sanctuary. [oscar diaz]

[16] this is a place where i don't feel alone.

Turns out I was right about still being in California. I was in some desert town at the ends of Modesto. It was a five hour drive back to Freeridge and we spent most of it in silence. We were halfway there when Oscar decided to speak.

"What did Cain say about your dad?" he questioned.

I kept my eyes trained outside of the window as I answered, "He killed his brother. Someone who was basically my dad's brother, too."

"The one you saw when you were little?" he glanced at me from the road.

I connected eyes with him and reluctantly nodded. I sighed, resting my head on the window. "Everything I knew about my dad was a lie. Everything I thought he stood for."

"Maybe Cain didn't tell you the whole story."

"You didn't see his face when he told me, O," I said, lifting my head from the window and looking at him. "He was so pained. Like it physically hurt him to talk about it."

I rested my head on the headrest, looking out at the line of SUVs driving in front of us. "And why lie to a girl you think is about to die?"

Oscar didn't have an answer, so we sat for the last half of the trip in silence. The only time we talked is when Oscar and I stopped to get food when I realized I hadn't eaten in two days and I was certain my stomach was eating itself.

The sun had set by then and after I ate I had fallen asleep. However, I was woken up by loud sirens.

I opened my eyes and looked out the window to see two ambulances zip by. I noticed we were in Freeridge and shrugged it off considering it was nothing new here.

A few minutes later, we pulled into Oscar's driveway as the rest of the cars pulled in the front, taking up parking on almost the entire block.

I climbed out and walked inside, not even bothering to wait for Oscar. As soon as I stepped in I stopped, taking in the interior of the small house that I missed so much. The appreciation was cute short by my name being yelled.

"Violetta!" my mother exclaimed, happily as she wrapped her arms around me.

I reacted the same way I did with my father. I stood limply in her embrace and she reacted the same way as him. They really were the same people.

"You're not happy to see me?" she asked.

"Not the word I'd use, no."

Her eyebrows crinkled in confusion and Sad Eyes came from behind her.

"Nice to have you back, Santuario," he smiled, engulfing me in a hug. I laughed, hugging him back.

"Her name is Violetta," my mother butted in.

I pulled back and turned to her, annoyed. "Who are you to tell me what my name is?"

"To think you were getting better with your attitude," my father commented, walking inside the house next to Oscar.

"To think I thought you were loyal," I shot back.

He shook his head. "Not this again," he laughed dryly. He turned and walked back outside but I ran after him.

"You know, I thought I was the one who ran from my problems and the truth," I called after him, stopping in the middle of the lawn. "Looks like we have something in common."