The Ashford Mark
1823 Words
Nora’s POV
Xavier’s expression changed the moment he reached us.
His eyes moved from Victoria’s retreating figure to the pendant in my hand.
Then back to me.
“What did she say?”
I tightened my fingers around the pendant.
“Why don’t you ask her?”
His jaw clenched.
“Nora.”
“She said I should never have come here.”
Something flickered across his face.
It was gone almost immediately.
But I saw it.
Fear.
Not the kind I had seen in the library.
This was different.
He looked at me as if my words had confirmed something he had been desperately hoping was not true.
“What else?”
I stepped closer.
“She said my mother was not the first Bennett to become connected to an Ashford.”
Xavier went completely still.
Ava looked between us.
“What does that mean?”
Neither of us answered.
I looked at Xavier.
“Well?”
His eyes remained on the pendant.
“Where did your mother get that?”
“I already told you. She gave it to me.”
“That wasn’t what I asked.”
“Then ask the right question.”
His gaze lifted to mine.
“Did she ever tell you where it came from?”
I hesitated.
My mother had always been strange about the pendant.
I remembered being six years old and asking her about the symbol.
She had been standing in the kitchen, washing dishes.
The moment I had touched the necklace, she had gone completely still.
Then she had turned around and taken it from my hands.
“Never take this off, Nora.”
“Why?”
“Because it belongs to you.”
“Who gave it to you?”
My mother had looked at me for a long moment.
Then she had said, “Someone who made a promise.”
I had never forgotten that.
I looked at Xavier.
“She said someone gave it to her.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did she mention the Ashford family?”
“No.”
His expression tightened.
“Are you sure?”
I stared at him.
“Yes.”
“Did she ever come to this school?”
“No.”
“Did she know your father?”
I felt my irritation rise.
“I don’t know.”
“Think.”
I stepped closer.
“Don’t speak to me like I’m hiding something.”
“I am trying to understand what is happening.”
“So am I.”
“Then answer me.”
“Stop interrogating me!”
The words echoed across the courtyard.
Several students turned to look at us.
Xavier went silent.
Ava touched my arm.
“Nora.”
I pulled away.
“No. I am tired of this.”
I looked at Xavier.
“Since I came here, everyone has been acting like I am some kind of problem. You look at me like you know me. Your father knows my name. The school has a missing girl with my surname. Something was written to me in the library. Now I find out my mother had some connection to your family.”
My voice began to shake.
“And every time I ask a question, everyone tells me nothing.”
Xavier said nothing.
I laughed bitterly.
“Do you know how frustrating that is?”
His eyes remained on mine.
“Yes.”
The answer caught me off guard.
He looked away.
“Because I am just as confused as you are.”
I stared at him.
For the first time, I believed him.
He did not look like someone who had all the answers.
He looked like someone who had been given half a story and was trying to find the rest.
“What do you know?” I asked.
His eyes returned to mine.
“Not enough.”
“Then tell me what you do know.”
He hesitated.
“The symbol on your pendant belongs to my family.”
My fingers tightened around the necklace.
“How?”
“I don’t know.”
“That’s impossible.”
“I know.”
“Then how can you say it belongs to your family?”
“Because I have seen it before.”
“Where?”
He looked toward the academy.
“On something that belonged to my uncle.”
I remembered what his father had said.
The strange howl.
The rogue.
The family member who had been killed.
“Adrian?”
Xavier froze.
I immediately noticed.
“That was his name, wasn’t it?”
His eyes narrowed.
“Who told you?”
“No one.”
“Then how do you know?”
“I heard your father mention him.”
“When?”
“Yesterday.”
His expression became guarded.
“What else did you hear?”
“That he was killed.”
Xavier looked away.
“How?”
“I don’t know.”
“You do.”
His eyes returned to mine.
The courtyard suddenly felt too open.
Too many people were nearby.
Too many eyes.
“We shouldn’t talk here.”
I folded my arms.
“Why?”
“Because people are listening.”
I looked around.
Students were scattered across the courtyard.
Some were talking.
Others were pretending not to watch us.
“Let them listen.”
Xavier stepped closer.
His voice lowered.
“You don’t understand the kind of attention you’re attracting.”
“Maybe I would understand if someone actually explained something to me.”
His eyes darkened.
“Fine.”
I waited.
He looked at Ava.
She immediately raised both hands.
