Free Betrayal (Vanish Book Two) by Sonny Daise Page B

out why I
still felt the need to pull away. I figured it was because I’d
never really had anyone in my life I could count on, and now that I
did, I didn’t think it could really be true. To have something like
this ripped away from me, would hurt worse than anything so far. I
had what I’ve wanted since the sixth grade, a perfect relationship
with Dante, and he cared about me just as much as I cared about
him. I needed to put all of my fears behind me and just live.
Through all of the misery, he was my light at the end of the tunnel
and without him, none of this would be worth it.
     
     
     

Chapter 7: Family
    I needed to get past all of my other
problems. They seemed to be building up so fast, I couldn’t get
past the first one before a new one came along. What should I deal
with first? Grace? The woman I used to know as my mother? And
speaking of mothers, should I find my real mom? Would I put her in
danger or be just as disappointed in her as Ann? Then, there was
the Alliance; I wouldn’t even try to kid myself into thinking I
could deal with that one. I wanted just a shred of normality in my
life, but would that ever be possible and what would that tiny
little piece be? Everything I knew about normal seemed to have
disappeared in the past week or two.
    We laid in bed holding on to each other
tight. Even though we were both aware of what was going on around
us, when it was just us, it didn’t seem to matter. That was all I
wanted in the first place, to be able to escape. Nothing would
compare to being able to completely escape, but we had this, and as
long as I didn’t ruin it, it wasn’t going anywhere.
    “Earlier when you said you loved me…” Dante
began. “Did you really mean it or was it only because of—”
    “I meant it. I wouldn’t have said it if I
didn’t mean it,” I assured him.
    “I want to take you on a date, well as close
to a date as you can get out here in the woods.”
    He was so awkward; it made me smile, but I
had to wonder, would there be time for us to go on a date? There
were so many things we needed to figure out, so many things we
needed to handle, and I didn’t know where to start.
    “When?” I asked.
    “Tomorrow around noon?”
    “Okay,” I agreed.
     
    It wasn’t hard to fall asleep, even though I
still had countless problems. Some I was fortunate enough to have
solved, but that just led to new problems. My dream was almost
nice, but it still haunted me.
     
    I stood on a street with a few houses,
besides that I saw nothing. It was daytime, but the dark-gray sky
almost made it look like night. There was a white house with a
white picket fence, without a second thought, I headed toward it.
The fence squeaked as I opened it and the front door opened.
Standing in the doorway, was a woman, but I couldn’t see her face.
At first, I was afraid, but I didn’t know why. Everything seemed to
double in size. Then the sky turned blue, and calmness swept over
me.
    “Come inside honey, you’re going to get a
sunburn.” She walked away from the door.
    As I got closer, I saw my reflection in the
glass. I couldn’t have been any older than three. I climbed up the
steps just as a three-year-old would. I reached for the door knob,
struggling, just as a three-year-old would, but I still had every
lesson, every memory that my eighteen-year-old self had. The woman
came to open the door for me, but her face was blurred.
    “Mom?” I didn’t say that, well I did, but I
didn’t mean to. Was this my mother? What did it matter? I couldn’t
see her face anyway; I had no idea who she was. Before I could try
to speak another word, or go out and see the address, I was
awake.
    “Good morning,” Dante smiled as he rolled
over.
    “Good morning,” I moved closer and kissed
him. I decided—either while I was sleeping or right after I woke
up—that I didn’t need to find my mother, not right now anyway. It
was just another problem, the difference? It wasn’t crucial. I’d
lived almost