Inside the Shadow

Chapter Sixteen: You know what you must do Pov-Mairi

      "I knew he had slept with her, but this? I told him that he had to earn my trust back even to get to be involved with my life period. He broke my heart once again, I really feel like I might be seriously done this time." Giving Erin an update on what had happened the night before with Zach, I felt a slight release of anger as venting made me feel heard, especially when it's with Erin. "Wow, if I can be honest, there's nothing I would do to hurt you. He must either not fully care or has to be fucked up in the head to cheat on you." While Erin was blunt, his response was reassuring, I slowly felt as if being with Zach brought out the worst in us both. So many fights we had even before what had happened with Nelly along with the manipulation, lying to me about many situations, breaking my heart all over. "I really need to take a step back and stop focusing on him, relationships in general, and my mental and physical health is all I should be worried about. And of course, I am worried about you seeing as there is a man after you and only, he knows who else." Taking a deep breath, I leaned back into the couch hoping to calm my nerves and to focus on anything but romance. "I truly am sorry that he put you in this situation, I understand why you want to give up on finding someone to love you just as much as you would them, but Zach could never be worth such heartache. Remember I would be willing to do anything to make you happy Min." He spoke softly as he was one to avoid conflict and tried to lighten the mood any chance he got.

      "I hear you; I'm just going to focus on us. By the way, has anything happened with you since the other day?" I attempted to set the subject off myself, so I relied on Erin's response fully. "Since I talked with you last, Key hasn't been back even after my mom left for work earlier in the morning, but last night I had a few weird dreams. The one that stuck out the most to me, I'm assuming, was about my father." I sat confused seeing as I had never known anything about his dad and that I had been under the impression that he had left before Erin was even born. "I know that what I'm going to say might sound insane but it was like he was talking to me. I've never even met the man but he said, 'There you are, my son.' he spoke in my dream as if he were searching for me." With everything I had experienced in the last week, there would probably be nothing he could say that would surprise me. "Did you get to actually see him? Maybe you can see a picture from your mom to see if you recognize anything." the only thing I could think to say appeared to give him an idea as he became eager to speak with her now. "Well, anyways I am glad to hear that maniac is keeping away for now. I'm wondering if it's because he almost got caught." My words held a sense of calm, seeing as I felt the killer might be realizing he wasn't as slick as he believed himself to be. He had almost gotten caught at least twice now when going after Erin alone. "I truly hope he does lay off, at least for a bit. I know my mom had pictures of my dad somewhere but I've never had an interest in him in general, that is until now. I'll just have to ask her; she should be home soon." Us both in congruence now, I attempted to ask Erin something. "I know that it wouldn't be too smart for you to go out with that man after you, but I really was wondering how we would be able to get together for a little quality time." I waited for his answer as I sat on the couch, my stomach full from a green bean casserole my mom had made us all for when my dad had gotten home from playing golf at the club with his coworkers. "I mean, of course, I would do anything just to see you but how could we do that safely? I'm not entirely sure your parents would agree for you to come and hang out in a crime zone." his answer was well thought out seeing as he doesn't have many ways of leaving safely, and my parents were a whole other venture. "I could try getting my mom to come there with us. We would be together but not a lot of privacy with her being around." My words caused for a snicker to escape Erin's mouth, as he found what I said to be humorous, a grin spreading across my face. He had been around my parents enough to know how nosy they both were at times.

      "Mairi? What's going on in here? Are you two having a good conversation?" My mom came in from the other room as if she had been waiting for someone to mention her. "Yea, but I was going to ask if you would be willing to take me to go see Erin in person. It's been almost a week now." I felt as if I sounded sort of whiny as I pleaded for the woman's approval. "Well, before we get to that subject, I wanted to present something to you. It came in the early afternoon." she stood adjacent to me, as she held a mid-sized brown package. She handed it over, showing how excitable this interaction had made her as if she were a child presenting a perfect grade. I began opening it pulling out a white rectangular box with the image of a smartphone on the lid. I glanced up at my Mom in anticipation for I had been wanting this for so long. As I pulled the phone out, I noted that it was the latest modern iPhone with a hot pink backing, and under the box holding the phone was a second smaller package of similar size. It was a case for the phone, the image on it was of a scene from Lewis Carroll's novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, where Alice appeared to be running from the Queen's cards, as they jumped like flying playing cards towards her in a rainbow shape. She is shown cowering while running along with a gaggle of not so wild, animals including the white rabbit. the scene was presented over the text of the actual book as if Alice and her story were leaping from the page. I then grabbed my mom's phone to get Erin to wait for me to get my new phone set up before we tried to see each other later. "Alright Min. text me with your new phone!" he stammered before we ended our call, my mom proceeding to help me get my new phone set up so I could text with my same old number.