Chapter 5

She walked up the damp, dark path to the house more cautiously than usual. Arder had a suspicion of what would happen once she entered the mansion. Her mother definitely wasn't known for being understanding, and Arder was more than late. At the top of the stairs, the white double doors that stood at least twice her size loomed over her. She saw the golden handle turn before she had the chance to open it herself.

"There you are," her mother said, opening the doors. Arder did love her mother. What she didn't love was what she had become. "You missed dinner." The disappointment in her eyes was clear.

"I know. I'm really sorry," Arder said, stepping inside with her mom. "Sophie asked me to help clean up," she explained. Her mother shook her head.

"This was important," she argued. Arder slid open the first closet in the hall and hung her dark green jacket on a hanger. She was too tired to deal with this. "Arder, are you listening?"

"Yeah, Mom. But I had to help Sophie clean up," she repeated, sitting down on the blue window seat. She started to untie her laces, but her mother hadn't given up.

"You missed Adam's company dinner because you were cleaning up?" Her mom looked even more furious than before.

"I'm sorry, I didn't have a choice," Arder reasoned, trying to calm her down.

"You embarrassed me in front of Adam's friends," she continued. "I told them you would be there." She stared at Arder with a deathly calm expression, hiding her true emotions. Arder knew this look all too well. It was the calm before the storm.

Arder just nodded, already knowing what was coming. Her mother had started this a few months prior and Arder had no idea how to stop it. She hated the thought of her own mom doing it, but this was reality. Most parents grounded their children. Her mother wasn't one of them.

"I'm done with this, Arder. If you're not going to listen then get out!" she yelled. Arder stood up and walked past her to the staircase in an attempt to escape, but her mother grabbed her wrist. "I mean it this time," she snapped, glaring at her daughter. She had kicked Arder out before, but always called in the morning, begging her to come back. The teenager ripped her jacket off the hanger and watched as the rest of the coats fell to the ground. Her eyes turned black with fury as she rushed out of the house. Her mother had promised this would stop. Why was it so hard for her to keep that promise?

Arder ran through her neighbourhood, not stopping even when she reached the edge of her community. She watched as all the houses past by her in a blur, the architecture slowly starting to change the further she went. Soon enough, the buildings were no longer tall mansions with large garages and swimming pools. They became tiny rundown apartments and houses that were the size of her bedroom. Arder just kept running past them all until she arrived at a familiar location.

She slammed the door of the factory open and ran into Cyrus's old office. Arder sat on the dusty couch with her head in her hands. After the day she had, she felt like she needed to come back here. She missed Cyrus; he had been like family to her. She wondered what it would be like if her father was still with her. Then her thoughts drifted to what it would be like if Cyrus was still with her. She shook her head, trying to forget the odd memories that had resurfaced earlier. "Where did he go?" she whispered to herself.

"Who?" a deep voice asked. She jumped to her feet in surprise, only to see Grey sitting on the opposite couch. He stared at her, waiting for an answer as if he hadn't just scared her to death.

"What the hell?" Arder yelled in surprise. "What are you doing here?" she asked. She took in a few short breaths, trying to calm her racing heart.

He shrugged and merely echoed her question. "What are you doing here?"

The girl hesitated, not having an answer that she wanted to share. Noticing a small brown backpack on the floor that hadn't been there before, she stood and sat on the floor next to him. A few of the desk drawers were opened, and files were spread out on the floor in a circle. Ignoring his question like he had for hers, she picked up the biggest folder and flipped to the first page. "These are your father's," she noted, flipping through the reports. They were old resumes from what she believed to be the old employees.

"I was just looking for something," Grey said, sliding them back into a pile. He then pulled the backpack in front of himself and pulled out a small cellphone. "You do know it's past midnight?" he asked.

"Yeah," she replied, placing the large file on top of the rest. "I didn't think you'd still be here."

Grey leaned against the couch with his hands behind his head. He didn't say anything; he just watched her.

"Are you staying here?" she asked in realization.

Grey nodded. "Are you?"

That had been her plan, but Arder didn't know what to do with him there. It was much too late to go to Sophie's or Lexie's now.

"I don't have another option," Arder admitted. She stood up and sat back down on the couch opposite Grey's.

"I'm just going to go through this last folder," Grey said, taking it out from the brown bag. "You should sleep if you're staying. You look tired." Arder didn't know what else to do so she stretched out across the couch. She still wasn't sure why he was there, but something inside her head kept telling her that she could trust him.

She closed her eyes and waited for sleep to consume her, realizing she was in fact as tired as Grey had mentioned.

---

The morning sun shined through the window, lighting up the entire room. It looked like a perfect summer day outside, but it wasn't. The broken windows had allowed the room to fill up with the freezing air. Arder woke up shivering, but not as much as she should have been. There was an old overcoat covering her like a blanket, wrapping her in a thin layer of warmth. It was the same overcoat that had been hanging in that office seven years ago. It was Cyrus's coat. Arder still didn't understand why he left everything behind. It made it seem as if he hadn't left at all.

"We're late for school," Grey said, breaking her train of thought. He stood in the middle of the room, bag in hand.

"We are?" She scrambled up, looking around for her coat she had taken off sometime in the night. She walked past him, her arm brushing against his as she left the room. She quickly retrieved her jacket from the handle of the front door, covering her bare arms with its warmth.

Arder pushed open the heavy door and took a deep breath of the fresh morning air. It was a huge improvement to the musty, old atmosphere inside the building.

"So, why were you at the factory?" she asked on the way to school. She didn't expect an answer, but she was far too curious not to ask. From the moment they met, Arder knew he didn't like answering questions. He had even made a fuss over telling her his name.

"Why were you at the factory?" he challenged, his eyes not leaving hers. A faint smirk was forming on his face, but it quickly disappeared at her response.

"My mom kicked me out," she replied, not wanting to get into the details. "Your turn."

He nodded before saying, "I told you why I moved back." Arder thought back to when he said something about returning for Cyrus. "Well, it didn't feel right staying at his house. I haven't been there before and it hasn't been emptied." Arder could relate. She also had the key to the house but had never been able to enter it.

"Yesterday, did you come back to the cafe after you left?" she asked, thinking about what she saw. He had disappeared so quickly, it didn't make sense.

"No, why?" Grey looked like he knew a lot more than what he was saying though, as his eyes had lit up in a mischievous way. He smiled down at the redhead, and she knew he meant something by this. She just didn't know what.

"Are you sure?" she pressed, turning onto the school grounds. Arder saw her best friend Lexie waiting for her, but didn't go to her. She stopped and waited for Grey to stop too.

"Yes. I just went back to the factory," he confirmed.

Arder debated leaving and heading off with Lexie but decided against it. "Can I walk you to the office?" she asked.

He looked surprised but had a slight smile on his face. "Sure," he replied, following her into the school.