I was taking the pictures off my walls and carefully packing them into a box between some of my blankets. When my eyes landed on a family portrait of my adopted parents I was suddenly lost in my own thoughts. I remembered this day very well even though it had been taken several years ago. My real mom was supposed to be there but didn’t show up. I was so angry because after my adopted mom was generous enough to invite her to do it with us she decided to be a no show. When we got home I decided to call her and find out the reason why but she didn’t answer. She called me back the next day apologizing and giving all these excuses as to why she’d missed it but I knew the real reason. I could hear it in her high pitched voice. She was high, again. In those days she’d always been high.

I placed the picture into the box and moved onto a more recent one. This one was from my recent graduation just a few months ago. I was holding my nurses certificate. My adopted parents weren’t in the picture any more but my mom was and you could tell by the shine in her eyes and the overall happy look about her that she was finally clean. It had taken her a long time to convince me she was clean again but I was finally starting to believe her. I placed the picture into the box and taped it shut. 

"Elena! Can you come here please?" Mom yelled from downstairs. 

"Yeah, just a sec!" I answered, putting the books I had in my hand carefully into the box. Yes, that’s right, I said book. I'm a huge bookworm and proud of it.

I stopped on my way to the stairs and peeked in on Liam. He was sitting in the middle of the floor playing with a box of toys I’d now have to repack. I smiled, he was only two so I couldn’t get mad about it. I should’ve taped up the box before I left it there. Despite how he came into the world I loved my little guy dearly. He was my everything. I stepped over the squeaky board in the hallway and continued on towards the stairs quietly trying not to disturb him.

I swung the baby gate open and made sure to close it behind me before starting down the stairs. “Mom? What room are you in?” I asked, unsure where I’d seen her last. 

“In here,” she answered from the living room. 

I came to a halt just inside the doorway and glanced around the room. It looked so different all packed up. I realised in that moment that it was a good thing my mom had offered to help me pack up my house because it would’ve taken me weeks to get through it with all the memories from my childhood constantly popping up. I shook my head to rid myself of the thought and walked over to my mom who was busy trying to pack curtains into a box that was much too small. I giggled at her efforts.
        
"Do you need some help?" I asked, smiling.
        
She looked up from the heap of maroon madness and pointed at a stack of boxes. “Sorry to interrupt you but can you get those and carry them out to the moving truck? I’d do it myself but my back wouldn’t be very happy with me afterwards," she said, placing the back of her hand against her lower back. 
        
“Sure. No problem.” I answered walking over and picking them up.
        
“Oh, wait,” she said walking over to  scribble something on each of them with a red sharpie. “Okay, now they’re ready.”
        
I readjusted them and continued toward the door. I put them into the almost full moving truck and turned around to go back inside, but I stopped to look up at the almost empty house. I sighed sadly. I have lived here for over 20 years. I was really going to miss it, but I needed a change of scenery. Besides, now that my mom was clean I really wanted to take the chance to finally get to know her, the real her. I hadn’t lived with her since before I could remember so I knew this probably wasn’t going to be easy. We’d probably have our ups and downs but if I didn’t do this I might never have this opportunity again, and I might regret it for the rest of my life. I pushed those thoughts aside and went back upstairs to my room to finish packing.

         I grabbed the last two boxes from Liam’s bedroom before heading down the stairs. A few steps from the bottom I heard a man and woman whispering and stopped to listen. Why was my dad here? And why were they whispering? 
        
After listening to them for a few minutes I realised it wasn’t my dad. The voice wasn’t quite right. It was too deep. It must’ve been someone I didn’t know because his voice was very unfamiliar. Which of course made me even more curious.
        
"I know. That's why we’re moving before they find her,” my mom whispers.
        
"Lady Gianna, you should probably tell her. She has a right to know, and she could better protect herself,” the man responds.
        
"NO!" My mom yells. 
        
I rocked backwards in surprise and the board I was standing on squeaked. I knew she’d heard it, so I quickly continued down the stairs with my boxes. 
        
I stopped at the bottom and glanced in my mom’s direction. But I didn't see anyone else. It was just her and Liam who was sitting on the floor playing with a couple of dinosaurs. I frowned, was she on the phone? No, no way I would have heard his voice through the phone. So where was the guy I’d definitely heard? Who was he? And who were they talking about? Were they talking about me? Why would I be in any danger? None of it made any sense. I opened my mouth to say something to my mom but she interrupted me.
        
"Are you about ready honey? I’m ready to get on the road before it gets any later," she said, smiling nervously. 

I smiled back but I knew she was hiding something from me, “Yeah, I just have to put these last couple of boxes in the truck,” I answered and started towards the door. But then I stopped and turned back. I couldn’t help my curious nature. I had to ask her what that was all about. "Hey mom, who were you just talking to? It didn't sound like dad," I asked, my forehead wrinkling as my eyebrows raised in confusion .
        
"Hmm? Oh, I wasn't talking to anyone Elena. You must be imagining things,” She said, pretending to be busy trying to pick something off her shirt.
        
