Run

Chapter 32

Dr. Henderson, or well, mom decides to make dinner for us tonight. She heads to the kitchen shortly after our encounter, smiling. What shocked me though, was that she wasn't wearing any or her doctoring things. It's weird to see her without them.

My bounty hunter of a father is helping Spencer set the table. They make small talk but barely make eye-contact. Their voices are low, maybe they don't want me or Dr. Henderson, I mean, mom, to hear.

I've been sitting here, on the couch, watching everyone. My blood boiled when I found out that Dr. Henderson was my mother. How could someone so cruel, so disgusting, so-

For the past hour, both parents tried talking to me, but I pushed them away. There are so many things that I want to ask then, want to talk to them about, but I refused to talk with the people who made my life miserable.

Spencer's the only one I talk to.

"I thought you said it was going to be only the two of us." I stated.

"That's what I thought," He whispered back. "I didn't know that they were coming here. I swear."

If I didn't trust him so much, I wouldn't have believed him. But I do.

I rub my arm where I got shot. Now that seems like an eternity ago. Looking at the stitches make me think of Aidan and what's happening to him at this very moment.

Is he being tortured? Or is he simply living his normal day to day life at the Institute? Are his parents, or at least his mom, caring about him?

Who knows?

The smell of pasta lingers up my nose. I could almost taste it.

Wait, I thought. I've tasted this before. At the Institute. This was one of the few meals that actually tasted good.

But the smell keeps on reminding me of the Institute. The Institute kept on reminding me of Aidan. He keeps on reminding me of our escape. The escape reminds me of Spence. Spencer reminds me of home. Home is where I discovered that Dr. Henderson is my mother.

The thought bothers me more than it should. I should be glad that I have parents. Have a family. But I'm not. Whatever I wished for at the beginning of all of this is gone. Gone. Because I know none of that will ever happen to me. Ever. Because I just had to end up with the worst family in the world.

I finally got up from the black, leather couch I was sitting on for the last hour and a half. I haven't gotten a chance to explore the house, get to know my surroundings. All I've been doing is just sitting here. I decided to head upstairs.

Mom's voice stopped me halfway. "Lauren, where are you going?"

"Exploring, I guess." I replied, not looking at her. "Maybe go take a shower."

"Do you know where your room is?" She asked, using the sweet, mother-like voice she used when I first met her.

"I'll find it."

"Alright then," She sighed. "Dinner will be ready in half an hour."

The second floor was massive. Like I said, the house was huge. Like huge huge. It wasn't a mansion, per say, but pretty close.

There were multiple doors on that floor, plus a bay window. The walls were a plain white and there were several paintings and pictures on the wall. Some of the works were professional, others were really bad pieces of art by me and Spencer.

"You lost?" Spencer asked.

I jumped. "Gosh, you scared me."

"You're room's down the hall." He said, pointing in the direction. "You painted your name on the door. If you ever need me, my room's right beside yours. We each have our own bathrooms, which is pretty sweet. And just to let you know, we eat in the dining room, so head there after you're done exploring, 'kay?"