Page 35 of The Monsters Within

“No more fucking secrets!” Dr. Dunaway turned toward church, and I ran back to my seat. When he walked through the door, the angry man from outside was gone.

“I apologize for the disruption.” He sat down and leaned back in his chair. “I want to be up-front. I knew your father. He was my brother and my friend.”

Thorne turned away.

“What was he like?” I asked. I knew he was here to talk to me about the monsters, but he knew my dad. The confused look on his face had me adding, “We only found out yesterday who he was. Our mom never told us. She said no one could know who we were.”

“Where is your mother?” Dr. Dunaway asked.

“The man took her.”

“Rosebud,” Thorne hissed.

“What man?”

Thorne glared at him. “We aren’t talking about that.”

“Okay. Let’s talk about why I’m here. Dr. Jefferson gave me a very brief history. I guess now I know why,” he muttered. “Kytten.” He paused. “Would you prefer Kytten or Rosebud?”

“Kytten.” I only wanted Cash to call me Rose.

“And you?” he asked my brother. “Would you prefer Thorne or Mimic?”

When my brother didn’t answer, I elbowed him. “Mimic,” he said grudgingly.

“Kytten, Dr. Jefferson said you were dealing with self-harm. Mimic, what about you?”

“I’m only here for this appointment, so you can’t tell anyone who my father was.”

“Would you like to leave?”

“Yes.”

“Kytten,” Dr. Dunaway spoke. “Would you like Mimic to stay?”

NO! I didn’t want him to stay. I didn’t want him to hear everything. I didn’t want him to hear anything, if I was honest.

“He can go,” I said as calmly as I could.

“You sure?” Thorne asked, and I nodded, trying to give him a smile that wouldn’t tell him what I was feeling. I didn’t want him to see my shame. He didn’t waste any time getting out of the room.

“Your father was a good man. He worked hard to keep his brothers safe.” He was silent for a minute before he asked, “Did he know about you?”

“I don’t know. Mom would never tell us anything. She kept us hidden.”

“What do you mean, hidden?”

“We didn’t go to school. We traveled around a lot, too. Whenever the man found us, we had to leave. Not even the people she rented from knew we were there.”

“Did the man know about you?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Do you know who the man was?” I kept my eyes down, focusing on my hands as I nodded. “Will you tell me who he is?”

I lifted my eyes then. “No.”

“Why not?”