Subtle Endearment

26. Nightmare

Kira

"Call me if you need anything," Violet says lingering at the door as if asking for permission to stay longer. "Thanks, I think I'm going to turn in for the night. Have a safe trip back and thank you Violet," I say smiling meekly.

"Of course," Violet says, clearly taken aback by my response.

"For real though, if you need anything just call me. After all, you were there to listen to me after the whole situation with my ex," Violet responds.

As the door closes behind Violet I grasp the edge of the couch. I must be insane. There's no way that my mom is alive. My parents died in a car accident. Why do I keep seeing her? Do I need to see a psychologist? Am I hallucinating?

I pull out my phone and quickly type in 'FixedTech founders' a link pops up showing the history of the company displaying information on founders, employees, and the CEO. None match the face that I saw that night. Then who actually was that woman? Was it some board member I'd missed?

A knock on the door suddenly draws me back to reality. I drag my feet to the door too overwhelmed to care about who could be here at this hour. "Delivery for Kira?" a man asks. "That's me," I say, unsure of myself. "Here you go," he says, handing me a bag with a Soup Shack logo on it. The man leaves without a word so I shut the door and empty the bag's contents on the kitchen table.

Who bought me soup? Violet couldn't have bought it in the little time since she'd left, could she? The aroma of the soup encompasses me as if begging to be eaten. Three bowels of soup stare back at me and I open the one that reads 'Vegetable Soup' on it. The broth is warm and offers a slight bitter taste that I find myself enjoying. I must be hungrier than I thought because I quickly devour the soup. After slurping the last bit of the soup I slide the empty bowl to the side and click on the text notification that I'd ignored while I was enjoying it.

'Eat well' the text reads from Ian. 'I did,' I respond unable to stop the corners of my mouth from turning upwards. 'Good' he simply responds. I hate to admit it but being away from him these past few days have been hard; even with his dry responses.

In six months all of this will be over and I'll be starting over for the second time. My grandparents were so excited to hear from me when I called them yesterday. I couldn't bring myself to tell them about the events of the past few months. My grandma immediately began planning for me to move in with her and my grandpa in January after I told her I was considering moving.

Being with Ian was nice but it's time to move on. I have the next two days off from work so I should probably take this time to look into jobs near my grandparents since that's where I'll be in six months.

As I lie on my bed I stare at the ceiling fighting back yawning as if doing this will prevent me from drifting off to sleep. I don't want to close my eyes. When I close my eyes all I see is her.

"Tie her up," a man yells from in the distance. I'm surrounded by three unrecognizable guys from a gang. They'd managed to kidnap me from the bus stop after school. Like always my mom and dad weren't there to save me.

I feel a throbbing pain around my ankles and wrist from where the rope is tied. I look up at the ceiling avoiding eye contact with the men in front of me. I know I'll cry if I don't.

"Get her on the phone," the guy who seems to be in charge demands.

"Hey, it's Pete. You thought I wouldn't want to catch you didn't you?" he lets out a deep chuckle.

"I've got your daughter here with me right now. You have two options. I kill her or you can return the money you stole," he spits. The phone is on speaker so I can hear the cold words from my mom.