MasukSomeone said they needed another chapter, so here it is. Love you all ❤️
Third person POV:The first thing Aurora became aware of was the pain in her head.It throbbed steadily behind her eyes, growing sharper whenever she tried to move. For a few seconds she remained still, confused by the unfamiliar softness beneath her and the faint scent of expensive wood and leather surrounding her.She opened her eyes.A large sitting room stretched before her, beautifully furnished with dark wooden furniture, deep leather chairs, and floor-to-ceiling windows covered by heavy curtains. Everything looked expensive, but there was something cold about the room that made her feel as though she'd been placed inside a beautiful cage.She tried to sit up. Pain shot through the back of her head, and she instinctively raised a hand to it.The memory returned.Noah. Her breath caught. She remembered him apologizing, remembered believing him, remembered following him away from the classroom because she thought he wanted to show her something. Then his hand. The wall. The phone
MaxwellThe moment Dad ended the call, Alec and I separated without needing to discuss what we were going to do.We needed to find Noah.The blood on the floor had erased every trace of the jealousy and irritation we'd been carrying only minutes earlier. Whatever had happened between Aurora and Noah, it wasn't a harmless conversation, and the longer we stood there wondering where she was, the more time whoever had taken her had to get away.We started with the students.Alec moved through the corridor asking anyone who had been in the old wing whether they had seen Noah. I went in the opposite direction, stopping students as they came out of their classrooms and showing them his picture on my phone.Most of them shook their heads."No, I haven't seen him.""I think I saw him earlier, but I'm not sure.""Wasn't he in Professor Hale's class?""Maybe try the cafeteria."Nothing. Not a single useful answer. I was beginning to feel the frustration building again when one student finally st
MaxwellAurora had been gone ten minutes.She'd told us she was going to her locker to get a notebook, and there was nothing unusual about that. The lockers weren't far from our classroom, and she had no reason to be gone this long. Still, I kept glancing at the door every few seconds, half expecting her to walk back in complaining about how heavy her bag was.Alec noticed me looking."She's fine," he said, though he'd checked the door himself twice in the last minute."I know."Neither of us believed it enough to stop watching.Then the door opened, and a girl from the next class slipped in and made her way toward us."Hey," she said. "I saw Aurora a few minutes ago. So that you know."I sat up. "Where?""Near her locker. She was talking to Noah."The name landed like a stone dropped into still water."Noah," Alec repeated flatly.The girl nodded, oblivious to what she'd just set off, and wandered back to her seat.I felt the irritation rise before I could stop it. Of course. Noah. A
AuroraThe morning had gone better than I expected. After everything of the past few days, I had feared that returning to school would feel different, yet the familiar faces and ordinary noise of university life offered something I hadn’t realized I needed: normalcy. For a few hours I could almost forget that Richard was dead, that someone had been looking for me, and that the safety I had only recently begun to believe in might not be permanent.Alec and Maxwell were still in class when I remembered the notebook left in my locker. I had promised Professor Hale I would bring it to the next lecture and did not want to spend the afternoon explaining another forgetful moment.“I’ll be right back,” I told the twins.Maxwell barely glanced up from his phone. “Don’t get lost.”“It’s a hallway, Maxwell.”“You’d be surprised.”Alec laughed softly. “I’ll see you in a few minutes.”I smiled and stepped into the corridor. I had barely made it halfway to the lockers when someone called my name.“
AlecI woke to the faint sound of Aurora breathing beside me. For a few seconds, I remained still, trying to remember where I was. Then the events of the night returned all at once.The way Aurora had screamed out of her sleep due to the bad dream she had, and the terrified look on her face when she asked us to stay. I turned toward her and found that she was still asleep, curled beneath the blankets with one hand tucked beneath her cheek. Her face looked peaceful now, nothing like the terrified expression she'd worn when she'd woken screaming.Maxwell was still asleep on the floor beside the bed, his back resting against the mattress and his head tilted awkwardly to one side.I glanced at the clock.It was barely past six.Carefully, I stood and stretched the stiffness from my shoulders before checking on Aurora again. She stirred at the movement, her eyelashes fluttering."Aurora?"Her eyes opened slowly.For a moment, confusion crossed her face. Then she remembered where she was.
AuroraBy the time we got home that evening, I was tired even though I had barely done anything. I couldn't figure out why I felt this shadow-like heaviness all morning. I figured maybe sleeping enough could fix it. I was halfway up the staircase when Alec’s voice stopped me.“Aurora.”I turned. He and Maxwell were standing in the foyer. Neither of them had taken off their jackets yet. Something about the way they looked at me made my stomach tighten.“Can we talk?” Alec asked quietly.I nodded. “Of course.”They led me into one of the smaller sitting rooms overlooking the gardens. The evening sun streamed through the windows, bathing the room in soft golden light, but it did little to ease the uneasiness creeping through me. Neither of them sat immediately. Maxwell rubbed the back of his neck while Alec remained standing with his hands tucked into his pockets. Neither looked like they wanted to be the first to speak.My heartbeat quickened. “What happened?”Alec looked at Maxwell







