Nepenthe | Sapnap |

Secrets Spilled Equals Trust Earned

Everything was a blur as I just kept running. My shoes were slamming against the roads as I didn't have a single thought in my head of where to go. Nowhere felt like the right answer. Nowhere felt safe. My backpack banged against my back as I slid to a stop in the middle of town square. My head whipped back and forth as I looked down the roads, trying to create a clear thought in my mind.

Where do I go? Where the fuck do I go? They just said run. Run where?

My heart was in my throat as my chest heaved as I tried to catch my breath. People gave me odd looks as they passed by but said nothing. They all know who I am. They know I'm on patrol. They'll have their gossip and theories later in the day but that's the least of my worries right now.

That woman, Bex, wanted me dead.

I shut my eyes tight and shook my head before taking off again but not before taking a sharp turn in the opposite direction I came from.

It felt like I couldn't breathe. My whole body was tingling as if I was about to black out any second. The only thing I felt was the wooden gate that I slammed into before opening the first door I found and frantically searching.

The heat of the greenhouse hit my face as my eyes quickly scanned the place but coming up with nothing but plants and crops, I did a 180 and moved on to the next house only to find the same thing.

The third greenhouse I entered; I finally found my voice. "Mom?" I didn't even recognize my voice as I called out for my mom. It sounded like a scared little kid.

"Mom!" I tried again as I opened the door to the last greenhouse in the row.

Someone yelped and dropped a pot at the sound of my voice, but it wasn't my mom.

"Oh, Kate." It was Kristin. She let out a sigh as she placed her hand on her chest, but her shock was quickly replaced with uncertainty as she turned to look at me. "What's wrong?"

I took in a harsh breath, "Where's my mom?"

Kristin's eyebrows scrunched up in worry, "I told everyone to come in late today. We don't have much to do with replanting some of the houses the other day." She paused as she slowly walked in between the aisles to reach where I was standing. "Kate... what's wrong?"

"Techno's dead." I just spit it out. My hand was shaking on the doorknob. No, my entire arm was trembling. "Some people from Pittsburgh came and... and murdered him. And- and they want me dead too. Because of what happened."

"Kate, breathe, honey, breathe." She was directly in front of me with her hands on my shoulders trying to calm me. "Let's take this back to my house. I bet Phil is there."

I shook my head violently. "Everyone is at the gates! The whole patrol team. Morning and afternoon. We were trying to get together a search party when the gates were ordered open from the outside and then Techno was just kneeling there with guns pointed to his head." Kristin tried to shush me to get me to swallow some air, but I just kept talking. "She killed him and then started going on about wanting to kill me and Nick told me to run so I did! They are all still there!"

"Okay, okay," she nodded. I could tell she was scared too but she was keeping it down to not freak me out any more than I already was. "We'll still head to my house. The guys will probably head there first after everything is figured out." She slowly started to twist me around in the doorway and pushed me in the direction of our neighborhood.

It wasn't a long walk to her house, but I guess I must have looked worse than I thought since people were starting to stop and open their mouths. However, the moment Kristin waved her hand they swallowed whatever they were going to say and continued on about their day. For the entire walk, Kristin had her arm wrapped around me and one of her hands rubbing my arm like it was a silent way of telling me 'We're almost there, hold on'.