A few moments earlier...

I head home through a dark street after I am done finishing errands for my father. He is often gone due to the extreme dedication to his work, coming home extremely late most nights. He doesn't say much about what he does, but I know he keeps busy to avoid our reality. Who could really blame him? I know the loss of my mom this past year has been harder for my dad than he makes it appear. Yet he still does everything he can to provide for me, even though his lack of presence is difficult for me at times.

As I'm walking I hear shuffling and murmurs from across the way. I move towards the noise cautiously, pulling out my sterling silver pocket knife as I have an intense feeling that something isn't right. I keep on hearing movement, contemplating whether to go any closer. As I look across the street, I see the most bizarre sight. A hooded figure and a man are huddled together, a little too closely. What I'm witnessing is definitely a weird sight, not being able to shake the feeling that these two aren't lovers.

It's not that you don't see weird things in New York this time of night. My dad never let me forget it, making sure I conceal carried a knife when I went into the city. I tried to insist that I didn't need it as I always kept to myself and my own business. But this discussion wasn't up for debate, me being a girl and a rather timid one at that. However now I am somewhat grateful as the feeling currently in my stomach made me want to rip out my insides.

"Who's there?! Is everything alright?!" I shout reluctantly towards the pair. I see the hooded figure who's features appear to be a female look up. But what I saw next sent me backing up into a garbage can. Her eyes were not normal, but a glowing red. I back up quick, shutting my eyes tightly. I take a deep breath, hoping I am just dreaming what I just saw. A few seconds later I open them again, only to find the disguised figure and the man were gone. I run to where the couple was standing, my shoe stepping in a liquid substance below me. I pull out the flashlight on my phone to see what I stepped in. I look down then back away in shock, not being able to tear myself away from the scene in front of me. It was blood.

"Oh my God..."

It wasn't just a droplet of blood, but a puddle of crimson along the ground. I push my knife out, flashing my light around the area.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" I call out nervously as I become more freaked out. Yet there is no answer and no one in sight. This wasn't just some accidental bleeding. I basically just caught the culprit in the act, as though they were a deer caught in headlights. Yet it wasn't an animal. It was a girl, a human. Her eyes however said otherwise.

"She had red eyes..."

I almost jump out of my skin as my phone begins to ring and vibrate in my hand: Caller ID: Dad. I pick up the call quickly.

"Hey da..."

"Catrina are you home yet?!"

My dad barks worried on the other end. I didn't want to concern him more, for he already has so much on his plate with his job.

"I'm heading home now. Just stopped to grab dinner."

"You're not drinking are you?! I swear if the cops catch you again I will not pull you out of it do you hear me?!"

I run a heavy hand through my hair as I take a deep sigh before answering.

"Yes dad. I promise I'm not drinking."

"Not at the moment anyway."

I'm not completely lying to him. After mom died and not having an abundance of friends, drinking became a comfort when I needed one. Recently I got caught with my best friend Sam as we had a few too many drinks with a couple of fake licenses. Unfortunately we had been sitting next to the wrong man at the bar, an off duty cop. Yet an officer's job is never done, returning the both of us to our families. What he didn't tell me was he already knew who I was, the deputy being good friends with my dad for over ten years due to their work with the law enforcement. If this was just another cop things would have ending very differently, being in even deeper trouble with both the law and my father. But to my relief with a cut of my license the officer just let it go, telling me to stay out of trouble and hang in there for he sympathized with mine and my father's loss.

I'm still trying to make sense of the death of my mom with little answers. In a month will be a year since she left us so tragically by the hands of a murderer. Dad told me she had been found dead in an alley with no evidence to track down a culprit. My dad didn't even allow me to go with him to identify her body when it was brought to the morgue, not wanting me to see the condition she had been found in that night.

My dad distracts himself from his grief, doing his best to hold himself our household of two together. He still makes sure I keep up with my grades, chores, and "staying away" from alcohol at seventeen. However the cities of New York made it rather easy to obtain a fake license. A little booze that dad didn't know about wouldn't hurt him. He trusts me, well most of the time; knowing I'm generally a good kid that is not one to look for trouble. I know he is there for me when he can. It is what it is I guess.

Sam tries to lighten my spirits, being the closest friend I've ever had. Yet I don't want to put all my heavy shit on him. Drinking made my mind go elsewhere, blinding myself to the fact that mom is really gone. Sometimes I wish I didn't need it as a distraction, that I had someone who made me feel less alone in this.

My dad doesn't know I'm gay. My mom actually was the first person I came out to. I came out to her days before she died. Being a stay home mom we always had a close relationship. My dad being gone and having more of a rougher exterior I didn't feel comfortable coming out to him right away, not without my mom by my side. Now I don't know if I ever will. When mom died I had lost my confidence being out of the closet. I was much more outgoing when my mother was alive; my mind set on joining the male run football team instead of just being the science tech wizard everyone came to know.

Any fire I had however faded the night she died. Now I've just faded into the background. Yet somehow everyone seems to know I'm gay as fuck but my dad. He is the only one oblivious enough not to notice and call me Catrina, except for Sam occasionally as a lame ass joke we share. Good thing he doesn't have time to go to my parent teacher conferences, already dealing with enough stress from his profession and losing the love of his life. I just don't know how he would handle the reality of his daughter being a lesbian.

"I wonder if he even has a clue, I mean look at me..."

"HELLO ARE YOU THERE?!"

"Oops..."

"Yes. I'm on my way home as we speak." I wait a moment before hearing my father's more calm yet somber response.

"Did something happen Cat? You seem off."

I look down to the pool of blood below me yet answer right away.

"Dad everything's fine. You don't have to worry so much about me okay?" I hear a silent sigh on the other end.

"Just stay out of trouble. You're too good of a kid, don't let that go to waste."

I smile at the other end.

"I am...and I won't. See you tomorrow?" I ask hopefully

"Tomorrow, I promise. Have a good first day at school alright?"

"I will. See you tomorrow." I end the call, then begin to move away from the peculiar scene before me. I take one last glance behind me before leaving to go a street over to where the city is always alive, haling over a cab to head homebound.