remember me

{chapter 11} strangers

Katie narrates, "When we were younger, they always told us not to open the door for strangers because they could hurt us."

[at the hotel]

The knocking continue, as Cody looks at ria, and she silently grabs the lamp and gives Cody a nod to open to the door, Cody quickly opens it and moves to the side, before ria hits the person with the lap, she realizes the person was Arthur, who shouts "hey" in fear Cody sighs in relief but curiousity, "dad?" Ria chimes in, "Arthur? I was gonna hit you with this?" She puts the lamp down, Arthur's hides his gun behind his back, And smiles, "it's just me, I was worried about you' ria catches a quick glimpse of it, before he puts it behind him, she replies, "would you like a coffee" "sure" he says, as he tucks the gun in his back pocket as his jacket covers it, ria gives him a cup and asserts, "help yourself" she geabs Cody arm slightly pulling him to the side. Cody looks at ria, she whispers, "something's up" Cody replies, "why would you say that-" she cuts him off, "your dad came here armed, how would he have known we were here, unless he was following us"

Cody thinks of the possibility that Arthur could be, but he shakes all that away and states, "No, Ria, this is my dad; he's never done anything like that before; he loves Katie." Ria didn't want to break his heart; she heard the doubt in his voice, but she had to be honest. She crosses her arms and says, "You'll see." She walks to Arthur, trying to convince Cody, and asks him, "So, Mr. Colton, how did you know... we were going to be here?" Arthur answers,

"I tracked Cody's phone after seeing his note." Ria states, "Interesting... why are you armed?" He replies, "You just never know when danger might occur, especially after what happened to Katie, and Sierra, I just feel the need to be armed everywhere nowadays." Ria couldn't help but believe him; she hasn't felt safe after her mom and Katie either.

She mumbles, "Okay, good answers" Arthur stands up and asserts, "I could leave if you are uncomfortable; I could buy a room." He searches his pockets for money and then adds, "But I lost my money" Ria replies "You can stay for tonight".

Katie narrates: "But they didn't tell us that a stranger can look a lot like someone we know."

(the next day)

[in the Canada House]

Katie runs downfall in joy as she screams, "Today is the day." Johnny replies, closing the refrigerator and drinking the ice-cold lemonade. "Good morning, Kate," she smiles as she sits on the stool close by the counter top. "Good morning, Cody. Where is mom?" Johnny states, "I was meeting with someone, but she asked if I could take you to the doctor." He puts down the lemonade, reaches into his pocket, and pulls out his phone. Katie replies, "Today is Tuesday, a school day." Johnny asserts, "I took a sick day." She jumps up from the stool and wraps her arms around him into a hug, making him drop his phone. He wanted to hug her back, but if this was going to be his new life, he needed to not get too close to Katie. He unwraps her around him and states, "It's a doctor's appointment. I don't know why you're acting like you're five; they're not going to give you candy."

Katie freezes up. As the crash plays in her head, all she can remember is the pain of glass puncturing into her skin. Johnny stands there worried. He says, "Are you okay?" She almost falls down. Johnny catches her. "Woah," he says, bringing her eyes to him. "You need rest," she started to cry, and she states, "I'm sorry, I really can't remember anything, and the crash just replays in my head every day... All I remember was speaking to you," she cries even more as he pulls her closer to his chest to cry on. She adds, "No matter what, I'm never going to be normal again, am I? I'm going to feel like something's missing my whole life." He feels so bad for what he said; he shouldn't have been so hard on her. He pulls her into a hug and says, "I'm sorry."