Looks Can Kill

Running... To School

He's looking for you. Run. Reusa's eyes snapped open and she drew in a deep gasp of air. Her sweaty hair fell across her face and her heart was pumping. Another nightmare about her past. This time, the nightmare's fear didn't fade once she woke up. Her heart wouldn't settle.

He was looking for her. He, who had pretended to love her. He was there when her eyes were made into instruments of death, and he didn't stop it. Now she was trapped in the prison of her sunglasses and on the run from him.

Reusa blinked and focused back on the horizon. The sun was coming up, bathing everything in a beautiful warm light. Reusa sighed and stood. She froze, thinking she saw someone prowling around the grounds. But it was just a forest animal. Reusa let out a breath and waited for her heart to stop hammering in her ears. Great. Now she was getting paranoid.

Reusa opened the door to her room, wondering if her mother was up yet. As she began to creep silently down the stairs, she weighed her options. She could stay and try to fix this hole in her life and find that missing piece of the puzzle. It would be easier for someone to find her if she stayed in the same place. On the other hand, if she left, she would have left the only house she been loved in. Her beautiful, loving mother would left alone again, something Reusa suddenly realized she could never do.

She hadn't noticed how much she loved the sight of her mother giving her tea, even reprimanding her clothes. She hadn't even seen the extra guilt of the thought of leaving her alone again.

Reusa's mother was sitting at the table, writing, when Reusa entered the dining room. Breakfast was sitting on the table, waiting for her.

Reusa's mother glanced up at Reusa and her eyes snagged on the clothes Reusa was wearing. She was wearing her normal attire: gray skinny jeans with a few holes in them, a green tank top, and a black leather jacket. And leather fingerless gloves, of course.

Reusa was surprised by the amount of disapproval in her mother's eyes. Reusa sat at the table, curiously peering at her mother's writing and avoiding her mother's eyes.

"Charlotte, dear, why are you still wearing the clothes you wore last night?"

Reusa jumped at the use of her real name that fit like a too-small glove. "Umm. These are my clothes."

"No, child, they are not. I am afraid you are taking this joke way too far. When you are finished eating, you must go to your room and change into the dress I gave you."

Reusa opened her mouth to protest, but her mother looked back down at her writing. Reusa wasn't even sure what to say. Her mother was ignoring the fact that Reusa was different because it didn't fit her own worldview.

Well, Reusa could definitely get around that. She owned a trench coat that reached to her ankles. That would hide the fact that she wasn't wearing a dress. Then Reusa remembered her dream. He was looking for her, and if he found her in a dress, she would be vulnerable. It is hard to attack someone when you are wearing a dress.

"Charlotte, I hate to do this so soon after I have found you again. But I already set it up with Mrs. Martin. You will be going to her school where you learn the manners which you have been so lacking in."

Reusa's jaw dropped and she stared at her mother. But her mother wouldn't look up from writing. Reusa tried to think of an excuse or a for her mother to keep her here. She thought about pulling the "don't you love me?" card, but it sounded petty.

"It is next to the forest that...Well, that you disappeared in, dear." Reusa's mother finally looked up. Her eyes were anxious. "Please stay away from that horrible forest. I couldn't bear to lose you again."