Chapter 4: Unpacking Memories

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Once I had gotten out of my own head, I began to unpack my things. It didn't take very long, since I didn't own many items. I put away the contents of my duffle bag; mostly clothes gathered throughout the years of running. The second bag was my backpack. Inside it were any memories that I had tried to hold on to, my new identification information, and an emergency kit filled with a new passport and money. It contained all the things I would ever need to survive if I needed to drop everything and run.

After I had put away all of my clothes, I dug through my bag for an old photograph. It was against every rule the marshals had given me about staying a secret, but I just couldn't let it go. The photo was of my family. It was taken at a family picnic, right before everything fell apart. We were all smiling and joking around that day. My hand hovered over my brother Jake. I was so naïve back then to not see the truth about my own family, and now I was paying for that mistake. I put the photo in the drawer of the nightstand and out of my mind.

I heard a soft knock on the door and Ben tucked his head in, "Mind if I come in?"

"Of course not. What can I do for you?" I asked.

Ben pushed the door open and stepped into the room. He was a tall, muscular man with brown hair. His face was well rounded and he had a short, shabby beard. His eyes were as blue as the sea. He gave a soft presence, one that just made you want to tell all of your secrets to.

"Are you going to be alright?" There it was. The question not a single person had asked me so far. I was a little taken back by his bluntness. Since no one ever asked, I had never been forced to answer the question before. I was at a loss, "It's alright if you're not and you don't have to tell me. Just know that I'm here," he paused, seeing if I would accept the offer. When I didn't, he just shook his head, "Why don't you come down for some breakfast. Elizabeth made pancakes."

"Alright," I started to follow him out the door, but stopped and said quickly, "Thank you for what you said and when I'm ready to talk, you will know."

"Alright," he conceded, understanding what I meant.

We walked down for breakfast and then Ben headed off to work at the station. It was only Elizabeth in the house, and she had seemed to shut me out as soon as her dad left. Although, I probably shouldn't have expected anything else from a teenager. All I was to her was the problem.

So, I went to my room and began to settle in. I spent two hours going over my life. Not the made up version, but the one that was actually me. The fake life that was ripped away from me and the replacement I would wish for anything was never in existence.

I thought back, to the day the shroud of the façade of the perfect life disappeared. To when my life ended...

...I slowly creeped toward the back door. The lights were off and I couldn't see much into the house. I stayed as quiet as I could, so I wouldn't wake anyone by sneaking in. Tiptoeing forward, I crouched down when I got close to the side of the sliding glass door.

There was movement inside; someone was riffing through the living room. I couldn't see anything through the dark glass. I moved forward to get a better angle, but the motion detector caught the sudden shift.

Light filled the yard and I froze at what I saw. The glass wasn't dark; it was red. Thick blood was oozing down the entire door. I couldn't see anything through it, and I wasn't all too sure I wanted to.

My family. My mind filled with all the horrid thoughts of what had happened after I had snuck out. The amount of blood told me one thing for sure; no one could survive with that amount of blood loss. I didn't know what had happened to the ones I loved, and the shock of the blood froze me in the images of what could be laying inside for me to find.

"Check the back," a voice rang out from inside.

The click of the lock snapped me back into reality. I moved quickly to the side of the house and hid behind the bushes. I heard someone come around. I held my breath, so he couldn't hear my heavy breathing.

"It must have been a cat." He walked back inside and the door slid shut.

I released a sigh of relief. I started to try to stand when my foot snagged on something, and I fell onto the wet mud. I turned back and almost screamed. There were body parts everywhere.

The dismembered parts of a girl were soaked in blood. The light was a silhouette against the side of the house, but that gave just enough light to recognize who it was. The look of fear was plastered on her face.

I crawled back in disgust and shock. I kept going until I hit the wall of the house and began to push myself up. That's when I looked down.

The ground wasn't wet, it was soaked in that poor dismembered girl. The blood stained every part of body. It went up my arms and my legs, drenching my clothes, and smothering my face.

My bodies started to contract and hyperventilate in fear. I was so focus on the body that I had become paralyzed to the world around me. I never heard the man come back out...

There was a knock on the door that drew me out of my deep thoughts into the past.

"Hey, I'm going out. I'll be back in an hour," Elizabeth said through the door. I heard her footsteps as she went down the stairs and closed front door.

As she left, I finally accepted the feeling, that even if I began to feel anything for these people, because of my family, I will always be alone in this world.

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