Six Months Later...

"Come on Just Lee, hurry up!"

"It's been six months and you still add the Just to my name"

"Yes. Now hurry up, it's almost 5:15am and the Siamese alongside Jumba will soon wake up" I whisper fiercely and smack him at the back of his head while reminding him of Jumba the head guard.

"I don't know how you talked me into this", he says with an eye roll as we quickly grab the coveralls and head for the main entrance.

"Remember just like we practiced", I murmur as I walk very fast, occasionally looking over my shoulders just like in the past.

I missed this.

The adrenaline rush, my blood pumping, my heart racing, my mind being at unease. All of it, I've missed this.

"Did you bring the screw driver?" Lee asks and I hand it to him still checking out the area.

"Alright Lee, I've disabled the cameras and right now we have sixty seconds until the alarm goes off for five fifteen.

Staying in an asylum for almost seven months will make you learn a thing or two.

I try to focus on the task at hand but my mind keeps taking me back to the last six months.

I can't quite say if they got rid of Stacy or not. I mean she's my other self and most likely the braver one. She came through for me even when I didn't realize. The psychotherapy was rigorous and I had to fight it because truth be told, I didn't want to get rid of Stacy.

After that letter Jack sent, my anxiety rose and I tried to get back to Jack. Lee and I became pretty close and he helped me deliver my messages to Jack.

I was able to gather that Mum and Damien are in some sort of trouble. The house has been heavily guarded with security ever since mum put me here.

Trust mum to become way too paranoid.

In one of Jack's letters he said that Eric and Nicholas are not aware I was sent to the Asylum. Mum told them I ran off again.

At this point in my life, I don't still know why mother would do all these. Jack never explained to me and he always kept his letters brisk.

I never quite understood his first message, 'we are in trouble'. What sort of trouble could they be in and why would he tell me?

He never mentioned anything of sort after that. Couldn't the trouble have passed away after six months? None of these makes any sense.

This is what has been keeping me up all night for the last six months. I developed insomnia. I don't talk as much as I used to and I haven't had Stacy talk to me. It's like I don't have an inner me anymore.

I've lost a huge deal of weight and it's like I've shrunken in height as well. My hair is long, bushy and lifeless, my finger nails are torn and ugly. Sometimes I don't even know who I am.

Truth be told, if it wasn't for Lee I'd have probably committed suicide by now. Margaret and Matilda have been really helpful. Helpful yes but not understanding.

At the end of the day all that matters is who understands you and not just understand you, they comprehend you as well.

I've missed Nicholas to be honest and a little bit of Wilder even though he can be an ass sometimes.

I sometimes think back to that fateful day in Asher's room and can't help but wonder how my life would have turned out if I wasn't at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Would I have actually made it as a football star? Would I have ended up here? Would I have known the truth about Damien being alive? Would I have ever found out about my subconsciousness being an alter ego? Would I have known I was molested by my kindergarten teacher?

Is everything actually happening for a reason or do I just have plain bad luck?

Who could have been the murderer?

This particular question has been pinned to my brain ever since I've been on the run.

Is the murderer after my family now?

Oh wow! This is a new thought! Why didn't it ever cross my mind? Oh my goodness!

"Lucia come on!" Lee says fiercely dragging me out of the asylum and out of my deep thoughts.

Who would have thought Lee and I would have been so close. It wasn't even that difficult to get Lee to trust me.

"Where is the warehouse?", I ask Lee breathing in the air outside for the first time in over six months.

Happy tears fill up my eyes and I let out a slight chuckle.

"You really don't know how you got here huh?" He asks as he places his hand on my shoulders and leads me to three blocks away from the Asylum. I just shake my head in response.

"We're here!", He smiles and presses a button that opens up the door.

"Looks like a garage", I say taking in my surroundings.

"It used to be my brother's garage before he died so I just decided to turn it into my warehouse", Lee says as he switches on the light. I close my eyes from the intense bright light and my eyes slowly adjust to the brightness.

I spot a refrigerator by the corner and move towards it.

"Gosh I'm starving", I say loudly as I pull off my coat and  go through the refrigerator. I see a pack of Oreos and immediately grab it.

"What are you going to do with those?", Lee asks as I am about to throw one into my mouth.

"Um I'm going to play with it you know, just turn it to some sort of basketball and just bounce it", I say throwing one at him and surprisingly he catches it and takes a bite.

