Freezing Bonds that Tie our Hearts (Blood and Water #2)

14. Aiden

Christian Ballee had killed Sara Diaz.

He brought one of his father’s hunting rifles to school, hid it in his locker and when everyone was in class after lunch, he decided to use it.

I heard an officer say that on top of Mrs Diaz, twelve other students and staff members had lost their lives.

Anger was too soft a word to describe what I was feeling at that moment. The moment the door to our closet was open and we saw Mr Kerill, another English professor, standing in front of us with a distraught look on his face, we knew the nightmare was over.

Or well, the active part was.

We still had all the mental trauma to face.

Nova’s hand was firmly clutched in mine as we slowly walked through the halls along with other students, following two police officers to join our parents.

One hour. That’s how long the shooting lasted. One hour where everyone hid wherever they could.

We still didn’t know if any of our friends were gone, we didn’t know which students had lost their lives because of this piece of shit Sebastian.

All we knew was that he’d been apprehended and was currently on his way to the county jail until he could be tried.

I could feel Nova’s hand squeeze mine tighter, her head falling tiredly against my arm as we made our way outside. I wasn’t ready to let go of her, but as soon as the doors swung open and everyone ran to their parents, my mom was onto me. Her arms wrapped around my neck as she held me tight, crying softly. Before I closed my eyes to appreciate her closeness, I noticed Nova being engulfed in a bear hug too, her father’s figure dwarfing her and nearly making her disappear.

“I was so scared, baby. I was so scared.” Mom’s voice was shaking as she hugged me as tight as her thin arms could muster.

“I’m okay.” I lied.

I was the furthest thing from okay, the sight of Sara’s lifeless eyes would most likely haunt me for life. I nearly threw up when I checked on her earlier only to see the bullet holes in her head and belly. I managed to hold it in because I didn’t want Nova to panic more than she already was.

I hoped to God this was the last time I had to see a dead body.

When my mom pulled away, I looked over at where Nova and her dad had been, only to see them walk down the stairs towards the parking lot where police officers were interviewing students and professors. Everyone around us seemed to be back with their loved ones, parents from the North and South alike were hugging their kids. That was the first time they all seemed to put their differences aside, too worried about their children to care for petty rivalries. How sad was it that it took such a traumatic event for it to happen?

Out of nowhere, strong arms pulled me into a bear hug, “Fuck, man, I thought you were gone!”

I recognized Matt’s voice and hugged him back, tight. Knowing he was here and safe was everything. My mom took her turn and hugged Matt too, knowing no one would be coming for him here. His dad was a piece of shit drunk and his mom left when he was a kid.

“Where’s Julian?” Immediately a look of anguish crossed his face. My stomach dropped.

“He was shot. In the arm. He’s with the medics right now but he should be fine.”

“Thank God.” I muttered, closing my eyes and rubbing them in relief.

The throbbing in my head that had started when the first gunshot was heard only kept on intensifying.

“Aiden, who’s blood is that?” My mom’s eyes found my bloody pants and hands, absolutely saturated in red. Bile rose up my throat and I looked away, pinching my lips.

My mind immediately went back to what I had witnessed earlier, the woman who babysat me when she herself was a teenager, the girl that lived right next door and whose mother was like a member of my family.

I kept on seeing her wide brown eyes staring into nothingness as she laid in a pool of red, a bullet hole in her forehead, another one in her morbidly deflating stomach. A sudden buzzing in my ears made me dizzy, the world around me faded as I answered my mother’s worries.

When I whispered, “Sara’s,” she gasped and Matt went silent. “He… he shot her before she could hide.” I explained, doing my best to drown the guilt, but still unable to meet their gaze.

“Fuck.”

Matt’s whisper was quickly followed by my mom losing her balance and having to sit down on the steps behind us that led to the entrance of the school.

I bit my lip. Of their own accord, my eyes looked for the one person who knew exactly how I felt. The one person I had had to share this trauma with.

Nova was on the other side of the parking lot with her dad, wearing his suit jacket over her dress and speaking to an officer. Or well, he was speaking and she was staring right at me.

I wished like hell I could run to her right then. There was no one else I wanted to be with at that moment.

My mom’s quiet sobs forced me to look away as I sat down next to her and pulled her in a one-armed hug. She clung onto me like she was afraid I’d disappear and I let her. She cried silently until an officer came up to us with a sorry look on her face and softness in her voice.

“Ma’am?” We looked up and mom wiped away her tears with the sleeve of her cardigan, still sniffling. “My colleague would like to speak to your son. He’s over there next to the ambulance.” She nodded to the other side of the lot, to the guy Nova and her father were still talking to. Gripping the oversized jacket on her shoulder, she looked so small next to her dad.

Damon Starling was some big shot lawyer from what I’d heard. He had his own firm along with his brothers and their reputation preceded them. He was ruthless in court, even though you wouldn’t think so with how careful he was with his hand on Nova’s shoulder and his jacket keeping her warm. The glare he sent the police officer didn’t lie, though. He would probably sue the school for what happened today.

