ChapterFour
999 Words
Her eyes lingered on the screen, fixed, long after the letters lost shape. The glow pressed against her gaze like a weight that wouldn’t lift.
“Ask Sophia why she lied about the night your mother died.”
Thud after thud, her heart pounded like it was trying to escape. Each beat pressed hard against her ribs, impossible to ignore.
Her gaze rose, settling on Sophia at last.
Out of nowhere, her closest companion seemed uneasy.
Too nervous.
Her voice came soft when she saw the look on Elena’s face.
Her throat tightened. Then she aimed the screen at herself.
Right then, seeing those words on screen, Sophia turned pale. The message hit her like a cold wave.
Fear gripped Elena tighter than any other feeling had ever done.
“You know something,” Elena whispered.
Sophia gave a fast shake of her head. Not me, she said
“Then why do you look scared?”
“Because this whole thing is insane!”
Elena moved away, one foot after another. She kept her distance without turning around.
It was strange - Sophia seemed unfamiliar now, even though they had known each other for years.
“Tell me the truth.”
Sophia’s eyes filled with frustration. “Elena, I swear I don’t know what’s happening.”
“But you know something about my mother.”
Silence.
Even quiet turned cold that way.
Breath caught sharp in Elena's throat. Her ribs squeezed like a vise closing slow.
“Sophia…”
Sophia looked away.
Just like that, it ended. Enough had been done.
“You lied to me,” Elena said softly.
“It wasn’t like that.”
“Then explain it!”
Curious glances came from kids walking past, yet Elena paid no mind. She just stood there, ignoring what anyone thought.
Her eyes stung with tears.
“My mother died and everybody keeps acting like there’s something they’re hiding from me!”
Her hand touched the other's wrist. "Keep it quiet," she said
Right then, Elena stepped back. She moved without delay.
“No.”
For years, she swallowed stories that weren’t true. Lies piled up, one after another. Trust wore thin under constant false words. Each deception carved a small crack. Now nothing sounded honest anymore.
Her eyes darted left then right just before she whispered her first word. She spoke softer once the room felt too full of ears.
“The night your mother died… she came to my house.”
Elena froze.
“What?”
Sophia looked guilty now.
“She looked terrified.”
Everything near her seemed to fade away.
“She said someone was following her.”
Frost crept along her back like a slow finger of ice.
“What are you talking about?”
“She told my parents not to mention it to anyone if something happened.”
Elena stared at her in disbelief.
“You knew this the whole time?”
Sophia’s eyes filled with tears. “My father told me never to speak about it.”
Fury burst through Elena without warning.
“So you watched me mourn her for three years while keeping this from me?”
“I was trying to protect you!”
“From what?!”
Fear showed clearly on Sophia's face just then.
“I don’t know.”
Yet Elena couldn’t tell truth from fiction anymore.
A sharp ring split the quiet - her phone lit up once more.
Unknown Number.
Sophia pulled away without delay.
“Elena, don’t answer it.”
Yet Elena had already tapped confirm.
A hush sat on the call, just breathing space between words. Then nothing moved but time.
A man's voice came through, twisted somehow.
“Room 317.”
Right then, the call just stopped.
Elena’s stomach twisted.
Sophia looked terrified. “What did they say?”
Elena slowly looked at the silver key still in her hand.
“Room 317.”
Sophia clutched her wrist tight. Not a chance, she said under her breath
“I need answers.”
“This is dangerous.”
“My mother was scared before she died, Sophia!”
Sound broke in her throat, sharp like glass.
“And now somebody is threatening me too.”
Sophia looked helpless.
Her back faced the room just as feeling started to unravel.
Later that night, drops tapped at the windows once more.
A lone figure, Elena moved up the hushed steps toward the campus structure that seemed long since left behind.
The silver key shook between her fingers. She held it tight, unsure why everything felt suddenly unsteady.
Third floor.
Hallway 300.
301.
305.
310.
Then finally.
317.
A creaky door waited without sound down the hall.
Elena’s breathing became uneven.
Her gut screamed run. Still she stayed.
But she couldn’t.
Not anymore.
Into the lock went the key, her hand moving slow.
Click.
The door opened.
Darkness greeted her.
Elena moved into the room with quiet caution.
Oldness hung in the air, like the space had been left behind. Dust settled where time stood still.
A lone light stood among crates, resting on a tabletop thick with dust.
Across the wall, photos caught her eye, fastened up like secrets. She looked again when one frame tilted slightly out of line.
Her mother.
Dozens of pictures.
Some recent.
Some old.
Some taken secretly.
Fear sat tight across Elena’s ribs. A cold grip it was, pressing without sound.
What was this place?
Something caught her gaze as it wandered past each corner of the room. Then came a pause - her stare fixed on just that last image hanging there.
This moment froze her from head to toe.
It was a picture of her mother arguing with Adrian Vale.
Others were there too.
Right there next to them stood a face Elena knew without needing a second look.
Her father.
Footsteps broke the silence beyond the door without warning.
For a second, Elena couldn’t breathe. Her chest tightened like it had frozen mid-motion.
Someone was coming.
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