The Chase. ( REVISING)(Urban)

Old Ties, Chilling Reconnections

**Trigger Warning: *loss, grieving**

Zaria's Pov

After the meeting, I stayed back to have a word with Ms. Evans. I was still in a state of unease, from my phone being blown up. For a while, things had been peaceful, but knowing that they were trying to contact me, put me on edge.

I wonder if Ms. Evans could tell that I was out of it during the meeting. I was attentive enough but not my usual self. I gathered all my stuff and was putting it in my bag when I realized Ms. Evans was still waiting there patiently looking at me. It was different from her normal look. Her typical warm and joking manner was replaced by a more serious expression.

"Zaria, please come sit down." She said softly.

I wandered over to her and decided to take a seat next to her. The previously filled conference room was reduced to only two inhabitants, Ms. Evans and I. But the nerves and tension developed rapidly in the room making it feel stuffy and awkward. I hesitantly sat down in the office chair perpendicular to her's and responded. "Yes ma'am?"

"During the meeting today you seemed out of it, worried about something?" She observed me intently then continued, "What's on your mind?"

"I was trying to pay attention, I promise." I said defensively, "But I just had other things on my mind." Part of me hoped she would press into my statement, decode it, and give me advice, but I was afraid to even utter a single word about Mikeyla and my mother.

Ms. Evans, who just sat there silently, leaned back in her chair, raising a brow at me.

I shifted nervously under her gaze and allowed my gaze to drop to my lap, where I focused on my dress.

"Would these other things include your mom and sister blowing up your phone throughout the meeting?" she asked.

I looked at her in astonishment, how could she know that?

"How did you-

"I know because your mom has been calling my phone since before the meeting started." She spoke carefully, and I saw the flash of annoyance passing on her face. "After we talked that first time, I put my phone on silent."

"Well what did she say?"

"Nothing too out of her character. I let her run her mouth, talk shit, and threaten me. She mostly just tried to interrogate me about your exact whereabouts. She knows that me of all people would most likely know where you went after you ran away. I'm the one legally entrusted to care for you if anything happens to both your parents."

"She is the same person who told me daily that she didn't want to deal with me, but now as soon as I exit myself from the equation, she goes left."

"Above all my job was to keep you safe. So I am not going to directly put you back into harm's way. And she knows that. I didn't give up your exact location, but she is not going to give up just because I am not telling her everything."

I was partially relieved by her not telling my mom, but the heavy reality set in. I hoped that making things easier for me and my mom would be more peaceful, but it seemed like peace only lasted temporarily. In reality, the woman who gave birth to me was cold, relentless, and calculated. If she was resolute in her decision to find me-which there is no doubt in my mind that she is- she would most definitely comb the city, utilizing all her resources, until she accomplished just that. Lord, I just hope she never does, but I know in my heart, it's only a matter of time. Memories of my life prior to the beginning of this month began to fill my mind, all the beatings, humiliation and downright hateful things she did to me before and after my dad died. "I can't just let her find me." I stammered and tears that I didn't even expect to fall were now flowing freely down my face. "I can't go back there, I can't..." Images of being strangled, pushed and belittled had me on the verge of hyperventilation and I focused my breathing trying to suppress the anxiety attack simmering below the surface.