Love in Light

7.

"... don't call me your mother if you don't obey me. You'll see what I can do," she said, rage laced in her voice, making him flinch. "Go to that huge city, you can't escape me. You don't know what I can do to you."

Different images flashed before his eyes, then stopped on a particular day–that day.

"He's gone."

Flashes of their faces, her voice echoing inside the room he's stuck in. Run. Running, running, looking for a place to escape, or even a place to hide from the images and voices. But he can't. He can't see anything, only a hollow, deep black that leads nowhere but their memories–the bad ones, the ones consuming his own being, the ones consuming his mind, making him believe that he's being watched in whatever move he makes.

Mike woke up in the middle of the night–morning, technically. It's 4 in the morning. He sighed, his body covered in cold sweat as his mind race the same time and pace as his heart beat. It's been a while since he dreamt of them. Ever since he moved to Los Angeles, he's been in peace, not thinking about what he left and what the consequences of leaving them, his family, his parents. He tried–oh, he really did–try to forget and push down every memory of them down at the bottom of his brain; he succeeded. Until now. Until this very moment, he was reminded of every bad thing they did, and every possible consequences that he would think of before he left home–no, it's not a home, it's a house–a structure where he never found love, where he never felt loved. Well, maybe his father did try to make him feel that he loved him.

"Jeez, no, Mon-El, don't. Just," he sighed, tears slowly running down his face as he shook his head. "Fuck it." He's been trying to not cry in real life; just in dramas. He wants to feel strong and crying makes him feel like a failure, it's what his mother once told him, "don't you dare cry, son. Those who cry are weak; failures." And ever since that, he's been hiding inside his room whenever he feels like crying. Keeping a straight face in front of everyone; doing his best to look strong.

He stood up and prepared for his day, still thinking about his dream. While he grabs his stuff before going to his work–filming, he remembers what happened yesterday. Kara. He asked about her family; about her life. And he is not sure if she's comfortable in telling him. She cried on his shoulder after she introduced herself to him, her biological name. She just sat on the couch, staring blankly at the television while painful tears are rolling down her cheeks, making him want to punch himself for making her cry like that, for hurting her.

"I'm sorry... for bringing it up. I.. I didn't know." He said, giving her space on the couch by moving away a little.

Kara bowed her head and silently cried, sobs can be heard occasionally but it's obvious that she's trying to suppress them.

After a few minutes, she stood up and went to her bedroom without saying a word, and Mike knows that that's his cue to leave. He made sure that her door is fully locked before leaving her apartment.

Reminincing about what happened yesterday made him think if Kara is mad at him, for reliving the memories of her whole family–of her relatives, her parents.

Once he reached the set, he immediately looked for Kara, but not able to find her. He asked some of the staff that he encounters while walking towards his trailer, but they don't know where she is; they just know that she's clearly not in right now.

Then he saw Nia, so he asked her.

"Hey, Nia," he approached the younger who is currently getting ready for the scenes to be filmed. "Have you seen or heard from Kara?"

"Oh, she texted me last night that she might not go to work today," Nia replied. "Something about a family emergency."

Mike nodded, part of him is thinking that it's something about him bringing up her family or the accident once again, another part of him is thinking that it might be a family emergency and she's needed.