Author: Eden Beck
Category: Paranormal
Go to read content：https://readnovelfree.com/p/29741_5
“Uh huh, uh huh …” I repeat the phrase until it sounds like a monk’s chant. It has the same calming effect, taking me down from murder mode to mere disappointment. Sometimes I wonder who’s the parent here, and who’s the child.
Now that I’m able to breathe and think again, I pat my mother on the shoulder and take a second to look around the interior.
The cabin consists of two rooms; a kitchen which barely accommodates the worn brown leather sofa squeezed into it, and a miniscule bedroom with a loft above. No need for a house tour, I can see everything from right here, by the door. We’ve stayed in motel rooms larger than this.
But it’s just going to have to do.
The water here runs red with rust, the converted outhouse can barely be called a bathroom, and the mouse problem is bordering on an infestation—but at least it’s ours, just the two of us. And we’re safe, for now.
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It’s a fresh start, for real this time.
No more asking old friends for help. No more using credit cards that can be traced. Only burner cell phones and aliases and school districts so small they don’t even take a second look at my hand-typed transcripts.
This time we’ve left everything behind that could possibly lead my father to us. Even the owner of this cabin, one of the doctors at the local long-term care facility my mother got a job at, agreed to let us this place without any real paperwork.
And at a price that almost makes up for the pittance the facility is paying her to work under the table. No one here asks too many questions. Not yet.
And it’s this thought that finally allows me to sleep.
Though you wouldn’t know it from the way I feel when I wake in the morning.
My mother and I spent the night unpacking what few things we had from the car and trying to get settled in the now mostly cleaned-up little house. If nothing else, it’s definitely cozy.
The roof is an A-frame, so at least I can stand up in the loft, which kind of makes up for the lack of width. It also has two small windows, one behind where my head goes on the fill size mattress and one in the ceiling above so that I should be able to see the stars at night. There’s always been something about looking at the moon and stars that makes me feel more at ease.
It’s a small comfort.
Maybe the only comfort.
“Morning beautiful,” Mom says as I descend the rickety ladder.
“Have you seen me this morning?” I huff as I reach for the cup of black coffee that she’s handing me. “You wouldn’t be calling me beautiful if you did.”
Some parents would say that sixteen is too young to be drinking coffee every day, but my mother and I kind of make up our own rules now. Besides, I adore coffee. And I need it for my consistent lack of sleep.
“You’re the most beautiful girl in the world to me,” she says with a smile. “But then again, I haven’t put my contacts in yet.”
I snort.
Now that the dust has—literally—settled, there’s peace between us once more. Peace that’s nearly broken with the swear that drops from my lips when I glance at the time.
“Shit, I have to go.”
Her lips purse, but she doesn’t correct me. After all we’ve been through this last year, I’ve earned the right to swear.
“I’ll drive you.”
“It’s like two miles away, I can walk.”
“You sure?” she asks, but I can see a bit of relief on her face. She’ll be late to work if she drops me off, and we both know it. “Just be sure to come home straight after school. I want to hear all about your first day.”
I know that she’s more worried about making sure I don’t get hijacked than she is about hearing how my school day goes. I humor her all the same. We’re both nervous; I get it.
This nervousness follows me down the drive towards school.
The walk is prettier this morning. The trees are deeply green and still coated with morning condensation. I can see the mountains in the distance where the trees thin. They lend a sort of vastness to this space that should feel small and cramped beneath the pines.
I pull my hoodie around me a bit tighter, realizing now that I probably need a thicker jacket, especially if I’m going to be walking to school every day.