Chapter 9

Later on in the night, Lexie had fallen asleep. The same could not be said for Arder, despite it being long past four in the morning. She tried to relax, but it was as if her mind wouldn't stop spinning. She just laid wide awake, listening to the sounds of the night. She heard cars drive past the house, a sound she usually couldn't hear from Adam's house. Then there was the strange noise that sounded like it was right outside. It sounded like someone drowning or choking.

Arder quietly got up from the bed, checking if the creak of the floorboards woke Lexie. When Arder decided the girl was still snoring soundly, she walked over to the window. The strong wind made the branches of the tall oak tree dance back and forth, blocking the view of what was past it.

Arder heard the noise getting louder, like it was just past the tree. With both arms out in front of her, she walked through the darkness of the bedroom until she found the door. Arder wrapped her hand around the cold metal knob and slowly pulled it open. She creeped down the stairs, continuing out to the front porch.

The wind shut the door behind her with a piercingly loud slam, making her pray that Lexie and her parents were still asleep. Arder waited, making sure no one was coming to investigate, then walked down the front path.

She didn't see anyone or anything outside at first, and the noise seemed to have stopped. Arder concluded it was just her imagination running wild because of the lack of sleep. She turned to walk back inside, but she immediately froze in her tracks. She heard it again. The sound was louder this time, as if it was directly behind her. When she looked around though, there was nothing.

"Hello?" she called out. There was no reply, except for the gush of wind throwing her hair behind her shoulders. Arder wrapped her arms around herself, trying to keep warm. That's when she saw him.

"Cyrus?" she asked, louder than before. The man on the street looked exactly how Arder remembered her father's best friend.

Arder ran down the pathway until she reached the sidewalk, where the man was standing in the middle of the road. She was right-- it was Cyrus. She sprinted towards him, prepared to hug him. That's when she noticed something. His hand was balled up in a fist against his chest. He stared past her, as if she wasn't even there.

"Cyrus?" She touched the hand he seemed to shelter against himself. He flinched and fell forward, balancing himself by grabbing her shoulder. That's when Arder saw the hand that used to be on his chest, the hand now clutching her.

The inside of his palm was covered in blood, leaving a red hand-shaped stain on her shirt when he let go. Arder's eyes followed his fist to its original spot on his chest. There she saw the hilt of a knife; the same knife she saw in Sophie's heart.

"Cyrus?" she cried in disbelief. Arder grabbed his shoulders and helped him until he was sitting on his knees. From there he fell to the ground, his body contracting in pain. He still hadn't spoken, but the choking noise from earlier had morphed into screaming. She got up and saw the blood that had pooled around her. The knees of her pants were soaked in it.

Arder felt a tear leave her eye, her heart aching to see him like this. She would rather have not seen him at all. She put a hand reassuringly on his shoulder before sprinting up to the house to call an ambulance.

"Arder?" Lexie called, once her friend stepped inside. Arder looked around but didn't see her anywhere.

"Lexie, where are you?" Arder yelled in desperation.

She felt something weird on her shoulders. That was when everything turned to darkness again.

"Are you okay?" Lexie asked.

The room came into focus after that. Arder was back in Lexie's bedroom, the sky outside no longer dark and the clock on the wall reading 9:27 AM. Arder ran her hand under her eyes, brushing off the tears that had fallen in her sleep.

"Just a dream," she replied.

These weren't Arder's usual nightmares anymore-- they were much worse. She hadn't dreamt about Cyrus in a long time. He was her last connection to her dad, but the man who practically raised her was gone. Arder wanted to forget about him just as much as she missed him; he had been her father's best friend after all. She just didn't understand why these dreams were happening now.

"Are you sure you have to go?" Lexie questioned from the doorway, a cup of coffee in hand. Arder nodded and walked towards her. They headed downstairs, and Arder put on her shoes. That was when Lexie's father strolled into the hall.

"Oh, Arder. I didn't know you were here. I need to speak with Lexie," he said, holding the door open behind him and motioning for the redhead to step out. He had the phone between his head and his shoulder, and he was holding a notebook open. As far as Arder knew, he was always this busy.

"Hey, I'll see you Monday?" Lexie asked her friend.

Arder nodded before exiting. There, she could still faintly hear Lexie speaking to her father inside. However, it sounded a lot more like yelling than talking.

________

The mansion looked exactly as it always did. Arder knew she had to go inside to face her mother, but she hated the mansion and hated Adam. She turned the doorknob and entered before she had the chance to talk herself out of it. This was something she had to do.

"Mom?" she called down the long hallway. Seconds later, she heard the click of her mother's heels approaching.

"There you are, your father already le--"

"He's not my father," Arder interrupted.

She hated when her mother did that. Aubrey knew he wasn't Arder's father, but she would continue to make that mistake. It wasn't even much of a mistake anymore-- her mother genuinely wished Adam was her daughter's dad.

Arder had never wanted to move in to Adam's house. Her mother had made her. After that, the young girl made it all too clear that she didn't like her stepfather. She would do anything to move back to her grandmother's old house; anything to not have to live with that man.

"Honest mistake," her mother smiled. It wasn't genuine though; it was always a fake smile with her. When Aubrey met Adam, everything changed. They never talked about Arder's father anymore. It was like her mother was a different person.

"What was my father's name?" Arder suddenly demanded. Her mother had never told her when they did talk about him; all she would say was that he was a great man. Arder was happy with that when she was younger... At least they had been talking about him. But the human mind works that way: the older it gets, the harder it is to satisfy.

"I'm not getting into this with you. I'm late for work," Aubrey said, pushing past her daughter.

"Just tell me something about him. I don't care what it is," Arder yelled at her retreating back. Her mother stopped abruptly and turned back around.

"Don't yell in the house," her mother snapped with a cold glare that would make anyone back off. Then she walked outside and slammed the door behind her. Arder quickly opened it again and followed Aubrey to the car.

"Tell me, or I'm leaving," she demanded. All her mother did was open the car door and step inside, not even bothering to reply.