Try and Catch Me

The bad girl (4)
“Let her be. It’s fine. I can’t finish all that.” Lia jerked her chin to point at the tray. “You can even have some if you like.”

“Thank you and I apologize. It’s– it has been a while since we had a proper food to eat.” She sat next to her child while she shifted the sleeping baby in her arms.

Lia pressed her lips. She could already guess what happened but it would take some time for them to finish the food. Lia thought she might as well start a small talk. “Did something happen?”

The woman sniffed but continued to eat, more demure than her child. “Her father– my husband got sick and I don’t know if he’s going to be alright ever. If,” she choked back a sob, “if he doesn’t… I don’t know what will happen to us. The only person who could help us is gone.”

Lia’s breath hitched.

All of a sudden the woman looked up and Lia knew the secret’s out.

The woman said cautiously, “Are you by any chance the… the…”

“The witch’s daughter?” Lia said coolly, her eyes narrowing. “Yes.”

The woman flinched at the word. Lia started to regret ever thinking of starting a conversation. She must be turning mad with all of these things.

To Lia’s surprise, the woman knelt in front of Lia and clutched the hem of her sleeves. “Please if you know how to help, please help us. My children need their father.”

Lia eyed her, remaining still in her place. Her face remained devoid of any emotions.

“Please.” The woman cried.

As if on cue, the small child also sobbed. Lia felt like she was the villain here but she did not let her guilt be reflected on her face.

“I don’t know what you’re thinking but I’m not the person you are looking for.”

In between her cries, the woman shook her head. “No, you are exactly the person I am looking for. Yolly… Yolly is the only one who got better. And it was because of your mother. She is the only one who survived.”

“You got the wrong person. My mother is the one who made it and she is dead. I don’t know how to make the antidote.” Lia knew she was being petty, lashing out on some innocent person. The woman might not even be part of the crowd who incinerated her mother. But she could not stop.

“We know, we feared you and your mother. It was foolish. We were foolish. I’m sorry. Everyone feels that way.”

Lia shrugged. “Well, it’s a little too late for that isn’t it?”

There was another shout in the hall below, the same voice of the man from before and the woman rushed back down. The child remained.

“You should follow your mother,” Lia said.

To her surprise, the child slumped on the floor and covered her ears. “I’m afraid. That is not my father. I want my father!”

Lia remembered those words in her previous lifetime. ‘That man, that cheating bastard, is not my father! Make him come back! I want my dad!’ She remembered the feeling. Another wave of guilt passed through her. She did not want to rob this kid a father, a complete family. Did she really want to pull people down in misery with her?

‘Mother, I failed you.’