Chapter 42 Chapter 42
"Guilt only creeps in when there's no turning back"
The dining room was silent but loud, spoons clinked against ceramic bowls, chairs scraped softly against the tiled floor, the television in the corner murmured through a morning news segment no one seemed to be listening to. It was an ordinary breakfast scene.... so they convinced themselves.
Trinity and Clara sat across from each other, untouched bowls of cereal between them.
The milk had already begun to dull, a thin film forming on the surface.
Clara’s spoon floated idly, abandoned where she’d dropped it minutes ago. Trinity’s fingers were curled around her own spoon so tightly her knuckles had gone pale.
Neither of them ate.....
Clara lifted her head first. Her eyes were rimmed red, her face drawn and too quiet, like someone who’d been crying all night and didn’t want anyone to know.
“I don’t like this,” she said finally, her voice barely above a whisper
" I also don't like the situation we're in right now" Trinity sighed heavily, her shoulder slumping, " How did he even get out of Saint Ridge and end up in our apartment? "
Clara nodded in agreement " how did he know our address "
" I... I think there's more to this "
“I feel… so.. .. uneasy Tri. Like something bad is about to happen. Like we're going to get caught” Clara shivered
Trinity exhaled through her nose, sharp and controlled.
“That’s because we’re sitting here staring at our cereal like guilty people,” she snapped, then immediately softened when Clara flinched.
She let go of her spoon. It clattered loudly into the bowl. “For us to get away with this, we have to act like we didn’t do anything wrong.”
Clara frowned. “Listen to yourself, you sound like a criminal.”
Trinity’s jaw tightened. “We’re not criminals, we’re survivors. We survived an assassination attempt "
Clara shook her head, tears spilling over despite her effort to hold them back. “We shouldn’t be talking about ‘getting away’ with anything. We should call the police. We should tell them what happened.”
“And say what?” Trinity suddenly raised her voice, she didn’t care. “That we killed the Mayor’s son in our apartment in the middle of the night?”
Clara’s shoulders shook as she sobbed. “He might still be alive. We don’t even know. We should have taken him to a hospital.."
"We can't do that Clara"
"They'll find out he is missing Tri.... they might trace it to us. Don't you see" She yelled exasperated
Trinity stood abruptly, chair screeching against the floor. She crossed the distance between them in two steps and wrapped her arms around Clara before she could say another word.
“Hey,” she murmured, rubbing slow circles against her back. “Stop and breathe.... don't panic"
Clara clutched her like she was drowning. “I didn’t want this. I didn’t want any of this.”
“I know,” Trinity whispered. “I know.”
She pulled back just enough to look Clara in the eyes. “Listen to me. Peterson broke into our home. He attacked us. He would’ve killed us if we hadn’t fought back. We are not the villains here.”
Clara sniffed. “But what do we do now?”
“We act normal,” Trinity said firmly. “We follow our schedule so we don’t give anyone a reason to look too closely at us.”
Clara nodded weakly. After breakfast, they went to the nursing home as planned.
The building smelled faintly of antiseptic and old books. It was quiet in that heavy way that always made Clara’s chest ache. As they entered her father’s room, he looked up from the window slowly, his eyes wary at first then he smiled
“Trinity,” he said warmly. “There you are. Where have you been? ”
Clara froze, her heart dropped straight into her stomach. How come he remembered Trinity but he didn’t remember her... How can he not recognise his daughter till now
Trinity masked her reaction quickly, walking closer with a gentle smile. “Hi, sir. How are you feeling today?”
“Terrible,” he said with a sigh. “If I’d left earlier… maybe my wife and daughter would still be with me.”
Clara’s breath hitched.
Trinity gave him a side comforting hug " it's not your fault "
He smiled weakly " You won't get it dear "
" I'll try to"
He glanced at Clara then, curious. “And who’s this?”
Trinity hesitated for half a second before answering smoothly. “This is my sister, Clara.”
He nodded thoughtfully " She looks a bit like my wife "
" because I'm...."
" People look alike sometimes " Trinity cut Clara off before shaking her head in disapproval
He nodded " It warms my heart to look at her "
Clara's heart thundered with hope. At least he was happy to see her but still the sadness prevailed, he did not remember her.
“ come sit, sit... I have stories to tell you both.” He smiled from ear to ear.
Clara sat stiffly beside him, her hands trembling in her lap, swallowing the grief that threatened to choke her whole.
Across town, Rome burst into Bryant’s office without knocking, sweat dotting his forehead and his expression a mask of worry
Bryant ended his call immediately. “What’s wrong?, you look like a ghost visited you last night"
Rome’s face was pale. “The boys are missing "
Bryant’s smile faded immediately " How?, they were under your care for fuck sake Rome "
" They left last night but never returned "
" You fucking moron. What am I paying you for?" He said, voice strained
Rome gulped " You told me to not restrict them "
" So?, you're meant to keep tabs on them "
"I'm sorry " Rome bowed his head in regret
" Go find them before things blow out of proportion.... you know what will happen if Hale starts his episodes without proper care" He barked at Rome barely restraining himself from hitting him for being so careless with the boys.
Rome bowed before leaving with shaky hands, this mistake could cost him his and many other lives.