Breaking Silence

"Mom please pickup!" I screamed as tears welled up in my eyes. I dialed again. No answer. "Sirus, call Daniel." "Calling Daniel." Daniel was the only who I could call. Ring... Ring... "Ashe! I've been trying to call you!" "What happened?!" "Someone broke in." My heart sank. "I called 911 but your mom,...." "What?! What happened?!" I could barely speak. "She- she got hurt. The paramedics are taking her to the hospital right now. Ashe I- I'm so sorry." Slowly but surely reality had set in. Just when I thought I was finally free of their grasp, I was once again shown that I could never be truly free. Present Day "Ahhhhhh!" I wake up in a cold sweat, the scent of tree bark and pumpkin spice in the air. "Helia must be back." I rise from my bed, wiping the tears from my eyes. It's been six months since that day and I'm still having nightmares. "You must've had a wild night. Let me guess, nightmares again?" "Yeah, but it's fine." "No it's not. The court date is tomorrow. How are you supposed to explain anything if you're still having nightmares about it? You don't even talk with you're therapist about it." "I know, and I'm trying but it's a lot harder than you think." "Maybe you didn't hear me the first time, the trial is to-mor-row! If you're not ready just ask to hve it pushed back another week or so." "I can't do that! I've already had it pushed back for three months now!" "The get it together! I love you. I really do, but if you're gonna be ignorant and continue to put up this facade like as if you're fine, don't come to me when you can't do it anymore." "That's so unfair! I'm trying to do what's best for everyone!Not only am I the reason why my mom got hurt in the first place, but I'm the only surviving witness who can attest to what those people did! They murdered and cultivated countless people and have been getting away with it. And you're telling me not to testify!" "I'm not saying that you shouldn't testify I'm just looking out for your health." "I get that you want me to think about my health, but really I'm fine. I'll just get this over with and then everything can go back to normal." "Fine whatever. Oh, Daniel called." "What did he say?" "He said he wants to meet up tomorrow, before the trial." "Meet up where?" "The coffee shop on 5th street and Jackson." "Kay. Tell him I'll be there." "Okay. Oh and Ashelyn" "Yeah?" "Please be safe." "Don't worry, I will be." And with that Helia left the room and I was left with questions.