Trapped Soul

Chapter 12 - Secrets

"Kate?!" Rick's voice called out.

My eyes watered again. His voice sounded so painful. It was filled with panic and pain. But I couldn't go back. I needed to focus on hiding. I needed to make sure he was safe. The woman too.

"Maybe she went back to her roof?" I could hear the woman say in a questioningly way.

"No, she's too smart for that. She knows that's the first place I'd look" it was hard to make out what he was saying but I managed to puzzle it together from the few things I did hear.

I looked up. I could see him stick out his head but like I thought he looked out and not right down which made him not able see me. I had learned a few things being on the run so hopefully I would be able to keep him out of danger. He had just said he didn't think I was at the roof, did that make it clear for me to go there? Or would he go look there just to make sure I hadn't gone there? I figured the best was to stay on the streets for at least a day. When I saw and heard the window close I started walking. I looked down at my clothes. I still had his too big shirt on me and his mother's pants. I could smell his scent all over me, and I wished it didn't have to come to this. Why couldn't I just be a normal person? If it would've been different we could have been together, maybe he would have proposed and we could even get married one day. I first flinched at the thought, but after a few steps I started to think more about it. I hadn't had much experience from proposals or weddings. But I felt like I knew all about it from all the times my mom had talked about hers.

~~

"Katie, what are you doing?" my mom laughed at me when I jumped at the sudden question.

I hadn't even known she was in the room. I quickly tried to hide the albums but she had already seen them. She sat down at the floor with me and I looked down, avoiding her eyes.

"Sweetie, it is okay to ask about him, I'm not going to get mad" she said and I looked up at her.

"But you'll get sad, and I don't want you to be sad" I said carefully.

She let go of an 'aww' and opened her arms. I crawled into her embrace and she hugged me tight. We sat there for a couple of minutes before she broke the silence.

"I'm not saying it doesn't hurt to talk about your dad, I won't deny it does, but it hurts more knowing you have questions about him you don't want to ask me. You're the best thing that has ever happened to me and it's a shame your dad never got to see what I see" my mom said and I looked up at her faded smile.

"Mom, how did you meet?" I asked her and she reached for the albums I had tried to hide.

She opened the first album and showed me a pic of her younger self.

"We met in high school. He was this big nerd and like anyone else he had a thing for me" she smiled a bit "and one day I was signed to have a group work with him. We met after school to decide what we were going to write about, and you should've seen him" she laughed at the memory "he was so nervous to meet me outside school. He was sweet, tried to respect my space and didn't ever barge in on private subjects. He was him and I liked that."

"So you fell for him?" I asked with a big smile across my face.

"How did I get such a smart 8-year old daughter, huh? Must be his genes" my mom said and winked. "Yes, I did. I fell for him hard. I sticked with him for a few years and eventually we got married" she said dreamily.

I giggled, and my mom tickled my belly which only made me burst out into laughter.

"What do you wanna know?" she asked and I thought for a moment.