[4] The letter of truth

    "Do you want to take a walk?" Daenerys was just about half asleep when Matt's voice woke her up. She opened her eyes once again and nodded, starring out into open space for a moment to remember where she was.

    "How much longer is the movie on for?"

    "Not sure, but I called Ty and told him what happened, and Emily says that she'll see you tomorrow."

    "Damn, there goes our sleepover." Daenerys frowned as she tried getting up, then Matt tightened his grip on her waist to pull her up.

    "Thanks." 

    "No problem. Also, she said that she would stop by tomorrow. Not sure when, so you should probably get that information." 

    "Maybe." 

    Matt opened the door for her, and she was instantly hit with a gust of cold wind. She shivered but Matt held her closer.

    She felt like she was going to suffocate in his arms. There was something about his cologne and the way he was holding her that made her uncomfortable and nauseous.

    "Are you feeling a little better?" Matt asked her.

    "Yeah, I think I should just go home."

    "I'll walk you."

    Drogan.

    Her thoughts slipped to Drogan, wondering if he was still up. And if he was, what was he going to say if he sees Matt? Or sees her walking in at three in the morning?

    "N-no, thats alright. I can walk by myself." She felt her body tense again.

    "I'm not going to let you walk home alone at this hour."

    "You sound like my mother."

    "Yeah, well, right now, you need it." He loosened his grip as they walked down the street, passing Emily's house. She frowned and wished she could go in there and feel better - but she knew that she would end up throwing up on her bed.

    Thats not something Emily would like to come home to from her wonderful date.

    Silently, they walked a couple more blocks, passing couples that were tattooed all over the place, and some of them were beyond drunk that they face planted into the soft grass.

    "So...I thought you liked horror movies." Matt said as he gently moved his arm away from her waist and shrugging his hand in his pocket.

    "I do. I was just having a bad night."

    "Care to share?"

    "I had a nightmare before I came down to meet you guys." Daenerys crossed her arms, trying to warm herself up. She looked down at the sidewalk and kicked a couple stray rocks.

    "Hm, you should of told us. We would've found an other movie. Maybe a romantic comedy, or an action thriller would of been better."

    "Maybe. But I thought I could handle it, I guess I couldn't."

    "Well, I'll make sure to not bring you to anymore horror movies." He nudged his elbow into the side of my arm like Emily does to me all the time.

    Wait - did he say "not to bring you to anymore horror movies", like this wasn't going to be our last?

    Daenerys raised a curious eyebrow, but decided to keep her mouth shut.

    They walked the rest of the way to her house in silence, looking through the trees hiding a couple of brown houses. They saw a rabbit cross the road and almost got hit by a car, but other than that - that was the only interesting event on their walk.

    "Well, this is it." Daenerys said, looking up at her gray and white house with tiles in the middle wrapping around the house. A brown wooden porch that was in need of touch up went around the window and the door.

    At night, the lights that were planted in their small garden turned on, making their house cast a purple and pink light.

    "Nice house." He took his hands out of his pockets and ran a hand through his hair. 

    "Thanks for walking me, I should probably go in." Daenerys was scared that Matt was going to kiss her, and that was the last thing that she needed. For her psychotic brother to see her kissing a guy he doesn't even know.

    "Yeah, sure. Anytime." Matt moved in a little closer, but Daenerys drew in a hesitant breath, making him step back.

    All he did was smile, then waved.

    She waved back and watched him walk back the way that they came. His head hanging down low, obviously lost in thought.

    Daenerys walked softly and quietly up to her room. She was relieved to see Drogan and her mothers light off. There was something eerie about tonight for some reason that Daenerys couldn't figure out.

    As she made her way up the stairs and to her bedroom, she saw the hallway light on. Her heart pounded, blood boiling and pulsating through her ears. Her palms began to sweat as she kept going up the stairs.

    When she turned the corner to the lighted hallway, she saw nobody in sight. Drogan's bedroom door was closed, and so was her moms. She breathed a sigh of relief and turned off the light, walking solemnly to her bedroom.

    She took off her jacket followed by her shoes and socks and then plumped herself in her bed. Her head fell against the pillow softly, a cold temperature hitting the side of her pink cheeks.

    She prayed that she didn't have another one of those nightmares. She wanted a sleep free of Drogan in her mind. His bleach blonde long hair and his cynical eyes made Daenerys shiver. The very thought of his name made memories flash before her eyes. The way he touched her...

    The way he made her do things that she wouldn't dream of doing. There was some things better left untold, and Daenerys didn't even have the courage to tell.

    "Mom, can I talk to you for a second?" Daenerys sat down on the corner of my mothers queen sized bed, watching her get ready for work. Her mom had long dirty blonde hair that made her think of Drogan. But once her eyes fell on her moms soft green eyes, all thoughts of Drogan vanished.

    "What about, hun?" 

    "Dad." 

    That very word made her mom, Cassandra, tighten her shoulders. Her body visibly tense even from this distance. "Why would you want to talk about your dad? I told you, he died when you were seven."

    "But..." Her thoughts trailed back to her dream, although she knew that dreams meant nothing, something about that dream made her want to investigate. "Theres something that you aren't telling me, because...Dad didn't die when I was seven, because I have pictures of him on my seventh birthday."

    "So maybe he died a couple months after, I don't remember sweetie." The side of Cassandra's mouth twitched, and her eyes averted somewhere else. There was something about the way that she was standing that was a little off.

    She looked almost...defensive as well as guilty.

    "Can you at least tell me where he lived?"

    "He...I think it was in...British Columbia somewhere." Cassandra obviously knew something more, but that was all she was telling Daenerys.

    "Do you know where in British Columbia?"

