The laugh stayed in the house long after it ended. It felt stuck in the walls somehow, crawling through the silence like smoke. Nobody moved. The rain outside grew louder, thunder shaking the windows hard enough to make the glass tremble. I looked at Helen, waiting for her to say something, anything, but she just stood there staring at the door like opening it would ruin whatever little safety we still had left.
"Helen," I said quietly, trying to keep my voice from shaking, "who is he?"
Her breathing became uneven. She looked toward me for a second before looking away again. "You need to trust me," she whispered.
"That's hard right now."
The words came out colder than I meant them to.
Her face changed instantly, hurt mixing with fear. But before she could say anything—
Three more knocks.
Slower this time.
Like he knew we were still standing there.
"Helen," the voice came again from the other side of the door, calm and quiet. "You can't hide forever."
Something about the way he said her name made my stomach twist.
Like they knew each other too well.
Like this wasn't the first time.
I stepped closer to the door before Helen suddenly grabbed my wrist.
"Don't," she said quickly.
"Why?"
Her fingers tightened slightly. "Because he wants you to open it."
"What does that even mean?"
She hesitated.
Then looked down.
"You weren't supposed to get involved."
The sentence sat between us heavier than thunder.
"What are you talking about?" I asked.
She opened her mouth, closed it again, then finally whispered, "After the party… I didn't go home."
My chest tightened immediately.
"What?"
"I lied," she said quietly, tears forming in her eyes. "But not for the reason you think."
The room suddenly felt smaller.
"Then tell me the reason."
She looked toward the window like she was afraid someone was listening.
"After midnight," she said slowly, "Ezel followed me into the woods."
My stomach dropped.
"He was drunk," she continued. "Angry about something stupid from the party. I told him to leave me alone, but he wouldn't stop. Then…" Her voice cracked. "Someone else showed up."
"The boy outside?"
She nodded slowly.
"He stopped Ezel," she whispered. "But things got bad."
"How bad?"
Helen didn't answer immediately.
Instead, she looked at me with an expression I couldn't understand.
Fear.
Regret.
Something darker.
Then quietly—
"There was blood."
Thunder cracked so loud the lights flickered.
Before I could even process what she meant—
A loud sound came from the backyard.
Glass breaking.
We both turned instantly.
The kitchen window.
Shattered.
Cold wind rushed inside carrying rain with it.
And resting on the floor beneath the broken glass—
A muddy shovel.
Attached to it—
A silver moon bracelet.
Helen's bracelet.
Only this one—
Was covered in dirt.