Chapter 18

One more hour. That's how long was left of my day before I could go to the apartment and wash away the week with a warm shower. I would dress into my comfy clothes that consisted of a baggy jumper and shorts, and then I would crawl in my bed and watch TED Talks until I fell asleep. I had it all planned out from the moment I left the auditorium to the moment I woke up tomorrow morning. And I was counting down the minutes of my last class to do so.

My leg bounced up and down on the spot while the professor went on about the semester's topics. He usually liked to talk in detail on almost everything no matter what it included. I supposed he just liked talking so I didn't hold it against him, but I could tell everyone else was checking their clocks too, anxious to hear those three words to call out from his mouth.

"You are dismissed. Please don't crowd the doors-!"

He had not even finished his sentence before students were already doing what he asked not to do.

Everyone rushed out and met with their friends on campus. They all talked about their weekend plans as if it had been years since the last ones they made. I smiled walking past the large crowd, pushing each other around and laughing. I dug around my bag, my head far away from where I was supposed to be looking as I searched for my car keys.

The lot was basically empty by now, students were already heading to their dorms and apartments to change into party clothes and obsess over what they would be doing during their next twelve hours of fun. I climb into my car perfectly in time for the phone to ring, my excitement to get home now itching at my fingertips.

Thinking it was either Will or Elijah, perhaps my mother or even my father, I picked it up and slid my finger across the screen to accept the call.

"Hello? Emma?" Myra's panicked voice came through and my excitement extinguished through her sunken breaths.

"Hey," I put down the keys on my lap and throw my bag onto the passenger seat. "What's wrong? Why are you crying?"

"There's been... there's been a situation and I need your help." She sniffled, trying to hide the sound of her sobs. "Are you free right now?"

"Y-yes of course, what's wrong?" My voice was rushed and worried.

Myra was not the kind of person that got riled up often, so I was beginning to worry that the situation she mentioned wasn't just a simple situation like having nothing to wear or a fight with Lars. This sounded different, urgent.

"It's Aiden..." She paused for a moment. "He got into a fight with Elijah and we're all trying to look for him." A single, muffled sob echoed through the line. "Listen, Aiden's hurt him pretty badly and I don't know what to do... I didn't know who else to call. Lars is already on his way to Elijah but Aiden isn't answering any of our calls or texts..."

"Is Elijah okay? What happened?"

"I- I'm not sure, I don't know any details. Lars was the only one there." She almost sounded out of breath, nervous and anxious all at once while she began to cry. "Emma," She said through another sob. "Aiden has the habit of doing impulsive things, bad things, and I'm scared he'll do something to get himself into more trouble."

I don't even hesitate to ask, "Is there anything I can do to help?"

All this information had been coming towards me like a heavy train with no breaks, and I didn't know what to do with it or where to guide it.

"Help me find Aiden." Surely she wasn't serious... I thought. "I know you two don't exactly get along or are on the best terms, but maybe if you talk to him... he'll calm down or something..." She trailed off.

"I don't know, Myra..." I press my lips together, unsure of what to do next. "I don't think I would be much help... I don't know where I would even begin to look for him."

I wanted to help, for Myra's sake, but I was only going to make things worse if he saw me, especially when he was already angry.

"I can give you a list of places he goes to!" She begs me, "Please. Just this once."

"Uh- yeah okay," I give in. Well there goes my afternoon plans. I think to myself. Of course he had ruin my day once again. "Just make sure Lars gets to Elijah. Let me know if he's okay." I add.

"I will. And Emma?" Her voice shakes when she inhales. "If they threaten to call the police, do everything you can to avoid it."

Then she was gone and in her place was a set of addresses that she had texted minutes later, while my pile of confusion just followed.

I didn't even get the chance to ask her what I should do if I found him...

With a sigh, I drive to the first place listed and park across the street. From here the small diner looked to have neon lettered signs and a dark interior – so dark in fact that you could barely see inside, but perhaps the windows were polarized; I wasn't sure.

The wind whipped at my skin making me shiver as I walked on the sidewalk and pushed through to the inside of the place where warmth took over. I searched the space in hope of seeing Aiden, however the only person I found was a woman who stood behind the counter, chewing on a piece of gum and agitated by the sound of a new person.

"Hi," I say to her.

"How may I help you?" She rolls her eyes and takes out her notepad and a pen.

"I'm looking for Aiden Blackwood? Tall guy, black hair and grey eyes. Have you seen him?"

She shook her head, a few red strands of her hair falling from her messy bun to her yellow uniform.

