Chapter 12 "Trust"
It's essential to every kind of relationship. Without it, there is no surviving. It makes it harder when you know that you can't rely on someone to be a hundred percent honest.
- Michael Mules, Journal Entry
The previous night was something Michael wished he could forget. An incident he would happily trade for his memory of that first night with his license, but that wasn't an option.
It was still early in morning and the rest of his family was still asleep. He was standing outside of Tracy's bedroom, quietly watching her sleep. How could he have put her life in such danger? He kept beating himself up over it. Had he been driven that mad?
The past night he had been going through everything in his head yet again, only more determined to come to some solution that hadn't been noticeable before.
His cell phone rang and he quickly answered, not wanting to wake his little sister up, he answered in a whisper.
"I just woke up, Michael," Wendy said from the other end. "Why did you call me house this early?"
"I had a run in with that stalker last night," he told her. "I can't give you all the details right now; we need to meet. I was doing some researching last night and I think I found something that might get me to remember that night I got those marks."
"Alright then. I'll be waiting at the front of my house."
"Meet you in a bit."
Michael turned put his cell phone away and stepped back into Tracy's bedroom door. She was silent, and safe - but for how long? What if the danger ended up coming right to his doorstop? It couldn't happen. He couldn't let that happen.
Michael needed to get to the bottom of this as quickly as possible.
He turned from Tracy's sleeping sight and went to the bathroom to get ready. Without knowing it, Tracy had been awake since he had opened her bedroom door and had listened in on his phone conversation. As soon as he was gone, she awoke and closed her door.
It was a good thing her brother took long showers, she would need that time to work out how she was going to stay out of his radar once she was inside the back of his car, and how she would keep the rest of the family from getting worried.
Maybe I can leave a note saying I went out with Michael. Yes, that would do. Now she just had to get dressed and cozy herself inside Michael's car.
Wendy was waiting outside of her house when Michael arrived. She ran inside and hugged him rather fiercely. Michael honestly didn't expect that much strength from her petite form.
"Alright now, I got that out of the way, so-" Her fist smashed against his shoulder with the same astonishing force; Michael couldn't help but yelp.
"Ouch!" He looked at her in bewilderment. "What was that for?"
"For putting yourself in danger last night." She punched her fist at him again. "And that one was for also endangering your sister's life."
All the anger she was feeling towards him was justified. Michael couldn't deny that. He looked away from her in shame. At least it wasn't his mother.
"What were you thinking?" Wendy's voice grew louder. "You nearly got killed. Please, don't not be this desperate to finding this person. It's not smart, or safe to be clearer."
"I know, okay." Michael forced himself to look at her in the eyes. "I know."
She raised a finger to him with a stern expression. "Don't ever do it, again."
"I won't."
"Do you promise?"
"I promise."
He repeated himself when she began to repeat herself as well. He now noticed Wendy's eyes being a bit watery and red. Now the weight of guilt and shame over his stupidity from last night was increased.
Michael pulled her into a hug, which she reluctantly fell into.
"Let's get going. It's going to be an hour drive to this place," he said.
He started the car and took off.
As before, he was unaware of his sister, who was now hidden in a curl behind Wendy's seat, under a blanket where Michael had left his backup the other day.
Tracy knew An hour was going to leave her very sore. This made her have second thoughts, but there was no changing her mind now. Wherever they were going, she was going.
"So remind me where we're heading again," Wendy said to Michael as they went back inside his car after grabbing a quick breakfast.
"We're going to a university where this doctor works," he explained. "He specializes in hypnotic therapy - mainly, memory retrieval."
"Do you think that would work?" she asked, frowning.
"I know it's a long shot, but it's worth trying. I need to remember that night from last month."
Wendy couldn't help but shake her head in uncertainty.
"I don't know about this. What if it works, but-" she paused for a moment before finishing. "what you remember might not be good."
"If it's something that will help me find out who this stalker is, then it"s worth it," Michael said in resolve.
Wendy's frown didn't disappear. Everything Michael was doing and saying was true, but it was still dangerous. If his stalker was keeping good tabs, then he or she could intervene in his attempt to remember with this therapist's help. Different scenarios formed in her head, each one was as bad as the last.
I can't think about that. She had to be there for him. This was something they had to do, so to get to the bottom of this.
"I'll be right there with you, then." She took one of his hands and held it tight the rest of the drive.
When they finally arrived at the university, Michael hesitated before stepping out of his car.
Tracy waited a minute after she heard both he and Wendy close their doors shut to toss the blanket off of her. She popped her head up to the window, catching her brother and his girlfriend walking out of the parking lot and onto a courtyard, arm-in-arm.
Whatever was going with Michael, Tracy was glad that he at least had someone to stand beside him. A part of her was jealous that it was Wendy and not her, though. She had always shared a close bond with her brother, much closer than with her sisters, even.
But she was going to be finding out what it was that Michael was mixed up in, today. Or at the very least she would discover a part of the story.
Tracy unlocked the door and stepped out of the car. She only spared a second to stretch herself out; the car ride had definitely left her bones in a frit. She ran after her brother, not wanting to lose sight of him in the dozens of people that were walking through the courtyard, or sitting on the green-trimmed lawn.
Once she got to a certain distance from them, she started to move at a steady pace. If her brother were to turn around, she wanted enough space between them so that he wouldn't recognize her.
Tracy walked with good precision for several minutes, until she followed Michael and Wendy into one the campus buildings. Entering the lobby, she ducked behind a trash can, peaking her head out to see them approaching the front desk. After briefly speaking to the secretary, they turned around and walked to the nearest bench.
Tracy stayed crouched behind the trash can. The man who was sitting down on the bench next to the it spotted the girl and coughed to make her aware of his presence.
Tracy panicked, but only flinched on the inside. "I'm trying to find out what my brother's hiding from our family." she quickly explained to him.
The man looked to his side before saying, "If that's the case, I hope your legs can take it."
All Tracy could think of for responding was to grin.
"But for the record, it's not good to be diving in on somebody else's business," the man then added. He stood up to depart. "I'm just saying."
He walked to the door and tilted his head to her. Tracy just frowned and poked her sight back to Michael and Wendy. It was another minute before the secretary at the front desk called to them and they walked into one of the elevators. Tracy went over to the doors as soon they closed and watched as the light above the doorway moved across the numbers until stopping on the five.
She decided to take the stairs, fearing the elevator doors would open and they would be standing right on the other side and her cover was blown.
She reached the fifth floor in heavy breath. "I need to exercise more," she said to herself.
Through the stairway's door, Michael's voice could be heard. Tracy slightly pulled the door back to listen in and caught her brother in mid-sentence. "- your sessions can help me."
"Well, I promise to do my best," said an older man's voice.
"And thank you for taking him in on such short notice," Wendy told the older man.
"I'm here to help people with these sort of problems. Now why don't we step inside. Barbara, you can take your lunch."
"Thank you, sir."
A door closed. Tracy slid her head through, and watched the only person left in a small waiting room take her purse and disappear into the first opening elevator in the hallway.
This was her lucky day.
Tracy walked out from the door and tiptoed to the only door in the waiting room.
If she just kept quiet and no one walked by in the hall and spotted her, Tracy would get her answers.
If they were answers she would not like and they would change how she looked at her brother - that was what Tracy was really afraid of finding out.
Trust is a fragile thing. It's hard to build and regain, but pretty easy to destroy. When it comes to deciding whether to regain trust, there▒s just having to ask if it's worth regaining it.
- Michael Mules, Journal Entry
To Be Continued