Silent Care

Chapter 7. Identities revealed

~Aden~

When Sarah stopped crying she jumped as if remembering something. Then she runs into the house before coming back out with a piece of paper in a shaky hand. "A number..." She says. "It fell out of his shirt when he left. I don't know who it is but I'm afraid that--" She stops and I take the number. We all walk into her house. As I sit on her couch I stare at the number and run my fingers through my hair. "Did he touch you? William?" I ask Sarah. She shakes her head and I close my eyes leaning back. "So what are we going to do? I mean with he number." I ask her. She takes a step back and shakes her head. "What do you think it is... I mean who..." I ask her softly. She looks up from the floor. "That's what I'm afraid of," She starts. "What if it was meant to fall out... What if it's a trick?" She states. I consider the consequences, and weigh alternatives. I have nothing... Then the phone rings. We all look at it in shock none of us attempting to pick it up. "I thought it was disconnected."  Everyone stared at the phone scared of what ever possessed it to turn on. Then I take the phone and look at who just called when I noticed that it was the same number as the one on the paper.

Then a voice mail comes through the receiver.

I know where she is... and I know what you want...If you want to see Care again... do exactly as I say and you will be rewarded... and if you don't... say good bye...

We didn't understand for a moment what was going on. Until we realized we had to call back. I looked at Sarah, and my mother and they nodded to me. "Hello?" I started. Then all of a sudden there was a mans voice telling me... specifically to go to The Café downtown and not to bring anyone else. Aden nods and says he'll be there in an hour. I don't tell Sarah or My mother and just leave.

As I approach the Café I see a car that looks out of place. So I enter and sit down with a man looking out a window that seemed to be waiting for someone, most likely me. He looks at me and takes a picture out of his jacket pocket sliding it across the table to me. It's a picture of Care.

~Care~

I look at the mans eyes through the mirror and realize that they looked just like mine. My eyes get wide when the news sinks in. "H--How? I mean... How?!" I ask in spite of surprise. He looks at the woman. She turns into a street and into a drive way. "I'll let you two speak for a moment. Ben I'll be inside." He nods and turns to face the front. "Ask me any questions... I promise I will answer them" He says not looking at me but straight ahead. "Why did you bring me here?" I ask him. He takes a deep breath. "You grew up here... the first five years of your life that is..." He answers sadly.  I shake my head closing my eyes. "Why can't I remember?" I ask him. "You were young." He says.

I close my eyes and lean back. I have no memory. For a while I just sat there trying to remember his face. That's when I realize he'd said something. "Honey did you hear me?" He says. I snap out of my thoughts and glare at him. "Don't call me honey." I say. He closes his eyes and lets out a breath. "I'm sorry, Care... did you hear me?" He asks gently. I shake my head and began to scoot towards the door. "I said, William is my cousin, and he wanted your mother while I was dating your mother." He told me. I grind my teeth and wonder if I could trust him. "I'm nothing like him I'm sure you've noticed. There's nothing to be worried about." He saw I wanted to make a run for it. "My mom said they met in Florida..." I tell him shaken. "He was vacationing there from here. I'd moved there two years before after I realized I didn't have enough money to get back that was when  I met your mother, one night I took her to dinner and found William there also with his date." He turns in his seat to face me. "I left your mother alone with him and went to the washroom. When I came back, your mother, him, and his date,... Care they were gone." I glare at him. I didn't want to trust him. I didn't know if this was the truth. "Care you must believe me." He says. "Then why did you take me? why didn't you take my mother with you? Heck who are you to say your my father? You are no-" I start. He puts his hand up. "Your mother and I had already seen each other a week before. In that week we had made love. We moved here, Not this house but around here. We had you and you were so small and petite we simply had to handle you with care. That's how your name came." He tells me. I see a flicker in the curtains. "Who is she?" I ask defensive. He looks at the silhouette of the young woman in the window. "My sister Caroline." He states. "Your aunt," I glance between him and her. Their features were similar. "So what do you want with me?" I ask. He shakes his head with a smirk. "I don't want anything... I just needed to get you as far away from that man as possible. What he was doing to you... I couldn't let it keep happening." He says sincerely. I hold my breath. Maybe he wasn't part of a plot. Maybe he actually is my father. then I hug my chest. "My mother." I whisper. He bites his lip. "I didn't know how to help her. I thought for a long time. But that would just be putting her in even more danger if she saw me."  He says in a quiet voice. I couldn't call her because the house phone wasn't working. I think of Aden. Is he protecting my mother? Is he looking for me? Does he even care? I close my eyes, "Care?" Benjamin questions. I look up. "So what happens from here?" I ask. He shrugs. "Be my daughter. Be a teenager..." He says. I shake my head and look at the street around. "So I'm just supposed to start over, with total strangers, strangers my mother decided to keep from me..." I say. He shakes his head. "Don't think of it that way Care, it was for your own good she didn't tell you about me." He says. I just nod sniffing. "Would you like to come inside?"

~Sarah~

My daughter... where could she be? I just cant imagine anywhere. For a while I sat on my couch staring at the door Care used to walked through at around this time. Putting the cigarette to my lips I'm almost grateful for the quietness. There's no sounds of her screams from the basement, no sound of him beating her, just pure silence. Then there was a knock on my door. I answer it to find Aden looking bewildered at me. I put out my cigarette on the ash trey next to the door and pull him in. "What's wrong? What's happened?" I ask him. He sits on the couch running his hands through his hair. Takes in a deep breath. "Who's Benjamin?" He asks me. I slap my forehead and sit beside him. "Care's father... why didn't I--" I begin. Aden glares at me. "So you knew... You knew the whole time..." He says in a low voice. He looked so cross with me. I didn't say anything. "This whole time, while she's been raped, beaten, mistreated... you knew... you could have done something... but you didn't! You let it happen!" He was in a fit of rage. "Aden... yes I knew, but I didn't want him to hurt her if she knew she could leave. " I tell him. Aden stands and walks three steps back. "You are just as responsible as he is for her pain." He says his eyes like daggers on mine. Those words pierced my heart with such a pain. I hang my head, its true. Then I look up and see Aden about to leave. "What are you going to do?" I ask him hysteric. He has a hand on the door nob and his shoulder at a scolding curl. "I'm getting justice..." He says.