Reason

Chapter 20:

"I have never been so happy to see another person I know in my entire life." Allie announced as I sat down across from her. She still had her scrubs on from when I last saw her and her hair was ratty and barely still up in a ponytail.

"Hey, Allie." I said, looking down at my plate of whatever I was given. It looked like mashed potatoes but it didn't smell like them. It had a bunch of weird veggies and other things I couldn't identify inside of it.

"This place is terrible. I've been here for how many days? I've lost count, Aubrey. The first thing I remembered was walking out to go to lunch and being grabbed and the last thing I remembered was waking up in some jail cell." Allie said. "I don't even know why I'm here."

I looked back up at Allie, tears forming in my eyes. Should I tell her the truth? She was innocent, almost like everyone in this facility. They weren't here by choice. They were here because they were forced to.

"I know why, Allie." I said.

"Why?" Allie asked, softly.

"My dad used to beat me." I replied, starting to sob, "It used to be so bad. He murdered my sister and my mom right in front of me and Ian, your husband, never did anything to help me. I had to bury them on my own to cover up his mistake."

Allie grabbed my hand to comfort me. "I had always felt that my uncle was worse than my dad and seeing this place makes me realize it." I said, trying at least to smile, "I killed my father and made it look like an accident. I didn't know what else to do. I knew that if I ran he would come and find me so that was the only logical thing I could think of. So, I killed him and then ran. I stopped one hundred miles away and went to college then moved here. I thought I would be safe."

Emotional pain always hurt worse then physical pain. Physical pain goes away after awhile, emotional doesn't. It's always there in the back of your mind, ready to come out and make you hurt again. It's a never ending cycle.

"I'm guessing you weren't." Allie said.

I shook my head still crying. "I wasn't ever safe. My uncle was still alive and I never knew where he was. When you and Ian moved in, Ian threatened to expose my secret. He found out from someone. Someone who used to be very close to my father and who was looking for revenge. I never even picked up on the clues, never even thought any of it through. I knew I was in danger when Ian was burnt in his house. Someone had done to Ian what I had done to my father. I was disgusted and scared."

Allie never even flinched. Her features remained the same throughout my story. I thanked her silently for that. The only one I had told had turned me away in fear of me. I wasn't the one to be fearful of though.

"Then the kids were taken and I knew it was all my fault. If I hadn't done what I had all those years ago, things would be different now. I was then taken, still unaware of who knew my secret. I should have seen it coming. I should've known." I said, "My uncle owns this place, Allie. My crazy, twisted uncle who only wants revenge."

My eyes filled up with more tears and they spilled into my mashed potatoes. I pushed my tray away and set my head down on the table. Sobs were taking over me and I felt as if I would drown in them.

"Your uncle is twisted, Aubrey. But don't let that weigh you down. His mistakes aren't yours and your past is your past. It doesn't mean you're that person right now." I heard Allie say, "You have proven to me that you aren't the same person anymore and that nobody can direct you were you want to go. It's your choice. Nobody else can bring you down because of something you once did and if they do, it's their problem and they are the ones who need the serious help. Not you."

I brought my head up and smiled at Allie. Everything she said was true. My uncle did need help and something was seriously wrong with him. The only way to prove that though was to show him off to the world even if meant my secret was going to be out in the open.