"Sarcastic as ever I see", he says with a smile and an eye roll.

"Duh! What do you mean what am I going to do with it. It's an Oreo, what do they do to Oreos?", I ask with a raised eyebrow as I munch on an Oreo.

"Here take this. Put it on right away?", he says handing me the coverall and a face cap.

"Where is the bathroom?", I ask looking around.

"There's no bathroom in a warehouse silly but you can change over there", he chuckles and points to the place.

"Right, um is there a phone I can use to make a quick call here?", I ask still holding in to the clothes.

"Right over there", he says pointing me to the direction of the phone.

"Thanks", I whisper and gingerly walk towards the the telephone hung against the wall.

I pause for a moment and rethink what I'm going to do over and over in my head.

While reciting 'this is probably a bad idea' in my head like a mantra, I dial the house number. I cross my fingers, close my eyes and hold my breath.

It rings the first time and I secretly wish the receiving end of the call won't be answered.
It rings the second and I open my eyes and become slightly agitated.
It rings the third and still no answer, I start pacing back and forth.

Should I be worried? Should I not be worried?

On the fifth ring, the beep goes off signifying the phone at the other end has been picked and I let out a sigh of relief.

Nothing but breathing is heard for about thirty seconds and I slowly curse myself as I mutter the next words,
"A black mother bird"

I can't believe I used the code word.

"Oh My goodness! Nadine?", mother squeals into the phone and for a moment I remove the phone from my ear and stare into it like I'm trying to stare into her eyes.

"Yes it's me", I say with so much venom laced in my tone.

Calm down Samantha. She's still you mother.

"Gosh I'm so happy to hear from you" she says with an eager tone.

"Why? Like you weren't the one to put me in the asylum? I say way too calmly than I am feeling.

I feel hot tears fill my eyes and my jaw clench and unclench.

"Oh Sam! I had to believe me. I love you so much and all I ever want for you is the best", she says with a sob.

"Bull fucking shit! You can cut the crap and stop with the emotional manipulation because I know about Damien. As a matter of fact I'm on the next flight to Chicago right now. And just so you know, the person that killed Asher is after you and I'd advise you to take cover immediately ", I say hanging up and feeling all the blood drain from my body.

I have no idea why I just said the last part.
I feel so much anger course through my body making my bones rattle. I close my eyes and try to shake away the feeling.

Even though it's so obvious by now that I and my mother's relationship is swimming in toxicity, I wouldn't be able to bear the thought of losing her.

I eventually change into the coveralls and find Lee sleeping.

"Aw he's so cute", I murmur to myself as I just stand there and watch him for a bit.
 
Well I guess this is it Just Lee. In my next life I do hope to meet someone like you.

I leave him a note and exit the building. A sense of Deja Vu hits me as memories of Australia and the old woman floods my head.

I shake it off, feeling more determined than before. I wear a smile on my face and feel the same adrenaline rush from earlier. I walk away from the warehouse and into the street. I quickly blend with the people and suddenly feel the muscles in my shoulders relax a bit.

Currently I'm in Rockford and getting back to Chicago by air is approximately thirty seven minutes while by road it's approximately two hours. I'm pretty sure there are a bunch of cops on my neck right now and using the train is going to be very risky. Using a plane would be way riskier.

I don't even have my impersonation kit and I can't just impersonate a person out of the blue with no prior background check or at least secretly monitoring the person for about twenty four hours.

With my mind racing so much, I spot a unisex hair salon and contemplate whether or not to get a hair cut at least change the dye of my hair.

Without much hesitation, I settle for a completely different hair do.
I enter the salon and ask them to just wash and restyle my hair. While at it, I get a manicure and pedicure as well.
This is so much needed.

After about two hours, I exit the salon through the restroom and finally settle on going to Chicago by train.

I mean life's full of risk regardless of what form of transportation I choose to use right?

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

Four hours later, I'm in a taxi on my way to Chicago with both my fingers crossed and my eyebrows knitted in anxiety. I feel a ball of nervousness in the pit of my stomach with my mind contemplating so many things.

What do I say if I see mother? Hey mum the bitch! Nope, too rude.
Sup dude! Nope too fake.
Oh God! I want to come out angry but not too angry but at the same time I want answers to my so many questions.

Will Damien be with her? What do I say to him? Hiii Dammmiiieeennnnn, sorry for leaving you to drown in the pool. Your big sister has got issues. We cool?

