Vidcon was over, and I was officially ready to go into hibernation.
But, no rest for the wicked.
Or Meri apparently.
She woke me up at 5am this morning by harassing buddy and causing him to go on a bender around the house.
Then as soon as I thought I'd got her settled down, the squirrels of the world were calling and Meri decided to wake the whole neighbourhood up by barking none stop for twenty minutes.
And the cherry on top, nature put a hold to the squirrels call and Meri was whining and crying to go outside.
By then I was well awake, and far gone from being able to go back to sleep.
Joel was dead to the world, oblivious to what had happened.
After I'd fed Meri, and given buddy a scratch, I settled down at my computer.
I went to the familiar photos in an encrypted folder, and typed in the password.
It was overkill, but I couldn't risk anyone finding out about my past.
In the folder were pictures of my life before the accidents, and screenshots of articles about it all.
The first picture was unlike the most of the others.
It was a collage I'd made for Charlottes birthday, but I'd never been able to give it to her.
And in the collage, we had all been smiling.
No one had died, nothing out of the ordinary had happened.
And I definitely wasn't lying to everyone around me.
Only my family and Jessie new.
My mum had found love again, with my stepfather, who made it easy to pretend nothing had happened.
I told everyone he was my biological dad, to avoid loose ends for people to tug on and unravel my lies.
All the other pictures were raw.
And only the first and third pictures had Charlotte in them.
The collage, and a screen cap of an article written about her.
"Who's that?"
I snapped my laptop closed, and it made a worrying sound, but that was the least of my problems.
"What are you doing up?" I say, trying to divert the conversation.
"I heard Meri earlier, but it took me a while to get up." He fills in, "but who was that on your computer screen."
"That was my...." my eyes dart around the room, looking for an answer, he could not know about Charlotte, all it would take was a quick google search.
"That was one of my cousins." I bluff.
"Oh, cool" Joel replies, pouring a glass of orange juice.
I bite my lip, my finger gripping the computer.
"Are you okay Liz?"
"What?! Why would I be okay." I reply awkwardly.
Joel gives me a curious look, it makes me squirm.
"Lizzie what's wrong? Are you hiding something from me."
I grind my teeth, "no!"
Joel smiles, "just checking, you look like you've seen a ghost." He jokes.
I laugh to the best of my abilities.
Joel busies himself with making breakfast, while I sneak off.
I go into the wardrobe in my room and part the clothes.
At the back is a small bin, with a layer of fan mail at the top, but underneath is everything from the accident.
Before it was makeup, but I had to keep using that, so fan mail from subscribers made more sense.
I tuck my laptop underneath and go back downstairs, where Joel is eating a bowl of cereal and piece of toast.
A car pulls up outside, and I excuse myself to answer the door.
Before I can grab the handle, it bangs open, and standing there, is the person I never expected to see again.
"Hello Elizabeth."
A slam the door closed, and lean against it.
My breathing is speeding up and I snatch my phone and dial.
Moments later, there's voices outside the door, and I hear a familiar voice exchanging harsh words.
I open the door of my own accord.
"Jessie thank god." I whisper, pulling her inside, ignoring the man.
"What do you need." She says, casting a suspicious glance at the man.
"You need to take Joel, and don't let him come home until I say."
She nods, casting one warning glance at the man before disappearing into the living room.
I hear her greet Joel and I step outside, leaving the door open a crack.
"You shouldn't be here." I growl.
The man stares at me.
"And you were supposed to be dead."
Disbelief takes over as the realisation hits me.
He's supposed to be dead.
I hear Jessie and Joel get closer and I push the man around the side of the house just as they come outside.
Jessie's eyes dart around and she spots the mans foot, and quickly kicks it in.
"Why are you standing outside Lizzie." Joel asks.
"Just taking in the sights."
"In your pjs." He concludes, raising his eyebrows.
"Yep." I laugh awkwardly.
"Okay then." He grins, "I'm going out with Jessie, I'll be back later."
I nod, "goodbye!"
I don't move until they're out of sight, before calling the man out.
"Why are you here." I start again, "and how are you here."
The man follows my inside and we sit at the island.
"Lizzie we need to talk about something very important."
I raise my eyebrow, and sip my coffee.
"What now."
I have no idea what else to say.
The man sits there, and I see sympathy in his eyes.
"They killed my wife you know."
That came out of the blue.
I don't say anything.
"And my daughter."
Silence.
"But I moved on, because in this path of life there's nothing else you can do."
I can't string together a coherent sentence.
"Lizzie what happened to your father was a mistake, and it was never meant to happen."
"When is death meant to happen."
It came out more sour than I intended, but I put across my point.
"Lizzie, you have to understand, they will never be satisfied, in this world it's an eye for an eye, and your father left it to you."
"I never asked for any of this."
"I'm afraid free will is a luxury you can't afford in this situation." He warns.
"Can't you just tell them I don't want any part of this."
I know full well what the answer to that is.
"Lizzie, last time I interacted with these people they just about killed me."
"I just want to live my life here Marcus, is that to much to ask."
His face turns serious, "Lizzie, they know where you are, and you don't have a lot of time. They will kill everyone you love, and this time, it will bury a lot more."
Tears brim.
"Your father always said, it's takes ten times longer to put yourself together than it does to fall apart, the irony is, that you don't have time for that."
"Always quick to the point."
Marcus nods, "Lizzie, you know what you have to do."
The only response I had was a nod.
***