Chapter 2

Something is in my room, moving. I could feel it. Moving around quietly. I’m scared to look or come out of my blanket. It could be the person that was staring at me from the window.

I immediately felt it get closer to me, slowly and just as it was about to touch me I flipped over and put on my light. My bedside lamp illuminating the room and revealing that no one was in the room with me. Why was I always feeling uneasy?

I pulled the blanket over me and tried to go back to sleep. Closing my eyes as tight as I could and holding my pillow tighter.

It did not work. I had already grown restless and a part of me was scared whatever was in my room was going to come back immediately I went to bed.

I sat up, groaning as I slipped out of bed. It was already six in the morning and in just a couple minutes my alarm would go off, there wasn’t even any sense in going back to bed.

Somewhere inside my closet, I managed to find my running attire which consisted of a sports bra and spandex shorts. A good run was what I needed now for a clear mind, it was not totally bright outside but I could see pretty good.

I left my room quietly so I wouldn’t wake my parents. I made it downstairs and out the door. I stood on the patio for a few seconds, breathing in my surrounding. My house was situated close to a forest, which was where our town ended. There was nothing else, just tall, huge trees that made the morning air always clean and cold.

I took a deep breath before breaking into a run. At first I ran as fast as my legs could carry me, then I gradually slowed down. My breath breaking even as beads of sweat formed on my forehead. At this point I just walked, listening to the tiny birds that sat atop the trees.

Tiny stones flew a little off the ground as I kicked them, landing a few feet away from me each time. I turned by the way I had come, slowly making my way home.

The sun was almost out, gradually casting its light on me and I relished in the warmth it brought. My hair stuck to the back of my neck, I was going to wash it over the weekend. My long black curly hair was hard to maintain so I only washed it on Saturdays. That way I could spend the entire day taking care of it and not worry about running late for anything.

When I walked through the door everywhere was still quiet. Normally daddy would be whistling as he moved around the kitchen, making breakfast. There was no one downstairs. Were they still asleep?

I heard someone come down the stairs as I started coffee.

“Bethy, what are you doing up so early?” mum asked. She walked in rubbing her eyes as she grabbed a class of water before sitting on the stool beside the kitchen counter.

I held myself back from rolling my eyes “I have school mum” I reminded her in a bored tone. Whenever it came to me she didn’t pay much attention.

“You’re not going to school” she said making me turn to her.

“What do you mean I’m not going to school? We’re about to start midterms” I told her. the coffee maker went off and I poured myself some and then put dads in his mug.

She rubbed her forehead, her eyes tired but that wasn’t my problem.

“You’ll be going to a new school” she said simply like she just talked about the weather.

“And why is that? You can’t just take me to a new school without talking to me about it. Does dad even know or you’re doing it behind his back?” I asked, folding my arms across my chest. This was going too far.

Our little town had just one public high school and that was the only one I was allowed to attend. It was practically impossible to be enrolled into another school here so she was probably bluffing.

She held my gaze for a long time before she spoke “I have decided and it’s final. I think with moving away you’ll come to terms with your father’s death and every other thing around you” her voice was quiet.

I turned to the mug that was filled with coffee and carried it. “Daddy!” I yelled as I went up the stairs. There was no way I was going to stand there and let mum just talk nonsense to me. Dad was not dead. I was just going to give him his coffee in bed, shower, have breakfast and then head to school.

When I pushed the door to his room it was locked. I tried again but it wouldn’t budge. Enraged I threw the mug on the floor, watching it shatter into a couple pieces and the brown liquid spread across the while tiled floor.

I heard steps pounding up the stairs before mum stood in front of me “What have you done?” she asked, her eyes wide in anger “What the fuck is even wrong with you?” she yelled.

I stood there looking at her. I had nothing to say to her. My eyes went back to the door “Where is daddy?”

She slapped her forehead lightly in frustration “What do I even do with you?” she asked, the question seeming more for her than me. “With Isaac it was easier to handle you, now…” she broke off, a sob tearing through her throat.

I was not falling for this. Avoiding the glass I stepped around her and went to my room. I picked the first thing I could lay my hand on from my wardrobe and entered my bathroom. I avoided looking at myself in the mirror as I went through my routine.