    "No, sweetie, I don't remember. I have to get ready, so can you go wake up your brother? He needs to go get some things today before I finish my shift."

    "Um, can you? I have to go shower." Daenerys twitched at the thought of seeing Drogan's face again. Even though she would have to face him sometime, she would always pick later rather than sooner.

    "Sure. Have fun, and I'll see you after work, okay?" Cassandra turned around and kissed her cheek before walking out of her bedroom, shuffling around in her purse to find her car keys.

    Daenerys sighed and fell back on her mothers bed, looking up at the white ceiling. Something about the way her mother was acting didn't add up.

    Maybe the topic was just a defensive and hurtful memory? Or was it that she just didn't want to talk about it? 

    Her head turned towards Cassandra's closet. She knew that it was only filled with her shoes and clothes, but there was...No, there was nothing that she could be hiding.

    But she found herself drawn to the closet. Something...almost calling her name.

    She was going crazy. She needed to get these thoughts out of her head before she did something she would soon regret.

    Her father was dead, and that was that. There was no questions. She would have to accept that because it would only dig up more emotions that she desperately wanted to keep hidden.

    But still, there was a glimmer of hope when she thought about the possibility of her dad still being alive.

    To be a happy family again. For him to protect her from Drogan's evil wrath of perilous sexual abuse.

    "Fine, I'll just search through the closet, and the voices will finally stop. Theres nothing there, anyways. My mom wouldn't hide anything from me." She said softly to herself. When she was in confusing situations, she often talked to herself. It was something that calmed her nerves, but made her focus on something else.

    Daenerys got up, tip toeing over to her tall white walk in closet. The handle rattled a bit before opening, darkness pouring out of the two open doors.

    There was a string hanging down in the middle of the closet, and she pulled it. Light illuminated from the tiny bulb,  making everything visible.

    "See, nothing." She looked around a bit more out of curiosity, looking through the abundance of shoes and clothing, she came up short.

    "Theres nothing shes hiding." She told herself again.

    Right before she was about to walk out, there was something that caught her eye. An old shoe box that didn't fit in with everything else. It was hidden under a couple of clothes, but the top of it peeked out. It was probably a pair of shoes her mother never got around to wearing. 

    Unless...
    She walked over to it, bending down as her hand glided over the top of it. It wasn't soft like most shoe boxes would be, it was more...rough and fragile.

    Daenerys went to the corners and took off the lid, setting it down in front of her feet.

    Inside was a photograph of her father. A recent one, not the old ones their family took when she was seven. 

    His hair was a chocolate brown much like Daenerys's, his eyes were a mixture of blue and hazel. And since he was smiling in the picture, he had two dimples near the corners of his mouth. His full lips looking happy.

    He was slim, but had a little extra weight on his arms and stomach. He looked healthy and strong, which was something she felt good about.

    She flipped it around and saw a scribble of handwriting near the bottom that said: "For Daenerys and Drogan, 2008."

    All the color drained from her face. She re-read the handwriting over and over again until she became familiar with each written letter. The artistic way he wrote the "D's" and the F that was bigger than the rest of the letters.

    She set down the picture on the lid by her feet, and searched through the other contents of the box.

    There was a little action figure of Superman and Spiderman. And a couple envelopes near the bottom. She pulled it out and saw it was from her dad; Ezra Chreich.

    Daenerys looked at the top of it, which was already cut open. Jagged edges indicated that the person handling the letter was rough and impatient with opening it.

    She pulled out the contents inside and saw a picture of him and a baby he was holding. She set it down and opened the paper.

    It didn't look old, but it smelled like dust. The fancy handwriting obviously belonged to her dad.

    She looked at each line, soaking up the meaning behind his words.

Dear Cassandra,

Every day I wake up wondering "what if". What if I never left you for another women who was baring my newborn child? What if I made a better example for Daenerys and Drogan? What if I never were to of met you? Would I waste out on all the possibilities of exploring life's greatest pleasures? Would I miss out on all the love and respect you gave me?

There are so many questions, and I'm sorry I'm not there to answer them with you. I wanted to let you know that I respect your decision to freeze me from your life - and that includes our children. Even though it pains me to know that I won't be able to see my own grow up and marry and have children of their own, I know that its what you wanted.

I've called you numerous of times and tried to find you, but you never let your guard down. You won't change your mind about your decision, and thats what pains me to know. My children mean the world to me, and that includes Daenerys and Drogan. They are unique children with an sensational mother.

I wanted you to know that this will be the last letter I will send you. I'm moving soon, to a place where I can raise my little girl. My wife has to find a new job, and so do I. And I'm not sure whats go in going on in your life, but I'm curious to know. But like I said, I respect your decision to freeze me out. I just want to know how my children are doing. I want to know that they are alright without me. The lies that you fed them haunt me, knowing that I'm dead to two people I created. But you needed to do what was best for you. Which is why this is my last letter. I can't keep begging to you that I want our old life back, because its obvious that it won't happen. I just wanted you to know that, if you decide otherwise, that I will be there in a matter of hours or days. My wife will understand.

I love you, and I always will love you. You will always have that young and naive part of me as well as the romantic and compassionate side. Your face will be engraved in my memories. I hope everything goes well with your life, because you deserve it. Thank you for the wonderful marriage that lasted longer than I could of imagined. You are a great mother, and you do what is best for your family. I admire that. 

Sincerely,
Ezra Chreich

Author's Note

This is probably all going so fast, so I should slow it down a little. The next couple of chapters will be a little slower and a little longer. I hope you've enjoyed it so far!
:)

Reviews

[Larry Dyson]

yes the jump to the morning and finding all this is rather quick...string it out a bit more. like letting her brother drogan slip and mention he knows more about the father than she does?