All Chapters of Ripples And Hills: Chapter 151 - Chapter 154

Alexa. Meanwhile. I finally get home from Martha’s. She found a place of her own, still kind enough to stick by me, even with Neil there. He was worried when he saw me crying but he didn’t press. Martha will tell him later, I guess. I didn’t tell her everything. Some things are too raw to say aloud. Killing someone, how do you put that into words? The night should be full of small promises. For me it’s full of dread. My thoughts keep snapping back to Hulio’s accusation about Helia and to Helia’s reaction, his silence that felt like a confession. He couldn’t defend himself. That silence is the thing that breaks me more than the accusation. I pull my legs up the steps to the front door and freeze when a shout rips through the air. A gunshot follows. I drop to the ground without thinking, crawling low to the door. My heart is in my mouth as I edge to a window and peer in. My breath dies in my throat. Erwin has Mum, Grandma, Jon and Aunt Anniika at gunpoint. Jon lies on the floor in

Helia. Friday, 6th February. A week later… Morning. I stand at my office window, watching snow drift past the glass. Coffee sits warm in my hand, but I barely taste it. I should feel something today, it’s our birthday. But all I feel is the weight of loss pressing down on me. My brother. The woman I love. Both gone, in different ways. The company staff didn’t dare sing that cursed song. I made it clear anyone who tried would lose their job. Still, solitude doesn’t bring me peace. It only amplifies the storm in me. My mind drags me back to a week ago, the night Alexa’s family nearly burned alive. The same night the Special Weapons team had to break into the Hills mansion to rescue the family, since one of them had already been shot. I remember the suffocating smell of petrol, when we stormed in. I remember Erwin’s frightened eyes, when he stared at Alexa, as he was cuffed. Alexa who had stepped out of the shadows, a storm herself, and had saved her family. She hadn’t flinched when