Rivals

Worry & IT

   I entered my house, quietly shutting the door behind me. Hopefully she's asleep.

   I tip toed up the stairs quietly as I could, stopping when I heard a throat being cleared.

   I knew my mother was angry and when she is her hands are always on her hips. How did she hear me?!

   "You're late, Kate." she said. I didn't bother turning around. If I did she'd see my blood soaked clothes and the marks on me. It was hard hiding the fact that I was a Slayer.

   I rushed up the stairs, not bothering to tell her why I was late. I had to get out of these clothes quickly.

   I pounced into my room, grabbed clean clothes, and headed to the bathroom to take a shower.

    I stripped, putting the soaked clothes into a bag to be washed after I was done showering. I stepped into the shower afterwards.

   After I was done I dried off and put on the clean clothes. Now I was decent enough to face my mom.

   On my way downstairs, I put my soaked clothes into the washer. The blood wouldn't say in the washer 'cause I put it on the deep clean cycle.

   "Mom?"  I called as I peaked around the corner leading to the kitchen.

   She turned around from her spot at the sink, she was washing dishes.

   "Why are you late?" She squinted at me, looking me up from head to toe.

   "Omg, Kate! Why is your lip bruised?!" She hurried over to me, grabbing my face to inspect the injury.

   "I was coming home when I got jumped. That's why I'm late." Okay, it wasn't technically a like nor was it the full truth.

   "My baby! Are you okay?!" She cooed and grabbed her phone. "How many were there?! What did they look like?" She asked as she starting dialing in 911.

   "No, mom!" I snatched the phone from her and she narrowed her eyes.

   "I mean...I didn't see what they looked like, there was three of them, it was too dark to see." I rushed out.

   She looked at me for a few seconds before nodding. "Alright..."

   I handed her phone back to her and she sighed. "Just grab some dinner, you'll have to heat it up since it's cold now." Then she wandered off.

   I grabbed the spaghetti from the fridge and microwaved it. At least she believed me and I'm not grounded. 

   Once it was done I sat at the table and ate it. My mom occasionally checked on me.

   As I was finishing she came back in and sat at the table across from me.

   "I was thinking, Kate..." She began as I washed off my plate and put it away. "Yes?" I asked.

   "I think it's best of I didn't go on that trip this weekend." She looked down.

   "What? Why?" I sat back down where I originally was.

   "Kate, you got jumped. What will happen when I'm gone, hm? What if something else happens to you?!" She cried into her hands. I got up quickly and went around the table to her side, comforting her.

   "It's okay, mom. I promise nothing will happen to me. I'll be alright." I reassured her.

   "Are you sure?" She asked while blowing her nose on a tissue. We usually had boxes of tissues in the middle of the table.

   "Yeah, besides, you never get to go out or have fun. This weekend is your chance." I smiled at her and she gave a soft smile. "You're right, Kate. Thank you."

   We said our goodnights as I went upstairs to bed. I brushed my teeth on the way to my room.

   What if something did happen to me? There's a chance I might not come out of the war alive. I sighed and went to bed.

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   Classes flew by fast and before I knew it I was already out the doors of the school.

   Heading off to the cabin, I thought of what happened yesterday. The vampires were catching up to us. It would be hard to tell who was going to win this battle.

   I talked to the training instructors about what happened and they were thinking the same thing. What would we do? We can't stand a chance then. We need to do something different, but what?

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    After training I headed home to my mom. She just got off work and was packing her bags. There was three days left after all and my mom had major OCD when it came to being prepared. She'd always be packed weeks before we went somewhere, but that was when my dad was still alive.

   I sighed at the memories of us with my dad. At least my mom had moved on now.

   "Sunscreen?...Check. Toothbrush? Check." My mom was in her room going over her list and what was laid out.

   "What are you doing, mom?" I asked already knowing the answer.

   "I need to make sure everything's packed. I don't want to forget something." She continued doing her thing.

   I went to my room to finish the homework I had from my classes.

   I already had my outfit I put in the washer last night under my bed. My mom doesn't like it if I have her do my clothes, so I have to wash my own. Like if I leave something in the wash that's mine then she'll give me a piece of her mind for weeks.

   "Finally!" I sighed. I had gotten done with my pestering homework for English. We had to write an essay on what our future will look like.

   I joined my mom downstairs to watch movies with her. She finished packing her stuff a bit ago and was watching IT now.  What she thought was scary, I thought to be hilarious. That's mostly how we spent the most of the night.