The Red Flag

Part LVI - "Too soon- not ready"

"So, where exactly are you taking me?" I sat right next to Elijah as the two of us headed south on the highway.

As soon as we locked the office doors, he rushed us down to the car with haste. He grabbed my hand, threw both our bags in the back seat and switched the ignition.

"Nope." He glanced my way. "It's a surprise."

Oh goody, we hate surprises.

In an hour into the drive I received over twenty texts from Aralyn. It turned out that this was the weekend we were supposed to look for a new apartment. A strong wave of guilt passed over me. She hated when plans were switched around at the last minute.

After apologizing a handful of times, I promised that I would make it up to her somehow. Knowing Aralyn she would make me sit through a weekend long marathon of her favorite reality show. Or worse. . . make me leave the house and go to some sleazy club. My palms were sweating just thinking about the idea.

On the contrary, I was pleasantly surprised to read her request. Instead of taking her out to some place, she demanded to know every detail of my weekend with Elijah.

"Give me all the fun and dirty details." Her last message said. 

I rolled my eyes at the screen and fought to suppress a laugh. Leave it to Aralyn to be bought off with kinky information.

"What's so funny?" He asked.

"Nothing really." I placed my phone back in my lap. "I was supposed to go apartment hunting with Aralyn this weekend. And I completely forgot."

I wanted to respond to her text, at least to let her know where I was going. But all I could do was sit back in my seat and keep my nerves under control.

"I didn't know you're looking for a place to live. Why didn't you tell me?" He asked with a raised brow.

I shrugged my shoulders. "I think it would be best for me to have my own place. I never intended to live with my relatives forever. And to be honest, the whole situation has been absent from my mind lately."

That entire house was practically a memorial for my family. Every picture captured a moment in time, a moment where we wore our fake smiles to fool the photographer. Oh, If they only knew half of the reality behind those photos, not a single one would ever be displayed. And to make things even worse, Regina placed small vases of flowers near each photo. All that was missing was a few lit candles in order to make it a proper memorial.

Seeing them in those pictures brought an inner pain like no other. Like the feeling of one's heart slamming against their rib cage, fighting to break free.

I needed my own place to breathe and not be constantly reminded of the horrible events that took place. I just hoped I could find a place that was near the office but still close enough to still visit my aunt and uncle.

"Do you have any place in mind so far?"

I shook my head. "I've tried going online to search out any house listings but I haven't had any luck."

The places I've looked at were gorgeous on the outside. However, all the places I looked at were huge- like four bedrooms, three and a half bathrooms, and a two door garage. These were family houses. Why would I need all that space if I would be the only one living there?

Part of me considered asking Aralyn about the idea of moving in together. Thanks to four years of college, we already know that we can tolerate living with each other. It would be easy for her to move in because she always came with very little stuff. Unlike most girls who need five suitcases, three duffle bags, and a large carry-on bag to travel, Aralyn preferred to pack light.

However, there was Ella to take into consideration. As much as she would want to move in with me, she would never just leave Ella back with Jessica. Ella was already enrolled in a preschool that she loved, so no way would it be fair to move her. And on that note, I was back to square one.

All of a sudden, I was pulled from my thoughts by the sound of my phone going off. My eyes locked on the screen. I had just received a new email from my unknown "friend". Quickly, I glanced over at Elijah, who kept his eyes locked on the road ahead before opening the message.

Hello, Amelia. I hope you have given some thought to our chat since last time. - S

My stomach turned over. Calmly, my thumbs moved over the keyboard to reply. I wasn't about to let this person get under my skin again.

Sorry, I don't have time to think about such useless matters. What do you want? - Amelia

The reply was almost instant.

Such a pity you don't have time to think about what's truly important. But, I guess it's nice to see you found time to take a drive with your little boy toy. Where's he taking you? Oh, wait, let me guess. He hasn't told you. - S

It took every nerve in my body not to jump out of my seat. I wanted to turn around to see if anyone was following us. Someone had to be following us. There was just no explainable way for this person to know that I was with Elijah, in his car, if we weren't being followed.

I stole a glance from the right side view mirror. Nothing.

Even if I did know where we were going, I would never tell you. - Amelia

I'd been harshly grinding my teeth unconsciously for the past five minutes. So, it appeared that this person not only knew about my secrets, they also knew about my location at that very moment. For whatever it's worth, they didn't know where I was headed. But, neither did I until I caught sight of the large exit sign that read "Virginia Beach 15 miles".

Holy shit. He was taking me to the beach.

"Oh my god," I breathed. "You're taking me to the shore." Visions of my sister and the waves were flooding my head. Her dark hair was blowing from the wind that was salty from the ocean. Her smile- No. No. No. I wasn't ready to go back.       

It's been years since I've been to the shore. After the crash I refused to go anywhere near it just to avoid the memories. Back then I couldn't stomach the memories because all I saw was Veronica. And now, I'm not sure much has changed.

The beach was her haven. One could always see how in love she was with the water by the fondness in her eyes. Of all the places in the world to travel, nothing would ever beat the powdery sand and the gentle crash of the waves.

My hands broke into a sweat. I bit the inside of my cheek and struggled to keep calm. Would I witness another memory of my sister? Or worse, would I fall under another blackout?

There was no telling what would happen; and, that's what truly scared me the most.