The Intruder Is Back

Chapter 3

Chapter Three

I slowly turn around. There I saw a tall woman wearing a gray jacket with a suit underneath.

"Hello, Miss, what are you standing on the side of the road?" The woman took one look at me and I realized she noticed my tears. We made eye contact and my vision was sorta blurry. She was a tall woman with dirty blonde hair, with a white minivan parked on the side of the road. It looked like there was sitting but I couldn't see straight.

The woman noticed I had tears in my eyes. "Oh my goodness! Miss, Are you alright? What's the matter?"

When she asked, I started to cry again and turned back to my moms' car in the tall grass, she looked as well, trying to figure it out.

"Oh my gosh." After the woman took a glance at the car, she looked back at me and put her hands on my shoulders. "I know you don't know me, but would you like to come with me so I could help you?" when that question came out of her mouth, I immediately was uncomfortable, confused.

"I-I can't, I don't k-know you." I stuttered, and I reached for the handles on my bike until she stopped me. "I totally understand, Hon. but let me introduce myself." She pulls out her license and her name tag with her name on it and smiles.

"I'm Vanessa Juliana, and I'm from Child Protection Services (CPS). If you would like, you can call me Ms. Juliana. What's your name?"

I stare at her and give her a confused look.

"I-I'm Leah. I struggled to say a word.

I also look her up and down and at my bike. "You can bring your bike, we'll put it in the backseat." Ms. Juliana smiles at me. She seemed very kind, but I still didn't know what to think about this. But I also needed help but mostly didn't know what to do so I nodded in agreement. "Alright, Leah. Right this way."

She guides me to her white minivan and opens the backseat while I carry my bike and my duffle bag. I hand my bag to her and she grabs my bike to put in the trunk. She helps me in the backseat of the car where I see a man about the same age as Ms. Juliana was sitting in the front passenger seat wearing the same uniform as her and a clipboard in his hands. He turns to look at me and smiles.

"Leah, this is Jamie, and he is also from Child Protection Services. He's with me." The man had dark brown hair, blue eyes, with glasses and a friendly smile.

"Don't worry, Leah, everything will be okay. You've got nothing to be scared about." Ms. Juliana comforts me and jumps in the driver's seat. I sat there, laying my head against the window for a while thinking about my mother's last words with the locket she gave me tight in my hands. I couldn't stop tearing up. I couldn't believe the fact that my mom is gone for life. She said she'll still be with me but it won't be the same anymore. I sat there and closed my eyes tight as tears fell from my face onto the locket.

In the locket was a small picture of my mother and I four years ago with my arms wrapped around her shoulders, smiling.

A little while later on the road and into town, Ms. Juliana and Jamie explain to me what the plan is. As soon as we stopped at a tall building near an elementary school, Ms. Juliana guided me out of the car.

"So, Leah, I'm going to take you to my office and I was wondering if you'd like to come and talk to me. How does that sound?" I nod in agreement. A second I realize I haven't eaten lunch at all yet, I tell Ms. Juliana.

"Don't worry, I have a lot of snacks in my office for you if you're hungry." She gives me a kind smile and guides me out of the car. She opens the door for me and Jamie leads me inside where I see a lot of people my age sitting with books, magazines in their hands, and some people wearing suits sitting at desks staring at computer screens. I was silent. I felt some teenagers were looking at the cuts on my face, they stared at me as I walked past with Ms. Juliana. My face did look beat up after all.

Juliana takes me to her office and closes her door, and quickly slides a chair for me to sit. This place looks so familiar. I felt like I've been here before but my memory isn't quite clear. Ms. Juliana takes a seat at her desk and takes out a clipboard and writes my name on it.

"Leah, what is your full name, including your middle?" I take a deep breath.

"Leah Presley Luvi." I say without hesitation. She writes that on her notepad and continues asking me questions. "Where were you from?"

"I'm from Tiverside." I say with wide eyes. "How old are you, Leah?" I take another deep breath. "I'm 15." I couldn't help but feel nervous. "Okay, what's your date of birth?" I also realized my birthday was coming up soon. "9/24/2006." I say.

"Wow, you have a September birthday just like me." I shrug, and I forced a smile. "What school do you go to? Tiverside High, right?" I nod. "So, I'm guessing you're a freshman?" I nod again.

"Okay, Leah, what happened today? Out there? Why were you on the side of the road?" This question was very hard for me to answer, though I wasn't sure how to answer it. I start to tear up even though I don't like crying in front of people. I couldn't stop.

"Hey, Leah, it's okay to get emotional, okay? Crying is completely healthy." Ms. Juliana tries to comfort me with her soft voice.

"M-my m-mother and I were traveling around Tiverside County, and there was a car- that smashed into us, and my mom wasn't looking. I tried to warn her but it was too late. Then our car flipped over- and m-my mom was covered in blood-" I started balling my eyes out, Juliana sat next to me and threw me in her arms, trying to comfort me again.

"It's okay, Leah, keep going. I'm right here for you." I felt warm in Juliana's arms but my tears blurred my vision again. I was DONE crying. Especially in front of someone I barely know. But I just told her everything.

"I was the only one who survived. But my mother d-didn't make it. Instead she gave me this locket." I show Ms. Juliana the locket in my hands. "Her last words were- "I'll always be with you, I love you." After I told her that I stopped crying and continued. Juliana hands me a tissue from her desk.

"What else happened after that? You can tell me, if you're comfortable." I nod and squeeze the locket with both my hands and wipe away my tears with the tissue. My eyes hurt so bad. I couldn't talk without stuttering. But Ms. Juliana didn't judge me.

"She told me to go look for help, but only for me because she knew she couldn't move. I wanted to call the ambulance, but I was shaking and couldn't move." I took a huge deep breath. "I-I just can't believe she's actually gone." I stutter again. Ms. Juliana rubs my arm and wraps her arms around me for a small hug again.

"She's not gone, she'll always be in your heart." I couldn't help but force a smile with tears in my eyes. I was happy that Ms. Juliana listened. I felt a little bit better.

"I'm so so sorry for your loss, and for what you had to go through, Leah." She says as she hugs me. I finally stopped crying.

"Alright, that's enough for today, do you have any family nearby that you would like to call?" I shook my head.

"Well then, if you're comfortable, would you like to come to my place to stay? I looked at her to see if she was serious. She smiled and waited for my answer.

"Sure, thank you." She stands up and puts her clipboard away in her drawer. "Do you have school tomorrow?" I forgot about school.

"In a few days, I'm on Spring vacation for now.'' I explained. She nods. "Got it, so you have a duffle bag and your bike in my car, right?" I quickly stood up too.

"Yes." I grabbed a few tissues to put in my pocket and made sure I had my cell phone, and my wallet. I still had the locket tight in my hands.