A MEMORY OF YOU

Dear Ms. Alicia Vale It is with great pleasure that we write to inform you that you have been officially accepted into Heritage College for the fall 2026. That's it. That's all I could read before my eyes started brimming with tears. I don't usually cry. Hell, I don't cry at all until now. I can't help it. I've finally gotten a chance out of Windstone Valley after being trapped for years. I applied to Heritage College, one of the most elite schools in the country on a scholarship program three months ago when I realized I have no future here in Windstone. All I have is poverty and bad memories, memories that threaten to suffocate me each time I remember. Heritage have never been a dream. It has always been an escape, an escape from my personal hell, MY DAD. I stared at the letter again, reading the same few lines over and over as if they might disappear if I looked away. Heritage College. I was leaving. For the first time in years, I had somewhere else to go. Somewhere that wasn't Windstone Valley. Somewhere that didn't hold memories I had spent so long trying to bury. A shaky laugh escaped my lips as I wiped the tears from my cheeks. I should have been celebrating. Instead, my eyes drifted toward the closed door of my bedroom. My smile disappeared. Dad. The thought of telling him made the excitement inside me shrink. He wouldn't be happy. He never was. I folded the letter carefully and slipped it beneath my mattress. If there was one thing I'd learned living with my father, it was that keeping my plans to myself was sometimes the safest thing to do. I glanced at the clock. 7:43 p.m. This isn't good. He would be home soon. And I had no idea how I was going to tell him that his daughter was leaving. Living with dad hasn't been easy since mom disappeared. It wasn't always easy before that, but at least it was tolerable. If mom was still around, she'd never let him hit me. That's because she would always take the hit. I know I shouldn't, but out of everything that happened, I'm relieved with one thing: wherever mom is, she's far away from the monster Gerald vale. Every hit, every curse, every hateful word, I'd gladly take it in place of my mom. He thinks she's dead, and I don't know why, but I have this feeling that my mom is still alive. I'm sure of it, but I'll never know if I stay here in windstone. There has always been something mysterious about my mom's disappearance, and I'm going to find out, even if it means disappearing on my dad as well. I'll go to heritage no matter what my dad says. There's more to that college than just being an escape. It's also located right in the city my mom disappeared in, and so is the family she used to work as a house keeper for. The sound of Dad's car pulling into the driveway made my stomach twist. Leaving the excitement I felt sink even deeper. That's strange. he's earlier than the usual 8:30. he got home. Did the bar close early today of all days? f**k, that never happens. Dad worked security at westies, a bar at the edge of the city. I always wondered how that man could make anybody feel safe, but with his size and height i guess he's well fit for the job. The front door slammed. His heavy footsteps echoed through the house. I stayed in my room, hoping he wouldn't come looking for me, but a few minutes later, his voice came from downstairs. “Alicia!” I closed my eyes before forcing myself to get up. When I walked downstairs, Dad was sitting on the couch, his expression unreadable. “I heard you got accepted somewhere,” he said. My heart stopped. “How did you—” “Answer me.” I swallowed. “Heritage College.” Something changed in his face. For a moment, he looked almost frightened. Then his expression hardened. “You're not going.” I stared at him. “What?” “I said you're not going to Heritage.” “But I got a scholarship. I worked for this.” “I don't care.” His voice was colder than I'd ever heard it. “Why?” I asked. He stood up and walked toward me. “Because I said so.” There was something different about his anger this time. It wasn't just anger. It was fear. And somehow, that frightened me more. “You're staying here, Alicia.” He turned and walked away. I stood frozen for a moment, trying to understand what had just happened. Dad had never cared about where I went to school before. He barely cared about anything I did. So why did the name Heritage College affect him like that? That night, after he went to bed, I quietly returned to my room and pulled my suitcase from beneath the bed. I didn't know what Dad was hiding. I didn't know what had happened to my mother. But I knew one thing. I was going to Heritage College. Even if I had to leave without his permission. I started picking my clothes, my one clean white as snow sneaker mom got for me the Christmas before the year she disappeared, and my everyday sandals which I slipped on. It didn't take long to pack. I didn't have much to carry anyways. I looked around my room one last time and headed out. I tiptoed right from my room to the front door, praying with everything in me that my dad doesn't hear anything. tonight is my only chance out of this house. if he catches me now it's over. I stopped for a while trying to catch any sound of movement from him but I heard nothing and continued my journey out. now this is the hard part. one of the many downside of living in a run down house is having a squeaky door. The wood made a groaning sound when I pushed it open. I stopped mid way listening for any signs that the sound had woken him up but heard nothing. I quickly walked outside and pushed the door closed again. it made the same groaning sound but this time I didn't stay to see if he had woken instead I RAN. The cold night air hit my face as I ran. I didn't stop. I ran until my lungs burned and my legs began to ache. I didn't even know how far I'd gone. All I knew was that I needed to put as much distance between myself and that house as possible. Eventually, I slowed down. I turned around. The house was nowhere in sight. For the first time that night, I allowed myself to breathe. I had done it. I had actually left. A small smile appeared on my face as I looked up at the dark sky. Heritage College. I was going to Heritage. I tightened my grip around the strap of my bag and continued walking toward the main road. The streets were almost empty, with only a few houses still lit up. Every step felt like I was walking toward a life I'd only ever imagined. But beneath the excitement, there was still that question. Why had Dad reacted that way? I couldn't stop thinking about it. He hadn't simply been angry. He had been scared. And whatever had frightened him had something to do with Heritage. Or maybe with the city it was in. The same city where Mom disappeared. I reached into my bag and pulled out my acceptance letter again. The paper was slightly crumpled from how many times I'd folded it, but I didn't care. I smiled as I read the name again. Heritage College. Then something caught my attention. At the bottom of the letter, beneath the information about my scholarship, was the name of the person who had signed it. Mrs. Evelyn Cross. I stared at the name. Cross. For some reason, the surname felt familiar. I searched my memories, trying to understand why. Then I remembered something Mom had once told me. It had been years ago, back when I was still young enough to sit on the kitchen counter while she prepared dinner. She had mentioned the family she worked for. The Cross family. I remembered asking her what they were like. She had smiled strangely before telling me they were a good family. That was all she'd said. At the time, I hadn't thought anything of it. Now, standing alone in the middle of the night with my entire life packed into one small bag, the memory suddenly felt different. Why was Mrs. Evelyn Cross signing my acceptance letter? Why did the Cross family still have a connection to Heritage College? And most importantly— what did they have to do with my mother? I folded the letter slowly and placed it back inside my bag. I didn't have the answers. Not yet. But I would. Whatever secrets had followed my mother all those years ago, I was done running from them. I looked ahead at the road stretching into the darkness. Tomorrow, my life would begin again. At least, that's what I believed. I had no idea that by leaving Windstone Valley that night, I wasn't escaping my past. I was walking straight toward it.