Page 64 of The Quiet Witness

She sat back, leaning on her forearms, catching sight of his raised eyebrow.

“Not a word.” She warned him, he raised his hands up in surrender, wisely keeping his mouth shut to focus on his own food.

Damn. Seems like I can be scary too.

She sighed with the colors dancing in front of her eyes. So incredibly beautiful and yet it had her feeling heavy. Something about the air, the show of light, maybe the training she’d had, made her blurt out. “Thank you.”

He turned, spoon halfway to his lips. “For what?”

“For this.” She waved a hand. “And… earlier.” When he offered himself up as a target, taking her rage in stride. Relieving some of the weight that had been resting on her shoulders.

A curt nod. For no words were needed. Yet, she saw his mouth open and close, the clench of his hand around the spoon.

“You said he,” He swallowed heavily. “Tried to force himself on you.”

Kate froze. She’d seen him digest the info, but had never expected him to bring it up. Then again, he’d already known. She realized that the moment he told her, “Whatever happened in the past, I’m not him, okay.”

“Flashes.” She whispered. “It always comes in flashes.”

“The past?”

She nodded, hesitantly. Opening up about her youth was a tricky thing. Like opening a can of worms better left in the dark, on a shelf gathering dust. But lately, there was this lingering feeling, a need to share, bring it to life. Something she had never done before.

“Repressed.” Lucien mumbled.

Her head bobbed. “I can’t even remember my mother’s face. Her voice slips through, sometimes.” Kate gazed over the world of ice, surrounding them at every turn. Needing to ask. “What do you know about my youth?”

He put the lid back on his food. Half eaten, he shoved it back in the rucksack before answering. “That you were placed in foster care after a horrifying car accident. You were adopted soon after by the Withers family, and faced life in their… care.”

More, there had to be more.

“All of them died, right?” She knew the answer, but still. There was this hope that her new ‘family’ had lied. Another brutish joke they played on her.

But Lucien nodded once. “You were the sole survivor.”

Her parents, her little sister. Gone in a split second.

“It’s just,” She clenched her fist, knuckles whitening. “It feels like I’m not the only one left.”

“Happens with such sudden…” He trailed off.

“Deaths?” She offered.

“Yes. The brain can’t fully digest it, especially at that age.”

Eight, she’d been eight.

“About what you said earlier. It’s why you froze during the traffickers’ attack, isn’t it?” He asked.

“Yep.” She thought that would have been it. Case closed. But he pried it right back open.

“I’m sorry you had to go through that.”

Kate kept her eyes on the sky. “I slipped away the day after.” Her hand closed into a fist. Memories colliding. “Went to the counselor of my case. Foster care.” She clarified. “She didn’t believe me. Then I came in the way I’d left that place. Through the window.” Her knuckles whitened. “I got to the dining table.” The one where she had woken up at… surrounded by dead bodies. “The counselor had gotten there before me. She told them everything. I’ll never forget those faces. Or the consequences.”

“Foster care.” He spat the words, voice as raised as she’d ever heard it. “The words don’t match.”

“No, they don’t.” She rested her chin on her knees. “Back then it felt as if… it only happened to me. It was only later that I discovered how deep it went. The visit to the shelter was another confirmation.”