Page 45 of Master A-0011

“I feel like we’ve talked about her before?”

Elec’s jaw flexed. “Never like this. Never with you so open. We had no reason to. Not until…Your father just confessed to your mother’s murder. I didn’t know that. No one did. If he killed her because of my father. If he...” His head shook and a wildness flared in his depths as his attention cut back up to me. “Vivia. What do you remember?”

Fear. It engulfed me at the expression the Main Master wore. “I was young. My mother was still alive. Aunt Carmela was…screaming.”

“You’ve told me that. Can you remember what she was saying? Ineedyou to remember this time, Pearl.Remember.”

Color faded, blurring and warping as I tried to think back.

“‘My baby’,” I whispered. “I could barely understand her. She was going between languages. I don’t even know which one it was.”

A momentary flash of encouragement twisted with desperation. “Think. Harder. Close your eyes. See yourself standing where you were that day.”

I bit into my bottom lip as I obeyed, closing my lids. Dark green and blue appeared at my feet. It was a carpet.

“I’m in my father’s study. He’s…standing from his desk. The screams.” Just hearing the pain in my aunt’s cry broke me. “She’s…calling out to my mother. She’s screaming.My baby. Claudia, my baby. She’s not stopping.”

“What do you see now?Push your mind further.When does she stop?”

A whoosh of air had me gasping as it shot by my small frame.

“My father. He’s rushing from the room. The door is open. I’m…walking to it. Standing in the doorway as he’s running through the hall.”

“Stop right there.”

Deep breaths left Elec, but I barely heard him as I soaked in the memories of my old home. Once a happy home. Murder. My father murdered my mother?Murderer!

“Take a deep breath, Pearl. This next part is very important. You’re standing in the doorway listening to your aunt Carmela yell out. Your father has run from the room, and your mother is now in there with her sister. Carmela is screaming. What is she saying?”

I sobbed, twisting my hands so hard through the racing of my heart.Murderer! Murderer!I felt rage like never before at my father. It was mixing with who I was and who I was becoming. Betrayal and abandonment was one thing. But killing my mother? Taking her away from me? Condemning me into this life because of the new woman and daughter he’d chosen? I felt sick again, like I was going to gag and throw up through the overwhelming emotions.

“Vivia is dead. He killed her. I knew he would. I told you he was no good for her. Vivia is dead. She’s…gone. Dead. Dead.”My head shook as I could feel my smaller self take steps closer. “She’s…nothing.More language I don’t know but…they say she’s...unrecognizable?Beaten?They’re getting further away. I can’t hear anything but the screams. The screams.They don’t end.”

“She said that?Carmela said unrecognizable? Beaten?”

Brightness returned as I opened my eyes. “Yes. I think so. That’s what I hear. Main Master.” My words got caught in mythroat as I took in the pain and panic on his face. “Why are you so concerned with Vivia? Did you know her?”

His round eyes were blinking through thoughts, and he was running his fingers through his hair as he looked ahead. Seconds played out and his pale face slowly turned as he reached and grabbed the railing of my bed. “Know her? I think…no… “ He stopped. “I was the one who killed her. I… I did. It’s the pattern.Herpattern. I killed Vivia. I really did.” He swallowed hard, once again going blank but staying quiet. I was trembling. Back to shaking through the realization that my life was crawling with killers. My cries increased, and I reached for the gauze covering my throbbing cheek, stopping as Elec’s hand shot up. “Don’t touch it. This was too soon. I shouldn’t have made you cry. I’ll get the doctor.”

And he was gone…

There was no pause in his stride. No sign of emotion anymore. What had been there was just as fleeting as any humanity he hid away inside himself. And me, I was more terrified than ever. It enveloped me like a noose, choking and stealing any air I could breathe in. The man who controlled my mind murdered my cousin. I had always heard whispers that she’d been killed by her lover. By a man she turned down, but I never knew his name or who he was. After my mother’s death, I was raised by my nanny. That only lasted long enough for my father to meet Vicki. Then I had the accident. Socialization was few and far between after that.

“I hear we had some tears.” Dr. Wu and a nurse swept through the door with the Main Master right behind them. I was doing my best to stop the sobs and catch my breath, but it was impossible as I took in Elec. He was so close, but I couldn’t unsee what I’d glimpsed on his shocked face. He hadn’t been sure he killed Vivia. Now…he was, and that was because of me. But…was it me? Was it…her? The screams. Mine? Carmela’s? Therewas something I wasn’t remembering. Something…wasn’t quite right. That fed the panic. I wanted to attack the Main Master. Try to hurt him for hurting me with this truth. I couldn’t. Not when I saw him hurting too. And I did see that, even if I didn’t want to. It was all too much.

“I should have waited. I hope I didn’t ruin your work.” Elec’s mouth tightened as his arms went back to cross over his chest. The doctor reached up, pausing to take in the monitor with my racing pulse.

“There we go. Something for the nerves.”

I glanced over to tell the nurse thank you, pausing on her red hair. It was pulled back into a ponytail at the back of her neck, but the color.

Something.

Something.

Screams.

Screams.