Reaper

Chapter 20

When I walked back inside, Lauren and Claire sat alone in the front room. Lauren hadn't moved while I'd been gone but Claire was now sitting where aunt Maria had been. I quietly closed the front door and quickly walked to my bedroom, pausing once I'd entered the room. It felt strange there, almost as if I didn't belong anymore. It had only been one day since I'd last been there, but it felt like it had been much longer. I sat on the bed, letting my hand run over the quilt. I feel like a stranger in my home . . . though, I feel like a stranger to myself as well, I thought.

"I wonder if this is how I'm supposed to feel," I murmured aloud.

A knock sounded at the door and I looked over to see Mother standing in the doorway. "May I come in?" she asked softly. I nodded and she sat next to me. "Thomas seemed like a nice boy," she said. She looked at me, a small smile making her lips curl up slightly. "How did you meet him?"

"I met him while on a walk in the woods."

She let out a soft hum. "I'm glad that you have someone to spend time with besides me and your father. I know that it can be fairly monotonous doing nothing but chores most days."

"I don't mind helping you and Father," I insisted.

A small smile appeared on her lips. "We appreciate that you enjoy doing chores but a young lady your age shouldn't have worry about just doing chores." I stayed silent, unable to think of anything to say in response. "I hope that Will and Aiden are alright after their ordeal?" she asked, 

"Yes, they're doing well." I paused for a moment, my eyebrows knitting together in confusion. "Why do you ask?" Mother couldn't have found out about what happened. But she must have. . . why else would she have asked about Will and Aiden?

Mother was silent for a moment before quietly saying, "Will told us what happened yesterday." Her voice was almost inaudible and when my mind finally registered what she'd said, I felt the blood drain from my face and dread spread through my body. "He explained why you were gone all day and that you were resting because you'd exhausted yourself."

"He told you?" My voice was little more than a whisper. Thoughts raced through my head: Why did he tell them? Surely he could have told them something different. Why is Mother acting like nothing has changed?

"Sweetie, your father kept pressing Will to tell us what had happened. He was very adamant about not telling us." Her hands covered mine, gently easing them from where they tightly clutched the skirt of my dress. "You must know that Will wouldn't have told us otherwise."

The calmness in her voice both soothed and worried me. I had expected her and Father to be scared or angry with me but they had acted as though nothing had changed; like I was completely normal.

"Why-" I started to ask but the words caught in my throat. There was a lump in my throat that I couldn't force the words around and I felt anxiety creep up through my body.

"We were worried about you. We were terrified that something had happened and he was going to go look for you if Will hadn't said anything." Her voice steadily dropped in volume as she spoke. "I'm sorry that we did that, sweetie, but we . . . we had to."

"How-how did Father react?" I whispered. I was terrified of Mother's answer and I wasn't quite sure if I even wanted to hear it.

"He was shocked at first and he hadn't quite wanted to believe Will. He thought that it was a lie or an excuse for something else. For a moment, I thought he and Will were going to start fighting but luckily, Maria and I were able to stop anything before it happened."

"And you?"

"I told him-privately, of course-that I already knew about them."

My eyes widened. "You already knew-"