Chapter 8: 8. Grandma's Gone
ELENA'S POV
The walk back to my grandmother's house felt endless. The forest seemed darker than before, every rustle in the underbrush making me flinch. My mind was a storm of questions, all of them circling around what Lucas had told me. Powers? A lineage? And Viktor... What would happen if he had my blood on his hands.
When the small, familiar house finally came into view, I let out a shaky breath. The warm glow of its porch light felt like a beacon of comfort, but that comfort didn't even last long.
As I got closer, something felt wrong. The door was slightly ajar, creaking softly in the breeze. My stomach dropped. My grandmother was cautious to a fault, she would never leave the door open like that. Not in this period when she was constantly warning about the dangers of this town.
"Grandma?" I called out hesitantly as I stepped onto the porch.
There was no answer.
My heart thudded painfully as I pushed the door open. The sight that greeted me froze me in my tracks.
The living room was a disaster. Furniture was overturned, cushions shredded. The shelves were emptied, books and trinkets scattered across the floor. Drawers had been pulled out, their contents dumped in careless heaps. It was as if a tornado had ripped through the house.
"Grandma?" I called out again, my voice trembling.
There was still no response.
Panic began to rise in my chest as I stepped over the wreckage, heading toward the kitchen. It was the same story there, broken plates littered the floor, chairs tipped over, the table pushed to the side.
I ran upstairs, my heart pounding like a drum. The staircase creaked beneath my hurried steps, and I clutched the banister for balance.
"Grandma?" I shouted, louder this time.
I burst into her bedroom, and the sight of it made my knees buckle. Her bed was stripped bare, the mattress half off the frame. Her closet doors were flung open, her clothes ripped from their hangers and tossed onto the floor. Even her bedside table had been upended, its contents strewn everywhere.
But my grandmother was not there.
"No, no, no..." I whispered, my voice shaking. My hands clutched at my hair as I spun around, my eyes darting to every corner of the room as if she might appear.
I tore through the rest of the house, searching every nook and cranny. The bathroom, the guest room, even the tiny storage closet in the hallway. I looked under beds, behind doors, anywhere she might be hiding.
But she was nowhere.
By the time I returned to her bedroom, my chest was heaving, and tears were streaming down my face. I sank to my knees in the middle of the chaos, my hands trembling as they clutched the edge of her bedframe.
"This is my fault..." I choked out, my voice breaking. "None of this would be happening if it weren't for me. If I didn't have these... these stupid powers."
The word felt foreign in my mouth, like it didn't belong to me. Powers. What did that even mean?
I buried my face in my hands, my shoulders shaking. The weight of it all was crushing me: Lucas's revelations, Viktor's relentless pursuit, and now this. My grandmother was gone, taken because of me.
Then my eyes drifted to the corner of the room, where something caught my attention. A piece of paper lay crumpled on the floor, almost hidden beneath a pile of clothes.
I crawled over to it, my fingers shaking as I picked it up. The paper was torn and smudged, but the words written on it were clear.
Come get her.
And beneath that, a single name. Viktor.
I felt my stomach twist as terror washed over me. My hands clenched the note so tightly that the edges cut into my skin, but I didn't care.
"Damn it!" I hissed, my voice barely above a whisper.
I dropped the note and pressed my hands to my face, my breathing ragged. My mind raced with a hundred different questions. Where was she? How long had she been gone? And most importantly, how was I supposed to find her?Where was I even supposed to start looking for her?
The thought of her, alone and terrified, made me feel sick. She had been taken because of me, because of whatever Viktor wanted from my blood.
I paced the room, my mind spinning. I had no leads, no plan, no idea where to even start. The note was Viktor's taunt, a cruel reminder that he was in control.
But I couldn't let him win.
I stopped in front of the window, staring out at the darkened forest. Somewhere out there, Viktor was holding my grandmother hostage. Somewhere out there, the answers I needed were waiting.
I clenched my fists, a spark of determination flaring within me. I didn't know what I was going to do, but I knew one thing for certain, I wasn't going to let him get away with this.
Not now. Not ever.