Reason

Chapter 16:

I didn't know how long it had been since Tony left but the last tint of a sunset was slowly crawling into the darkness of the horizon. I supposed it had been quiet for awhile since he had gone. I could feel something apart of me was missing. Like an important organ or my feet or hands. But I guessed that was what real loneliness felt like.

Like when you've felt secure for a long period of time and suddenly that secured feeling has disappeared and you don't know what will become of you or what would happen next. Your whole life feels like it has stopped but all around the world keeps going, not caring about you because that's always what it was made to do.

I didn't want the world to keep moving at that point. Why should others feel happiness if I didn't? Shouldn't life be fair?

I guess it wasn't and it was a hard lesson to learn.

Your choices in life define you, no matter how far you try to run from them and keep them a secret. They always have a way of vomiting out of you even if you try so hard to keep them in.

Did I really believe all those years that I would be able to live my life as a normal person? A normal wife? A normal mom?

No. I would never be a normal person. I would be the murderess wife and the murderess mother. Labels that were given to me a long time ago. They were pinned on my head like a sticker that says, "Hello my name is".

I could never blame Tony for leaving me either. He didn't know and he felt betrayed. I knew he wouldn't be able to take it. Inside, he was so nice and not capable to handle someone as dark as me. He didn't have it in him.

So, there I sat on the couch again that night, feeling the same piercing headache hop its way into my brain.

I thought about eating. I thought about sleeping. But nothing could take away the pain that I felt. It was like Quinn's death all over again. Instead though this time, no one had died.

I heard my phone ring from the kitchen. My heart jolted, hoping deep down inside of me that it was Tony and he would apologize to say he was wrong. That he should not have left me.

I walked into the kitchen and grabbed my phone, looking at the caller ID. It was only Tessa. My heart plummeted. I should have known.

"Hello," I greeted, noting how foreign my own voice sounded to me.

"Aubrey?" Tessa asked. I could hear an edge to her voice, an uneasiness. My whole body went on alert. I looked around the kitchen and gripped the oven handle.

"What, Tessa? What is it?" I cried. Something was wrong, terribly wrong. But what was it? My mind travelled to my family who had left last night. Did the murderer commit to his unlawful deed? I sank down onto the ground, feeling my whole body start to sweat.

"Ariel Wood is no where to be seen." Tessa exclaimed. She started crying.

"Tessa?" I asked. Something happened to my family. Something happened to my family.

"And.... and.... neither are any of the kids. Your kids, Noah, Ellie's kids, Iris' kids and Lauren's kids are all gone." Tessa sobbed into the phone.

I dropped my phone and it shattered right on the kitchen floor. I looked at my phone's broken remains. All crackers and disoriented. They had taken my daughter and son. They had succeeded.

I stood up and ran to the door. I opened up the front door and ran all the way over to Ariel's. Tears fell onto the pavement as I ran, leaving a trail of sadness anyone could follow.

Ariel's house was swarmed with police cars. All of my friends were there, holding onto their husbands. Tony was there too.

His eyes found mine and looked down. I could see that he had been crying. His eyes were bloodshot and were puffy. He wiped his own tears off before walking over to me.