[i]...I catch you leaking secrets...[/i]

"So, what made you decide to run off and do that anyway?"

December had been asked the same question by her father more than once, and she just didn't have an answer that had satisfied him, apparently. She couldn't tell him the truth. [i]"Oh, you know, I needed to get out in the middle of nowhere so I wouldn't hear other people's thoughts in my head anymore. No biggie."[/i] Yeah, that just didn't work.

She sighed, still not able to come up with a better lie. "I just needed to get away," she shrugged. "Empire is... a mess. It was when I left, and it's worse now. Night after night after night on the news, it's all crime and depressing stories. I just needed somewhere I didn't have to hear that anymore. Or anything at all, for a while."

"Well you could have stayed on the continent at least, you know. You didn't have to go half way around the world."

"Jim." Her mother's tone was sharp. The two of them had had this argument before, apparently. Her father seemed to be sure that something awful had happened. Her mother blamed him for refusing to move because he was waiting on a promotion that never came...

[i]...kill... ...beautiful women... ...booze...[/i]

She lifted a hand, rubbing at her forehead. The room was becoming almost as unbearable as the rest of the city. The uncomfortable feeling was only growing, and she didn't think it had anything to do with her parents, either. Something about... a moving truck?

[i]...tacos...[/i]

"Maybe I should stop coming home. All you guys do is argue when I'm here."

That caused both of her parents to stop talking, but it only made their inner thoughts rage harder, and that was worse. She picked up her wine glass and drained the rest. She didn't even feel hungry anymore.