Chapter Thirty-Eight - Daddy dearest

I woke to an empty room.

The morning light was gray and thin, filtering through the curtains like water through cheesecloth. Ashley's bed was empty, the sheets tangled, her cat socks nowhere to be seen. Madden's spot on the floor was vacant, her laptop gone, her blanket folded in a neat square.

Myles was gone too.

I sat up, my heart racing. The floor beside my bed was bare. No blanket. No pillow. No evidence that he'd been there at all.

But his jacket was still draped over the foot of the bed.

He wouldn't leave without his jacket.

I pulled on my shoes and walked into the hallway.

---

The common room was empty at this hour.

A few students sat in the corners, heads bent over textbooks, earbuds in, lost in their own worlds. The vending machines hummed their fluorescent hymn. The coffee maker in the corner gurgled and steamed.

Myles was standing by the window, his back to me, his hands in his pockets.

I walked up beside him.

“Hey.”

Myles turned around, acknowledging me. “Hey, how did you sleep?”

“Good, where is everyone?” I asked taking an almost broken chair beside him.

“Well Ashley is in the Library and I don’t know about Madden.”

“Okay…..do you want to talk about it?”

“About what?” He raised an eyebrow.

“Something is bothering you, it’s written all over your face.

He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I just keep thinking about that video. About someone watching you. About someone following you to the lake and filming everything."

"And?"

"And I wasn't there. I should have been there. I should have gone with you."

"How is that your fault?”

"You should have woken me." His voice cracked. "What if something had happened? What if whoever was filming had decided to hurt you? I wouldn't have known. I wouldn't have been able to stop it."

"But nothing happened."

"Something did happen. Someone set you up for murder. Someone sent you a video that could put you in prison for the rest of your life." He turned to face me, his eyes wet. "That's not nothing, Alexa."

I reached for his hand. He let me take it.

"I'm okay," I said. "I'm here. I'm safe.”

He squeezed my hand. Neither of us spoke for a long moment.

Then my phone buzzed.

I looked down at the screen.

Professor Vance: Miss James. I hope you'll stop by my office today. 11 AM. I've been meaning to properly welcome you to campus. Please come by.

“Oh shoot! I forgot about meeting Vance.”

Myles looked over my shoulder. "You're not going."

"It’s either this or we just keep guessing.”

"Then I'm coming with you."

"He said office. Not offices."

"Then I'll wait outside."

I wanted to argue. But I could see in his eyes that there was no point.

"Fine," I said. "But you stay in the hallway. You don't come in unless I call for you."

"Deal."

---

Professor Vance's office was on the second floor of the BioMed building.

The hallway was quiet, the doors closed, the lights dim. Myles stationed himself against the wall outside, his arms crossed, his eyes watchful.

I knocked on the door.

"Come in," Vance's voice called.

I stepped inside.

The office was warm, inviting even. Bookshelves lined the walls, filled with journals and texts and binders. A large desk sat in the center of the room, covered in papers and a laptop and a photograph of a woman I assumed was his wife. A small couch sat near the window, piled with pillows.

Professor Vance sat behind the desk, his glasses perched on his nose. He stood when I entered, a warm smile spreading across his face.

"Miss James," he said, extending his hand. "Thank you for coming. Please, sit."

I shook his hand. His grip was firm, dry, professional. Then I sat in the chair across from his desk.

"Can I get you anything? Coffee? Tea? Water?"

"I'm fine, thank you."

He settled back into his chair, folding his hands on the desk. "I've been meaning to reach out since you arrived on campus. I like to personally welcome all new transfer students, especially those in the psychology department."

"I appreciate that."

"Westbrook can be overwhelming at first. The classes are rigorous, the expectations are high, and the campus..." He chuckled. "Well, the campus has a mind of its own."

"It's been an adjustment."

"I imagine so." He studied my face. "You remind me of someone I knew, years ago. Same eyes. Same determination."

"Who?"

"A student. Brilliant. Driven. Full of questions." He shook his head. "She transferred out after her first year. Went to a school across the country. I always wondered what happened to her."

I said nothing.

"How are your classes? Professor Hans tells me you're excelling in Abnormal Psych."

"He's a good teacher."

"He's one of our best. Demanding, but fair." Vance leaned back in his chair. "And how are you settling in socially? Made any friends?"

"A few."

"Good. Good. It's important to have a support system. This campus can be isolating if you let it."

We talked for another twenty minutes. About classes. About professors. About the best places to eat off campus and the coffee shop that stayed open latest. He asked about my interests, my plans after graduation, my thoughts on the psychology program.

Nothing about Alice. Nothing about the lab. Nothing about the basement or the freezer or the dead girls.

