Their Group Chat Hinted Murder, I Stayed

Chapter 4

I stared at her back, frozen in place for ages, my mind completely blank.

I couldn't summon even a sliver of the courage I'd need to run after her. Luckily, I had no classes the next day. I shot Donald a text, lying that I was heading home to visit my family. In reality, I hailed a cab straight to the old alley where I grew up.

So many years have passed, just thinking about those old days still makes my chest feel tight with a weird mix of sadness and nostalgia.

Back then, when my best friend died suddenly from illness, I cried myself to sleep every single night. I ended up depressed for ages after that. My parents were desperate to get me out of that environment so I could start fresh, so they bought an apartment in the city and moved us there.

This old house in the suburbs had been sitting empty ever since. Blotches of rust covered the iron gate. When I pulled it open, it let out a high, screeching creak that made my ears ring.

Right as I was about to shut the gate behind me, the neighbor's door creaked open a c***k from the inside. A disheveled man with dark circles under his eyes and the unmistakable reek of alcohol on him was peering through the gap, staring right at me, unblinking.

He gaped at me for a long moment, then asked, voice wobbly with uncertainty. "Eliana Thod? Is that you?"

I nodded. I recognized him right away. Felix, the old neighbor who used to buy milk candies for me and Alissa all the time when we were little.

"Hi, Felix," I greeted him politely.

His face lit up immediately, and he swung the door all the way open. "Kiddo, you haven't come back to visit in years! Come on in, sit for a bit. What brings you back here so late in the night? Missed the old place?"

I turned him down gently, keeping my tone polite. "I just couldn't sleep, so I popped back to look around a bit. It's already so late tonight, I'll swing by tomorrow with some good food and drinks, and we can chat properly then, yeah?"

Felix agreed right away.

Early the next morning, he went out and bought a whole bunch of fruit, scrubbed every piece until it was spotless and laid it all out on the table for me.

After I sat down, my eyes landed unexpectedly on a handful of milk candies sitting on the coffee table.

Felix smiled softly. "Remember these? You and Alissa used to go crazy for them. It's such a shame she passed so young. I still head to her grave every now and then, bringing her all her favorite snacks and drinks."

My throat felt tight all of a sudden, and my eyes stung. "It's all my fault. I haven't come back to visit you or Alissa in all these years," I said, my voice thick.

Scared I'd burst into tears right there, Felix quickly switched the subject, asking me all about how I'd been lately.

I answered each one as it came.

We were chatting away comfortably when the front door suddenly clicked open. I turned my head, and my gaze locked straight with Alice, who was just stepping through the door.

Her eyes went wide for a split second, her pupils shrinking to tiny dots.

But she recovered her composure in a heartbeat, her face blank as she thumped the groceries she'd just bought down on the table. "Who is this?" she asked him, looking at me.

"She's the girl who used to live next door back in the day. She came all this way to visit old friends," Felix said.

I stood up, playing along perfectly like we'd never met before in our lives. "Hi, I'm Eliana Thod."

Alice scoffed and jabbed a finger straight at the door. "Get out. Get the hell out of my house. I don't want strangers here!"

Felix scrambled to calm her down."Don't be ridiculous! Eliana went through all the trouble to come visit. The least we can do is have her stay for a meal before she leaves." With that, his eyes flicked to the few bags of groceries Alice had just brought in. "You two hang tight, I'll go whip up something delicious right now. Eliana, don't you go anywhere, okay?"

I agreed with a smile, but the second I turned my head, I locked eyes with Alice, and her eyes were blazing with rage.

She clamped down on my arm, hauled me into the bedroom, and slammed the door shut behind her with a deafening BANG. She was drenched in sweat, her chest heaving like she'd just run a mile. It was obvious she was tangled up in a frantic internal fight.

I just watched her, cold and impassive.

Finally, she lifted her head again. "You can't stay for dinner. You have to leave."