Déja Vu

Twenty-Five

I woke up today to Olivia leaving me a message saying she'll be out all day, and Reiko saying she got classes till five pm then office hours. So this means one thing which is I'll be staying here alone. I'm too terrified to leave on my own, and even more scared of staying here where Dain was less than twelve hours ago. I checked the locked doors and windows about six times now but I still don't feel safe. I mean he might break-in, even the chairs I put in front of the door may not be enough. Nick called me once today and texts me between his practices, but I told him a thousand times to focus on his match and that I'll be fine, I will be at some point. Even Sam called me a few times and offered to come over, but again I declined. If Olivia comes home and finds him, I'll have no other choice but to tell her about what had happened. I try to keep myself busy by writing a bit, reading, baked brownies, I even spent some time searching for cute baby outfits for when Carson's child is born. I woke up at eight am for no reason though I went to sleep at five, clutched to Olivia of course, so I have to keep myself busy until anyone gets home.

Anyone apart from the person ringing the doorbell right now.

My knees weaken when I hear the sound. He's here, he's here and no one else is, he's here to kill me. I get down on my knees and crawl quietly to the door. Maybe this isn't him, whoever is by the door is so quiet and has rung only once. I slowly peek through the security camera, making sure they wouldn't see me. I sigh the biggest relief when I see my parents standing by the door. It's actually strange seeing them here, the last time they visited was during the first week I moved in here. But maybe they're here for Nick's game tomorrow. I plaster a smile on my face as I open the door, pretending like I wasn't on the verge of a panic attack seconds ago. My mother smiles but the black halo surrounding her eyes isn't matching.

"Hey," I say trying to sound cheerful as I step aside letting them in. I glance at my father trying to read his expression, he's fine. Or I think he seems fine. Maybe mum is just tired.

Or maybe she's very tired.

Maybe sick.

I shake the negative thoughts out of my head, I can't risk another panic attack when my parents are here. I close the door behind them after taking a quick glance around to ensure no one else is around. My parents are already on the couch when I walk back, watching me with a smile on their faces. I was at home a week ago, so I'm not sure they had time to miss me so much.

"What brings you here?" I say with a fake happy voice, exactly plagiarizing how happy sounds like. My dad smiles resting back in his seat "No reason. We found out that Naomi will be coming home late from concert practice and she's taking Maya with her, so we thought why not visit our daughters on the other side."

"Well, it's only one daughter today." I tell them "Olivia is also out all day so it's just me here."

"Don't you have classes?" Mum asks me with a broken voice, but she tries to sugarcoat it with a smile. I know something is wrong, but I'll try to act normal for a while until I get Dad alone. I jump up to my feet "Yeah, but I felt a bit tired this morning so I skipped." I flip around before she notices the cloud of lies diffusing from my ears. Though this is partially the truth, I was tired this morning because I've been sexually assaulted yesterday and now I'm terrified of existing. I skipped the second part of the sentence and kept the first, which was I was really tired.

"Want coffee?" I ask them as I head to the kitchen "I also baked brownies."

"Sure." Dad yells behind me, it makes me flinch but I don't show it "Also prepare because we're going out for lunch."

Going?

Out?

Lunch?

Public?