Pushing My Limits

The next morning, I woke up to Mom cooking breakfast. This was the first thing unusual, because ever time I've been here it's been Rosa that cooks in the house. The second thing that was odd, was the fact that Alex and Gena were sitting at the counter with mugs in their hands.

At the sight of me, Alex jumped up and tackled me in a hug, "I thought you ran away across the country!" She exclaimed dramatically. I rubbed hand over my face and sighed.

"No, Alex. I'm not as dumb as you think I am," I slightly nudged her off after giving a light hug back. When I pulled away, Gena was behind be to pull me into her arms.

"Sweetie, please don't ever do something like that again," She begged and I sighed.

"I won't Auntie. I promise," I assured her and she exhaled the breath she was holding. She pulled away and looked at me, placing her hand gently on the top of my head, "Glad to see there's not a scratch on your beautiful head," She smiled and I laughed.

We were all silent for a moment, and I knew someone wasn't telling me something. I sighed and looked away, and when I looked back at Gena, her expression was somber, "Kathrine," She started to play with the hem of her shirt like a teenager's first day of school, "Zacky is outside," She finished, "Would you like to see him?"

"Not particularly," I shrugged and she sighed.

"I know you two aren't on the best terms right now. But he's your uncle and wants to make sure you're okay," She explained and I shook my head, "He loves you very much, you know that right?"

"Yeah, because he thinks I'm irresponsible and I'm a complete failure. He's worse than Dad," I snapped.

"Kathrine, please. You know how stubborn he is. He won't leave until he sees you for himself," Gena begged and I sighed.

"Fine. Whatever," I muttered and Gena left me to stand in the middle of the kitchen. Mom smiled at me lightly and Alex remained silent.

I heard the front door open and I heard quick and heavy footsteps approaching the kitchen. I waited for a few moments and soon Zacky rushed into the room and without a thought, took me into his arms and held onto me. I stood on my tiptoes to keep some balance on the ground as he slightly picked me up.

"I'm so sorry, Kat. I didn't mean anything that I said," He told me quickly as he held me. I wrapped my arms around him and scowled. Though he was apologizing, I was still angry at what he had thought about me, "Do you forgive me?" He asked an pulled back. By the expression on my face, he had understood that I wasn't happy with him, "Kathrine," He sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"We'll be upstairs," Mom said softly and led my aunt and cousin upstairs to one of the rooms to talk about me most likely.

We stood there in an awkward silence and I shook my head as he sat down at the table. He motioned towards the chair beside him. I walked over, and chose to sit across from him instead, this way I could look out the window to the sea.

"I'll have a better idea of why you're so mad at me if you tell me everything that's going on," He was quick to the point, resting his hands on the table and folding them neatly. He was studying my face, and I could tell that I wasn't acting as tough as I wanted to be. In the reflection of the mirror I could see was I wasn't convinced that I was alright. My eyes were glazed as I tried my hardest to keep my tears with me. My lips were pouted and I could still see the tear stains that I had encountered last night.

"What if I don't want to talk about it," I snapped and he sighed.

"Your Dad and I are great friends. We've been there through all of the parenting things from first days of school to first bringing our daughters on tour," I cringed at the thought of another tour and he shook his head, "Something happened during Taste of Chaos, Kathrine. I know something happened. I don't know if it happened to you, or if you did something to someone else, or what the hell could have happened."

He leaned closer over the table towards me and his green eyes met mine, "I do know that what happened has changed you as a person. I don't want this change to be permanent, Kat. If you tell me, we can work everything out and you and your dad can go back to how things were before," He said softly and I shook my head and smirked.

"That's where you're wrong, Zack," My voice was harsh and cold, "Things will never be the same. I'm like this forever."

"Don't say that," He whispered.

"You have no idea," I replied.

"Then give me an idea, Kathrine," He urged and I shook my head.

My tough-girl act failed fast, and soon I was breaking down in front of Uncle Zack. My head fell into my hands as I started to sob loudly. A pain seared through the back of my head and I suddenly felt distant from the world. I was a lost person, and no one was there to find me.

I could barely hear his words of comfort as I furiously tried to push him away from me. He tried desperately to pull me into his arms, to show me some sort of affection. It wasn't fair. Simply because I had never pictured something like this ever happening.

^^^^^

Zacky walked down the stairs, exhausted. It had taken an hour to calm down his niece, and another twenty minutes to get her to fall asleep. Alex, Gena, and Val stood up anxiously, "Is she okay now?" Val asked.

"She's asleep," Zacky replied and she sighed.

"I don't know what to do," She sat down again and put her head in her hands.

Zacky and Gena sat down beside her and comforted the worried mother. It was hard seeing your daughter go through this, and the aunts and uncles weren't taking it well either, "Okay, Alex," Zacky turned to his daughter, "You and Kat have had a lot of time together these past months. I know she's said at least the tiniest thing to you."

"Well," She fumbled with her hands.

"She's hurting right now. It's not healthy for her, Alex. If you don't tell us what you know, then we can't help," Gena explained softly.

"I mean, one day she told me that what she went through was hard..." Alex said softly.

"That's not enough. What else has she said?" Zack asked.

"She only told me a name, Dad," She replied and Zacky twisted his head with confusion.

"A name?"

"Yeah. I asked her what happened. She just said a girl's name."

"Well, what was the name?" Zacky asked.

"Um... I'm pretty sure she said it was Elizabeth Greenway," Alex revealed and Zack's face fell blank.

"Are you sure that was the name she said?" He asked and she nodded.

Zack jumped up quickly and ran out the door, yelling that he would be back later. Gena just watched as her husband raced to the car parked out front and sped off down the street. He sped down the street and out of the residential complex and got onto the freeway.

He avoided black and white marked cars and swiftly got on the off-ramp and was shorty arriving at a large house. The house was classic suburb style, with a large green lawn and a wide porch. A large black truck sat outside. Zacky crookedly parked before racing to the front door, knocking hysterically. He kept knocking and didn't stop until the door opened, "Jesus Christ, Zack. What the hell are you doing here?" The man at the door seemed upset, but a person in his state had every right to. He seemed as to just wake up and was rubbing his eyes to adjust to the sunlight pouring in through his front door.

"I need to talk to you," Zacky was almost out of breath, but his adrenaline wouldn't let him slow down.

"About what?" The other man snapped. Obviously, he was unhappy about being woken up by an old friend on his day away from the studio.

"Your niece," The man glared and shook his head.

"If you know anything take it to the police, Zack. I've been through too much shit with everyone on that tour and I need a break," He went to shut the door but Zacky stuck his foot out to stop it quickly.

"This is about my niece too, Man. I need your help," His friend wasn't convinced and tried to shut the door again, "I think Kathrine knows something about Elizabeth, and if she does then maybe we can find out where she is or what happened that night," Zacky said quickly and the man opened the door again.

"Why are you bringing this to me, Zacky?" He asked wearily, sadness pooling in his light eyes.

"Because we both love our family enough to do anything for them, no matter the pain. Shadz daughter is on her way to dropping out of school and leaving everything the world has to offer. She knows something about that night, and I need you to tell me everything about Elizabeth."

"Like what?"

"Who she hung out with, what she did in her spare time, and how she knew Kathrine."

"And you're sure that she knows what happened to Elizabeth?" The man asked sadly.

"I'm surely positive. I have a feeling," The other man sighed and opened the door so Zacky could enter.

"Don't put me through this for nothing, Zack."

"I promise I won't, Jacoby."