Breaking the ice

This is yours now

Kris dropped her purse by the door and took a few nervous steps toward.

" What's going on ?" She asked. Her family members exchanged tense and worried glances.

" What're you doing home?" Her mother asked.

" Hey Jules." Her brother said ignoring Kris's question and Kris ignoring her mother's.

She repeated it once more when no one would continue to answer. Her family didn't want to worry her but it was too late for that. Heather had told Derek and Aiden before hand she didn't want to tell Kris anything so she kept her head down and stared at the floor. Kris examined the room and just noticed a suitcase beside the coffee table.

Are we leaving?, she thought, No . There's only one suitcase. Maybe I'm leaving. Why am I leaving?

" Someone tell me what's going on! Aiden why are you here ?"

Someone responded at last.

" You gotta get out of town, Jules. Now" Aiden said.

Kris asked herself why but she knew the answer. Everyone knew the answer but no one dared say it aloud. Kris shook violently as Aiden explained more. Kris could barely hear anything over the ringing in her ears.

" .....playing Ashleigh.. And now he's off the grid."

She stared at her brothers moving lips. Her vision grew blurry and her head swirled, sending a wave of nausea in the pit of her stomach. Kris doubled over, still shaking. She felt her mothers hand on her back then Kris tensed, muscles locking. Her breathes came in gasps and hiccups. Her mother said something to her but Kris couldn't make out the words. She remembered this feeling. It's happened before. Faint memories came rushing back to her and she finally recalled what happened the night she and Nash had spent the evening with their friends. She saw the car. She had a panic attack and it was happening again. Kris focused on her breathing. Slow inhale, slow exhale. Kris did this 5 times then her breathing became easier. She stood up straight and saw her family staring at her with concerned faces.

" I didn't know you had panic attacks." Her father said.

Kris shrugged. Her mother asked if she was alright and Kris brushed her off. Kris stared at a mirror on the wall in front of her. Her eyes were puffy and red and tired. Her hair was tangled from running her hands through it, something she did when she was stressed. She hadn't worked out or gone to Krava Maga in couple weeks, she was hungry. Her appetite had been disappearing lately. Kris looked weak. She looked vulnerable. She look like everything she never ever wanted to look like. Kris stormed over to the mirror, fists clenched and punched it. Heather screamed when she saw Kris's bloody hand. The mirror was in shards, pieces of glass littered the floor. Kris stared at her hand. Skin was shredded at her knuckles, blood dripping off the tips of her fingers. It didn't hurt. Anger had been surging through her veins when she swung at the mirror. She didn't feel a thing. Honestly, Kris didn't think she was strong enough to break the mirror with a single punch. Her brother disappeared into the kitchen then came back a moment later with a towel. He wrapped it around his sisters hand.

" Sorry." Kris muttered.

" It's okay. But we have to go. I'm sorry." Aiden said. Kris nodded then went to say goodbye to her parents. She gave her father a quick hug , then her mother, careful not to get any blood from the bloody towel on their clothing. Heather squeezed her daughter tight, a tear trickling down her face.

" Be careful, Juliette . We'll find him, I promise. You don't have to worry."

But of course she worried. Eric was off the grid. There was no telling where he'd be and when, what he'd do. Aiden had notified the police weeks ago but the information came back blank. Either Eric was dead or amazing at hiding. Aiden prayed he was dead, somewhere in a cold ditch where he belonged. Heather had insisted Kris stayed with an officer in a safe house but her son promised Kris would be safe where they were going.
Aiden took her suitcase as Kris grabbed her purse.