Chapter 6: Weight of Lies
825 Words
Sarah sat in her car outside Kane Industries, staring at the two phones on her dashboard. Her regular iPhone showed a text from Kane:
*Missing you already. Dinner tonight? I want to show you something special.*
Her burner phone showed something else – video thumbnails of Kane in various stages of transformation, audio recordings of pack meetings, detailed notes about werewolf politics. Everything she needed to write the story that would save her mom's life.
"Get it together," she muttered, pressing her forehead against the steering wheel. "It's just a story. He's just a source."
But the memory of last night flooded back – Kane's arms around her, his voice rough with emotion as he'd said those three words she wasn't supposed to hear. The way her heart had skipped when he'd fallen asleep holding her, looking so human, so vulnerable.
Her real phone buzzed again. Maya.
"Please tell me you're not still at his place," Maya said when Sarah answered.
"I'm in the parking lot."
"Girl..." Maya sighed. "When's the last time you visited your mom?"
The guilt hit like a physical pain. "I'm heading there now."
"Good. And then you're coming to my place. We need to talk."
---
Room 307 of Metro General hadn't changed in months. Same beeping machines, same antiseptic smell, same view of the gray parking lot. But her mom looked smaller somehow, more fragile against the white sheets.
"There's my girl," her mother smiled, patting the bed beside her. "Tell me what's wrong."
Sarah sat carefully on the edge of the bed. "Nothing's wrong. Work's great, actually. The story is..."
"Sarah." Her mother's voice was gentle but firm. "You've got that same look you had when you were seven and broke my favorite vase. The one you tried to fix with silly putty?"
A laugh bubbled up despite everything. "I really thought that would work."
"And then you spent two weeks doing extra chores to buy me a new one." Her mom squeezed her hand. "You've always tried to fix everything yourself. But honey, that look in your eyes... this isn't just about work, is it?"
Sarah's throat tightened. "Mom..."
"Is it him? This mystery man you've been seeing?"
The billing statement on the bedside table caught Sarah's eye – $47,000 past due. The experimental treatment their insurance wouldn't cover would be another $80,000.
"It's complicated," Sarah managed.
Her mother's knowing look said everything. "The heart usually is."
---
Maya's apartment was exactly what Sarah needed – cheap wine, takeout, and brutal honesty.
"Okay, spill," Maya said, pouring generous glasses of red. "What's really going on with you and Kane?"
Sarah took a long drink. "I think I'm in trouble."
"What kind of trouble? The 'he's-actually-married' kind or the 'I'm-falling-for-my-story' kind?"
"The second one. Maya, he..." Sarah pressed her hands to her eyes. "He told me he loves me."
"Shit." Maya set down her wine. "And do you...?"
"No! I can't. This story is everything – the exclusive would pay for Mom's treatment, get me back on top at work..." She pulled out the burner phone. "I have enough evidence to write something huge."
"But?"
"But every time I try to write it, I remember how he looks at me. How he trusted me with his secrets..." Sarah's voice cracked. "I'm a horrible person."
"You're not horrible. You're trying to save your mom." Maya hesitated. "But Sarah... the way you talk about him. I've never heard you like this about anyone."
Sarah's phone buzzed – another text from Kane:
*Car's picking you up at 8. Wear something warm. I want to show you where I go on full moons.*
"I have to tell him," Sarah whispered. "Before this goes any further. Before I..."
"Before you what?"
"Before I fall in love with him too."
Maya topped off their glasses. "Maybe you already have."
---
The drive home was a blur of streetlights and tears. Sarah pulled up her voice memos, playing the latest recording from two nights ago:
*Kane's voice, soft in the darkness: "You make me feel human again."*
*Her own laugh: "Is that a good thing?"*
*"The best thing. Sarah, I-"*
She stopped the recording, her hands shaking. The burner phone felt like it weighed a thousand pounds.
A text lit up her regular phone:
Kane: Can't wait to share this with you. You're the first person I've ever brought here.
Sarah looked at her reflection in the rearview mirror. "What are you doing?" she whispered to herself.
Movement caught her eye – a woman walking past her car, beautiful in an ethereal way. Their eyes met briefly in the mirror, and Sarah could have sworn the woman's flashed amber before she disappeared into the night.
Sarah's phone buzzed one final time. The hospital:
*Payment overdue. Final notice before treatment discontinuation.*
She looked at the burner phone again, then at Kane's text. The weight of lies pressed down on her chest until she could hardly breathe.
- Writer
