Open Secrets✔️

VII

"What are you doing?" Danny asked.

"Why does this picture say 'I'm sorry, Dad' on it?"

"Because I'm sorry that he died, Ok. Aren't you?"

"How can I be sorry when you and Mom won't even tell me the whole story."

"That's not the point. I told you the things that mattered."

"The rest of it matters to me." I was slowly raising me voice. I couldn't take it anymore. I wanted to know what they were keeping from me, "TELL ME DANNY!"
Suddenly we hear something.

"Chad." Danny whispered. He covered my mouth, quickly and quietly grabbed our bags, and walked me upstairs, "Do not say a word." He whispered sternly in my ear. We went to one of the bedroom closets.

Minutes had passed without us hearing anything, but Danny was strict about us staying in the closet. Finally we did hear something. Two voices. Both of them were very faint, but they were clear enough that we could make out most of what they were saying.

"Hello, Ma'am. Are you the one that called?"

"Yes, Sir. I heard two people arguing over there."

"In this house? It's been empty for years. Are you concerned that people may have broken in?"

"Yes, Sir exactly."

"Did you see anybody walk by or walk up to the house?"

"No."

"Did you hear anything like pounding or glass breaking?"

"No. But I definitely heard arguing."

"Well, I will look around but I'm not going to promise anything."

"Thank you, Sir."

Danny and I continued to stay quiet, trying to hear what the guy was doing.

"Hello. Is anybody here? This is the police. If anybody is here, I am going to have to ask you to leave." A few more minutes went by of him saying the same thing. It was clear that he was walking around the house but not on the inside.

"Ma'am. Thank you for your concern. I didn't see or hear anything. If there was anybody there, they must've not stayed long. I wouldn't think that they would anyway, considering how cold it's been."

"Thank you, Officer." A few more minutes had passed before Danny took his hand off of my mouth.

"What the hell, Chad. Are you trying to get us caught?" I didn't say anything, "Let's just sleep, please." We spent the night in the closet. It wasn't comfortable and it was very cold. Since we had been on the run, it seemed like Danny never had problems falling asleep. It always seemed like that before also. 

Me, on the other hand, I always had problems sleeping, then and now. Maybe it was because of the things I didn't know about myself and my past. Maybe it was because Dad died. Or what happened to Mom. Danny and I both had all the reasons in the world to lose sleep; yet, I was the only one suffering. Maybe I just had a problem with closure.

I closed my eyes hard, trying to fit any missing piece to the puzzle. I was lost. Dad died. I don't remember much about it for some reason. I was eight. I remember Mom and Danny crying. They sat me down...

"Chad. There's something we need to talk about." She could hardly even say those words. She kept sniffling, "There's been an accident." I was very confused. I kept looking back and fourth between Mom and Danny. Both of them had eyes full of tears.

"Dad..." Danny put his hand on my shoulder. He couldn't finish the sentence. He put his hand over his mouth, burring his head in his arm. I look back at Mom. She wiped her tears away and took a deep breath. 

"Chad. Daddy had an accident and he passed away, I'm sorry." She said crying again. My eyes began to get watery.

"What happened?" Mom leaned forward in her chair, burring her face in her hands.

"An accident, Chad. IT WAS AN ACCIDENT." Mom raised her voice and stood up. Danny quickly stood up, comforting her. He mumbled words that I couldn't make out, "I'm sorry, Chad." She continued. She squatted down in front of me, "Look. Daddy was stabbed. He trusted the wrong person and let his guard down. But you know what? It's all going be ok now because that person doesn't exist anymore."

"Why not? What happened to them?" Mom and Danny glanced at each other. Mom moved out of the way and Danny took her spot.

"Bub. People who kill other people aren't normal. They don't think right. And when people don't think right, they get help from other people so they can think right again. Do you understand?"

"Oh yeah. So the person who killed Daddy didn't think right."

"Exactly. So that person got help, and now they are better. You see."

"Sh- shouldn't they go to jail, like on TV?"

"Well yes, but sometimes they can't go to jail. The person who killed Daddy can't go to jail because he got help instead. The court people agreed that if they got help, and was thinking right again, that they wouldn't need to go to jail." 

"But.." I started to cry, "Daddy's gone." I balled my eyes out as I ran to my room. I cried myself to sleep and didn't talk to anybody.

"Chad. Chad wake up." Danny was shaking my shoulder. I jumped awake, looking startled. I was sweating and had wide eyes, I was breathing heavily as if I had a nightmare.

"What's wrong? Are you ok?" A few seconds had pasted. I slowly stood up, taking a few dry swallows. I glanced out the window for a few seconds as Danny was packing our stuff back up. 

"Chad. Your sweating. Did you have a nightmare or something." I slightly turned my head, wiping my sweat.

"Something like that." I had lost my voice. My mouth was so dry, I could barely talk. Danny finished packing our bags and turned me around.

"You sure, your ok? It must've been a pretty bad nightmare. What was it about?" 

"Nothing. I...I can't remember." I lied. I clearly learned from the best. I remembered that dream, and I don't think I will ever forget it.

"Ok. Well, Bad new is I didn't catch anything in the traps so we will have to find something and try again later." I sighed, "The good news is I found these bottles out back and got some water. Now we will have something to drink. You obviously need a drink. Your bottle is downstairs." 

We both walked down the stairs with our bags and I suddenly remembered what had happened last night.

"Wait. What about the lady from last night. What if she sees us?"

"She won't. I watched her leave for work, she lives next door." I grabbed my bottle and drank most of it, "Careful. We are on limited supply."

"Are you still mad about last night."

"I was never mad, Chad. Your my brother and I love you. I just didn't want to get caught." 

We walked outside. We squinted our eyes at the bright sun.

"Let's go. Wintermarch, here we come." Danny looked at me and smiled as we continued walking. This was going to be a long day. I could feel it.