Chapter 25. Instincts

Caleb’s POV

We were halfway across the parking lot when Caroline suddenly stopped, her hand clutching my arm with a grip tighter than I would have expected. I turned to look at her, my brows furrowing in confusion. The afternoon air was thick with an uneasy silence, the distant hum of cars on the main road barely audible.

“Caleb,” she said, her voice unusually tense, her eyes scanning the building we had just left. “I don’t feel right about this. Something’s wrong.”

I sighed, running a hand through my hair, already exhausted. “Caroline, we’ve been over this. Aurora is fine. She’s in there with the teacher, she’s safe. If we go back in there, we’re just going to look paranoid.”

“I don’t care how it looks,” she snapped, stepping closer, her eyes burning with a conviction I wasn’t used to seeing from her. “I just have this feeling, Caleb. I swear to you, something isn’t right. I felt it the moment we stepped outside, and I can’t ignore it.”

I hesita