The Hockey Star’s Remorse

Chapter 38

As soon as I stepped into the apartment, a shard of glass shattered beneath my shoe. I looked down and saw that it had belonged to the large lamp that had been on the small table near the door.

“What on Earth!” I stumbled inside, almost tripping over the debris on the floor. I heard a set of keys jingling behind me and whipped around, my senses on high

alert.

Aria was standing in the doorway, gawking at the display. Her eyes met mine, wide and perplexed.

“I just got back from work…” she said softly, taking it all in. Her eyes scanned the room and her face twisted up. “What the hell happened here?”

“Someone broke in!” I shouted, rushing toward her. There was broken glass everywhere. The photos on the wall had been knocked down, leaving trails of wood chips and torn paper.

The couch had been slashed and the cotton was spilling from every own slit. Like everything else, the kitchen was in shambles. There wasn’t a piece of dishware that didn’t look shattered.

Aria took hold of my arms and clung to my side, fortunately more alert than before. Her wide eyes darted across the room. “Who could’ve done this?”

I already knew the answer to that. “He just won’t give up.”

Aria narrowed her eyes. “Who’s ‘he? You know who did this?”

I bit

my lip and looked to the side. “I just assumed it was a man that did this,” I said, and she looked far from convinced.

“You said he won’t give up,” Aria pointed out. “Which implies that there have been other instances. Who is he?”

When it looked like she wasn’t giving up any time soon, I sighed and plopped down on my bed. Aria sat beside me. I didn’t catch her being serious all too often, but she was at her scariest when she was.

“I think it might have been Bruce,” I said carefully, unable to meet her gaze. “He’d been sending me texts for a while, but I didn’t think he’d

go this far.

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Chapter 38

Aria stood abruptly, her hands clenched into fists. “Bruce? As in the Bruce, the scum bag that calls himself your family!?!”

I nodded weakly and she slapped a hand on her forehead, turning away.

“How could I not have known?? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I didn’t want you to freak out!” I said, my voice cracking with the onset of tears. “Hell, I was freaking out so much, and I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t even

to hear from him

whole room with a wave of her arm. “Well, he’s made his

I needed, and he made it evident in the most destructive way

out her phone and I grabbed her wrist in

“What are you doing?”

at me. “Calling the police,

watched helplessly as she dialed the number and held the phone to her ear. It took a few rings before the

Aria stepped out of the room,

leaving

and stopped with. her hands on her

sniffed and wiped my nose.

stretch of silence before her harsh stance weakened. After a moment, she sighed and sat beside me. She rubbed my arm and pulled the hair away from

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Chapter 38

running her fingers through my hair. My sobs grew louder, as

Aria led me out into the living room and sat me down on the couch before answering the

said the male officer. “I’m officer Brody, and this is Officer Hills. We got

nodded. “Yes, that was me.

inside and showed them around the apartment. They took

person was after something?” asked Officer Hills. “Any

at me and shrugged. “Evie, you might have to

to me, and I shrunk into the couch, wishing I could just disappear. I pulled my knees to my chest and shook my head. “Nothing valuable. Just…an

done something like this before?” asked Brody. “If

the first time he’s

then looked around the room. Hills offered me a look

that incriminates him. It might be in your best interest to consider moving somewhere safer anyway. This part of town’s pretty sketchy,”

couldn’t help but scoff at her

you have some place you can

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Chapter 38

have a friend near

follow. He opened the front door and looked back at Aria and me. “We’ll bring this info down to the station, see if we can get more about

said bitterly, flicking a tuft of

the door and into her room. She pulled out a suitcase and slammed it onto

said, practically out of breath. “We need

a sloth’s pace, I removed myself from the couch

car. Since she was still far from sobriety, she let me drive all the

and hit the call button to Lucas‘ apartment. As late as it was, I didn’t expect him to answer. However, after

he