Silently, mom and I walked to them and when Mr Starling’s eyes settled on me over the cop’s shoulder, I nearly forgot how to breathe. Fuck, what if he knew I was fucking obsessed with his daughter? That I knew what she tasted like and couldn’t stop thinking about her?

He’d have my head.

My eyes then fell on Nova who met my gaze and held it captive. Tears stained her face, making her mascara smear a little around her eyes. Her hair was pulled back and stuck inside the jacket, it hid her body a little but you could still see the blood on her cute dress and the back of her thighs.

When the officer noticed us he turned slightly to be able to include me and mom in the conversation. After spending most of last week at the station regarding Oscar’s disappearance, I recognized the guy as Jarris Jenskin. Couldn’t say I liked him.

“Mr Walker, long time no see.” The once-over he gave me made me want to punch him. “And you’re not in trouble for once.” He remarked snidely.

I continued to say nothing, simply staring at him with a blank expression on my face.

“Is there a reason you asked us to come talk to you, officer? If not, I’d like to take my son home, God only knows he’s been through enough today already.” This was only one of the millions of reasons why I loved my mom.

Jenskin looked like he wanted to tell her off but he had the decency to clear his throat before starting the interrogation.

“Miss Starling here says you both came in close with the presumed shooter.”

I frowned, my head rearing back. “Presumed? He was caught with a rifle peacefully walking out of the building.”

“We still haven’t had time to dive into the investigation as we are still collecting testimonies.”

“Yeah? Well here’s mine: that fucker came into the building, started shooting at people then entered a classroom with a pregnant woman and shot her and her baby, even though she begged him to spare their lives. He was apprehended coming out of the school with a fucking hunting rifle, after you probably received hundreds of calls from scared-out-of-their-mind teenagers that have seen him and described him to you. What the fuck else do you need?” Anger had me walking closer to him but my mom’s hand on my arm held me back from doing something I might have regretted.

Jenskin was looking at me like I might jump him at any moment, with a hand firmly near the gun attached to his waist

It all felt like too much at once. First Oscar, then this and Sara… I was sick and tired of this town and their stupid fucking hierarchy.

It felt unfair that he would react this way to my justified outburst but would still consider fucking Christian as a ‘presumed’ murdered. Fuck this town.

“I think having a hand on your gun when a high schooler is giving you important information on an ongoing case is unnecessary, officer.” came the booming voice of the man next to me.

I looked back at him and he stood proudly, fixing Jenskin with a death stare, a few inches taller than me but a whole head taller than him. The fucker looked flustered and he immediately put his hand down, nodding half-heartedly.

“Thank you for your time, I’ll pass on this information to my colleagues.”

He glared at me one last time before turning around and walking away. My mom let out a relieved breath. “Thank you.” She told Nova’s dad before holding her hand, “I’m Rebecca Walker, Aiden’s mom.”

He shook her hand, nodding, “Damon Starling,” was all he said.

I tuned out the rest of their conversation, only able to focus on Nova. I only had eyes for her. I wanted to hold her again, rub her back and kiss her temple in reassurance that everything would be okay. I knew this would bring me peace, too, even while the world as we knew it was crumbling down around us.

She looked at me with the same longing that I knew was shining in my eyes and for a second I thought she might come to me.

Then, suddenly, her eyes veered next to my head, in the distance, and her face completely shut down. Curious, I looked over my shoulder only to find Sebastian Hashbrown standing there, looking at her with a smirk while his parents were talking to another officer I couldn’t recognize. His headphones were around his neck, as always.

Before I could understand what was going on, Nova let her father’s jacket fall to the ground and was running towards him. I didn’t think and jogged after her.

She stopped right in front of Sebastian and, surprising everyone who had been watching, slapped his cheek with strength I would have never guessed she possessed.

Silence enveloped us all as we all stared at the scene in shock.

Never in her life had Nova shown any animosity towards anyone, except maybe me, but even then it had never been violent.

Sebastian didn’t seem phased in the least by her outburst and that annoying little smirk never left his face. The music blasting from his headphones was the only thing you could hear given how silent everybody got. I recognized the song but somehow couldn’t name it, even though it was right on the tip of my tongue.

“You knew! You fucking knew!” She screamed, her voice scratchy from crying.

She was ready to slap him again but her dad swept her away with an arm around her waist. She continued flailing hers, pointing fingers at Sebastian.

“He told me to skip Mrs Diaz’s class with him! You fucking knew!” I turned back towards him, confused.

Then I suddenly remembered the name of the music he’d been playing.

Pumped up Kicks by Foster The People.

“You knew Christian was going to do what he did!” She shrieked before starting to sob, sagging against her dad. Then with a broken voice, she added, “You knew.”

All eyes were on Sebastian, even his own parents’, waiting for him to deny it. His eyes never leaving Nova’s face, he slowly and carelessly shrugged.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I asked you to skip because I wanted to know what the hype was about. I wanted to see if your pussy was as sweet as everybody said.”

Someone gasped.

But I didn’t know if it was because of Sebastian’s crass words or because my fist had met his face as soon as they had left his lips, laying him flat on the ground, unconscious.

Officers were on me almost immediately tackling and handcuffing me, but it was worth it.

No one here deserved Nova, I’d be damned if they spoke to her like it was the case.