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Part 8 - Gillian

Gillian hadn't seen her husband in two days or her daughter in a week and she had no clue where either of them had disappeared to. She lit a cigarette and sat down at the dinning room table with a glass of red wine in hand. She'd made so many mistakes in her life and without her scum of a husband there to hound her she was finally able to contemplate them.

She thought back to before Delilah was born and it was just her and Christopher. Things were simple and Gillan had not a care in the world. They were happy and their marriage was spicy and enjoyable. Then she got pregnant and everything spiraled down hill.

When Christopher first showed her the divorce papers she was three months into her pregnancy. She refused to sign them at first, but after Christopher's disappearance that occurred over the next four months she decided it was the only thing she could do.

Then she met Frank, her current husband. He was sweet. Played guitar and piano, wrote poems, and planned romantic dates. He wrote her songs and made her forget about the burden of Delilah. Soon they married and things were like how they once were with Christopher.

The years passed and Delilah was ten. With her maturity brought an attitude. Frank decided to take it upon himself to correct her and Gillian for raising her incorrectly. At first the beatings would only happen every few months, then once a month, then once a week, until they couldn't go a few hours without being yelled at or hit. Eventually Delilah wasn't allowed to leave the house unless it was for school and Gillian stopped talking to her friends from the neighborhood.

Gillian finished her wine and cigarette, and cleaned the glass. She sat on the sofa and watched television, how nice it was to be able to watch whatever she wanted. She watched for a solid five minutes until there was a knock at the door.

"Gillian?" Asked a young man when she opened the door.

"Yes," She said feeling awkward speaking for the first time in years to someone who wasn't Frank.

"I'm Christopher, your ex husband's son." He extended a hand.

She didn't accept.

"What are you doing here?" She asked cockily.

"I met Delilah and I-"

"You know where she is?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Tell her Frank's gone and I hope that she's safe. I don't know when he'll come back or if he will, but it's best that she stays away. Make sure she knows I love her, I didn't do a good job of showing it when she was around."

Gillan began to close the door, but Chris stopped it with his foot.

"Why don't you leave?" Chris asked her.

"He'll come after me and he'll find me."

"Not if you're far enough away."

"What do you mean?"

"We've all done things here that we shouldn't have. You, your daughter, her friends and I. Maybe it's best we leave this place."

"Leave Philly? I couldn't, and my husband-"

"Forget about him for once. He's not here and who knows when he'll come back, if he ever does. Now's our chance to get away."

"Where will we go?"

"I don't know yet." Chris said, but still managed to sound hopeful. "Listen, I can tell that you're interested. I'm going to get the others to meet me at this address tonight, come if you want." Chris handed Gillan a small slip of paper. "Do you have a passport?"

"Yes."

"Good." Chris moved his foot and closed the door.

Gillian sat on the sofa once again and wondered what she should do. Chris was right, she'd done things she wasn't proud of and it was probably best she just get away from it all, but she'd be leaving with children. They might not even be eighteen yet and she'd be responsible for their actions. The last thing she needed now was a lawsuit or a lifetime in jail, but maybe it was time to move on.