Find Her, Keep Her (CFTM Sequel)

Chapter 28 (Parts 1 & 2)

(*Note: Click the Youtube link above to listen to the audiobook version of this chapter voiced by kaelking12 featuring music by Paramore & Tegan and Sara.)

Alex

Dear Nobody,

I never used to believe in monsters. I thought the whole idea of some sharp-toothed, beady-eyed, people-eater was just a figment of my six-year-old imagination.

And, I was half right.

There's no such thing as ghosts.

There's no boogeyman hiding under my bed, or any blood thirsty vampire creeping around my closet.

Because real monsters walk around in broad daylight.

They hide behind shiny police badges, clean cut uniforms, and fancy slogans like "protect and serve."

And right when you think you're safe, right when you've gotten it in your head that the "good guys" won't hurt you, they do.

They tear off their masks and show their teeth.

And, suddenly, your whole idea of trust is turned upside down.

Rory did it with a twist of his wrist.

And that officer did it with a click of his handcuffs.

And, now, he's gone.

And, Elias is gone.

And, I can't help him.

I can't reach him.

I can't ask him if he's okay.

I can't do anything but sit inside a near empty police station where everybody talks and nobody listens.

They ask me to sit down and wait like a good little girl while the big bad cops get away with murder behind closed doors.

I don't know if you believe in monsters, Nobody.

I didn't either.

But after tonight, I do.

-Alex

***

There are two types of parents in the world. The kind who'd still love you even if you robbed a bank, blew up the Empire State Building, or failed out of college. And, then, there's the other kind. The ones who never really figure out how to love you at all.

I call this type of parent, "the suckster". "Sucksters" are most commonly found in rich sparkly families, with houses in three different countries, and more money then they know what to do with.

They marry for money, they work for money, and they pop out kids to create the illusion that they actually care about something other than, well, money.

But, nine out of ten times, they don't.

Their little boys and girls are accessories with an expiration date. Fun when they're new, and disposable by the time they hit their teens.

That's the moment when Sucksters go back to loving money for a living instead of paying attention to their kids.

And Elias is one of those kids.