We Are Monsters 🌕 Book 1 || gxg

Loud Silence

The trunk slammed, kicking Sam's heart into overdrive. Ada strolled around the car, face serene in the mirror, oblivious to what she was about to witness. No time left, no answers to give. The door clicked and frigid air rushed in. For a second, Sam had words on her tongue, but they faded as quickly as they formed as soon as she met Ada's pale eyes. A smile played for a moment on her dewy lips.

"Are you okay?" she asked, smile faltering as she took in Sam in her entirety. "You have blood on you. And- holy shit! What happened?"

She had glanced into the back seat, where Aidan was a bloody mess swathed in the scratchy emergency blanket from the trunk. He gave her a lazy smile. It seemed to have little effect on her.

"Family trouble." His tone was unperturbed.

Ada's eyes flew to Sam's own. "Are you hurt? Is that your blood?"

"It's fine, we're fine. The blood is his."

"He needs to go to a hospital. That's a lot of blood."

Sam grimaced and pulled out of her parking space. She was exhausted and wanted nothing more than to shower and crawl into bed. Instead, she had to find a satisfactory explanation.

"Trust me, Ada, he'll be fine. It's not as bad as it looks."

At least the blanket covered most of his injuries. He didn't seem as bad as Sam recalled. Besides, he was already healing up under the tape, so it really wasn't so bad.

"You're Aidan, I take it?"

He gave a lazy wave. "Nice to meet you."

"Don't take this the wrong way, but you're an idiot."

Sam's jaw hit the floor, and Aidan gave a boisterous laugh, punctuated by a soft groan. He met Sam's gaze in the mirror for a moment.

"I get it now."

"Get what?" asked Ada. When no one offered an explanation, she frowned at Sam, then Aidan.

"Nothing." Sam had to focus as she merged onto the highway, but she felt Ada's stare on her cheek the whole time. "Really, we're fine. There's nothing to worry about."

The silence stretched on, the stare grew cooler as brick by brick Ada walled herself away once more. "If you say so."

Sam broke, but kept it internal. She had blown it. Ada was out of reach again, her trust gone. Why couldn't she have come up with some sort of lie? An hour and a half on the road and she hadn't managed a single one. Now it was too late. The Ada she knew was gone.

The silence stretched on with only the radio droning to fill the silence. Aidan didn't so much as groan anymore. Endless silence that gave Sam intense anxiety.

"Say something," she finally blurted, sparing a quick glance at Ada.

"What do you want me to say?" Her tone wasn't cold, but there was no warmth in it.

Sam chewed her lip. "Anything. Tell me about your trip?"

She went silent again and Sam didn't expect an answer. "I met with the detectives on Charles' case to find out what the fuck happened that kept him out of prison." Another long pause in which Sam barely dared breathe. "Turns out the warrant didn't cover his truck, only the house and his car. The key evidence was found in that fucking truck and was therefore inadmissible, and the case was dismissed."

"No one thought to call you?"

"Guess not."

"Did you get a no contact order?"

Ada shook her head. "There's no point, he wouldn't abide by one anyway. It would be a waste of my time."

Sam didn't feel like arguing with her over it, so she murmured, "I guess so."