Chapter 97- Shadows Of The Past

I stared at the figure standing at my door, my heart still contending in my chest. The woman before me wasn't a stranger, not exactly. But the times had put distance between us, made her face strange, even though I knew her better than anyone else.

It was Rhoda. My mother.

Her hair, previously dark and full, was now untidy and graying. Her face, lined with age and the risk of a life spent chasing something that never sounded to fill the emptiness, looked weathered and drained. 

I froze.

Anger ran through me, and I gripped the doorframe tighter as if I might fall if I didn't.

" What do you want? " The words came out flat, detached, 

She blinked, easily unrehearsed for my lack of warmth. Rhoda's eyes — blank and untrustworthy — darted to the side, her fingers shuddering as if reaching for something only she could see.