"Sorry, babe, he hasn't come in today." She gives an impatient stare. "Is that all or would you like to order something?" Her gum flops around between her teeth.

"No, thanks anyway... sorry to bother you."

I get back into my little car and drive to the next place down the list.

Between the red stoplights I wondered about Elijah and how he might be doing right now. I prayed that he would be okay and that the word fight might have been an overstatement. But then again if that were the case, I wouldn't be on my way to a bar, looking for someone who I had no particular interest in looking for.

About ten minutes later, I was finally reaching an old, run down building that somewhat resembled a bar. Behind it was a parking lot that had a dropped curve, making it easy to go in or leave. There weren't many cars around considering it was still the afternoon, but I didn't doubt that in a few hours that would change.

I drove up that curve and as soon as I did, it revealed a long black car that was badly stationed between the white lines of a parking space. The longer I examined it, the more I was convinced that it was Aiden's. I mean, how many of these cars could there possibly be around here?

I parked next to the vehicle and after some convincing and self-debate, I managed to get myself out of the car and push through the heavy doors. To my surprise there wasn't any type of bouncer or guard at the entrance to watch out for any underage drinkers from coming in.

I guess that worked as a favour in my case.

But it wasn't long before I did see him. In that frozen second between going through the wooden doors and the moment before, outside in the cold air, I felt a sudden fear overwhelm me. I was stilled, watching from across the room as one guy unfolded his anger on the other. I could see the way Aiden's eyes held no life in them, the way their simple colour was now dark and coated with a bitter rage. He was on his knees, grabbing the man with a buzz-cut by his uniform shirt and colliding him with the hard ground beneath them.

There was no remorse as his fist met a thick bearded cheek. Blood ran from the his mouth making a mess on Aiden's knuckles as he blew another beating. His black hair had flopped on his forehead, his arms intent on keeping the same advantage over the corpse under him.

It took me a minute to find myself, but once I realized that I could just stand here and watch them beat each other up, I looked around to see what everyone around us was doing.

The bartender was trying to pull Aiden off from the bouncer, ending up knocked to the ground by one strong jerk of his arm. Aiden didn't even flinch, not even a blink of an eye was wasted to see if he was okay or if he had hurt him. No one dared to come near him after that. The bar was basically empty besides us four.

In the corner of my eye, I saw the bartender get up from the floor and stagger behind the counter to pick up a phone. No doubt he was calling the police.

Remembering Myra's words from earlier, I paced over to him, begging for the authorities not to be called and making this more of a mess than it already was. But the bartender refused with heavy pant and picked up the phone anyways. He pulled up the dial screen, however my hands didn't wait long enough for him to complete the call.

"If you don't let me to call the cops, what do you suggest I do?" He raised his brows at me. "Get the bouncer? He's the one getting punched to a pulp, woman!"

"'I'll get him out of here! Just please, don't call the police."

"And how do you plan on pulling that off? I couldn't even do it!"

I didn't think about that. Honestly, I had no idea how I was going to do it. I just hoped that whatever I did would work.

I turned around and continued to watch as Aiden hit the bouncer again. The man didn't even cringe anymore. He was so still with blood everywhere that I knew it wouldn't be long before he didn't have a pulse at all. If I called Myra now, it would be half an hour before they got here since this place was so far away from the apartments.

Before I knew it, my hands were pulling at Aiden by his leather jacket. His skin was burning, the smell even worse as alcohol filtered through my nose. He tried jerking me off, and he managed to do so when I fell to the floor and smacked against it, hard on top of the shattered pieces of what was once a drinking glass. But I got up as if it didn't hurt (Even though it did) and pulled at him again.

"Aiden, stop!" I called out to him, but it was like he didn't hear me at all.

I took the opportunity and wrapped my hands around his large arm when he had taken a second to breathe. It took every part of my strength to push him off, to get him to listen and to look at me. My heart was pounding in my ears and when Aiden met my blurred eyes, his whole expression changed.

"What the hell is wrong with you? You could have killed him!" I practically yell at him, trying to push down the tears that were building up from the sudden rush as I still held onto his leather clothing.

He didn't even answer me while he breathed in through large huffs and yanked my arm from him.

Then he got up from the floor, looked down on me and then walked away without so much as a glance towards the man he was only a short time ago, hitting. As if nothing had happened.

"Where are you going?" I call out to him again, only to receive silence in return as he continued to pass through the bar doors, leaving me here alone on the cold floor, covered in glass shards.