Running Away

Chapter 10

The next morning, Sera woke up to the sound of light knocking on the door. Her eyes felt heavy from the crying of the previous night. After her talk with Elias, she went into a room and locked the door so no one could get in. She didn't care where or how they would be sleeping, all she knew is that she needed her space and peace.

Sera spent the night praying the most emotionally fueled prayers she ever had. She spoke to Jesus at a detailed length. She felt fed up with how life was going.

Wearing only oversized, men's pajamas, Sera unlocked the door to see Bryan there, with a look of concern across his face. She opened the door wider so he could come in.

He embraced her, "Did you sleep okay? We heard you crying."

She only gave him a slight smile and shrug, Sera felt embarrassed to know that they heard her laments.

"It's been a crazy past few...days? Hours? I don't even know how long it's been since this started. You okay, darling?" Bryan asked.

"I'll be better when we are gone from this cursed country. Hopefully they get the clearance today and we can go."

"So what, he's like a detective or something? How come you never told me?"

Sera did not bother to correct him on what Elias's actual job was. "I didn't see it important to bring up the past."

"Do you think he's going to try and get custody of Emi?"

"He doesn't know, shh." Sera looked down. "I don't want to tell him yet."

"What do you mean yet? If he finds out, I'm gone. I'm either her only dad or a stranger. I'm not playing second banana to that guy."

"Please, it's too early."

"Fine, you're right." Bryan swayed from foot to foot. "Are you hungry?"

She nodded. "Actually I am. Haven't really eaten much since all this started."

"Oh perfect.I'm starving, darling. Let's go to the kitchen then. Breakfast is there." Bryan held Sera's hand and led her out the room. When they got to the kitchen, Sera was expecting to see breakfast already made but to her dismay it was empty.

"I thought you said there was breakfast?"

"Did I? My mistake, darling. I was asking you to cook breakfast."

She let out a breath and mentally decided to not let it get to her, afterall, it was too early. Sera went to the fridge and opened it up to see what she could put together.

To her dismay the fridge was near empty. "Why are men like this?" She thought.

At that time, it was only Sera and Bryan in that room. She listened closely for a moment, to make sure that Elias was not near. She looked over to Bryan and in a hushed tone said, "Let's just go."

"Huh?! What do you-"

"Shhh!" She shushed him and held on to one of his arms, "This whole situation has nothing to do with us. I don't want to stay here and suffer. Let's just go. We can go straight back to the hotel, get our stuff and be on the first flight back home."

Bryan scratched the back of his head as he thought, "I don't know, darling, I don't think it would be safe to go anywhere without–...I don't think we should leave until it's clear."

"I understand that you feel that way, but think about it. We aren't involved in crime, we aren't on any missing persons list, we don't even know details of the case he is on! Realistically, what does this have to do with us? Why would anyone want us? We are non-factors in this entire nightmare."