"Engaged," Sara smiled, flopping down onto the couch. She was still wearing her evening gown, looking astounding even though she appeared tired.
Liz was asleep; She had gone to bed almost as soon as they had arrived home. She had worn herself walking around the table at the hotel, making sure to talk to each person seated there.
"Yeah. Who would've guessed, Nick proposing. She really is a nice girl and she does her job incredibly well. Almost like a younger you," Gil replied.
He walked over to the couch and lifted Sara's feet, placing them in his lap once he was seated.
Neither spoke at first. That was one of the beautiful things in their relationship; No words were needed. They were content just being in each other's presence.
Sara closed her eyes as she recalled the evening; Liz had looked adorable, climbing into people's laps to talk with them.
"Did you have fun?" Gil asked, jolting Sara from her thoughts.
"Oh, um, yeah. I really can't believe they are getting married! They make such a cute couple!"
He smiled; That smile that made Sara want to pounce upon him.
"Good, I'm glad. Well honey, I'm going to bed. Are you coming?"
Sara shook her head.
"No. I'm gonna hang out here for a while."
Gil left the room, causing an eerie silence; A silence that frightened Sara. She hastily turned the television on and stretched out on the couch.
Once her eyes closed, memories of her mother came flooding back.
"Sara, go outside and play. You're so pale," Her mother frequently told her.
She didn't mind being pale; Being pale meant she didn't look like the other twelve year old clones.
Girls who would suffer skin damage all throughout their lives because they felt the need to tan.
Sara didn't want to be like that; She was very happy with herself.
"Mom, I'm going to read. Pale is okay with me!"
She walked off to her room and closed the door.
For a preteen, her knowledge was astounding; She had read many of the classics. Books most people don't read until they're in college.
She pulled one of her many favorites, The Cricket on the Hearth, off the bookshelf and jumped onto her bed; She had read this book a few times and loved it.
Muffled shouting wafted through her bedroom door as she turned the page; No doubt in her mind that her father was home.
Her mother and father always fought; Her father would beat Laura until she couldn't move.
Sara didn't understand this; They were married and married people loved each other, didn't they?
More yelling and punches were heard.
She knew better than to interfere; Her father had no problem hitting her. She touched a bruise on her arm that was a sick green on her shoulder, were he had hit her after she tried to help her mother.
"Just leave!" She heard her mother scream.
Another punch echoed through the house, causing Sara to wince.
She hated seeing the wounds on her mother; The lacerations and bruises nearly caused Sara to vomit. No woman deserved to be treated like that.
Often she was surprised that her mother was still alive; The injuries were always severe, sometimes more so than the last time.
"You bastard," She heard her mother moan.
A loud clattering sound followed those words and Sara jumped out of her bed; She could call the cops. She'd done that before but they always believed that Laura had fallen down some stairs.
She cracked the door and saw a horrific sight; Her mother standing over her father with a knife.
Eyes widening in horror, Sara rushed out of her room.
Her father's pleas for help startled her; He never asked for help.
"Mom! Put it down!" Sara shouted.
But it was no use; The woman looked from the knife to the man lying on the floor and then it happened.
She stabbed him.
She didn't stop at one stab; Or at five. She continued driving the knife into his body until all of her strength was gone.
She collapsed on the floor next to her dead husband.
Sara couldn't breathe; She didn't know what to do. She ran back into her room and dialed 911.
"911, please state your emergency."
"M-my mother… she killed him!"
The operator calmed Sara down and instructed her not to leave her room; The police would be there soon.
The last time she caught a glimpse of her mother was when two police officers helped her away from the house, she was in handcuffs.
Sara ran outside and onto the front porch; Just as the officers had closed the car door, Laura mouthed the words 'I'll kill you next."
Sara awoke from her nightmare, screaming at the top of her lungs, in a cold sweat.
She was no longer on the couch, but instead, laying on the floor; Her shoes were no longer on her feet but across the room.
"Shit," She mumbled, lifting herself onto the couch and sighing.
She hadn't had that nightmare in a long time, but each time she did was more terrifying than the last.
She knew that her mother hadn't mouthed those words; She hadn't mouthed anything. She had just stared at Sara from the car with a grief stricken face.
"Sara?"
Gil entered the living room, face full of concern; Sara burst into tears as he sat on the couch.
Words were not needed once again, but this time because Gil didn't know what was wrong and Sara was sobbing too hard to tell him.