Chapter 2: 'Departure'

A gentle knock sounded at the door; my sister poked her head into my room as she pushed it open, “Morning Kat,” she greeted cautiously, “Mum asked me to wake you up.” She quickly pulled her head back and shut the door behind her. The sound of her footsteps quickly faded down the hallway.

I groaned, rolling over to meet my dark and blurry room, barely lit by the morning light trying to make its way through my navy curtains. The florescent red digits on my alarm clock read 6:01, much to my horror. I blinked at it in annoyance and rubbed my tired eyes. Last night would have had to be the worst night’s sleep I’ve ever had, and Mum decides to damn well wake me up at six in the morning? My nightmares are usually bad, but for some reason last nights had been so much more vivid than usual. Images of a yellowed letter and a safe in the attic flashed in my mind; it was definatly one of my weirder nightmares.

Pushing my covers back, I started to climb out of bed. My foot caught in my blankets causing meet to tumble out onto my back and hit my head on the edge of my bedside table. “Damn it!” I grumbled, grabbing the side of the bed to push myself up. I pulled my curtains back to reveal an unusually sunny, although early, day. I stumbled, still half-asleep, to the door and walked out into the hallway.

As I stepped out onto the cold, polished oak floor, I felt something under my foot. I looked down to see an open envelope, similar to the one in my dream last night. Frowning, I picked it up to take a look. A cold shiver ran down my back as I read the address on the front; extravagant black ink spelling the name ‘Katerina McKinley’.

It wasn’t a dream.

Clutching it tight, I took off down the hall to the kitchen. The smell of pancakes met my nose as I ran through the opened door. I dropped the letter down in front of my mother, “It wasn’t a dream, was it?” I asked, hoping she would reassure me that it was, that I’d gone mad or something.

She sighed, scraping the burnt pancakes off the pan to flip them over, “Evie… would you mind leaving for a few minutes… I need to talk to your sister.” The twelve year old scowled before stalking off down the hall to her room. Mum watched her storm off and then looked back to me, “It… it wasn’t a dream. After breakfast you need to pack, I’ve booked us seats on the train to London airport for two o’clock; your flight leaves at ten.” She stacked a couple of pancakes on each of the mismatching, chipped plates and handed me one.

I grabbed the maple syrup and orange slices, arranging the orange neatly before squirting it all with syrup. Though somewhat burnt, it looked delicious-- but I could barely bring myself to bring the forkful to my mouth. I gave up, sitting it back down again and turned to mum, “Who am I going to live with? The person who wrote the letter, or is there some other random?”

“You’ll be living with him and his family. I’ve known them for a long time, he was one of the surgeons I used to work with.”

I snorted, “You mean those surgeons you hated? The ones that used to blow up and through surgical instruments at you and the other nurses when they were mad? Yeah, sounds fantastic Mum.” I could barely sit through my classes taught by male teachers, let alone live with one. Especially not ones that could yell.

She gave a half-hearted laugh, “No, he would have to be about the only one that didn’t yell.” She sat down at the table opposite me with her own plate of pancakes. “They’re lovely Kat. You’ve actually met them before when you were little, they adored you.”

“What are their names?” I questioned as I tried and failed to bring up a picture in my head, “I can’t remember meeting them, how old was I?” I picked up my fork, forcing myself to take a bite. The sweet taste of syrup exploded in my mouth, the tasty bliss making it easier to take the next bite.

She followed suit, taking a bite of her own burnt breakfast. A blank look crossed her face, similar to the look she had last night, “I… I um… I can’t remember, sorry Kat. You were about three though.” The vacant gaze dissipated and she went back to eating normally.

I scratched my head, “Mum, are you okay? You’re not having absent seizures are you? Did you remember to take your medication the last night?” I questioned worriedly, scared by her unusual behaviour.

“Yes, I ticked it off when I took it—why?”

“Don’t worry; you were just blanking out a little. I guess neither of us slept very well last night.” I sighed, my thoughts returning to not only what happened with the letter, but the nightmare beforehand.  I often had nightmares about him, but rarely were they that bad. Some, like the one last night seemed far too realistic.

***

I opened my draws to pull out a pair of jeans and my favourite dark blue peasant blouse. I shrugged out of my warm pyjamas, pulling on my clothes on quickly; I didn’t have a lot of time to pack and I didn’t want run out of time and end up forgetting something important. Mum had left my battered pink suitcase beside my door before she went up to talk to Evelyn.

Unzipping the case, I found myself suddenly feeling very drained. It was because of my father that I had to do this; I was leaving my home because of him. It was enough for him to ruin my life with nightmares and flashbacks… a constant terror in the back of my mind, but this was a whole new level. I don’t know how someone could be that selfish. Angrily I stood up; I threw random objects of clothing into my suitcase, flying around my room chucking practically everything in. I stopped myself and looked at my suitcase with a sigh and sat back down beside it. I began sorting through the pile of books and god knows what else I’d thrown in.