Ugh! I face palm at the thought and from my peripheral vision I see the taxi driver shake her head in mockery.

"What's so funny?", I ask her with my nose scrunched up in annoyance.

"Oh honey, I can see agitation written all over your face" she says in a southern accent

"Is it that obvious?", I ask closing my eyes and pressing both thumbs on either side of my head in an attempt to still the upcoming migraine.

"Well basically yes. I don't know what it is exactly that's going on in that little head of yours but what I do know is you'll survive. Except you die of course", she says in a jolly tone this time.

"Excuse me", I say with disgust and confusion written all over my face.

She does a little swerve on the road and takes a right turn.

"Honey, everybody and I mean literally everybody in this world go through shit and at some point when you think you can't go through it anymore just look back at the past few years of your life and ask yourself if you've come this far only to be put down by only a little discomfort", she says as her grip tightens on the wheel.

"But..."

"Now I know you may think 'oh she has no idea what I'm going through' and you're right. I do have no idea what you're going through but let me tell you this. I lost my dad in a plane crash in 2013, in 2015 I lost my mum, in 2016, I lost my sister and in 2019 I lost both my husband and daughter in a car accident", she says with a smile on her face.

"Oh My God!", I say as tears roll down my eyes. That's too much for one person.

"So no matter the situation, you will get through it", she says as the car come to a halt.

"You don't have to worry about not paying", she says and zooms off almost immediately I alighted from the car.

People do go through shits! Thank God we really don't look like what we go through.

Well I guess I'll get through this one too.

With that thought I make my way towards the Montero mansion with a totally new look on things.

I soon come face to face with the huge door. I take two deep breaths and proceed to ring the doorbell.

That's strange, no security alarm and the security camera is not even activated. I ring the doorbell again and get a little bit tensed. I don't hear Marco's barks and when I look over at Jack's house, it's empty completely.

Isn't today Saturday?

I try opening the door and voila! It opens.

Uh oh! An emergency siren wails in my head, sensing trouble. I enter the house and a huge stench of hydrogen peroxide hits my nose.
The house is a complete mess

This is so unlike mum.

Exactly! This is not her.

"Mum!", I call frantically getting scared. I make my way to run up the stairs when the doorbell rings.

I groan in frustration as I answer the door only to be met by a mail man. He hands me the package and I sign.

I wonder what mother ordered? I think to myself as I close the door with my leg.
And why is it so heavy?

I grunt as I drop it on the table. I see blood on my hands and wonder where it came from. I see the package dripping with with blood and my heart skips a bit.

"What the hell is in this package?", I muse out loud. I slowly open the package and my eyes widen in sheer disbelief and disgust.

"What the hell! Mum! This is not funny anymore", I scream with tears rolling down my cheeks.

I hear rolls of thunder just outside the house and the weather soon gets dark. Lightening strikes and everywhere becomes silent with the exception of my breathing and my heart pounding.

A butchered body stares right at me and I just stand there really frightened.
My face becomes green with disgust at the sight of what seems to be a liver and a pelvic bone.

Who would do something this sick ?

I try to back off from the disgusting scenario when something shiny catches my eyes. A sliver necklace with tint of turquoise colored diamonds surrounding the edges.

"This is mum's!", I whisper out loud and shake my head trying to ignore the rattling feeling.

I take it off from the body part that looks like a neck.

Oh my Goodness! Who would do something as sickening as this?

All of a sudden I notice a paper on the delivery box.

'YOU CAN RUN BUT YOU CAN'T HIDE! YOU'RE NEXT!'

I read out loud from the paper and fear grips me so tight. I start crying uncontrollably and just fall to the ground with a thud. My blood stained hands and the paper on the ground.

"Show yourself!", I shout to no one in particular. I hear the rev of an engine and quickly rush to see what it is and just like in the movies, I see a figure wearing all black, riding off on a motorcycle.

I check for the plate number but it's so dark and the only numbers I managed to get are Z398.

Soon enough, the rain starts falling and as the rain pitter pattered against the window sill and the roof, I begin to think of my next move to stop this psycho once and for all.

A/N
Author: I really can't believe Mrs Montero is gone

Samantha: Who killed my mother?

Author: I think I know the answer to that question butttttt(looks at the audience/readers) let's slide up to the next chapter shall we?