Chapter 11
1165 Words
"Mom?"
Eve didn’t know what she expected to walk into, but it definitely wasn’t this.
Naomi stood in the middle of her room, clutching Caelum by the ear like she was trying to discipline a giraffe.
Which, to be fair, wasn’t far off.
Caelum, all six-foot-too-many of him, was bent over like a broken streetlamp just to stay attached to her grip.
His knees looked like they were seconds from giving up, and his neck was angled at a level of discomfort.
He looked both confused and deeply apologetic, like, 'I don’t know what I did but I’m definitely never doing it again.'
For a second, Eve just blinked.
How did she even get into the house without her hearing?
Naomi didn’t say a word at first. She was halfway to the door already, still dragging Caelum behind her like a misbehaving shopping cart. But when she saw Eve, she stopped.
Slowly, dramatically, she turned, still clutching Caelum’s ear like it was a doorknob, and fixed Eve with that look.
The one that said 'I’m not even mad yet. I’m still warming up.'
Eve felt her soul shrink three sizes. She tried to stay calm, but her mouth beat her brain to the punch.
“I can explain,” she said, immediately regretting it.
Naomi tilted her head slightly. “Oh, you can explain alright. When your father gets here.”
Eve’s jaw dropped. “Wait—you called Dad?!”
“Yes, I called your father. What would you do if you walked into your daughter’s room and found some tall stranger sitting on her bed like he pays rent, and he casually tells you he’s waiting for her?!”
“Mom, he’s not a stranger, he’s just—”
“Still a boy I don’t know, in your room, waiting for you, sitting on your bed! What am I supposed to think?” she snapped, full mom-volume now.
Before Eve could answer, Naomi reached out and pinched her ear, too.
“OWW! MOM—seriously!”
“Don’t be dramatic,” Naomi said, already dragging them both toward the hallway. “You’re fine.”
Eve glanced sideways at Caelum, who now looked like he was part of a low-budget medieval punishment scene.
His ear was firetruck red. He shot her a helpless look like, 'please tell me this is normal in your house.'
She mouthed sorry.
He tried to smile, but with the angle he was at, it came out as more of a polite grimace and a quiet plea for medical attention.
Eve barely had time to think as they were herded toward the stairs, ears in custody.
This is bad, she thought. This is 'my life is over' bad.
Because how do you explain to your parents that a very tall, very attractive, and very much unfamiliar guy was 'waiting for you' in your room?
☾ ⋆･ﾟ:⋆･ﾟ: ✧ :･ﾟ*⋆:･ﾟ*⋆ ☽
“-Lyn! Everlyn!”
The sound of her full name cut through the fog in Eve’s brain like a slap from the Holy Spirit.
She blinked, snapping out of whatever mental void she’d drifted into, and looked up.
Naomi and Jonathan sat across from her and Caelum on the long, L-shaped designer sofa—rich mahogany wood legs, cream velvet cushions, gold embroidery that whispered we have money and we know it.
She and Cal were on the three-seater opposite, each perched on the far ends like emotionally repressed statues, leaving a full seat of awkward air between them.
“Yes?” Eve said, blinking like she’d just returned from another dimension.
“Did you hear a single word we just said?” Jonathan asked, brow raised, voice tight with irritation and parental betrayal.
Eve blinked again and glanced sideways only to catch Caelum already looking at her.
His expression was… unreadable. Calm, quiet, intense. It was always intense.
She tried to look away. She really did. But there was something about his eyes, like they had gravity.
Pulling her in, drawing her thoughts straight out of her skull.
Don’t stare. Don’t stare. Don't—
COUGH.
The sound was theatrical enough to be a threat.
Eve snapped her gaze back to reality, and found her mother watching her with one perfectly arched brow and a look that screamed: Really? In the middle of a lecture? With us still in the room?
“Sorry,” Eve mumbled. Then louder, “But—to be fair, it’s not what it looks like.”
She sighed dramatically, like that would help.
Jonathan leaned forward slightly, resting his elbows on his knees like a man ready to deliver a TED Talk on Disappointment.
“Little lady, I thought we raised you well enough to know—”
Eve held up her hand, already reciting the words like scripture.
“—To know that I shouldn’t be sneaking around with boys because that’s how girls end up pregnant, and you want to meet any guy I’m interested in so you can run a full background check and decide if he’s good enough for me. Yes, Dad. I know.”
She resisted the urge to roll her eyes so hard they’d spin out of her head.
Naomi narrowed her eyes. “You’re forgetting the important part, sweetheart.”
Jonathan’s voice softened, but his grin turned mischievous. “That we care about you. And we’d like to know who finally cracked the code on our emotionally constipated, romantically avoidant daughter.”
“Dad,” Eve groaned.
Cal looked like he was trying very hard not to laugh.
She turned to him and whispered, “Don’t. You’ll make it worse.”
Just then, Elias walked in.
He didn’t say a word. His eyes scanned the room slowly—Naomi, Jonathan, Eve…
Then they landed on Caelum. And suddenly, he collapsed.
But before he hit the floor, Caelum was already gone from the couch.
In a blink, he caught Elias before his body hit the ground.
Everyone froze.
Jonathan blinked like he couldn’t believe what he’d just seen. Naomi’s mouth opened but no sound came out.
Right then, Jayden came in behind Elias.
He pointed wide-eyed at Caelum. “How-how did he move like that?”
No one had time to answer. Because that’s when the doors burst open.
A group of people came in wearing dark clothes, one would think they were gonna get robbed.
Their eyes…were black. One lunged at Naomi, knocking her down before she could scream.
Another grabbed Jonathan, holding a cloth over his nose.
Two came for Eve, trapping her fast. She struggled, fought, but they were too strong.
Someone snatched Elias, dragging him away.
And three went straight for Caelum, like they knew he was the real fight.
Caelum fought back hard, glowing eyes fierce. But even he was outnumbered.
One slammed him down, another pressed a cloth to his face.
He reached toward Eve—
And then—
Everything went black.
- Writer