By the time I was ready for school the sun was bright up in the sky and I was five minutes late. My bag slung over one shoulder, I rushed downstairs , grabbing a banana from the fridge as I headed towards the door.

It was locked. I tried the back door but even that was locked. Including every other door that led outside the house. Mum, really?

Luckily the kitchen window was big enough to let me pass through. I opened the blinds and in a few seconds I was outside. I whooped in joy, my mum had no idea she had a smartass for a daughter.

The door suddenly opened and my livid mother stood there glaring at me, the keys to the doors in hand “Why don’t you ever listen, this is for your own good!” she yelled.

I laughed “Mum, I really have to be in school, I’ll see you when I get back”, I waved at her for good measure.

“Wait…” she called softly, she walked out of the house but stopped exactly where the sun started to shine. The roof casting a shadow over her. “I need to tell you something”

I shook my head “I’m not falling for one of your tricks”

She took a step further but stopped “If you’ll only listen to me for a moment Elizabeth” she pleaded. My mouth opened slightly, she never used my full name.

I did not know when I started walking, I only knew I found myself sitting with her at the kitchen counter as she dried the corner of her eyes.

Mum brought out a file and placed it in front of me. She looked at me but I didn’t touch it, only eyeing it in suspicion.

She flipped the cover. When I finally looked at it I pushed it away. “Why are you showing me dad’s costume?” I asked her. It was one thing knowing it was a prank, just dad trying to scare me and another staring into a picture of his soulless eyes.

“That is not a costume Elizabeth, your father is really dead” she said quietly, read through the report. I was in the kitchen when I heard him scream for help, when I got to the room it was late. He was already lying there dead and I couldn’t find the culprit” she said.

Despite shaking my head, I pulled the file back and read it. It was my mum’s statement of what had happened to dad. Then there were several pictures there of dad on the floor, taken from different angles.

“Why are you trying to convince me that dad is dead?” I asked her quietly as I dabbed the side of my eyes. I was not going to cry over nothing, dad was still here he has to.

She sighed heavily “I’m not trying to convince you. I know you both were the closest any father and daughter could be, hell it was just him for you. This is a tragic event that I never imagined would happen and I understand how that affects you”.

I stood up to leave when her hand enclosed around mine on the counter. Her hand was cold.

“It’ll take a long time to process his death, it could even take years considering how much you loved him but you have to leave here. You have to move on” she said as her hand on me tightened.

“Stop” I whispered, pleading with her as a light went out in my heart. “Please…” I said, my tears falling without control as a sob choked me “Daddy is not dead. I don’t want him to be, so let me just remember this as a prank he played on me before going far away. One day he’ll come back to me and bake those cakes I love so much” I struggled to say as I cried.

“Please…just don’t ruin his memory for me. One day he’ll be back and I’ll be here waiting” I finished before letting the hurt that I had tried so hard to keep them came charging up. It was like someone was stomping on my heart repeatedly and I could do nothing about it.

Daddy. Prank. Faraway. That was all to it.

“If he went far away then you could just do the same” mum said, her voice so gentle like she was speaking to a broken child “When you come back he’ll be waiting for you right there” she pointed to dad’s favorite chair.

I thought about it for a while. She might just be right. If I and dad both go far away then we would come back home and meet each other.

I looked at her and asked quietly “How faraway do I have to go?”

“Very far away” she answered.

“And what about you?”

“I’ll take care of our home till you’re both back” she said, squeezing my hand. “You’ll leave by tomorrow and don’t pack anything”.

“What of my clothes?”

“You wouldn’t be needing them, just wake up early tomorrow morning and get dressed” she said and before I could ask which school I would be attending she left.

And it was just me. Sitting in the empty kitchen and staring into nothing.

I don’t know how long I sat there. All I know was by the time I was back to me it was already dark, even then I couldn’t tell just how much time had passed. I went to my room and snuggled under my blanket and just lay there.

By tomorrow I would no longer be here. I bet all the kids in school would be happy that I left. Or maybe they wouldn’t even notice. Just like they never noticed my presence or ever acknowledged it.

I turned in my bed. I missed dad so much. I felt even more lonelier than I usually did. I blinked severally to remove the tears that were obstructing my vision. I couldn’t wait to leave tomorrow so I could hurry back to see him.