I’d managed to throw in the entire Harry Potter collection, the Twilight books and my babies, the Vampire Diaries DVD set. Of course they would all be coming anyway. I sat them carefully to the side and began rummaging the rest of bombsite. I took out my favourite clothing and sat them to the side, next to my books before chucking the rest to the corner of my room; Evie will no doubt snatch them the minute I leave.  I neatly folded the clothing I was bringing and sat inside my large suitcase, layering my books neatly over them. I shoved a handful of underwear, bras and socks into the inside pocket along with my toiletries and a hairbrush.

In the bottom drawer of my desk lay my passport, two years’ worth of savings, an old photo album and other personal and nostalgic items. I sat down, opening the album to reveal my old baby pictures, ones of me and mum up in Scotland. Some of them were cut through the middle or along the side… just another reminder of when David used to be in our lives. After a few of my baby pictures, they transformed into a three year old version of me; it looked as if I had skipped an entire year of my life. That was the year we went into hiding, the year David had gotten violent. I shut the photo album and grabbed the other contents from the drawer to cram into my suitcase.

***

Evelyn avoided my eyes as we sat down at table we had booked on the train. She hadn’t talked or looked at Mum or me since I came out of my room with my packed suitcase earlier. I didn’t know what Mum had told her, but whatever it was her eyes had been cold and tinged with red since. “Evie, what’s wrong?” I asked softly, unable to put up with the heavy silence any longer.

She lifted her head to glare at me before untucking her short, dark blonde hair, letting it fall into her face and continuing her sketch. The scraping noises of her sharp, precise strokes were muffled as the train started, the drones of its diesel motor filling the carriages. I sighed, giving up on my fuming sister and pulled my book out of my rucksack. I opened it to the first chapter, letting the words of fantasy take me away from the real world.

After a while, I sat my book down and leaned my head on Mum’s shoulder, watching the colourful blur of trees and houses outside the window. I’d grown up in Britain and although I’ve always loved travelling, the thought of not living here—living in a whole other continent, was scary. I’ve always wanted to go to America… but maybe not to live there. I knew I would get back here someday, but who knew when?

Mum leant down and kissed my forehead, wiping my long, half-mad curls away from my face. “Are you okay Kitty Kat?” She asked, using my old nickname.

I smiled grimly, “No… but I’m coping.” I replied as I fiddled with her fingers, weaving them around my own, “How about you?”

She squeezed me gently, “Same here.”

The train slowed to a stop as it entered Kings Cross Station. Crowds of people littered the platforms, some of the carried large suitcases like my own; others had briefcases and laptop bags. One man caught my eye on the other platform, he ran wildly towards one of the trains, trying to keep up as it sped away. Mum, Evie and I have had to do that one more than one occasion… time management wasn’t exactly our strong point.

The doors slid open as we reached the platform and everyone in our compartment shuffled about, getting their gear in order to jump out. Evie opened her pencil case to put her pencil back in after making one final adjustment to her sketch. I leant over the table curiously, trying to get a look at the picture she’d been furiously the drawing entirety of the trip. She quickly flipped the cover of her drawing pad down before I could see anything and shoved it into her bag.

I grabbed my own bag and Mum took my suitcase as we stood to exit the train. Evie followed close behind us as we jumped down onto the platform.

***

“Where’s the terminal?” I asked, turning to my mother. We didn’t have a lot of time until final check in and I was beginning to worry I might miss the flight.

She frowned, scratching her head as she looked up at the flight details on the flashing panel and then back down to the ticket. “This way I think.” She replied, taking off towards the escalator opposite us.

Evie and took after her, struggling to keep up in the dense crowds; thank god we’d already checked my baggage in. We followed her up the escalator, a few steps below her. As she reached the top, she waited for us to catch up. “This way, come on.” She instructed, glancing at her watch.

We made our way over to the check in point with no time to spare, the woman was about to click the rope closed just as we arrived at the gateway. She sighed and pulled it back open for me, “You have a few minutes still; sorry, I thought everyone had arrived.”

I thanked the women and then turned to my mother and sister, “So this is it,” I whispered, “Can I ring you when I get there?” I asked, launching myself into my mother’s arms.

She shook her head sadly, “No darling… it would put everyone in jeopardy. We can’t let David find you.” She held me closely, her other arm around Evie. “I love you, my darling; please always remember that. Be safe.” She let go of me, leaving her arm around Evie, “You better get going Kat.” She said, her eyes brimming with tears as she stepped away.

I turned towards the gate; the woman stood unaffected by our conversation but nodded to me as I walked forwards. I yelped as a pair of arms hooked around my neck, pulling me back. “Evie!” I exclaimed, “What are you doing?”

She handed me a piece of paper and smiled, “Love you sis’.”