"I'm pretty sure I’m not. So who was he? And who were you talking about, me? What did you mean by taking me away to protect me? Why am I in danger? Is Liam in danger? This is about drugs isn’t it? Do you owe someone money?" I asked, starting to get pretty worried about what I’d overheard. Why was she lying about it? I looked up at my mom and flinched, she was glaring at me like looks could kill.
        
"Elena, just drop it. Now!" she hissed angrily.
        
I just couldn't, something was telling me not too. I shook my head, “No, I can't. And if you’re going to hide something this important from me then I think Liam and I will stay here."
        
She laughed at me, "You are not! Especially since you can't take care of Liam on your own. I will take him away from you. You can stay here alone!"
        
I glared at her, how dare she say that! "I can take care of Liam on my own especially now that I’ve finished college. No thanks to you, 'mom'. If it wasn't for the fact that my adopted mom ended up in the crazy hospital, I wouldn’t have ended back up with you. And you taking my son? Ha! Why would they give my child to you when you tried to give me away? Especially with your drug abuse, they wouldn't dare give my baby to someone like you!" I shouted at her. I quickly realized what I’d said and flinched. I really shouldn't have said all of that. I looked at her and saw the hurt and guilt in her eyes. 
   
“I-,” she started to say something but her voice cracked and a tear rolled down her cheek before she quickly swiped it away.
        
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that. I went too far but you can't keep secrets from me. I just don't want anything to happen to Liam, or to leave him without a mom." 
        
She nodded and smiled softly, "I understand that, but this isn't something we should discuss right now. So can we talk about later? No ones in danger I promise"
        
I sighed in defeat, then nodded in agreement. I took my boxes out to the truck. My mom followed me out and took Liam to the car. I climbed into the passenger seat, I’d offered to drive but since I had no idea where we were going she’d declined my offer. I put my seatbelt on and put Liam’s diaper bag between my feet. My mom finished buckling him in before climbing into the driver seat with a huge excited grin on her face. 
        
"Are you ready to start a new life?" She asked. 
        
"Yes,” I responded with a slight nod, looking up at the old house.
        
Mom sighed and looked back at the house with sadness, "I know, but we need the fresh start. Especially after what your dad did in there," she shuddered and put the car into gear.
        
I frowned remembering how I’d caught my dad having sex with my ex-best friend a few weeks ago. I shivered, that wasn’t something anyone should have to see.
        
"I understand that mom. It's just, that's where I grew up. I thought it was where Liam was going to grow up." I sighed and glanced back at him. He was still holding onto his dinosaurs with one hand and eating goldfish with the other. I turned back around and looked out the passenger side window to think, “but I’m sure the new place will be good too,” I said optimistically.
        
“It will be. For all of us. We need to wash our hands of all the bad stuff that happened here and move on. It’s just better that way.”
        
“Yeah, you’re right” I nodded and continued staring out the window. 
        
And so we started on our way to Washington. After several gas station stops and nothing really exciting to see I decided to take a nap. I popped in my headphones, curled up in my seat, and dozed off.
        
A couple hours later I woke up with a bit of a headache. I yawned and stretched out my cramped muscles before turning in my seat to look back at Liam. He was sleeping soundly. I turned back around and glanced out the windshield to try and judge where we might be, then I noticed it was raining. I smiled, I loved the rain.
        
"Ah, smell the rain!" I opened my window a little bit letting the cool air in and taking deep breaths. I read a sign as we passed it, Welcome to Olympia, Washington.
        
Mom laughed, "I know you like the rain but you’re getting it all in the car." 
        
"Oh mom it's not going to hurt the car." I said with a childish giggle. 
        
I put my hand out the window and let it get good and wet then slung the water at her. She glanced at me with a slight smile while trying to look annoyed. I rolled it up as I continued to giggle. I narrowed my eyes at something in the distance trying to see it without my glasses on, without much luck.  
        
"Hey mom? What is that?" I said pointing at a weird sign ahead of us. I’d never seen anything like it before. It looked really old. It had words on it but I couldn’t read them and there was a picture of what looked like an animal underneath. I couldn’t make any of it out very well with all the rain blurring everything. 
        
“Hmm?”
        
“What is that,” I asked, continuing to point at it.
        
“Where?” She glanced in the direction I was pointing then back at the road. "I don't know. I don't see anything but the rain,” she frowned and looked back at the road. 
        
I frowned at her then looked back at the sign again, trying to figure out why I could see it and she couldn’t. Surely she had to have seen it. 'Hmm, that's strange,’ I thought to myself, confused. I watched the rain splat against the windshield and roll slowly down it, while I contemplated the strangeness of it. Then there was a loud crack that yanked my thoughts away and filled me with panic. I saw a large pine tree fall undeterred towards our car. My fight or flight instincts started to kick in but there was nothing I could do but sit there. I turned in my seat and looked back at my sleeping baby helpless.
        
The last thing I remember was a scream. I’m not sure if it was mine or my mother’s, but sometimes, I can still hear it.