A R I A

Back at Miles' house, Gabe is making frantic phone calls while Kristen is busy squeezing the life out of her son with the occasional scolding. I sit beside Paul on the couch in front of the television. Every local news channel has something or the other about Michael Prescott, some even showing the raw footage of the crime scene at my old house. The volume is set at low, but even then I can hear every word perfectly. 

"You okay, kid?" Uncle Paul lightly bumps his shoulder against mine. 

I sigh with my lips pressed together, hugging my knees to my chest and keep my eyes on the TV. I had called up Joyce earlier to make sure both she and Hailey were safe, and then each of my friends. Sure, maybe I was being a little too paranoid in the car with Miles, but could you really blame me? Michael is up to no good, as usual. But this time, I have this gut feeling that whatever he has planned might be worse than the pain of the bullet he shot into my body.

"Now that I know all of you are still in one piece, yeah, I guess," I say with humour in my voice, but I meant every word.

Uncle Paul frowns, then grabs the remote and switches off the TV. "You don't need to see whatever crap they show on there. You've already been through enough, and you already know what's going on. There's no need to further torture yourself."

I only smile in thanks. He's right. He's always right, just like Dad was.

"You know, when the hospital called and said you and Miles weren't there, we had just gotten the news about Michael an hour later. You scared the life out of me, Aria. And everyone else." Paul says.

"I know," I say quietly. "and I'm so sorry we were gone for that long, too. I just . . . I had to see them."

I look up, only to see something flicker across his face. I don't know what it is, but I don't dwell on it.

"You visited your parents?" He inquires, a sad smile replacing his frown. "I'm glad, kid. They must miss you as much as you miss them. It's about time you stopped by to say hello to them."

Say hello to them? It felt like I was saying goodbye all over again.

"Aria," Uncle Paul continues. "I know I'm not your dad, and I know no one could ever compare to Kyan. But I want you to know that I do love you like my own daughter."

This is what he thinks? Paul was and still is like a second father to me, just as Lydia is my second mother. They were the two people who were always there for me after my parents' death, and in spite of all my troubles, they haven't given up on me. If it weren't for them, I'd probably be in foster care right now.

"You're right—no one could ever compare to Dad, but that doesn't mean I love or think of you any less, Paul," I admit, catching him off guard when I throw my arms around him a hug similar to the one Kris gave to Miles. 

"Aw, stop it, you'll make me cry." Uncle Paul wipes away a fake tear after I pull away from the embrace, letting his grin slip out. "I'm gonna go see what Gabe's up to, alright? When Lydia comes back, she'll probably ask about her Oreos. I had nothing to do with it."

I laugh, nodding while I watch him disappear into the kitchen. My gaze wanders across the room and lands on Miles, who is desperately trying to escape another one of Kristen's lectures. He catches me staring and looks at me with pleading eyes, but before I can step in, Aunt Lydia returns with a fresh set of clothes for me.

"Sorry I took so long. I got caught up with these," She holds up a packet of Oreos and shoves one cookie into her mouth. Lydia was still addicted to Oreos just as most smokers are to cigarettes. 

"It took you over forty minutes to retrieve a random shirt and a pair of sweats for me from right next door?" I quirk a brow at her and take the clothes from her hands.

"No, it took me over forty minutes to find this pack—"she holds up the packet again, "—that your uncle had hid from me. Oh, and, Teen Wolf was on TV. I'm sorry, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity, okay? It hasn't been aired since the season finale years ago!"

Did I mention she is also addicted to Teen Wolf? The fact that her name was also one of the characters' doesn't help her obsession.

"You know we have Netflix, right?" I point out.

"It's not the same!" She scoffs, crossing her arms over her chest. Aunt Lydia scrunches her face and lets her arms fall back to her sides. "Where is Paul? I have to have a little talk with him about his obsession with hiding my Oreos."

"He's talking with Gabe," I answer, stroking my fingers over the fabric in my lap. The feel of the material in my hands is unfamiliar. I look down and examine the clothing. They're about my size, but they aren't mine.

"Um, Aunt Lyd?"

She hums in response, licking the cream off of the Oreo like I used to do when I was a kid before she stuffs the rest of the cookie into her mouth.

"These are Mom's clothes," I blurt.

She stops chewing. Her gaze flickers from my face to the clothes. Aunt Lydia's eyes shut and she pinches the bridge of her nose before she swallows and mutters something under her breath, most likely a curse word.

