Once Catherine had pulled the family car, an older model KIA that was good on gas, into the driveway she sighed with relief. Another night was drawing to a close. Now, all that was left to do was to bathe the kids, check homework, and put them in bed for the night.
She looked up at the quaint, two-story, colonial style house and shut the engine off. They had bought it when they first moved to Minnesota with hopes of fixing it up and making it their dream home. When Sunni came along, remodeling was set aside. When Ethan was born, any thoughts of reconstructing their home were a distant memory. Before Gil had vanished, the couple had been talking about hiring a contractor to rebuild the back porch. Now, all she had around her were memories of regrets and unfulfilled dreams.
"Mommy, can we make hot chocolate?" Sunni asked, gathering her belongings.
Catherine pulled herself from her thoughts. "Yeah, baby," she said. "We can have one mug after bath time."
Both children cheered as the three of them climbed from the car. The snow underfoot crunched as they walked to the front door. Catherine quickly grabbed Ethan's small, mittened hand and helped him clamber through the snow.
When she had keyed into the house, both children dropped their bags on the floor and rushed to their bedrooms. Catherine looked after them and set her keys in the tiny dish by the door. She let her gaze linger on the framed family portrait on the wall, but then quickly looked away.
"Mom, can I use your bathroom?" Sunni shouted from her room. "Ethan is being a butt!"
Catherine smiled to herself. "Yes," she said, and then she added. "Don't call your brother a 'butt'."
After she set her purse down in the kitchen, she went back into the guest bathroom to undress her son and start his bath water.
~o~
After Gil had left 'Pizza Palace' he pulled his car, a beat up pinto, over to the shoulder to call Jim Brass. Brass had been the first person he thought to turn to after the attack. Not only because he was a close friend, but because he had experience with The Witness Security Program.
Brass had been against his returning to Minnesota to check up on his family, but Gil had to have proof of their safety with his own eyes. As he waited for the lines to connect, he thought about what he had heard his daughter say to Catherine.
"I wish daddy hadn't died. I wish you had died."
Is this what he had sentenced Catherine to; a life of anguish and guilt. Sunni had always been a difficult child to handle, but she had never been mean. This new realization stunned him and he began to rethink his decisions.
"Gil," Brass said, answering the phone. "Are they alright?"
"They're alive," Gil replied. "I wouldn't say they are alright."
Brass sighed. "Look, I know it isn't easy for them. In the long run it is better if you are able to return to them alive and out of danger," Brass paused and Gil heard him take a swallow of something that he assumed was liquor. "Now, go back into the program and wait until I take care of this."
Gil pursed his lips. "I need to stay a few more days," he said. "I need to make sure they are not going to come after Catherine and the kids."
Gil heard a 'thunk' over the phone and imagined Brass slamming his glass bottle down on his oak desk. His old friend knew that he missed his family greatly, but he also knew that Brass wanted to keep him safe.
"You're just where they want you to be," Brass said. "They probably drew you out by sending those photos and at this moment they have you in their crosshairs. Now that they know you aren't dead, they will kill all four of you."
Gil knew his old friend was right, but if that was the case then he shouldn't leave Brookside. If this had been a ruse to draw him out into the open, then it had worked well. When Brass had told him about the photos of his family, he had been in a panic. His old friend had tried to reason with him, saying that he would personally check on them. Gil would not be reasoned with and he found himself driving from Oregon to Minnesota.
"I can't go back," he said.
~o~
After the hot chocolate had been consumed and the children were in bed, Catherine began to prepare for the next weekday. She always prepared lunches, set out school clothes, and checked homework the night before. Since she had been labeled as a single mother, she had started to plan things in advance to avoid last minute mistakes. Ethan always wanted to have the same thing for lunch every day: peanut butter and jelly with the crust cut off. Sunni, who thought she was more mature than her brother, wanted a turkey sandwich with relish and mayonnaise.
When the phone sounded, she moved quickly to answer it. One small noise would wake Ethan up and she wasn't in the mood to fall asleep in his bed again.
"Hello," Catherine answered, wondering who would call so late.
She heard nothing on the other line but static. Glancing down at her phone she walked in front of a window, hoping to get better reception. Instead, what she heard chilled her. Someone was playing a music box.
"Absentia," an eerie voice said before disconnecting.
Catherine quickly dropped the phone and hurried to close the curtains in the living room. Panicking, she checked the locks on all the doors and windows. When she was satisfied that they were secure, she went to check on her sleeping children.
Both children were still asleep and softly snoring. Ethan's night light, Snoopy as The Red Barron, was illuminating his car themed better room. Sunni, who claimed that she was too old for a night light, was wrapped in her blanket, her arms holding onto a stuffed butterfly Gil had given her.
"This can't be happening again," Catherine whispered to herself.
This wasn't the first time her family had been harassed by an anonymous caller, but the first time Gil had been present to calm her nerves. Unlike this current caller, they had never played music or spoken before.
"Absentia," Catherine said to herself.
~o~
The next morning, Catherine was up before her alarm. The memory of the chime-like, plucky music box melody still haunted her. Besides, sleep had been a lost luxury since she lost Gil. Going to bed without her husband, without her closet companion, was something that she was never going to get used to.
"Mommy," Sunni said, walking sleepy-eyed into the kitchen. "Can I have some pancakes?"
