Memory in a Bottle

Delilah

After getting off the phone with Jace I cried. I felt bad for doing the things I did, but I had to keep him and Mrs. Young safe. Dexter told me that the person who was after me threatened Jace and Mrs. Young so I knew I had to leave. He also told me that once I fled then whoever is after me will follow and that when he finds more information, he'll contact me. He gave me a bus and subway tickets when he was supposed to give me my discharge papers. He gave me an address to where I assume, he lives. I should be safe there, but I don't trust that I won't be walking into a trap. So, I chose to use some money to stay at a motel. Before I checked in, I went to the drug store and bought bleach, scissors, new clothes, some sunglasses and a baseball bat. After I got out of the store I checked in at the motel and started bleaching my hair. I thought about calling Jace to see if he was okay but then thought better of it. After I finished bleaching my hair, I started cutting it short. The phone that Dexter gave me to use started ringing. I pick it up and answered it.

"Hello?"

"Yes, hi is Peaches home?" Dexter asked. Peaches is our code word to know who is on the line.

"Yes, she is." I reply.

"Good it's you. Did you make it to the address?"

"No, I couldn't. I didn't want to risk it being a trap. I don't know you that well, so I don't know if you're on the same team as me or not." I answer honestly. "Besides I know how to hide and blend in."

"Well, I just wanted to let you know that after you called Jace he came to me demanding where you were. He looked so miserable that i almost told him where you were but then is mom came in and they went home." Dexter tells me sounding apologetic. A tear slipped from my eyes and I quickly wiped it away and cleared my throat.

"Why are you telling me any of this?!" I questioned.

"Because he's not going to give up searching for you and I need you to be careful."

"Why? Why do you care? You're just a doctor who was involved in my kidnapping!" I demanded furiously. He doesn't say anything. Then I hear shuffling a door close and a sigh. "Dexter? You still there?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm here." He sounded exasperated.

"What? What are you not telling me?"

"Let me tell you a story."

"Dexter, I don't have time for stories. I have stuff I have to do."

"Once there was a boy who had a mom and a dad. His father was very caring to the son. Then one day something happened to the father and the son found out that he was having an affair with his mother. The son also found out that he had a half-sister because his father couldn't keep his dick in his pants. The son was furious at his father, but he took it out on his half-sister, even though she was in the dark about the son. The son kept telling his friend how much he hated his half-sister. The son constantly belittled the poor sister. He didn't understand why the father cheated on his mother. So, then the friend had another friend who he was sharing the information to. The other friend became obsessed with the son's half-sister. His obsession grew till he came up with an idea to kidnap the poor girl and do things that only he knew what to do with her. So, the son's friend put a gun to the son's head and told him to drive. The son complied and drove to his half-sister's middle school. He had to lure his half-sister in the car. So, he did, she trusted him, and he didn't understand why. She sat in the backseat where both the son's friend and the obsessed friend sat. She wasn't paying attention to the other two people in the backseat. She only paid attention to the son and the son felt bad. The son knew what was going to happen next and so he looked away as the obsessed friend put the rag over her face and the son's friend soothed her as if she was waking up from a nightmare. She was screaming and kicking... she was trying to fight them, but little did she know that those two were prepared for that to happen. Eventually she passed out and the car was quiet. The son's friend told the son to pull over and get out. He fought with his friend till his friend put a gun to his head. Unwillingly the son complied and both friends drove off with his half-sister. The son still remembers her screams. She doesn't know she has a half-brother." He finished and I just sat there consumed by his story. Trying to figure out the hidden meaning behind it. "Delilah, do you understand what I am talking about?"

"Um... sort of. You mentioned a kidnapping like mine, only I don't have a half-brother." I say confused. I'm still trying to figure out his hidden meaning behind his story. I heard Dexter sigh in defeat.

"Delilah, it was your kidnapping that I was talking about. How else do I know you? How else did you feel fear when you first woke up after you encountered James? Subconsciously, you felt fear because you recognized me. Delilah, that story was about you."

"But... but that's not possible! They- My parents put me up for adoption after they found me in the graveyard. They didn't want to deal with me broken. I remember before my kidnapping my mom got in a car accident and she got hooked on opioids. My dad worked a lot of late nights..." I trailed off realizing that it was the other way. My dad didn't cheat on Dexter's mom, he cheated on my mom after they found out she couldn't have any children anymore.

"Delilah, you are my half-sister." Dexter tells me. The entire world that I knew fell apart once he said those five words.