Viribus

Chapter 17: A Visit cut short

The next morning I wake up with a feeling of pure dread. Viribus is waiting patiently by the door with his ears down and tail
between his legs. He feels what I feel. I don't want to leave my parents house today. We only had stayed one night out of three and I didn't want to see the disappointment on my moms face when I had to tell her. My dad is the first one up as usual. I can hear the faint hum of the coffee pot and the clanking of silverware coming from the kitchen. My dad never was good at trying to be quiet in the mornings. My mom, who was a late sleeper knew this all too well. Me and Viribus decide to go ahead and get up. I definitely wasn't going to get anymore sleep at this point. I walk into the kitchen to see my dad at the kitchen table holding the newspaper and sipping coffee in typical dad-like fashion. He looks up from his paper when he hears viribus's nails tapping on the wood floor.
"Well I can't believe my eyes, I know that's not my daughter up at 7 in the morning."
"Yep, it's me, dad. I can't believe it myself."
"I'm glad you're up, so we can talk about the itinerary for the next couple days! So I was thinking about all the little fishing holes we used to hit when u were younger. Minnows cave, big mouth pond and the state park..."
I could hear the excitement in his voice and the thought of telling him I had to leave early was enough to make me sick to my stomach.
"Dad...I'm going to have to leave today. I can't really say exactly why but it's very important."
I could feel my dads mood deflate like a helium balloon.
"Oh ok...well, is everything alright? Do you need anything? You know you can always come to us."
"Yeah, I know and everything is fine..or at least it will be."
"I understand, honey. Well I guess now is as good a time as any to give you your gift."
"You got me a gift?"
"Your mom and I are so very proud of you. Just for taking that leap of faith and getting out there on your own. It's not much, it's just a token to let you know how much we are thinking about you when you're not here and to remind you that we're always here."
Dad goes into the living room and opens a drawer in one of the cabinets, he pulls out what looks like a mauve colored book with a ribbon tied around it.  When he starts to walk back, I realize it's a bible.
"Wow dad, it's beautiful."
"Check the first page on the inside."
I pull the ribbon and open the Bible, it's stiff and has that smell that all new books have.
Viviana, in all of the chaos you are surrounded by in your everyday life, know that you are stronger than you realize.
Tears immediately start to fall from my eyes because the message was so spot on. It's like my parents knew I needed a message like that.  I gave my dad the biggest hug. I haven't hugged my dad like that since I was a small girl but in that moment, I just felt like child who needed her father.
I know my dad, just like my mother, could sense that things were not going smoothly in my life and they were right. I hadn't been at my own house in weeks. I haven't been at my job in equally as long. My ribs were just now getting to the point where I could bend over and not be in excruciating pain. My parents also had no idea that I was held in a psychiatric unit over night. I cried as I hugged my dad, not just because I was scared but because I felt like I was living a lie. I didn't want to lie to my parents but this was a dangerous game that I never thought I would have ended up playing. It was better this way. My parents spent my whole life protecting me and it was my turn to protect them.
I could feel Viribus nudge me with his cold wet nose. He snuggled up to me as if he knew I needed some comforting.
"Good morning everyone."
Startled, I look to the corner of the room to see Dimitri standing there in his pajama pants. Hair all over his head but still as handsome as ever. I will always be amazed that someone like him would be interested in an anxiety filled mess like me. When he came into my life, it was falling apart. Previously, my life was nothing to brag about, it was very average. I was just a nurse trying my hardest to prove to the world that I could make it on my own.
When Dimitri came into my life, and normal person would have taken one look and turned right back around but not him. He wasn't afraid of my life, he was only afraid of not being in it.
This is the type of love that people search their whole life for and here he was right in front of me; as random as it all was, I felt like I was falling in love with him all over again.
"Dimitri, you're not much of an early riser are you? Do you drink coffee?, my dad says as he raises a coffee cup that says, "Worlds #1 Dad" on it. I had gotten him that mug at a Santa Claus work shop when I was 9 years old.
"Yes sir, and not much of anything else.", Dimitri chuckled as he came over to me and gave me a warm hug and kiss on the cheek.
"Viviana told me you all would be leaving today, I've enjoyed meeting you. I feel good knowing Viviana has someone like you."
"That means a lot coming from you sir. I promise to always take care of her."
"...And I believe you.", dad says as he somberly sips his coffee.
"Well I guess I better go and tell your mother that y'all are leave early. You know she won't be happy about that but she'll understand."
Dad was right, mom would not be happy and she was miles more dramatic than my dad was.
"So what's the plan when we get back home?" Dimitri says as he begins to fix a cup of coffee.
"I guess as soon as we can, we should call up beau and ask him what he has in mind."
"I was afraid you'd say that, but I know it's necessary."
"Dimitri I'm so scared. I have a feeling that everything is about to hit the fan."
"I have the same feeling but it's time to end this."
I nod in agreement.
"But why? Why are they leaving NOW?" I can hear my moms high pitched voice coming from down the hallway.
Here it comes.. I think to myself.
Mom comes down the hallway and she is obviously upset. I'm not surprised.
"Why are you leaving today? What's wrong? I knew something was wrong, I didn't want to say anything because I try not to butt into your business but I'm starting to get worried."
"Mom, everything is fine. Something just came up, but I promise as soon as I get it straightened out, we will be back and we will stay a whole weekend or however long you want."
I look down because I only hope I'm telling the truth.
My mom gets silent for a second.
"Viviana, as long as you promise me that you're safe. Promise me."
"Mom, I'm safe. Don't over react."
And that was the biggest lie I've ever told to my parents with a straight face. They didn't deserve to be lied to, but they didn't deserve to be drug into this either. I didn't know if I was going to be okay. I didn't even know if I was going to see them again after this but they didn't deserve to know that.
I leave everyone in the kitchen to go into my room and begin to pack the little bit of things I had unpacked over the last few hours. It wasn't much but I couldn't look at my parents any longer. They were going to catch on. I finish up with my clothes but then I look over on the nightstand and I see Dimitri's Bible with Lillie's letter stuck in the middle of it. I take the unopened letter out and just stare at it. It was so horrible the way Lillie died. She was the only living person that knew the truth and even though some dark force was threatening her life, she still had the courage to write this letter.
The letter felt warm in my hands, almost like it was alive. If I concentrated hard enough, I could almost feel a pulse. The letter got warmer and warmer until I could almost not hold on to it anymore. It started to burn my hands with a blue flame heat and I dropped the envelope in horror.
Looking down at it, I could see that it had an orange glowing ring around it. The room got cold and I looked around expecting to see some horrible thing but nothing was there. When I looked back down at the letter, it wasn't glowing anymore so I picked it up. I slipped it into the Bible that my dad had just given me.
Dimitri comes in the room, and sits on the bed; slightly limping as usual.
"You all packed?"
"Yeah, I suppose so.", I say with a sigh.
Viribus comes bounding through the door and playfully pounces on my lap. I can't help but let out a squealing laugh as he covers my face in big wet dog kisses.
"He sure knows how to cheer you up huh?", Dimitri says as he packs the rest of his things.
"He sure does. He always forgets that he's a massive dog and not a puppy."