Chapter 112

Olivia

Alvin’s heavy footsteps made their steady ascent up the stairs. Each footfall felt like a proverbial nail in each of our coffins, with the final nail being the sound of the bedroom door creaking open.

My body was frozen to the floor. I didn’t even dare to breathe or blink as I saw the light from the hallway flooding in through the now-open door. I could see Alvin’s shoes from where he stood in the doorway.

He stood there for a few moments before he slowly made his way into the room. At any moment, I felt certain that he would suddenly leap to the floor and look beneath the bed. At any moment, I felt certain that he would flick the light on and see our hiding places.

But he didn’t do either of those things.

Instead, he paced around his room for what felt like an eternity, but was really only a few moments; he then stopped in front of his dresser. I heard the sound of the liquor sloshing around in its bottle as he picked it up.

And then his footsteps receded, and the bedroom door shut once more.

We waited there for another few minutes in complete frozen silence before we heard his footsteps heading back downstairs. I heard the television turn on after that, and only then did we slip out from our hiding places.

Silently, Nathan pointed over to the bedroom window.

Angela and I both nodded, our faces pale from fear as we watched Nathan gingerly slide it open. The sound of the window rattling in its frame felt louder than anything I had ever heard in my life, but the television stayed on and there was no indication that Alvin had heard us.

With the window open, the three of us silently slipped out of the window and warily climbed down the trellis to the ground. As soon as our feet felt the sweet sensation of grass below them, we took off running into the darkness.

The forest around us became a maze of shadows and branches that seemed to reach out, trying to ensnare us as we fled.

The villa felt miles away, every footfall echoing with dread. Would Alvin follow? Did he know we were in his house?

None of us stopped running for what felt like an eternity, even when our faces were whipped by vines and tree branches. The only sounds were our labored breaths and our feet crunching through the underbrush.

By the time we saw the faint lights of the villa through the trees, my lungs were burning and my heart pounded loudly in my ears. But we had made it, and Alvin was nowhere to be seen or heard.

The three of us collapsed onto the porch, gasping for breath. Angela's face was pale in the moonlight, and Nathan's eyes darted around nervously.

“Is everyone okay?” I panted, trying to catch my breath.

“I’m fine. Just shaken up,” Angela replied, her voice trembling slightly.

“I can't believe he came home,” Nathan whispered, his voice heavy with guilt. “Why the fuck didn’t Levi warn us?”

I sighed. “He did.” I pulled out my phone and showed the screen, where there were several missed texts. I had missed them while I was busy reading Alvin’s journal.

A silence hung between the three of us for a long time while we caught our breath. Suddenly, we heard the sound of footsteps pounding on the sidewalk. All three of us jumped up, almost in unison, and whipped around toward the source of the sound.

It was Levi.

“I tried warning you,” Levi said, panting from his run. “I saw Alvin come back. He didn’t seem suspicious of anyone being in the house, but… How did you get away?”

Nathan shook his head. “It doesn’t matter now,” he said. “All that matters is that we got out without his knowledge. Although… it seems as though we didn’t come out with Alvin’s hand in our possession.”

“Actually,” I said, “we do have a clue. I found something.”

Taking a moment to steady myself, I finally revealed the information I'd gleaned from the journal. Some of it, at least. There was no way that I could bring myself to tell Nathan about what I had read about me; he would never forgive Alvin, and it would only solidify his jealousy.

“We need to go to your family's cabin, Nathan,” I began to explain. “The one we used to play at when we were kids.”

Nathan raised his eyebrows. “My family’s cabin?”

I nodded. “I found Alvin’s journal,” I replied. “He said that he buried his hand there. But he didn’t say where exactly. I just know that it’s somewhere on that property.”

Nathan’s eyes widened in alarm. “My father and Jen are there for the week. We can't possibly go there. They'll see us!”

“We don’t have a choice,” Angela interjected firmly. “We need that box.”

Nathan looked torn, his hands clenching and unclenching. “It's complicated. My father and I... we don't see eye to eye on many things, and bringing all of you there unannounced? It's a recipe for disaster.”

“Then let's not announce ourselves,” I offered, trying to be helpful.

He raised an eyebrow at me, clearly skeptical. “It's not a mansion, Liv. It's a cabin. And sneaking around isn’t my forte. We’ve already had enough of that for one night. If my dad and Jen found us there, they'd figure everything out. Then all of us will be screwed.”

Nathan was right. Not only would Alvin be at risk if Colin found out that this co-called ‘monster’ was him, but so would Nathan for lying at the Council meeting. Levi, Angela, and I would all be guilty by association.

But we couldn’t just let the trail run cold here. Not when we were so close to getting Alvin’s hand back.

“Listen,” I started, my voice gentle. “I read Alvin’s diary. There were things in there... things he felt, things he's still feeling. He’s all alone and he’s suffering. We owe it to him to do everything we can.”

Nathan's jaw clenched. “I know. It's just... complicated with my father.”

I sighed, thinking back to the journal entry I had read. “Alvin’s hurting, Nathan. Whatever's going on with you and your father, we need to set it aside for now. For Alvin.”

He looked at me, those deep blue eyes searching mine. There was a raw intensity there, a mixture of frustration and determination. I had a feeling that he could tell that there was more to the story that I wasn’t telling him, but he didn’t pry.

After a tense moment, he nodded slowly. “Okay,” he murmured. “We’ll go. But we have to be careful. No unnecessary risks.”

Angela let out a breath she had been holding. “We need a plan then. We can't just go barging in.”

“True. The cabin is surrounded by thick woods,” Nathan began. “We should be able to sneak onto the property without much trouble, but as for the actual act of searching for the box… And I’m assuming we’ll have to dig.”

I nodded. “It could be dangerous. We’ll need some kind of distraction, or an excuse if we get caught…”

“Easier said than done,” Nathan murmured. “You know my father. Excuses don’t easily get past him. And as for distractions, I can’t think of anything that would fool my father.”

Suddenly, Angela spoke up.

“I have an idea,” she said.