Fear Chapter Two

Beatriz flopped down on the sofa, exhausted. She didn't want to go into her room. It felt...tainted, now. She would just wait until Rosita got home.

He waited until she fell asleep and then put her back in the closet and put everything back to the way it was, not a hair out of place (literally). He moved her last though so he could savor holding her when she wasn't protesting. She was so peaceful and beautiful. He put her in the position she was in before she came out and saw him. Then he left. He went home to take a shower. Anna kept him there where he told her what happened. His emotions went on the roller coaster, but this time only a ghost of the tremendous, rather addicting feeling before.
"She has permanently altered you. You'll never be the same" she said shaking her head.

"Hey! I'm home!" someone shouted. Beatriz drowsily opened her eyes. It was dark. She couldn't see anything. Where in the world was she?
Beatriz flailed around until she finally slammed against the closet door, pushing it open. She collapsed on the carpet, horror filling her. She was back in the closet! She had been back in the closet! How had that happened? It didn't make sense! She remembered seeing Caspian there, after her father left...Dad!
She dashed out of the room and raced down the steps, whizzing straight past Rosita who called out, "Where's the fire?" Beatriz nearly tripped once but righted herself. She skidded down the hallway, then flung open the garage door. Her father's car...it was gone.
Beatriz stumbled past her frightened sister, staggering to her father's room. His clothes, his suitcase, everything...it was gone. She flipped open her phone, then checked her dialed calls. Tía Marta was among them. Though Caspian had put her back where she was, he hadn't been able to erase what had happened. He had only made things worse.
Bea collapsed on the sofa, sobbing into her hand. He had been back. Caspian had gone through her house, touched her...that sent shivers through her body. She was so afraid. After all she had done! She had locked the windows and doors. Still, he had come back! He had come back!
Nowhere, absolutely nowhere, was safe.
And that's what scared her.

Anna sat him down and called Carlisle. He said he was dealing with something rather similar. His first changling, Edward (the one Anna thought was quite dashing), had apparently fallen for a human girl. She quickly explained how messed up the girl was and Carlisle didn't know what to do either. He also had to go because he said she had just come in. She thanked him and sighed. "I don't know what we're going to do. She probably thinks your crazy. What if she finds out? Goodness now she'll be afraid of me! And I actually LIKED her!" she said, but stopped in mid-rant. That wouldn't help.

"Bea?" Rosita whispered, tapping her sister. Beatriz didn't move. She was leaning against the arm of the couch, staring with dead eyes at nothing. She didn't respond when Rosy touched her. She knew her older sister was alive because she was shivering slightly, and her eyes were filling up with tears. Other than that, she could have been a statue.
Rosita had a lot of questions. Where was her father? Why was Bea so upset? had something happened? What should they do now? Why did everyone leave them? Still, she asked none of these. That wouldn't help. She just headed straight into the kitchen.
She remembered that, whenever she wasn't feeling well, her mom would make her some hot chocolate. Her mom would stuff it with loads of marshmallows and cinnamon. Then, her mom would come back into Rosy's room and curl up beside her on the bed. "Won't you get sick, Mama?" Rosy would ask. "Nope," Mama would reply. "We've got our hot chocolate here! Don't you know, hot chocolate is really a secret way to keep people from getting sick and cure colds. But the government doesn't want us to know that," she'd whispered conspiratorily. Rosy would laugh. Mama always thought the government was out to get them.
When Rosita had finished making the hot chocolate, she took two mugs of it out into the living room. She set one on the table before Beatriz, then sat down beside her. She sipped her hot chocolate carefully. After a few minutes, Beatriz stretched out a weak hand for the mug. It was hard for her to talk through her tears. "Gracias," she finally whispered.
"De nada," Rosita shrugged. They sat there for a while, sipping.

"I'm so sorry Anna, I really am. But I can't...stay away. Not for too long anyhow. I at least want to know what I did to her" he pleaded with her.

She sighed. "Look, I'll go listen in for about 2 minutes, maybe look inside, and see if she's alright. Sound ok?"

He bear hugged her. "Thanks Anna! I will be more careful...if I can. Or...I'll have to find a way to leave" he said gravely.

"Oh don't be stupid. We'll figure out something" she said. Then when he released her she said, "Now stay right here!" then lithely jumped out the nearest window and ran to Beatriz's house to sit on her roof and listen.

When Beatriz was done, she didn't talk to Rosita. She set her mug down on the table and hugged her knees close to herself. She just didn't have the words for how she felt. She wasn't sure if there were any. Rosita simply waited patiently, pulling at her frayed jeans.
"Dad's gone," Beatriz finally said. "For good. I think."

Anna heard this and sighed. She not only wanted to go and comfort her, but she wanted to go find her father again. But she knew this time she couldn't. Beatriz would begin to search for answers then and they'd have to leave. And Caspian would be really upset. It was a good thing he sucked at tracking or else her dad would have gotten it. She decided to stay for as long as she could.

Rosita sipped at her hot chocolate. It was cold, now. Still, she liked the feeling of the mug inside of her hands. She didn't want to set it down. And she feared that if she didn't hold anything, she would fall apart.
Beatriz closed her eyes, trying to steady her breathing. She desperately wanted to check, see if any doors were open or windows unlocked. Still, she knew that she couldn't. If she started checking, she would simply never stop.
Surprisingly, the fact that her had abandoned his two oldest children didn't bother her. No, that was inaccurate. Beatriz just wasn't...shocked. She had expected it to happen eventually. Everyone left them, after a while. She didn't know why, but that's how it was. No, what bothered her was the fact that Caspian had gotten back in her house. She was still shaken by that. To know that he had touched her while she was unaware made her skin crawl. She shivered just thinking about it.
The two sisters sat side by side, thinking separate thoughts. Beatriz tried not to think and Rosita tried to think ahead.
Finally, Rosita voiced the thought that scared both girls the most. "What now?" she asked.

Anna listened to the silence and was about to head home and try to figure out their best move when she heard Beatriz's sister say, "What now?". She had to know what she was going to say in response.

"We don't do anything," Beatriz shrugged, standing up. She walked to the door with limp legs that dragged along the floor. "What can we do?"

She sat on the roof and frowned to herself. She would have to leave soon.

When Beatriz made it upstairs, she ducked into her mother's room and closed the door.
After her mom left, her dad switched bedrooms. There was no discussing it. He never said anything. It was just something Rosita and Beatriz knew had happened.
Her mother's room looked exactly the same as it did the night before she left. The bed was unmade, the red bedspread tossed about the bed. There was a piece of stationery on the nightstand. Her closet was open, all the clothes gone. Her shoes had vanished. The lampshade was tilted. The room was filled with a soft, orange light. The carpet was a lush red. The room smelled like cinnamon.
Why had she left?

Anna assumed she went into her room and so she beaded home to her brother and told him what happened in a vague manner.

Beatriz sat down on her bed and brought the bedspread to her nose. Even her blanket smelled like cinnamon. The tears sprang in Beatriz's eyes again, and she cried. Why did this always happen to her? Why? What was so awful about her that everyone close disappeared? Was she that bad? Did she suck the life out of those around her? What had she done? What was wrong with her?