CHAPTER 28
1265 Words
ADINNA’S POV
I avoid Jace and Dean for the rest of the day. They are the two people who have managed to make my life feel like a twisted maze that I can’t get out of. Dean is confusing. He’s kind in a way that feels unfamiliar, like he doesn’t expect anything back. He talks to me without trying to tear me apart or make me feel small, and it confuses me because I don’t know what to do with that kind of kindness.
Jace, on the other hand, feels like a shadow that I can’t shake off. Even when he’s not near me, I can sense him. His presence lingers like smoke after a fire. Every time I walk into a room, I can feel his eyes on me, even though I refuse to look at him. I keep my gaze fixed on my notes, my steps, the cracks in the floor. On anything that keeps me from acknowledging that he’s there.
I tell myself I’m fine and that if I pretend hard enough, the noise in my head will quiet down. But it doesn’t.
By afternoon, I realize something else is happening. The whispers start as small, faint giggles behind me as I walk through the hallway. I hear my name more than once, and the way people stretch it out with that mocking tone that makes my stomach twist. Then it spreads faster than I can keep up.
Someone says I’m sleeping with Jace. Another swears I seduced him to avoid punishment. There are even rumors about Dean and how I’ve somehow trapped both of them in my web. It’s disgusting.
I try to ignore it until I hear my name again, clearer this time, from two girls leaning near the lockers.
“She’s just desperate for attention. Pretending to be innocent,” one of them says.
My chest tightens, and I stop walking. For a second, I want to turn and scream, but I don’t. I just keep on walking. I've come to realise that the more I fight, the more they’ll just have something to talk about. That’s how it always goes.
When I reach my locker, my hands shake as I open it. At this point, I just want to grab my books and disappear to my next class. But as soon as I pull the door open, a small folded piece of paper flutters out and lands near my shoes.
I bend to pick it up, frowning. The handwriting looks familiar. The note says:
Meet me tonight. Alone, or things get worse.
My stomach drops and for a moment, I can’t breathe.
It feels like déjà vu. The same kind of message that started everything before. The same kind of trap that always leads to something ugly.
Riley appears beside me, her voice low. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost. What’s that?”
I crumple the note slightly in my hand and shove it into my pocket. “Nothing.”
“Adinna.”
I meet her eyes, and the concern there makes my throat ache. “It’s nothing, Riley. It's just another stupid note.”
She crosses her arms. “Don’t tell me you’re actually thinking of going.”
“I’m not,” I lie. “I’m done falling for this crap.”
Riley doesn’t believe me, I can tell. “Please, just stay put tonight. Whoever’s doing this wants to mess with you. Don’t give them what they want.”
I nod, though my mind is already miles away.
The rest of the day crawls by. Every time I blink, I see that note again. My imagination feeds on it, turning it into every possible nightmare. What if they mean it? What if someone really plans to hurt me?
By the time night comes, I’m pacing in my room. Riley’s asleep, and the silence feels heavy. I tell myself I won’t go, and that I’ll burn the note and forget it ever existed. But the thought doesn’t stick. Curiosity gnaws at me. Fear does too. What if not showing up makes things worse?
I pull on my hoodie, slip out quietly, and let the door close behind me. The corridor is dim, the lights flickering like they’re tired too. The cold air bites at my skin as soon as I step outside. My breath fogs in front of me. I wrap my arms around myself and walk faster.
The place is quiet except for the crunch of gravel under my shoes. My mind is a mess of what-ifs. What if it’s a trap? What if it’s Dean? What if it’s Jace?
When I reach the meeting spot, the shadows stretch long across the walls. I slow down. My heart beats hard against my ribs. Then I see him.
Jace.
He’s leaning against the wall like he owns the place, hands in his pockets, eyes fixed on me. But for once, his usual arrogance is gone. His expression is unreadable, almost serious.
“You should’ve stayed away,” he says quietly.
I stop a few feet away from him. “You’re the one who told me to come here.”
He looks at me, and there’s something dark in his eyes. “I didn’t think you actually would.”
“Then why the note?”
“Because I needed to see you.” His voice is softer now, and it throws me off.
I shake my head. “You don’t get to decide that.”
He steps closer, slow and deliberate. “Because now I can’t stop thinking about you.”
My breath catches, and for a second, I think I misheard him. “What?”
He gives a small, humorless laugh. “You drive me insane, Adinna. I've tried to ignore it, but I can’t. You’re in my head all the time.”
I stare at him, my pulse racing for all the wrong reasons. “This is manipulation. That’s what you do. You play with people’s heads until they break.”
Jace tilts his head slightly, a faint smirk appearing, but it’s not his usual mocking one. “Maybe it started that way. Maybe it didn’t.”
“You’re unbelievable.”
He steps closer again, close enough that I can feel his warmth even through the cold. His hand reaches out, brushing lightly down my arm. The contact sends a shock through me. My wolf reacts instantly, wild and restless, clawing under my skin.
I flinch back, but my heartbeat won’t slow down. It’s too much. The air feels heavy between us.
“Tell yourself you don’t feel it too,” he whispers.
“I don’t,” I say quickly, though my voice shakes. “Whatever this is, it’s just you trying to mess with me again.”
Jace’s eyes don’t leave mine. “You sure about that?”
I want to scream at him, hit him, anything that’ll make him stop looking at me like that. Because the worst part is, I can feel it. The pull, the confusion, the way my body betrays my mind. I hate it.
“Stay away from me,” I manage to say, stepping back.
He doesn’t move. “You won’t.”
“I will.”
I turn sharply, ready to leave before he can say another word. The ground beneath me feels uneven, and as I take another step, my foot slips. The world tilts before I can catch myself.
A sharp gasp escapes me as I fall backward, my hands reaching out for anything to grab. For a split second, I see Jace’s eyes widen.
- Writer
