She slowly took her gaze to her mom, giving her a questioning look, as she anticipated her reply. As much as she wanted to pray that her mom told her that it wasn’t true, she knew that was the case.
“Wh… what are you talking, Lilly?” She asked her, whispering the last part as her eyes brimmed with tears. Her heart thumping heavily against her chest, her fear has finally come true, what she had been trying to hide for years has finally been out.
“Why did you lie to me about dad’s death?” Lilly asked, as she finally took her gaze to look at her, her eyes demanding an answer.
“Tha… that? I told you, Lilly, your dad…”
“Was killed by a vampire.” She cut her off, and her eyes slowly narrowed, as her mouth dropped open. The atmosphere tensed up, as silence assumed the air, the two staring at each other like they were doing some staring contest.
“Wh… who told you that?” She asked, and Lilly sprang up on her feet. She couldn’t believe that her mom was still hiding it from her, even after knowing that she already knew the truth, she couldn’t believe that she lied to her for years, and still doing it now, what could be her reason?
“Look into my eyes and tell me that dad died just like that,” Lilly said in tears, as she turned around to face her mom while staring directly into her eyes like she was trying to see through her soul. It hurts that her mom was still lying to her even after she’d caught her.
“Lilly… I…” She wanted to say something, but burst into tears, as her heart tightened in pain. She had kept this from her for these years for the sake of her safety, she already lost the most precious person, and she wasn’t ready to lose another soul. The pain of her husband’s death even after so many years, was still fresh in her heart, there’s no day that she doesn’t think about him, they loved each other, they were the best couples, they had planned to live the rest of their lives together, but he was snatched away from her.
“Why mom? Why did you hide it from me? Why did you never tell me about it? Why did you have to keep me in the dark?…”
“I was scared, Lilly!” She cut her off, as a pool of tears flooded down her cheeks, and her mouth trembled as she speak. She had been trying not to break down, she had been trying to act like everything was fine, but it seems that she was just cheating her emotions.
“Scared? Mom, did you say you were scared? They already took the most precious person in our lives, they took dad away from us, what’s there to be scared about? What’s there to be scared about?” Lilly said in tears, as she ran her fingers through her hair crazily like she was already losing her mind, and yes, she was losing her mind for real, the thought of the whole thing was driving her to the edge of craziness, and the more she tried to handle it, the more difficult it becomes.
“Why shouldn’t I be scared? Do you think your dad is the only important person in my life? Would you do this if you were in my shoes? Would you endanger the young minds of your kids with this kind of thing? What was I supposed to do? Tell you and implant fear in you while you grow up with the mindset of your dad being killed by some creature lurking in the city unknowingly?” She yelled in tears, getting frustrated about the whole thing.
“You could’ve called for help! You could’ve at least done justice to dad’s death…”
“You think I didn’t? Do you think I didn’t try to? I love your dad, I did everything, but what would you have me do when nobody even believed me? What would you have me do when they looked at me weirdly and told me to my face that I was going crazy because I lost my husband? What was I supposed to do, when the police and the detective already told me that I was hallucinating, when I was telling the truth? Do you know how it feels? Are you blaming me for this, Lilly? I would be a bad mother if I had told you about all these…, I would forever be useless if I had jeopardized your life with this. It wasn’t my fault…, I tried… I did my best, Lilly.” She broke down in tears.
Lilly squat down and hugged her tightly, as they both cried their eyes out…
Lilly POV
It’s been three days since I’ve been here. I had to stay back here to help mom get back on her feet before I leave for school. Nina had been calling me for the past three days, but I didn’t pick up, I’m not just in the mood of talking to anyone on the phone.
“Come on have some food.” I smiled, as dropped some food on mom’s plate. She had refused to eat for the past few days, but thankfully I’m here to force her to. My two brothers had gone to school early this morning, I’m leaving after I have breakfast.
After we were done eating, I packed the plates in the kitchen and started washing them. The knock on the door outside pulled my attention.
“Who’s there?” I yelled from the kitchen.
“Don’t worry, I’ll get the door.” Mom said from outside. I couldn’t help wondering who could be at the door. Ever since we’ve been here even before I left for school, nobody had ever come to visit us. I know you would be wondering why, and you may ask if we don’t have a family member, like cousins, uncles, or aunties. Well, the truth is, after the death of dad, we moved from our former house to this remote area here.
“Mom, who’s there?” I asked from the kitchen and when I didn’t hear a word from her, I quickly rinse the foam from my hands and cleaned it with a towel before storming out of the small kitchen to go check out what was happening, but I was forced to stop on my track as I was welcomed by the shock of my life…