“Don’t look at me. I am also interested in hearing this.”
For the first time, Xavier almost smiled.
Almost.
Then he looked back at me.
“My uncle disappeared eighteen years ago.”
I frowned.
“Your father said he was killed.”
“He told you that?”
“No. I heard him say that he wasn’t killed by someone from your family.”
Xavier’s expression became unreadable.
“He wasn’t.”
“Then who killed him?”
“We don’t know.”
“Was it the rogue?”
His eyes sharpened.
“How do you know about that?”
“You mentioned it in the library.”
He went silent.
I continued.
“Who is the rogue?”
Xavier looked toward the eastern side of the academy.
“The person who killed my uncle.”
“That’s all?”
“That’s all I know.”
I stared at him.
“That can’t be all.”
“It is.”
I knew he was still hiding something.
But before I could push further, the academy bell rang.
Students began moving toward the buildings.
Ava looked at the clock.
“We’re late for class.”
I barely heard her.
My eyes remained on Xavier.
“Why did Victoria say I should never have come here?”
“I don’t know.”
“You’re lying.”
He sighed.
“I don’t know why she said that.”
It was a careful answer.
I noticed.
“Do you believe her?”
Xavier’s expression changed.
“About what?”
“That I shouldn’t have come here.”
He looked at me for a long moment.
Then he said quietly, “I don’t know.”
I hated that answer.
But somehow, it was more frightening than a lie.
Xavier took a step back.
“Go to class.”
I stared at him.
“You’re doing it again.”
“Doing what?”
“Trying to make me leave.”
His face remained serious.
“Because you need to.”
“Why?”
He looked at the pendant.
“Because someone knows you’re here.”
My stomach tightened.
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
“You keep saying that.”
“Because it’s true.”
“Then how do you know someone knows?”
His eyes met mine.
“Because the body found in the forest was not there by accident.”
The courtyard seemed to go silent.
“What does that mean?”
Xavier’s voice lowered.
“The person who left it wanted someone to find it.”
“Who?”
“We don’t know.”
“Why?”
His gaze dropped to my pendant again.
“Because the pendant was placed beside the body.”
My breath caught.
“You’re saying someone left it there for me?”
“I don’t know.”
I stared at him.
The pendant suddenly felt heavier in my hand.
Ava moved closer.
“Why would anyone do that?”
Xavier looked at her.
“I don’t know.”
She sighed.
“That is becoming really annoying.”
Despite everything, I almost laughed.
Xavier looked at her.
Ava shrugged.
“What? It is.”
A faint expression of amusement crossed his face.
Then it disappeared.
The academy bell rang again.
This time, Xavier turned away.
“Go to class.”
I grabbed his arm before he could leave.
The moment my fingers touched him, the world changed.
A sharp burst of heat rushed through my body.
Xavier froze.
His eyes turned toward me.
I felt something beneath my skin.
A pulse.
A heartbeat that wasn’t mine.
Then I heard it.
A growl.
Low.
Deep.
Coming from somewhere very close.
Xavier pulled his arm away.
His breathing had changed.
“What was that?”
I stared at him.
“I don’t know.”
For once, he didn’t tell me I was lying.
He looked terrified.
Then he turned and walked away.
I watched him disappear into the academy.
Ava slowly turned toward me.
“Okay.”
I looked at her.
“What?”
She pointed at my hand.
“Did you feel that?”
I swallowed.
“Yes.”
“What was it?”
“I don’t know.”
She stared at me.
I looked down at the pendant.
The strange symbol carved into the silver seemed different now.
The lines appeared to be glowing faintly.
Only for a second.
Then the light disappeared.
My phone vibrated.
I pulled it from my pocket.
There was a message from an unknown number.
You should have stayed away from Ashford.
My heart began to pound.
Another message appeared.
Now he knows you’re here.
Ava read the words over my shoulder.
“Who is that?”
I didn’t answer.
A third message appeared.
This time, there was an image attached.
I opened it.
My blood ran cold.
The photograph showed a young woman standing beside a man.
The image was old.
The woman’s face was familiar.
Too familiar.
I stared at the screen.
Ava leaned closer.
“Who is that?”
I could barely speak.
“My mother.”
Beside her stood a young man.
A man I had never seen before.
But I knew his surname.
The message beneath the photograph appeared.
Ask your mother what she promised Xavier’s uncle.
- Writer
