Fate

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Chapter Thirty-Eight

My eyes followed up to the darkness of the stairs then I looked back at Zayn. "The answers I'm looking for are in your attic?"

"Don't tell me you're afraid, princess." He taunted with a smirk.

I rolled my eyes, glad to see he'd lost the anger he was earlier showing. "No, just wondering if you're planning on killing me up there or something." I joked with a shrug.

He grinned, "Trust me. If I was planning on killing you, I'd have done it while we were in the woods that day. Quick and simple. No witnesses." He mocked, making my eyes widened in shock.

"No witnesses to what? Zayn, what did you do now?" We both turned to see Eric standing at the end of the hallway, hands in his pockets.

I glanced out of the corner of my eyes, seeing Zayn roll his eyes. "None of your business, Eric. Now go do some paperwork or something." He excused rudely.

I frowned, seeing the way Zayn spoke to his father hurt his feelings. I understood Zayn was hurt, but that wasn't any excuse for treating him so poorly. It was well seen that Eric loved Zayn, but I guess Zayn didn't see it that way or rather didn't care.

Eric sighed, "It is my business if it includes my son and one of my students, Zayn."

Zayn's jaw clenched. "Like it was your business last night?" He gritted out.

Eric frowned slightly. "Zayn, that has nothing to do with this moment and I'm sure Ariel wouldn't want to hear us arguing again."

Last night? What happened last night?

He turned his attention to me, eyeing me for a good moment before glaring at Eric. "I'm showing Ariel somethings in the attic. Is that okay with you?" He asked sarcastically.

Eric nodded, "I don't see any problems with it. Though you might want to hurry, supper with be here soon." He explained.

"Whatever. Come on, Ariel." Zayn stated, starting to climb the stairs, flicking on a light on the way up.

I turned my attention to Eric, offering him a smile. "Thank you, sir. We won't be long." I stated kindly.

He reunited my smile. "Thank you, Ariel. I'm glad you're here. That boy of mine seems to watch himself when you're around."

I chuckled, "I couldn't imagine why. We seem to only fight." I admitted.

He smiled warmly, "I do, but now isn't the time for that. Now, go on. I'm sure he's getting aggravated." He chuckled softly.

Just then, I heard shuffling above me and turned to look up. Zayn was glaring down at me from the top of the stairs. "Ariel, come on and hurry up. I don't have all night!" He snapped.

I rolled my eyes, chuckling softly. Doing as told, I turned around and headed up the steps. At the top, Zayn reaches out his hand for me, helping me the rest of the way up. I smiled, taking his hand.

"Thank you." I smiled.

He nodded, "Yeah." Letting go of my hand, he made his way over to a line of boxes that were sitting on top of a long dresser of some kind.

I tore my attention away from him long enough to look around.

The air was musty and thick, but at least the light lit up the entire space. There were boxes piled on top of boxes and some old pieces of furniture scattered throughout the attic. Surprisingly the space was rather clean compared to some of the attics I'd been in. What could he be showing me?

"Our parents aren't always picture-perfect you know," Zayn began.

I turned back to face him. "Yeah, I know--"