GREETINGS FROM W

Six

I left the villa and started my dad’s car. Kaela said Aleyn would drive her back home, and the rest would probably spend the night with Shadow.

I still felt like a stranger between them. The fact that I left Waveland and they all stayed in our hometown changed a lot of things. They were still closed, maybe not like before, but they stayed by each others’ side.

I felt like I betrayed our friendship when I left, but then, I needed to leave the city. My high school years weren’t the best as I dated the wrong people who ended up hurting me and humiliating me. There were times when I heard people whispering behind my back and laughing at me with their groups of friends. Back then, I thought I was at fault, that I was bad and that I should’ve been ashamed. But now that I was older, I understood that the only mistake I’ve made was to trust people.

Leaving Waveland for a few years did help me restore my life, and be far from my past. No one knew me outside my hometown, and no one judged me.

I drove back home, and I found my mum setting the table for dinner.

“You’re here,” she smiled. “I made pizzas.”

“Great.” I smiled back, “I missed your cooking, mum.”

She chuckled, “Oh, I know you did,” she put her hair behind her ears and walked out the dining room proudly.

“I’m jealous of you, you know,” I told my dad as I sat next to him, “You get to eat her food every day.”

“And I have bigger portions now that you and your sister left home,” he laughed.

“How’s Harper by the way?” I asked, thinking about my twenty-year-old sister who moved to another city in the south to study marketing.

“She says she’s fine,” my dad replied, “She’ll be back for the holidays in two months.”

“That’s great,” I smiled, “I didn’t get to talk to her much because of time difference.”

Mum came back with the pizzas, and I hurried to wash my hands before I joined them in the table. I looked at the food like a feline waiting to attack its prey.

“Were you with your friends?” mum asked, “How is Shadow?”

I shook my head and pressed my lips, “He’s exhausted, and I feel like it’s going to take some time before he feels better.”

Mum sighed, “I can’t imagine what it is to lose a brother this way. And he doesn’t even know if it was a suicide or something else.”

“I don’t know anymore either,” I said, thinking about the files he left in the pen drive. It looked like he knew he was going to die, and it was pretty convincing that he might have done it. But still, something didn’t click.

“You know, Wolfe came to visit us a few days before what happened,” she added.

I dropped the pizza slice in the plate and looked at her with wide eyes, “Really? Why?”

“It wasn’t the first time,” dad smiled, “He paid us a visit every once in a while when he had free time.”

I gulped and felt my chest tightening as I imagined Wolfe sitting in this same table and laughing with my parents to make them forget they were alone after their daughters’ departure.

“But the last time he was here, we noticed that something was off,” mum added, “If only we knew how to stop him.” she sighed and dad caressed her hand gently.

I stayed silent for a moment, looking down. “How... how was he?”

“As usual, he brought us chocolate and a flower bouquet. It’s still there.” mum smiled as she pointed to the peonies nicely put in a vase on the coffee table. “But he didn’t talk much that day. He commented some football stuff with your dad and complimented my cooking, but that was all. We would usually talk about his upcoming work, and his plans, but he didn’t say anything.”

“And he asked if he could spend some time in your room.” my dad said, pressing his lips.

“My room?” I raised an eyebrow.

Mum nodded, “He stayed there for a while, and when I went to check on him, I found him lying on your bed and looking at the photo album of you and your friends.”

No, I shouldn’t cry. Not in front of my parents.

I didn’t say a word and finished my pizza while they talked about things they’ve done or renovated in my absence.

“So, what are you planning to do sweetheart?” mum asked, “Are you going back there or staying?”

“I’m not sure yet,” I shrugged, “It’s not like I found a job or anything there. I’m mostly working online, releasing chapters on different platforms.”

“And do you like it?”

I nodded, “Well, I’m doing what I like the most, so it’s okay. It’s not exactly what I was expecting for my writing, but better start with this or nothing.” I smiled, “And the advantage is that I don’t need to be at a certain place. I only need a laptop and good wifi. So, I’ll be staying here for a while until I decide what to do next.”

Once in my room, the nostalgia hit me.

It started from doing my homework until late at night to my small gatherings with my friends. It was just a tiny space, and yet it bore many stories. In this room I cried, I dreamed about my crush, I broke up with my ex, I had late-night conversations with my friends, and I wrote my first book chapter.

I looked at my sheets and chuckled as I wondered how three years were enough for a huge change. They were pink, and with multicoloured hearts, and I remembered how happy I was when my mum bought them for me. Now, I opted more for neutral colours and simplicity. The ones I left in my studio apartment were white and grey, with no hearts.

I sat on my bed and sighed as I knew Wolfe was sitting on the same spot only a few days before. I wished I arrived in Waveland on that day and found him at home. If only I could talk to him and ask him what was wrong. I knew he would have told me as we never kept secrets from each other.

But I wasn’t there for him.

Being here in my room, looking at our pictures and staying there for a while proved that Wolfe didn’t leave consensually. Something or someone might have been bothering him for years, and we didn’t know anything about it. Someone forced him out of this world, and I couldn’t tolerate it.

I was alone in my room, and yet I could still feel his presence, his cries of help, and his fear. Wolfe was still in my bed, holding the album and crying for our beautiful memories.

The notification sound interrupted my thoughts. Aleyn sent something on the GEMSS group, and it was still strange to see that name on my phone.

I opened the conversation, and the last thing Aleyn sent was the file named GFW. It was the album.

I gulped, and my heart threatened to burst inside my chest as it stroke me. It was real, and Wolfe was serious when he left it for us. But the only thing I didn’t understand was why he didn’t contact us before his death. We could have discussed it, and he would have explained why he wanted us to be a group, and why he believed we could succeed.

I took my laptop out of my suitcase and turned it on. I sent the file to my email box and opened it. There were seven audio guides, and the rest were lyrics documents, instrumental recordings, etc.

But before I opened the first audio file, another notification sound interrupted. This time it was from Tyler.

‘Guys, look at the first letters of the songs.’

I raised an eyebrow and read the first letters of the titles. I didn’t get what Tyler meant at first, then I rested my back on the pillow and stared at the files until I saw it. Reading the titles horizontally looked like a standard album, but read vertically, the first letters formed two words; TRUST ME.