Her Secrets

22. Run

"What?" He questioned.

"I believe you." she whispered scanning her brothers confused face. "About Camille. I think Chris is hiding something."

"Listen, Mia, Chris does know something." He said shutting his bedroom door and locking it behind them. "I know he does. She had a stalker and so much other shit happened before she died. She wrote about you, about the two of us."

"What do you mean she wrote about us?" She questioned.

"Her journals." He stated.

"Journals?" Mia asked.

"Yes, she has stacks and stacks of journals. The one she had before she died was missing from her tote with journals. But I found it in Chris' desk in his room. He was hiding it." He said.

"What? Are you sure?" She asked eyeing her older brother.

"Yes. It was hidden deep in one of his drawers. It was under a lot of paperwork and shit." He said.

"How'd you even know it existed?" She asked.

"I didn't. I went through Chris' stuff when he was at work because Cam said in her second to last journal that he was acting weird. She knew something. And it's all here." He said as he flipped through the pages of her beige book. "I think she ended up dead because she found something out that she wasn't supposed to."

Just when Mia was about to reply she heard heavy footsteps coming from the hall as Chris called out her name.

"Shit, I think he's coming over here." Asher said. "We have to leave."

"What?" Mia deadpanned.

"Don't question me until we're out of here. If you don't trust him that's a bad sign." He said.

Asher grabbed a full black backpack then tossed Mia a full pink one. "We have to leave now."

With that he put the bag over his shoulder and climbed through the window. hesitantly, she looked between the bedroom door one of her brothers stood just feet away from and the window that her other brother had already climbed through. Memories of the last time she snuck out of the house entered her mind but this time she was in the safety of her older brother. She'd be okay. And from the looks of it, he was preparing to leave with her anyways.

"Mia!" She heard again. This time he was getting closer towards the bedroom door.

So before her oldest brother could enter Asher's room, she quickly climbed out the window and shut it behind her. She didn't know who she could trust anymore but one thing was for sure; she could trust Ash.

*
Chris POV:

"What's going on?" He asked Stella as he made his way through the front door and out to her car.

"Mia's afraid. She knows somethings up." She said.

"What do you mean?" Chris asked urgently.

"She knows somethings off about Camille's death. She knows somethings off. Chris she's catching on." Stella said.

Chris shook his head. "No, I've done every thing possible to ensure they didn't find anything out." He whispered.

"Well, she knows something. She said something about believing Asher. I don't know, it was odd. She heard what you were saying and snapped like something clicked for her."

"I didn't say anything wrong. All I said was I needed help with Asher. That I needed you to talk to him. How could she have mistook that?" He pondered.

"She referred to Camille's death, her parents death, and Asher and her wreck happening." When Chris stood their processing everything she continued. "Her mothers death happening after she said she didn't think Camille's death was suicide. And their wreck happened when Asher told her the same thing, right? You told me what Asher told Mia. That's why she thought something was off."

Chris chuckled, "so what you're telling me right now is we have some kind of family curse? And now she thinks differently of me and whether or not I had something to do with their deaths?"

"She didn't put it that way. Is that what's happening?" She asked.

Chris chuckled, a dark glint in his gaze. "Of course not."

He continued when Stella didn't answer, "you believe me, right?"

Unsure what to do, she nodded.

"Then why are you looking at me like that?" He asked.

"Like what?" She questioned her heart racing.

"Like I killed someone." He answered with a smirk.

"I'm not. We should go inside and check on Mia and Asher." She suggested trying to get the attention off herself.

"Let's go then." He said as he went back inside and she followed behind him.

"Mia," Chris called out from down the hall. When he received no answer he called her name again.

He made his way towards Asher's room and swung the door open. He scanned the fairly organized room. The walls adorned with band posters and the neatly made bed. Not a thing out of place as far as he was concerned.

When he noticed no one was inside his room, he walked over to Mia's room. As he opened the door he was met with a different site. Unmade bed as if today she had been dragged out of bed against her liking and she practically was although it seemed like it was a good day while it lasted. Her schoolwork, however, was for once in a neat pile with her backpack leaned up against the wall sitting on the crisp white desk.

"Stella!" He called out.

"What?" She asked confused to why he sounded frantic.

"Where the hell are they?" He asked. "I can't find Mia or Asher."

"When I pulled in Mia ran inside the house. They couldn't have just left without either one of us seeing them. I'm sure they're here." She said.

"Mia! Asher!" He called out searching each room.

When he received no replies or had any luck looking for them, he got outside and started his truck as he dialed Mia. To his surprise, Stella got out of her car and with Mia's phone in hand she held it up. "She left her phone in my car." She said.

"Goddamnit!" He shouted as he gripped the wheel and yanked the phone from her hand. He took it and threw it as it shattered on the ground.

"Calm down, Chris." She said quietly. "Try Asher."

"You're too fucking calm, Stella. You didn't guide them out of here did you? You didn't cause a fucking distraction for me so they could escape, did you?" He questioned, eyes as dark as coal.

"Of course, I didn't. I don't meddle in your life. There's no reason for it."

"No, Stella. I need the fucking truth. These are my siblings. The ones I care for because no one else in this fucked up family could. You know that right? Our dad dying in a car accident when Mia was younger is all bullshit. He was a horrible man whose still out there and as long as he's out there, Mia and Asher are in danger. So if you fucking let them escape and I find out, you're dead to me." Chris said before speeding off.

Stella stood back as she watched him drive off down the street. She was dumbfounded by what he had just revealed. All the years they spent together and now she was just finding out the truth. And the worst part was she didn't know how much of a mess everything really was.