Titan: The Dark Path

Kate

Kate saw the muddy footprints on the kitchen floor near the back door just before the phone rang. Her dad had left at the same time she did earlier that morning. He was still back at the diner and hadn't been home. Did I not see them yesterday?

"You're losing it," she said to herself.

Kate wetted a paper towel and wiped them up. The house was silent like the quiet had devoured the sound. Goose bumps broke out on her arms and she wasn't sure why. Something wasn't right but there was nothing to which she could point. It was just a feeling.

The phone rang, tearing through the silence. It startled her. Her heart was pounding. She snatched the handset off the counter and tossed the paper towel at the trash can. It missed.

"Hello? This is Kate."

"Katie! It's Val!"

"Valerie, you scared the hell out of me," Kate said.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. How've you been?"

"You know how it is. My internship pays nothing... but we got that place near the Loop, like we talked about. You said you were going to come out last month. What happened?"

"Oh, you know... just bad timing," Kate said. "Dad went to meet with some distributors on short notice. I had to stay with Lyle."

"Hon, he's always doing that to you. We'd been talking about it for months. You wanted to see the campus."

Kate didn't answer immediately. There was an uncomfortable silence. "I want to. We can still do it."

"Kate, you've missed three years. When?"

"Is this what you called for, Val? I'm busy."

Something hit the floor in Lyle's room. It smacked the hardwood and the sound reverberated down the hall. Kate jerked in the direction of the noise.

"Katie... I just miss you. You're better than that diner. That house. You've wanted to get out of that town ever since we were little..."

"Not everyone gets to run away, Val. I'm responsible for my family," Kate said, staring out of the kitchen towards the sound. She held her hand over the receiver. "Hello? Lyle?"

There was no answer.

"Katie, you know I didn't mean it that way—"

"I've got to go," Kate said. "Enjoy the Loop."

Kate hung up the phone and ran to Lyle's bedroom. She found him lying on his bed, like usual, and he stared at her. She searched the floor for what she heard fall. A picture frame was face down, surrounded by tiny shards of glass, next to the dresser. Kate knew which one it was without needing to turn it over. She did anyway.

The photo was of her, her brother, her dad, and her mom, Helen. They were in Kansas City at a barbeque joint where her dad used to take them every 4th of July. Kate was fourteen and Lyle only twelve. Her mom was beautiful. Her cheeks were already beginning to soften and hollow. She lost another fifty pounds before the end.

"Goodness, what happened, Lyle?"

His eyes pleaded with her as she left the room, but she didn't notice. Her thoughts were with her mother and on a past she could scarcely remember. When she came back with the broom and dustpan, Lyle's expression was empty again. Whatever fight he had left was gone against the abomination invading his soul.