The Lie

"My daughter's name is Ella, and I'm Stacy, Stacy Smith."

"Smith... that's a basic last name," Amora smirked, trying to sit up in the bed of the guest room.

"Ah-ah-ah, nope. Give it a rest. You overexerted yourself. Don't move around." Stacy warned.

"I need to go." Amora tried to sit up again.

Stacy was insistent, "I said no. If I let you walk out right now, you'd be easy prey for whoever is after you."

"Please don't leave Amora. Please don't go." Ella begged, and while her mother was about to shush her, she looked back at Amora instead.

"Can't you see that even Ella wants you to stay?"

"Both you and her are in danger as long as I'm here. You'll both be killed."

"That's false. Whoever is after you doesn't know you're here. You're not safe living in alleyways and the streets." There was a brief silence between the three. "The news stated you were dead. So seeing you in that alleyway was quite the shock. The police around here, have been searching for something. But why would they lie about you being dead? And what are they looking for?"

"Me, I assume."

"But why?"

"The man who is after me, most likely bribed or threatened the Mayor herself. More than likely, if a cop spots me, I'll be either arrested or straight up shot on the spot." Amora said, being brutally honest.

"But that's just not... that can't be."

"Trust me, the man I'm up against, is no joke, which is why I cannot stay here."

"I won't allow you to leave in this condition, so sit down and just... be quiet."

Amora let out a desperate sigh. "Fine... fine... just don't say I didn't warn you of the bad luck and danger I'll cause inadvertently."

Stacy sighed, pointed to the door, and Ella stepped out. "I'm going to pick up some food, most likely some kind of pizza. What do you prefer on it?"

***

"What kind of pizza would you like?" Leon asked, handing Amora the computer. She looked over the various options and picked a kind she'd never had before. "Taco Pizza..." She whispered, her mouth starting to drool.

"That's a good choice. It's really good." Aya said, wrapping her arms around Amora's face.

"Hey! Let go! I can't see the options!"

"Just pick one! Any button!"

"No! What if I put pineapple on it?!"

"Pineapple on pizza is delicious! Have you seriously never tried it?!"

The two struggled, with Amora hanging onto the computer as to not drop it.

"Just try pineapple pizza! Try it!"

"No!!! It sounds disgusting!"

Andrew entered the room silently, he quickly turned his head and spoke up. "What?! Pineapple on pizza is amazing!"

"See?!"

"Ewwww! You guys are gross!"

***

"I'll have some pineapple pizza."

"Really?" Stacy asked, looking toward Ella, who was standing with her hands clasped together in the hallway.

"Yes." Amora replied, staring out the window as rain quietly pelted against it.

"Ella loves Pineapple pizza. Is it really that good?"

Without turning back, Amora replied, "I have no idea." She had a princess blanket covering her legs and stomach.

Stacy let out a small laugh before picking up her phone and keys, and leaving the room, going down the stairs and out the front door.

***

"You don't need to eat in here with me." Amora said, slowly picking up the slice of pineapple pizza off her plate.

"Trust me, we want to, we aren't forcing ourselves to."

Ella scarfed down her piece of pineapple pizza.

"Hawaiian pizza huh... do you really think Hawaiians eat this?" Stacy asked, looking a little disgusted.

"Maybe. This is my first time trying it, you should try some too."

"Maybe."

The two sat silently, poking at the pizza as if it'd make it go away or look more appealing.

"Well, here we go." Amora said, gulping and chewing on the pizza. The warm and sweet flavors melted into her mouth, and she almost felt like crying as she'd not had anything warm and with such flavor for weeks at least.

"Huh. What do you know? It's delicious."

"Told you." Ella said, smiling with her face covered in marinara sauce.

"Yeah yeah..." Stacy said, taking another bite. "Still raining, huh?"

"I prefer the rain." Amora said, continuing to eat her pizza.

Although she could only see Amora's corner of her face, Stacy could tell she was crying just by looking at the corner of her eye. A tear fell down her face, and Amora whispered something quietly to herself.

"Pineapple really does taste good on pizza. You two were right."

Stacy decided to remain silent, to allow Amora to reminisce the past. Ella didn't seem to notice anything wrong, and continued to eat her pizza slice.

***

A while later, Amora finally turned to look at Stacy, having eaten a couple of slices of warm pizza.

"Thank you."

"Don't thank me. You needed help." Stacy said, putting Amora's plate on the floor. "In a bit, I'll prepare some cake, but for now, I have some questions." She returned to her chair and crossed her legs.

"That's fine."

"What were you doing in the alleyway?"

Amora sat silently for a moment.

"Trying to find the person who is taking random people."

"That seems like the least of your problems right now."

"It was. I was stupid to think I could find them and stop them. If anything, they deserve to die for what they've done."

"Maybe that's true, but perhaps they are hurt, perhaps they are doing what they think is right."

"What?"

"Lions don't think of eating humans as wrong, do they? So maybe this person doesn't see what they are doing as wrong either. Perhaps they think it'll help them, perhaps they think they can redeem themselves later."

Amora sat silently for a moment, staring at the plate on the floor. "Perhaps."

The two remained silent for a while more.

"You should rest. I'll bring up a slice of cake for you later, but for now, just close your eyes and rest. You needn't worry about things you can't do right now."

"Yeah... you're right. I'll rest."

"Good. I'll be back soon. And I'm locking the door, so don't think of going anywhere. The bathroom is just in that next room. Don't try the locked door."

"Ha... seems like I'm a prisoner more than anything."

"Think of it as... forceful treatment?"

"I guess that helps."