Tethered

Chapter Twenty-Three

1

"Sarah", Gary ran to her and hugged her. Cynthia frowned, and threw Gary a suspicious glare. "Are you okay?" He asked.

"I'm fine", she said.

"What happened?" He asked.

Sarah's brows furrowed.

"I meant, where were you?"

"To a friend's", she said, and walked past him. "You don't have to worry about me, Gary. I can take care of myself."

She went upstairs, and directed headed to her father's bedroom and knocked at the door. He answered the door a little shocked to see Sarah there.

"Sarah, you can't just start leaving like that", he said at once. "It's scary."

"I'm sorry", she said and marched past him and sat on his bed. "How are you?" She asked. "How are you feeling?"

"What do you mean?" He asked, sitting beside her.

"How are you, dad?" She asked again. "How are feeling?"

"Good, I believe, thanks for asking", he smiled. "I'm going to see the doctor tomorrow for a checkup."

Sarah blinked, and tears appeared in her eyes. "I didn't do it", she said. "I know I didn't kill them, dad."

"Honey", Kenneth chuckled nervously. "You've no idea how long I've waiting to hear that from you. I'm glad you know that now."

"I didn't want to believe it at first", she said. "I didn't have the strength to do that. I didn't know how, too. I blamed myself because I believed I killed them. It felt like a memory placed there—a memory programmed for me to believe but now I know I didn't."

Her father nodded, and put his arm on her shoulder. "But I don't understand why anyone could do that", she said tearfully. "Why anyone could go to such an extent?"

"It's okay." He said, blinking like he was fighting back tears. "Every bad deed has a consequence and whoever did it, won't get away with it."

"There's so much more to this, dad", she said. "And I'm willing to find out what. I won't be beat down anymore by fear or shame or guilt. I won't give in to fear. I won't stand down. I'm going to fight for my freedom, for myself."

Kenneth chuckled softly. "So much courage, I love that."

"If I can't", she added. "I'm going to try."

"I'm glad you're looking at a different angle", he said. "Maybe you should talk to Doctor Karen about all this."

"I wanted to talk to you", she said, then she hugged him. "I love you dad, no matter what."

"I love you, too, Sarah", he said. "No, matter what and always remember that your mother and brother love you very much, too, no matter what."

2

Sarah walked to her room. She wanted to live better. She wanted her life to matter. She'd abandoned herself enough. She'd the courage now. She wasn't alone in this and as long as she was still here, still alive, she knew she had a purpose.

She changed into her night gown and went to bed. She put the yellow envelope in the drawer. She didn't want to get started on Doctor Scott's assignment. She wanted to sleep and she wasn't going to let nightmares stop her. She wasn't going to let anything pull her down this time—never again.

2

Sarah woke up, and dragged herself at the edge of the bed. She stared at the window. It was raining outside. Tears filled her eyes. She had those nightmares again. She glared at her wrists and wondered if the nightmares were a result of fear or depression. What bothered her the most were the strange patterns of the nightmares—especially the other her she kept seeing. It was really confusing. What it the result of her being afraid of herself? It could make sense that way but she wasn't sure.