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Katie: I just finished at the gym. I just got out of work an hour ago, too. It sucks working late, but you gotta do what you gotta do.
“She texts really properly.” My lip twitched as I reread Katie’s text, and a peculiar kind of relief spread across my chest. This time, my thumbs jumped to construct a reply, and I swayed from side to side slightly.
Brandon: what do you do for work?
The ellipsis appeared and disappeared a few times, and I pushed myself up to head for a closed door at the back of my office. Once again, I was reminded of a perk of owning this whole building, and I groaned as I shuffled through the frame to throw myself onto the bed.No, not a cot, not a pullout couch, but a bed... a really comfortable bed.
A smallpingjolted my body, and I put my phone in front of my face to find that an image awaited me. Holding my breath, I tapped on the attachment in the text, and my eyes widened as Katie filled the screen. She was dressed head to toe in some sort of Viking gear, with her hair done up in that fashion, and a laugh bubbled up from deep in my gut. In the photo, she held an absurdly large axe and showed a fierce expression, but it must’ve been a prop even though her toned biceps flexed.
Brandon: I didn’t know you were a time traveler. Must be nice to go back to a stable economy.
But whatever reply Katie was typing disappeared when I blinked, and I didn’t have the energy to open my eyes again.
ChapterThree
KATERINA
“Why doesn’t Mason ever come with you, honey? He’s been so good to us, but I haven’t seen him in a while.” Glancing over my shoulder as my mom shuffled into the kitchen, I smiled a little at the fond look in her eye. “I always have such a nice time with him that I forget to thank him for everything he’s done for us.”
“Mom, Mason works a lot. The grind never stops. You know that.” A twinge of guilt struck my chest even though I didn’t lie, exactly.It’s awful when you can’t tell your own mom the whole truth.Leaving the stovetop, I pulled out a chair for her, and the wrinkles on her face deepened when she smiled sadly. For as long as I could remember, every expression she made was somehow sad, and I pursed my lips thinly. “Are you feeling better on the new meds?”
“You know as well as I do that they don’t help, Katie. It’s not something a pill can fix. There’s no way for me to go back in time..." Turning back to the stove to hide my grimace, I sighed as I grabbed the plate I’d abandoned. The baked ziti that I’d made steamed and smelled delicious, but I knew that I wouldn’t taste any of it.
If there were a way for me to time travel, what would I do? I didn’t know because it would change who I was. Maybe for better, maybe for worse, but it was that unknown that made me push the thoughts away.
“But Mason did tell me to say ‘hi’ to you for him. I talked to him earlier, and he said he was going to come visit you sometime this week when he had the chance. I can still move in with you if you want…...?” Every time we saw each other, I made the officer, and I twisted to watch through narrowed eyes when my mom shook her head. Taking her plate the few feet to her, I tried not to let my irritation show before making a second round. “I don’t understand why not, Mom. It’s not a big deal. It’s not like I’m moving to a different town or something, just changing the direction of my commute... and I worry about you a lot.”
“Katie, we’ve talked about this, okay? You’re my baby I won’t let you get sucked into my issues, and that’s what moving back will do to you. This..." I sat as my mom reached to cup her forehead and sigh heavily. I clenched my jaw hard. “This is never going away, whether you’re here or not. It’ll just infect you, too. You need to be out there, becoming the best you can be, honey... not in here, wasting away like I am.”
“Mom—”
“I saidno, Katerina!” My mom waved her fist as her low, trembling shout rang in my ears, and I rolled my lips between my teeth. Tearing my gaze off her, I stared through wide eyes at my hands, and she heaved a massive, exhausted sigh that I knew had nothing to do with the time of evening. “The answer is final, and I don’t want to talk about it anymore, Katie. Tell me about the part that you got in that show. It’s your biggest part yet, right?”
“Ah, yeah... I even have a few lines, but I get killed off a couple of episodes later, I think. We haven’t shot it yet.” The intense, dreary atmosphere dissipated with my declaration, and a spark of excitement lit under my heart. Lifting my head, I caught my mom’s prideful glint buried somewhere deep in her dull eyes, and I picked up my fork. “I actually got really good pay and a credit position because of how I look. It’s more than anything I’ve done before. I play the love interest of one of the main characters, but then I tragically die before anything can happen.”