"Sure," she said. "Go wake your brother up. We have a big day today."
As Sunni shuffled away, Catherine pulled out a skillet and the pancake ingredients. In the past, Gil had always been the one to make pancakes. He had a way of making sure that each cake was fluffy and golden-brown. Catherine's always came out flat and mismatched.
"Mom, Ethan wet the bed again," Sunni said as she walked back into the kitchen.
Catherine sighed and set the ingredients on the table. "Don't touch," she said to Sunni.
When she entered the boy's bedroom she saw him sitting up in bed with his finger in his mouth. Wetting the bed wasn't something new for Ethan, but lately it had gotten worse. Mrs. Cutter's words from the day before echoed in her mind. Maybe she should take him to see someone.
"Let's get a shower," she said, pulling out fresh clothes and holding out her hand for the boy.
Ethan took his mother's hand and jumped off his bed. "It's cold," he commented.
Catherine looked down at him. "The shower is going to be warm," she said.
~o~
Gil sat in his car down the street from where he used to live. He imagined his family waking up and eating breakfast, but then again that was what used to be normal. Normal for his family had changed and now he was not sure what it was anymore. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the newspaper deliveryman drive down the street, tossing papers into yards. The Grissom paper, like it always had, landed in the gutter in front of the house.
Without thinking, Gil opened his door and slowly walked to where the newspaper lay. He picked it up, brushed off the snow and dead leaves, and began to walk towards the front porch.
"What are you doing?" Gil asked himself. "Are you just going to open the front door?"
In the back of his mind, he caught himself wondering if he could open the front door or if Catherine had changed the locks. What would happen if he walked through the door? Would Catherine run into his arms? Would his children hug his legs?
The answers to these questions would have to wait because he had no intention of turning the knob. Softly he set the newspaper on the front porch and turned to walk back to his car.
~o~
Catherine grabbed her purse and looked the kids over one last time. Each child was dressed, combed, and ready for a new day. Their backpacks were settled in their proper places and a lunch box dangled from each of their small hands.
"Ready?" she asked, pulling her beanie down over her head.
"I guess," Sunni sighed.
Catherine pulled open the front door and looked down at the stoop. Slowly, she bent down and picked up the rolled up newspaper that was lying on the 'Welcome' mat. She glanced both ways down the street and saw nothing but an old pinto one of the neighbors probably owned. Hesitantly she tucked it under her arm and herded the children out to the car.
~o~
Gil watched as Catherine picked up the newspaper. If he revealed himself to her now, then he would be putting everyone in danger. Though it was tempting, he thought it was best to keep his distance. Besides, he wasn't too sure how anyone was going to react. He wanted to be accepted back with love and happiness, but there was a possibility that he could evoke more pain. He could confuse his children and enrage Catherine.
He was content now to just watch from a distance and remember the life he had had with Catherine and the children. He longed for the happy mornings where oatmeal and cereal had been served or the nights alone with Catherine, after the kids had gone to sleep. He missed being able to read to his son or go on discovery expeditions with his daughter.
As Gil watched his family drive away, he sighed and turned the engine over. He did not notice that a van down the street did exactly the same thing.
~o~
Catherine sat down at her desk and opened her class's text book. She had been employed at Brookside high school for the past sixth months and really enjoyed it. The class she taught was an advanced science class and her students were all a challenge for her. Luckily, she never did back down from a challenge.
"Morning, Mrs. G," one of her students said as he walked in and dropped into a desk.
Catherine put on her best smile. "Good morning," she said. "Did you remember your homework?"
"def," he said, pulling out his IPod and plugging the ear buds into his ears.
Catherine nodded. She hadn't picked up the new edition of the entire teenage lingo yet, but she was working on it. After all, one day her children would be teenagers and she would find herself standing at the edge of Hell once again. She had barely survived Lindsey.
"Mrs. G," another student, a young girl, said as she rushed up to Catherine's desk. "I need to ask you something."
It hadn't been a request that the students call her 'Mrs. G', but was instead something she had been christened with. It made her feel like, on some level, the students had accepted her.
"Sure," Catherine replied. "That's what I'm here for."
The girl opened her notebook. "What does 'Absentia' mean?" she asked.
Catherine was taken aback for a moment. She stared at the girl, who she knew well. It wouldn't be like her to play a joke or to be the mastermind of a cruel plan. She decided to consider it a coincidence. After all, Latin was a subject that was taught in the school.
"Just look at the make-up," Catherine said, putting on her glasses and pointing to the word.
In the back of her mind, Catherine was still listening to the eerie voice and the tingling music, but she pushed past it. She pulled out a blank sheet of paper and began to write.
"The suffix 'ia' means 'a state of'," she explained. "and the root word is 'Absent' which means 'missing'."
The girl nodded. "Oh," she said. "So, it means a person who is in the state of absence."
Catherine nodded. "If someone has been missing for so long, then family members can get a death certificate on the grounds of 'In Absentia'."
"Thanks, Mrs. G," the girl said, scribbling down what Catherine said. "I knew I could ask you."
Catherine smiled. "You can always count on me," she said, taking her glasses off.
When she was alone again, save for her one student bobbing along to music, she let herself remember the one word that had sent chills up her spine the night before.
"Absentia"
~o~
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