Through the Dark

Chapter 7

I lost track of time once I had left the hospital. It could be 7 o'clock at night, 1 o'clock in he morning or maybe just before dawn. I cried my eyes out until there was no tears left inside my tear glands. I was a complete mess through the whole time. In my whole life I have never felt so alone and forsaken. Even when my parents had died, there was Reese who comforted me and took my hand to pull it out of the darkened abyss. However, at that time, Reese was also leaving me. All my insecurities, pain and rage exploded inside me like a grenade.

My phone kept on vibrating and I assumed that it was Reese who was calling me. I simply did not want to hear from her or anyone else at that moment. I needed a solitary environment to placate my emotions. As my phone, in my jeans pocket, began to vibrate for the hundredth time, I threw it out on the grass in front of me out of the rage which I possessed. It was as if all he emotions bottled up inside me, for the past coupe of years came out of me all at once. The only time I had cried so much was when I was 5 years old and heard that my parents were never coming home again.

After a period of time that seemed long enough, I had managed to console myself to the point where I was not bawling. Night had fallen already and I kept looking at the distance while all kinds of thoughts ran from one corner of my brain to another. Even though I was composed enough to not bawl my eyes out, tears were flowing down my cheeks as I kept looking at the night sky and the unwanted thoughts came. 

I knew it was not safe for me to stay alone in the deserted park at night but then I did not gave any heed to it. I was sitting still on the bench while the droplets prevailed. Through the years I had learned self defense and even though it was not a wise decision to wait for the damage to happen before taking action I did not move from where I sat.

As time went by the night sky seemed to become darker. Before long I heard someone calling my name from the distance. Maybe if the person coming was an actual stranger approaching me then I would have taken different actions. However, the voice that called my name before emerging was of Mrs. Carter's. After what seemed like a trillionth time, I wiped my eyes in an attempt to dry it off before Mrs. Carter approached me.

She  came and sat beside me on the bench. I had no idea how she found me or knew that I was in that corner of the secluded park but I did not ask. Nevertheless, as if knowing what I was thinking, she stated, "Reese has your phone's location."

My breathing had become steady by then and I was not crying which was a brilliant thing as I never liked to cry in front of people, especially strangers.

"You can call me Livia you know," she said just to initiate the conversation but I did not say anything to it. 

"Your mom and I had been together since I can remember. Both of us were like sisters. We spent all the time with each other, did everything together, went everywhere together and what not. School, college, university, work, you name it," Mrs. Carter, apparently also known as Livia, said as I listened quietly. My head was straight and I kept on looking at the far end of the park where a goalpost stood with grace.

"There were certain incidents in the middle of my life which caused me to break all connections with everyone. After I got married I became pregnant with my son at a moment of crisis. Even before he was born my husband died and due to some reasons I had to move here to start a new life away from people who knew me. With my degree, I had managed to get a job which helped me support me and my son," Mrs. Carter explained.

"Though in the last few year your parents and I did not meet, due to the difficulties I was facing, we knew that we loved each other," she finished.

"You remind me of Anna so much," Mrs. Carter added as I remained quiet. Anna was my mother's name. It seemed ages since I heard someone else say her name and it somehow felt good to hear it.
"You have the same smile as hers and both of you look like so similar that it feels like she is the one I am talking with right now. Although, you inherited your father's blue eyes," she stated. Albeit, Livia was not someone I knew, the vehemence with which she spoke made it seem as if I had known her since birth.

"Vianna, you may think of me as a stranger but I was there with your parents through most of their life. I know all of these is hard but you can't give up because it is the reality darling."

"If you knew that I was the daughter of your long lost best friend then why did you never come to visit or even introduce yourself? We live in the same vicinity," I said after a long time.

"I had moved away and started a new life with a new identity for a reason Vianna. If it was that simple then I would have introduced myself," she answered.
"Well why now then?" I asked again.

"These are dark times Vianna. It's for the best that you know what you know and nothing more," she said not answering my question.

I knew that Mrs. Carter a.k.a. Livia was someone I was unacquainted with. I was not the gullible type. In all honesty, I never thought that I would believe anything that she had said because it could be made up. However, her tone had a soothing edge to it and as she fed me the whole new information I could see the emotion which she was suppressing. Moreover, it was Reese who had ordered me to trust Livia and as much as I hated it, I knew that Reese would not do anything with bad intention. Even though the story seemed made up and a lot of things were unsaid and left out, I somehow gave credence to what she had said.

"Reese loves you, you know that don't you?" she inquired and I nodded.
"Reese is leaving within a few days. At first things will be difficult, I know, but everything will fall back into place after some time," Livia said enveloping me into a hug. The warmth of the hug comforted me to a level that I did not know was possible. Yesterday she was only a doctor in the hospital but within an hour somehow she managed to fill a hole in me and soothe me.

"Come on let's drop you to Thea's place," Livia said getting up and began to walk outwards. Well, she even knew Thea's name, wow. 

I got up from where I had been sitting for hours. With agility, I went to pick up my phone that was on the grass. It was filled with missed calls and messages from all my friends and Reese as well.  I inspected my phone screen and luckily it only had a scratch and not did not break.

I knew that my friends would have a bunch of questions to why I was not answering. Instead of replying or calling them back then I thought of going to Thea's house first before telling them my life changing news. I arbitrated that I would directly go and show up there as her house was only a few minutes away and wanted to clear my own head before spilling it to others. 

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