt Sarah or my dad. If I had to pick, I'd hope it was my dad. At least I would be able to sweet talk my way out of an intense interrogation.

I turned stiffly, already thinking of a cover story. My dad and and Aunt Sarah were looking at me with sleepy, worried eyes. The worry was laced with steely anger. For a long moment or two, the three of us said nothing. I stared at them. They stared back. Finally, when the silence began to wat at my skin, I broke it.

"Hey guys," I said, lamely.

I could literally feel my aunt's anger bubbling up to the surface. I braced myself for the scolding. But it never came.

"We'll speak to you in the morning." Aunt Sarah said curtly. My dad nodded stiffly. He was also keeping his anger and worry at bay.

"Okay, goodnight." I took two steps at a time as I made my way into my room. I fell on my bed with a thunk.

"What am I going to do?" I asked out loud, to no one in particular. I stared at my ceiling for a long time, wondering what I did to deserve the impending trouble looming on the horizon.

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Breakfast was a sordid affair. Aunt Sarah and my dad didn't so much as spare me a glance at the table. The crunch of my muesli could be heard over the deafening silence. Dad look long, draining sips of his coffee and Aunt Sarah stabbed her fruit salad like it did her a great injustice.

"Please say something," I pleaded.

Again, I was greeted with silence. It ate at me, the silence. Sinking it's claws into my skin. It was their way of punishing me. The silent treatment.

I finished breakfast in a rush, looking forward to going back upstairs. They weren't going to talk to me anytime soon.

I wish I could tell them everything. But how would I even begin? How could I tell them the truth and not seem insane? I dismissed the thought immediately. It's better if they didn't know. They'd be safer that way.

I felt my eyes glisten with moisture for the briefest second. Wiping my eyes furiously, I went to my wardrobe to busy myself with an outfit. No, I wouldn't cry, not this time. There has been far too much crying lately. It needed to stop.

My door opened, and my heart lurched in hope that it was my dad or Aunt Sarah coming to talk to me. The hope died when it was Adam softly closing my door as he came into my room.

"What are you doing here?" I sighed.

"Wow, I love how excited you are to see me." He quipped. He made himself comfortable on my messy bed and stared at me.

"You look like shit." He told me, observing me.

I took in the dark circles under his eyes and his messy hair. I raised and eyebrow. "Well, you don't look too hot either."

It was his turn to sigh. "Things are rough, as you can imagine. Jace is suspicious of how I went missing for four days. My parents are worried. My best friend's fucked-up family kidnapped us and is basically forcing us to use our abilities for evil. Zylen is nowhere to be found. I'm starting to doubt we really knew him at all, Aura. Was he playing us? It doesn't make any sense. I feel like he betrayed us."

I should have gasped in shock, or scolded him for thinking such things. For thinking his best friend in the entire world didn't deserve the benefit if the doubt. But I couldn't. I thought the exact same things. How could I look him in the eye and tell him I really thought Zylen betrayed us? That he never care about any of us? My heart thumped with a dull ache.

"How's everyone else doing?" I said, shifting the subject to neutral territory.

"Fine, I guess. Haven't really seen much of them. What do you think they'll make us do?" He asked, shifting the topic back to uncharted territory.

I answered honestly. "I don't know, Adam. All I know is it can't be good." My stomach churned just thinking about it. Malic didn't give us much information, but he made it abundantly clear that we would regret it if we disobeyed him.

"Aura. Adam. Can I speak to both of you for a second?" Aunt Sarah asked, appearing at my door. She phrased it as a question, but her tense tone made it clear we had no choice. I was just glad she was finally speaking to me. We followed her into the living room. As we walked, I tried polishing my cover story in my head. What was Adam going to say? We would just have to wing it.

My dad was already in the lounge when we appeared. Already dressed in an expensive-looking suit, I could tell he was ready for another Tuesday's day of work.

"Explain to us how you've been gone for four days and didn't bother to tell us were you were going or call?" My dad began. He shot straight to the point.

"I can explain--"

"Four days, Aura! No phone calls. Nothing!"

"I'm sorry--"

"Your father and I were worried sick, Aura! If it wasn't for your friend calling us to tell us you were on a camping trip, I would've called the police."

Wait, what?

"Which friend called you?" I asked, confused. Even Adam was a bit taken aback.

"Your friend, Xael. She assured us you were safe. She even sent us pictures of you sleeping on your bunk. Why didn't you just tell us you were going on a no-tech camping retreat with your friends?"

"Uh." Was all I could say.

My dad shook his head in disapproval. Kissing Aunt Sarah and I on the cheek, he was out the door for work. Aunt Sarah stood, tapping her foot in waiting.

"I really am sorry, Aunt Sarah. It was kind of a spur of the moment thing. I didn't mean for you to worry." I apologised. Adam just stood uncomfortably at my side.

I watched the fight leave her eyes and I moved in to hug her. She hugged me back, the tension leaving our bodies.

"I would ground you, but you're a little too old for that." She told me.

I gave her a little smile, all the while thinking how I was going to get out of the mess I had seemed to have landed myself into.