The Moth

Chapter Forty-Eight: Rooftops// Home

Chapter Forty-Eight: Rooftops// Home

We pulled up in front of Cecilia's house twenty minutes later and I stifled a yawn as I turned off the engine. Cecilia looked nervous, brows knitted together and lips pressed tightly into a thin line.

"What if he's mad I took Aaron away?"

I pursed my lips. "Well, we'll deal with that if it happens. Let's hope he isn't?"

She gave me a long look before nodding. "Okay."

Stepping out and turning towards the house, she slid her hand into her back pocket, taking out her keys. She turned to open the back door for Aaron, and paused. "Can I... leave him here for a moment? Just..." she trailed off.

I nodded. "Sure. Take your time."

Locking the doors shut, I waited in the car with a restless Aaron as Cecilia disappeared up the porch steps. We'd arrived and he was ready to get out. A couple more minutes passed and I tapped on the steering wheel. She hadn't returned.

"Hey, Aaron." I turned to look at him in the backseat.

"Yeah?"

He had his arms stuck inside his T-shirt. Seeing me, he pulled them out.

"I'm going to go check on Cecilia, okay? Stay here."

He nodded as I climbed out of the car. Just as a safety measure, I opened the back car doors and turned on the child-safety locks, smiling at him as I shut the door again.

"Just a minute."

I found her staring blankly at the closed door.

"What if he's angry."

"He won't be."

And if he is, I'm...I'll still be here.

She leaned into me for a moment before opening the door.

First thing that hit us was the stench.

"Dad?"

She disappeared inside. I hesitated, not knowing if she wanted me to follow.

"Dad!"

I found her shaking his body on the living room floor. The smell was overpowering. Something was rotting. Vomit all over him. Empty bottles strewn across the floor. Glass shards dug into her hands and knees as the tears from her eyes dropped and mixed with the blood below her.

"Dad, wake up. Wake..wake up."

"He can't be dead, he — he can't!"

"Shh, shh. I'm still here."

"A-Aaron's waiting for him!"

"Dad! Come back! Dad, I'm here!"

I quietly pressed the car remote, locking the doors.

"Dad wake up! I'm here. I'm h...I'm home."

Not a lot of things keep me up at night.

But that scream is one of them.

Just once. Ripping and tearing from her throat, turning my blood cold, sending chills down my spine.

Brokenness, abandonment, emptiness. All tearing out through the same single wail.

There's not a lot of things that keep me up at night.

I'm still here. I'm not leaving.

Dad, I'm home.

A young boy wailing into my chest as I held him. A girl draped across a still body as the air was painted red, white, and blue.

Freedom.

Despair.

I love you.

Don't leave me here alone.