Just conversation. Normal, easy, almost pleasant conversation.

It was unsettling.

---

The office door swung open.

A figure walked in. Tall. Broad. Familiar.

Derek.

"Oh," he said, stopping when he saw me. "Sorry dad, didn't know you had company."

Dad?!

Then he looked directly at my face again. “Oh hey, Nova.”

“Hi, Derek.”

“Oh you have met my son?

“Yeah, I know Myles..so..”

He nodded in agreement.

Derek walked to the desk and picked up a folder. "Mom wants to know if you're coming home for dinner."

"Tell her I'll be there at seven."

Derek nodded and walked out, closing the door behind him.

My heart was pounding.

Derek was Vance's son. Myles's roommate. The guy who left his dirty laundry on the floor and played shooting games until 2am

---

I left Vance's office at 11:45 AM.

Myles pushed off the wall immediately. "How was it?"

"Normal. Too normal. He just wanted to welcome me to campus."

"No mention of Alice?"

"None."

"No mention of the lab?"

"Nothing."

Myles frowned. "That's weird."

"I know."

We walked out of the building together, the cold air hitting our faces.

“So when were you going to tell me about Derek?”

“What’s up with him?”

“Well I don’t know except from the fact that he is Professor Vance’s son.”

“What?” He scoffed, “Derek? I honestly had no idea.”

“It is so shocking.”

"What now?" he asked.

"Now I have another meeting."

"With who?"

"My father."

Myles stopped walking. "Alexa…”

"I have to. He's been trying to reach me. I need to hear what he has to say."

“Alexa he was threatening you.”

“I know, but he is still my dad.” I looked at Myles, “And the only family I have right now.”

He stared at me for a long moment. Then he nodded.

"Where?"

"The chapel. Noon."

"I'm coming with you."

"Deal."

---

The chapel was dark when I arrived.

The door was open, the chains loose, the same way I'd left them. The air was cold, damp, heavy with the smell of mold and old wood.

My father was sitting in the front pew, his head bowed, his hands clasped in his lap. No mask. No black clothes. Just a man in a worn jacket and jeans, waiting.

"Alexa," he said. "Thank you for coming."

“Myles is waiting outside, I don’t really want to waste time here.”

I sat in the pew behind him. Not next to him. Not yet.

"I want to know why you have been following me and what you are protecting me from.”

He turned to face me. “ I was trying to scare you away. Because I knew what you were getting into. I can’t lose another daughter."

"Then why are you here now? Why aren't you still hiding?"

"Because you're not going to stop. I can see that now. You're just like your mother."

The words hit me like stones.

"Tell me about her," I said. "How was she like?"

He took a deep breath.

And he told me everything.

--

"I’m really sorry I left," he said. "I just didn’t know how to be a father and when I mess up you and Alice would have been alone."

"We were alone anyway."

"I know." His voice cracked. "I know, and I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

The tears came then.

I didn't want them to. I tried to hold them back, to keep them locked inside where they'd been living for years. But they came anyway. Hot and fast and unstoppable.

"I hate you," I sobbed. "I hate you for leaving. I hate you for lying. I hate you for letting me think I was alone."

"I know."

"Do you know how many foster homes I lived in? How many nights I stayed awake wondering if anyone would ever come for me?"

"I know."

"Do you know what it felt like to watch Alice's casket lower into the ground and realize I had no one left?"

His face crumbled. Tears streamed down his cheeks.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I'm so sorry."

"That doesn't fix anything."

"I know."

"Then why are you here?"

He stood up. Walked to my pew. Knelt in front of me.

"Because I'm tired of running," he said. "Because I want to be your father. If you'll let me."

I looked at him. At the tears on his face and the guilt in his eyes. At the man who had abandoned me and the man who was trying to come back.

I didn't know if I could forgive him.

But I knew I needed him.

The chapel doors creaked.

We both turned.

No one was there.

But the wind had picked up, rattling the broken windows, sending leaves skittering across the floor.

"You should go," my father said. "Before someone sees you with me."

"What about you?"

"I'll be around. I'm not leaving again."

I stood up. Walked to the door. Paused.

"Dad?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you."

I walked out before he could respond.

---

Myles was waiting outside.

"You're crying," he said.

"I know."

"What happened?"

"I'll tell you later."

We walked back to the dorm in silence.

The campus was quiet, the paths empty, the world unchanged.

But everything had changed.

I had a father.

---

My phone buzzed as we reached the dorm.

A text from an unknown number.

Enjoy your chat with daddy dearest?

My blood ran cold.

Another text.

You're not the only one with secrets, Alexa.

Another.

The chapel has ears.