The Mystery Of Eastbrooks High

Chapter Twelve: Knives and Lives

AUSTIN SPED HIS CAR IN THE forest. It had been a while since he speeded, and it was actually for a purpose other than pissing his parents off. The GPS instructed the route to Jace's house, and Austin exhaled roughly, steering the car to the right as he ran a hand through his hair.

Austin never usually checked his messages while he was on the badminton court. But it was a good thing he did. Because he had several missed calls from Sabrina and a text explaining that the killer broke into Norah's house while she was in there. She was safe, but still, he wanted to reach there as quickly as he could.

He was getting attached to these people. Now he understood what he read in the novels: that people usually got bonded quickly and deeply during hard times, and those friendships, the ones formed during hardships, were the ones which were most honest and lasted forever. He was experiencing that right now. Weirdly, the Austin, who usually stayed closed off, was getting close to the book club members, who were now getting butchered one by one in a cruel, clever, methodological way.

He was getting attached to all the members. But he was growing even closer to the other three members in particular: Norah, Jace, and Emma. And his relationship with Norah was growing even more profound, more comfortable, and it was precious. The crush he'd had on Norah was unravelling into something more exquisite. And he wanted to cherish it, cherish her, for however long he could.

His knuckles tightened around the steering wheel, whitening. He parked near Jace's house and ran towards the house, knocking on the polished wooden door. A man with chocolate brown hair opened the door, muting the phone call as he greeted Austin. He had a stern face, but his greeting was warm and welcoming. He'd introduced himself as Lucas, Jace's dad. Austin had met Jace's other dad before, Magnus, who worked with the police.

It was weird for Austin to call his friends' parents by their first name. Sabrina's parents had always been formal and never corrected him when he'd called them by their last names. Norah's mother insisted on calling her by her name, something Austin still couldn't get used to. Then Magnus had asked him the same, now Lucas.

Austin rushed up the stairs, taking two at a time. Apparently, they were all on the terrace, so Austin pushed the door open, a gust of wind greeting him, ruffling his sweaty shirt sticking to his back. Norah's eyes pinged upwards, alarmed and panicked.

"Hey," Austin said, jogging towards her and hugging her. He didn't have any time to take a decision. He had just saw her looking at him with those big blues, her eyes haunted and her stance defensive. The relief barrelled into him, making him propel forward and hug her tightly.

Norah stiffened, not anticipating his hug. Austin hadn't either, even though he was the one who first hugged her. But Norah had relaxed after a beat, melting into his embrace. Her arms went around his torso, her face burying into the crook of his neck. Austin sighed. He set his chin on her hair briefly, patting her back, and letting her go.

After he let her go, his eyes scoured the terrace, the view, and the people behind Norah. Jace raised an eyebrow at him, Sabrina waggled her brows, her lips twisting into a tiny, teasing smirk, and Emma watched with her arms folded over her chest, her face impassive. "Are you okay?" Austin asked, scouring her features for something wrong. Her hair was not bound, a sight Austin never saw, instead it was free and swishing by her waist.

It took his breath away. She was so beautiful.

But he sadly couldn't concentrate on her beauty. If he did that, he'd be gawking at her for his entire life, wondering how someone could look like that. His green eyes continued to pass by her face. Her eyes were huge and puffy, her cheeks flushed and blotchy, her nose red.

Austin's heart skipped. She looked like she'd been crying for a long time. He couldn't imagine how terrified she'd been in her house. Austin lightly ran his hands over her arms in a comforting manner, "What exactly happened? You were okay, right? Safe?" He asked, looking into her eyes.