Shhh..

Chapter 10: Picture

Her bedroom door opened. "Hey dad." I heard Ella say. "What's the matter? Why were you crying?" Her dad asked. "Just watching a movie, it uh- scared me." She lied. I could see through the cracks of the door. I hugged my knees to my chest. Her father grabbed the remote and shut off the TV. "Do you want to talk about anything?" He asked. "No." She said quickly.

"Actually, I do want to talk about something." Her dad said. Ella's eyes moved to the closet then moved back to her dad. "What?" She said. "About what we were talking about the other day. How you're still mad at me for-" She coughed loudly to stop him. He tried talking again but she kept coughing so he couldn't finish. He stared at her.

"I don't want to talk about it right now. Maybe later, now I need some privacy. Thanks." She pushed him out the door and shut it tight. I sat still, she moved towards the closet and opened it slowly. I crawled out of the closet. "You have to leave." She whispered opening her window. "But-" She stopped me. "Niall." She said scared. I hugged her. "I'll see you tomorrow?" I whispered. She nodded in the hug. "Ella?" Her dad called from downstairs.

"Coming!" She yelled. She helped me out the window. I hopped down and ran to my car. I drove away as fast as I could.

~Ella~

I shut my window tight, locking it. My breaths turned back to normal, but my hands were still shaking. I walked down the stairs with a tight grip on the railing. I sat down across from my father. "Are you sure your alright?" My dad asked. "Yeah, I-I'm fine." I stuttered. "You look so pale, and you're shaking.." He trailed off putting his hand on my forehead. "And you're sweating." He said. I stood up from my chair.

"Dad, I need to show you something." I said quickly. "What-" I stopped him. "Follow me." I said running up the stairs and into my room. He followed closely behind. "Did you use this?" I asked holding up the beanbag. He looked at me confused. "For what?" He asked. "You know what for dad! Now, did you use it!" I yelled throwing the bag at him. He caught it in his chest.

"Look at the tagged." I mumbled sitting on the bed. "It says I love you." He whispered. "No dip dad! Do you see what's next to to though?" I said. "A stain." He mumbled. "Yeah, and it's of you-know-what." I said. "This is why you were crying.. Isn't it?" He whispered looking up. "Yes, dad it was." I said annoyed. "I'm sor-" "No, dad you're not. You and I both know it. So just stop trying to make me believe you." I snapped.

"I need you to show me something." I said. "What?" He asked. "Mom." I said quietly. "I can't show you mom." He said. "Yes, you can." I said. "I told you I don't have any pictures." He said. "Dad, yes you do. You have to have something of hers." I whispered. "I don't have a picture." He mumbled. "What do you have?" I asked. "A necklace." He whispered walking out of the room.

He walked in with a necklace box. "This might seem creepy, but she died wearing this." He handed me the box. I opened it. It was an infinity necklace. "I have it to her for our wedding. I told her we would be together for infinity." He said quietly. I looked up at him in disgust. He was lying. I know he was. I nodded. "You can keep it, Ella." He said. "But it's moms." I said. "I'm sure she would be fine with it." He said.

I put the necklace around my neck. It felt cold against my skin. "Listen, I don't want to leave you here but my buddy a work wants to go out and go to a club tonight." My dad said. "A club?" I whispered. "Nothing's gonna happen this time though." He said. "You promised you would never go back." I said. "Into that particular club." He said. "Whatever, leave." I said sitting on my bed. "I'll be home by morning." He said before kissing my head and walking out the door.

His car drove away. I looked at the beanbag and the writing. I set them both down and took a deep breath. I changed into my pajamas and turned on the TV, same old news. It was about the woman again and the baby. I muted it and went into my dads room. I never go into his room but I was thinking about what Niall said earlier.

"I think you should look."

He said. I sat on my dads bed and looked around the room. Pictures of me were hanging everywhere. But not on single Picture of my mom was hanging. I went into his closet and started looking for pictures. I found a bag full of pictures. I carried them into my living room and sat in front of the TV. I got a handful and started looking through them. I found nothing in the first pile, just me me me. Ugh.

I found an old picture of my dad. We looked to be around 20. It wasn't a full picture though. It was cut in half. I could tell because half my dads arm was missing. Plus, there was a piece of blonde hair by his cut off arm. The question is.. Is that my mom? And if it is, where's the other half? You could also see fingers just peeking around his waist. I started looking through every single pile of pictures.

I still found nothing. I put all the pictures back except for the one of my dad. I put the bag back in his room. I started searching around the closet but there were no more pictures. I started looking in his room. Drawers, clothes, even in his bathroom. Nothing. My phone went off. It was Niall, I answered it. "Hey, Niall." I held the phone between my ear and shoulder. I kept looking.

"How'd things go with your dad after I left." He asked. I rummaged through some drawers over again. "Uh, things went fine. He left though to go out with some friend." I said flipping through papers. "Oh. What's all that noise?" He asked. I undid my dads bed. "Just looking around the house." I said. "For what?" He laughed. "Uh, a picture of my mom." I mumbled. "I knew it." He yelled. I laughed at him.

I stuck my hand in between the mattress and felt around. I pulled something out but didn't flip it around to see the picture. I held it upside down. "So, I was thinking tomorrow. We could go out for lunch during your break." Niall suggested. "Sounds great!" I smiled to myself. I knelt down in front of the TV and held up the picture of my dad. "Great!" He said happily. We continued talking.

I held up my dads picture and slowly turned around the one in my hands. There right in front of my eyes, I saw my mother. She was so beautiful. The pictures fit perfectly together. Tears got brung to my eyes. "Hello?" Niall talked at the other end. I looked up at the TV and put the volume up.

I dropped my phone.

"Oh my god." I whispered.

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Authors Note:

Hiiii! I got a new cover, do you like it? More is coming soon! (:

~Sam