"Crap," she exhales, opening her eyes again. "I'm sorry, Aria. I just grabbed whatever I saw first. Let me go back and get—"

"Don't worry, Lydia. I'll go get it," I shoot her a small smile. "Plus, who knows, you'll probably take another hour."

Aunt Lydia glares at me in a playful manner. Nonetheless, she nods and sighs while taking off her watch.

"Okay, fine. But if you're going to go, can you put this back for me in that little red box on my side of our closet?"

I take it from her and furrow my brows. The watch looks familiar. I turn it over, revealing two initials engraved into the silver: E & L.

"It was a birthday gift from Emery. She gave it to me when I turned thirteen." Aunt Lydia says, as if she was reading my mind. "She had a matching one."

I remember. Mom didn't wear it every day, but she wore it frequently enough for me to know it was important to her.

"Why can't you wear it?" I run my thumb over the band.

"It doesn't feel right anymore," Lydia's gaze drifts off. "Not since she was taken from us."

I nod in understanding. A lot of things don't feel right anymore. I've never worn any of Mom's clothes after the murders, and I haven't even touched Dad's European Football jerseys.

"Where's Mom's watch?" Even though I already have a hunch where it's kept, I ask anyway.

"In the same red box," Lydia shrugs, setting the Oreo packet aside.

"Okay," I reply. I'm not really sure what else I should say, so I slip my shoes back on and I grab the keys from my aunt's pocket in her jacket and swing the door open. As soon as I step outside into the cool air, though, Lydia's voice stops me in my tracks.

"Aria?"

I turn, stumbling back at her sudden bear hug. Geez, what's with all the hugs today? It's not like I almost died again.

Aunt Lyd pulls away and tucks a few strands of my hair behind my ear. "Be careful, okay? You and your boyfriend need to stop running off into the most isolated and creepy places. Seriously, no wonder that psychopath turned himself in. He must've been tired of all this chasing."

Wha—boyfriend? Miles and I haven't told anyone anything yet! It's only been a few hours.

"How did you—"

Lydia winks. "I have my ways."

After she retreats back indoors, I make my way next door and slip into our house with Mom's clothes folded neatly in my arms. My bedroom doesn't look like it's mine at all. It resembles more of a guestroom, with the bare walls painted a plain creme colour. Three years of my hard work scraped away like it meant nothing, all just because of some runny red paint that had practically eaten every corner of the room.

I wasn't too surprised when Maya visited me a few days ago at the hospital and admitted she was the one who had done that to my room after Miles' filled me in on how she knew Michael. Sure, I was a little mad, but then again, at least now I have a shit ton of space to paint on the walls again. As for the other things, I forgave Maya even though she's still kind of a brat. In a month or so, she'll be living with her cousins on the other side of the country. Her mom will be going to rehab, and Maya will finally be able to live like any other teenager.

Whatever that's like.

I look under my bed and drag out a large rustic chest from underneath. It's coated with dust. I open the lid, inhaling the scent of my mother's Chanel perfume that mixes with the faintest hint of coffee and lavender. The familiar, comforting smell is barely there. It's the main reason why I refuse to wear her clothing. I don't want to contaminate her scent if it's one of the only things that I have left of her.

I carefully set the folded clothes back into the chest. How did they even get into my wardrobe in the first place? Shaking my head, I close the chest and push it under the bed again before looking through my own closed and head to the master bedroom after I've changed.

I flick the light on in the walk-in closet and stride over to Aunt Lyd's side. I rummage through the many drawers until I find the little red box. Mom's watch is there, all right. It doesn't look any different than Lydia's, which is currently around my own wrist. Still, I flip it over. The same initials are there, except it's the other way around.

When the two watches are back inside the box, I turn to leave but something catches my eye over at Paul's side of the closet. An object glints in between a pile of his jeans, as if it was meant to be kept hidden. I lift the clothes that are on top of it. What's uncovered has my heart racing.

A gun.

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Hey, y'all! I know it's been a while since the last update but so many things have been going on lately, and I don't even like this chapter much, it's more like a filler. Anyways, I still have to catch up with my school work so I honestly don't know when I will be updating. That goes for all of my books, but I'll mainly be focusing on LMA because there's only a few chapters left.

Ooh, and I've written this short little thing for a contest I entered. If ya want, you can check it out on my profile. The story is called "Masked Murderer" and is currently completed, since I dont know if I will continue it or not.

Moving on, I wanna thank you all for 70k reads!!! Ahhhh I can't believe it 😭 You guys are literally my life, I love you 😭❤

Stay safe! I hope you're all healthy.

Chloe ❤