Innocent me... Episode 10
271 Words
Ella slowly lowered the phone from her ear, her entire body frozen in shock.
Jayden noticed the fear in her expression immediately. “What happened?”
She hesitated.
Something about the call felt wrong — too personal, too familiar. But deep down, she knew what she heard.
“It was my mom,” Ella whispered.
Jayden’s eyes narrowed instantly. “What did she say?”
Ella swallowed hard before answering. “She told me to stay away from you.”
For a moment, Jayden looked more frustrated than surprised, as if he had expected this all along. He ran a hand through his wet hair and stepped away from her.
“She knows more than she’s telling you,” he muttered.
Ella stared at him. “Then tell me what’s going on!”
Her voice cracked louder than she intended.
Jayden looked at her silently before pulling something from inside his jacket — a silver necklace with a tiny butterfly pendant attached to it.
Ella’s breath caught immediately.
She recognized it.
“When I was little,” Jayden said quietly, “my brother gave this to a girl named Ella.”
His fingers tightened around the pendant before he placed it into her hand.
Memories flashed faintly through Ella’s mind.
A playground.
Laughter.
A boy smiling at her beneath the sunlight.
Her head suddenly began to ache badly.
“I remember…” she whispered weakly.
Jayden stepped closer. “Remember what?”
But before Ella could answer, a loud crash echoed outside the store.
The front window shattered instantly.
And standing in the broken glass was the hooded man from earlier.
- Writer
