Chapter 14 #2
“Anyway, wanna grab a drink?” Ava asked, “They have strawberry milk in the dining hall now.”
"We can't stay long today," Ryder said gently. "I need to get these two to see my mum."
"Of course!" Ava's brightness dimmed a little. "I know she is excited to see you both. And maybe next time you can stay longer and we can catch up properly." She hugged them both again, then surprised me by giving me a quick, impulsive hug as well.
"Take care of yourself, Cadence," she whispered in my ear, and there was something in her tone that made me think she understood more about my situation than I'd expected.
After Ava skipped away, we continued down a hallway.
It ran alongside the courtyard, large windows providing natural light and views of the gardens.
We'd just turned a corner when I heard someone calling Ryder's name. A young man, maybe slightly older than us, was jogging to catch up. He had longish hair that fell over his eyes, as they darted around the space never quite settling on any one thing for long. There was something manic about his energy that put me immediately on edge. He had a sense of danger to him, someone I wouldn’t want to be in a dark alley with.
"Ryder!" he called out, slightly out of breath. "Man, I've been waiting for you to show up."
"Hey, Ruin," Ryder replied, but his tone was cautious. The guy, Ruin, gave Luce a quick nod of acknowledgement before turning back to Ryder.
"I need to talk to you about something," Ruin said, his eyes darting between the three of us. "It's important. Legal stuff, you know?"
"I don't have time right now," Ryder said firmly. "We're here to see my mum, and we don't have long." Ruin's expression shifted, becoming almost desperate.
"Come on, man. You owe me, remember? I thought we were friends." I saw something flash across Ryder's face, irritation mixed with what might have been guilt. He looked at Luce and me, then back at Ruin, clearly torn.
"Five minutes," he said finally. "Luce, Cade, wait here for me. I'll be right back."
He disappeared around the corner with Ruin, leaving Luce and me standing alone in the hallway. The silence stretched between us, filled with unspoken questions and mounting tension.
"He seems to know a lot of people here," I observed, trying to break the uncomfortable quiet. "I guess he visits his mother regularly." Luce's smile was strained. Something in her expression suggested there was more to it than that.
"Luce, what aren't you telling me?" Luce was quiet for a long moment, her eyes fixed on the courtyard beyond the windows. When she finally spoke, her voice was barely above a whisper.
"Ryder spent time here as a patient," she blurted. "Half of his final year of school and most of his first year at university." My blood ran cold.
"What? Why?"
"There was an incident," Luce continued, still not looking at me.
"A girl he was involved with. She was...
not good for him. Manipulative, toxic. She played mind games, made him jealous, pushed him to extremes.
" She paused, taking a shaky breath. "One night, things went too far.
There was a fight, and someone got hurt. Badly hurt."
"How badly?" I asked, though I was afraid of the answer.
"Ryder accidentally killed someone," Luce said, the words falling like stones into the silence. “It was ruled self-defence,” she rushed on quickly as my eyes widened, “but Ryder's father used it as an excuse to have him committed here for mental health issues.”
I felt like I couldn't breathe. Ryder had killed someone.
The man who was obsessed with me, who looked at me like he wanted to possess me completely, had actually taken another person's life.
I guess I knew that he, and the other guys were dangerous, but having it spelt out for me like this was scary.
"And Ruin?" I managed to ask.
"Richard, that's his real name, though everyone calls him Ruin. He was Ryder's roommate here. They became close friends, and when Ryder was released, Ruin promised to keep an eye on Charlotte. He makes sure she's safe."
"Safe from what?" I asked, but before Luce could answer, her expression changed completely. The colour drained from her face, and she was staring at something behind me with what looked like terror.
I turned to follow her gaze and saw a man standing at the far end of the courtyard, partially hidden in the shadow of a large oak tree. Even from this distance, there was something unsettling about his stillness, the way he seemed to be watching us with predatory focus.
"Luce?" I said, alarmed by her reaction. "Who is that?" Before she could answer, Ryder reappeared, but the moment he saw Luce's expression, his entire demeanour changed. The playful, manic energy vanished, replaced by something cold and dangerous.
"Was that…?" he started, his voice low and threatening as he looked in the direction of the courtyard.
"Ryder, no," Luce said quickly, grabbing his arm as he started to move toward the windows.
"Leave it. Please. I just want to see Aunt Charlotte.
" I could see the war playing out on Ryder's face, the desire to confront whatever threat had scared Luce versus his need to protect this visit with his mother.
Finally, he gave in, but his jaw remained clenched with barely controlled rage.
"Fine," he said through gritted teeth. "But I am going to deal with it later.
" He grabbed my hand with perhaps more force than necessary and pulled me down the hallway, his pace urgent now.
We stopped outside a door marked with the number B247, and Ryder paused to collect himself, his breathing deep and measured.
When he looked like he had regained some control, he knocked gently before opening the door.
The room beyond was surprisingly spacious and comfortable, more like a well-appointed hotel room than a hospital.
Soft afternoon light streamed through large windows, illuminating tasteful furniture and personal belongings that made the space feel lived-in and welcoming.
In a chair by the window sat a woman who was unmistakably Ryder's mother.
She had the same golden blonde hair, though hers was streaked with silver, and the same piercing blue eyes.
But where Ryder radiated barely contained energy, she seemed fragile, ethereal, like a delicate flower that had been pressed between the pages of a book.
"Ryder," she said, her face lighting up with genuine joy as she rose from her chair.
"And my beautiful Lucinda." She embraced them both with the kind of desperate affection that spoke of too much separation, too many visits that were never long enough.
I hung back, feeling like an intruder on this private moment of reunion.
But then Charlotte's gaze fell on me, and her expression changed completely. Her blue eyes widened with shock, and she raised one trembling hand to her mouth.
"Lissa," she whispered, her voice filled with wonder and disbelief.
"Oh my God, Lissa, you haven't aged a day.
" The room fell into absolute silence. I felt the blood drain from my face as I stared at this woman who had just called me by my mother's name, the mother who had abandoned me when I was five years old, the mother I'd been searching for answers about ever since I'd arrived at Regents University.