“Wow, that’s really a leap, honey. I can’t wait to watch you.” Smiling as blood rushed my cheeks, I stabbed a piece of cheesy, saucy ziti in the ensuing silence. I’d wanted to be an actress since... I didn’t even know when. Acting had been my dream for my entire life, and all the tragedy that I’d been through had only made that dream stronger. Slowly but surely, I was climbing my way up. It was a lot harder than just screwing a studio head, but it waswaymore satisfying.
I didn’t want to poison men forever, after all, no matter how much those abusive bastards deserved it.
“Speaking of love, did you meet someone?” Freezing with my fork right in front of my open mouth, I gaped at my mom as shock struck my chest. For the first time in a long time, her smile became genuine, and she reached under the table to grip my hand tightly in her frail fingers. “I thought you seemed different from last week. So, tell me about him.”
“Th–there’s not much to say, honestly. We just text right now.” Stuttering slightly, I shoveled my bite into my mouth, but my mom only shot me a pointed look. Fire licked my cheeks, and I swallowed harshly without really chewing. “Mom, it’s not a big deal.”
“You’ve never gotten to the ‘texting’ phase, Katie. That’s a big step for you, too. What do you talk about? What’s his name? How’d you meet?” My heart ached as my mom’s excitement grew, and I licked my lips nervously. Brandon wasn’t a topic I wanted to discuss with her, but she wouldn’t let it go now. Inhaling deeply, I held the air for a long moment as I figured out what to say.Hey, yeah, I’m gonna kill him for killing Dadjust wouldn’t work.
“We met at a dinner thing last Friday. He’s... he’s really not macho at all, which is nice. His name is Brandon, and we talk about... honestly, it’s all pretty superficial at this point. He works a lot, and I have a crazy schedule, but he seems okay with it.” Leaning in as I spoke, my mom propped her cheek on her slender palm, and I smiled with a slight huff. Shaking my head as my last text with Brandon floated into my mind’s eye, I stabbed another few pieces of ziti. “He’s actually having dinner with his mom, too, right now. I just thought that was kinda funny.”
“He sounds nice. I’m glad you’re breaking out of your shell, Katie. It’s about time you put the past behind you. You can’t be afraid of relationships forever. I mean, look at you and Mason. Ever since he moved in next to us, he’s been amazing to you. I know your dad would be glad that there was someone to teach you all the things that I can’t. Remember your first car? Mason helped teach you how to check everything.”He taught me a lot more than that.Smiling falteringly, I only nodded before my mom withdrew her hand and I clenched mine against my thigh. Pushing my forkful past my teeth, my mind whirred with the memories of the first time I met Mason.
He’d just moved into the house across the street a few months after his daughter lost her battle with cancer. His wife had left him, and he needed a fresh start. Even now, fourteen years later, I didn’t know what her name was, and I’d never tried to find out. Mason always struck me as a little unstable and odd, but we shared the experience of death in a way few people did.
He lost a daughter, and me, a father.
When I turned sixteen, Mason asked me if I wanted to get revenge for my dad and go after the person responsible. Every experience I’d had since that day was a fever dream, almost, and I sighed heavily.
“I appreciate everything Mason’s done for me, Mom. He’s got a big heart.” Even as the lie rolled off my tongue, I felt that familiar prickle down my spine. I truly did appreciate Mason, but his heart was blackened and shriveled. He didn’t care about anything or anyone but himself. He’d killed his ex-wife, worshipped his dead daughter, and sometimes, he just gave me the creeps.
The first time I’d ever killed a man, whose wife was tired of being beaten and assaulted whenever he got drunk, Mason tried to kiss me. He’d laughed it off, but I realized in that moment that he was pretty twisted. Knowing that, though, didn’t diminish my zealotry for my goal, and I’d needed Mason’s guidance up until now.But I need to distance myself from him. I can do this on my own now.
