Alone With Them

Chapter 2

Her mom's eyes were large, dark, and puffy. A few tears streamed down her bronze cheeks and Cathryn could make out new, deep stress lines in her forehead. Her mother scowled. Cathryn took a deep breath, wishing the air wasn't so heavy.

"What am I going to do with you," she whispered, barely loud enough for Cathryn to hear. "Why do you do this?"

"I'm so sorry, Mom–"

"Save it, Cathryn," her mom snapped. Cathryn gulped down her words and she felt the smallest prick of saltwater sting her eyes. "I can't do this right now. Go to your room; we'll talk later." Without a sound, Cathryn made her way down the hall to her little room at the end. From it, she could see part of the living room. She only let one tear fall when her mom was to her back, out of sight. She wiped it away just as quickly as it had appeared.

"What's wrong with me," she whispered out loud once she shut herself behind her bedroom door. "I knew it was a horrible idea. I knew what day it was. What am I, the worst daughter in the history of daughters?" She threw herself back-first onto her bed, so she could have a good view of her dark ceiling. Today was her parents' anniversary. The day to commemorate her mom's biggest mistake: marrying her father. The devilish man who left them the moment he'd learned she was pregnant.

It didn't help that today also reminded everyone of Aunt Mary, mom's late sister, who had been against the man from the beginning. She'd only died a couple years ago thanks to brain cancer, leaving her poor son Chancellor alone with his father. If only he was mentally stable enough to take care of the young kid. Cathryn rubbed her temples and closed her eyes. She just wanted to sleep, but the smell of chlorine was keeping her awake.

She groaned; her room was going to smell like chlorine forever now. On instinct, Cathryn's hand reached down to her imaginary pocket to retrieve her phone. She growled. Her mother had taken her phone the moment they'd come back from the station. Besides, even if she hadn't, Cathryn was still in her swimsuit. It wasn't like she had anywhere to keep the phone. Her phone...shoot! She'd forgotten to tell Markus about getting picked up by the police. He must've given up waiting to play with her over an hour ago.

Not only was she a pathetic excuse for a daughter, but a terrible friend as well. What a horrible day. Cathryn changed into pajamas and brushed through her hair as best she could, but she still smelled like pool. If she wasn't banished to her room, she'd take a shower. Oh well, Cathryn would have to first thing in the morning. She laid down and snuggled into her pillow, trying to ignore the smells and guilt that surrounded her.

She fell asleep after a while and nightmares filled her mind. Cathryn was trapped in a dark, cobblestone maze that was quickly filling with water. Above her lurked a dark figure that laughed as he watched her trying to escape. Cathryn tripped once or twice as she ran through the maze, her hand on the right wall. If she followed it, eventually, she would escape. Unless the outside wall just led her in a circle. Then she would drown. But Cathryn shook that thought out of her mind, because negativity never got anyone anywhere.

The giant laughed and suddenly she could see his face. It was Trevor standing above her.

"Well, you're in some pretty deep water," he said, chuckling at his joke. "What? Make mommy angry?" The water was so heavy it tried to drag her under, but Cathryn ignored it, and Trevor, as she sloshed her way to freedom.

"Didn't anyone ever tell you it was rude to ignore people?" Trevor asked from above.

"Oh, just shut up!" Cathryn yelled. "I can't even escape you in my dreams?" He only laughed at her. "You're the reason Mom is mad at me," she accused. "If Joan wasn't so obsessed with you, I wouldn't be such a bad person! I would have been able to help my mom and hang out with Markus."

"Are you sure?" Trevor asked with a sickening grin. His bright blue eyes glinted maliciously as a large wave buried Cathryn. She squirmed under the water, trying to figure out which way was up, and which was down. The waves lashed out at her and slammed the back of her head against one of the maze walls. Luckily, it also threw her upwards, so her face was out of water. Cathryn gasped and tried heaving herself up. It took a couple of attempts, but she was finally able to grab a part of the wall and use it to stand.

The water was at her waist, and she wasn't sure which direction it had dragged her. She was lost and there was nothing she could do. Cathryn was beginning to sink into despair, and water, until an idea came to her. Using the last of her strength, she found a foothold and began to climb the wall of the maze.

"What?" Trevor yelled at her. "You can't do that!"

"Watch me!" she shouted back. The wall was maybe two feet higher than her, which meant it was barely seven and a half feet tall. She was reaching for the top when she felt a tremor. Holding on for dear life, Cathryn let out a squeal when the wall began reaching upwards. The ground got farther away and so did the top.

With a groan, Cathryn continued the climb. Her arms were quivering and her breathing was heavy, but she would persevere.

"If you don't get off that wall, I'll show you how mean I can be," warned Trevor, but Cathryn ignored him. She continued to haul herself upward until she heard a clap of thunder. She looked skyward to see Trevor swing his giant hand down at her. There was impact and the sound of bone cracking.

Cathryn sat up in bed in a cold sweat.

Her face was pale and she was shaking. Stupid dream. She refused to dwell on enormous Trevor's mockery, focusing instead on her pitch-black bedroom. Great! It was the middle of the night! She gave a low moan, throwing herself backwards and burying her face into her pillow. Why did she have to have so many stupid nightmares? And why did they always feel so real?

"A giant Trevor?" she laughed bitterly at the unbelievable-ness of her dream. "Just go back to sleep for once. Please. Please go back to sleep."

The next time Cathryn opened her eyes, the outside world peeking in through a crack in her curtains was dim, but definitely signaled morning. She'd done it! Maybe this was some kind of good omen!

Then Cathryn remembered her mother's face from the night before and the smile disappeared from her lips. No; a good omen would be the sun rising early, even if it was barely 5 am. Knowing the punishment that would probably come her way, Cathryn expected the sky to stay dark all day.