Why hello again. Just another story before my school year starts. This story is going to be a little different, in perception and characters. You may have noticed that I'm putting in a new character, hopefully this goes well. It's in a first person view narration, through the thoughts and sights of a girl. I'm pretty excited for this story, it's a different style from all the other stories I've written in. If you are confused at anytime during this first chapter, please be patient. All the answers will unfold slowly through each chapter.
Enjoy!
~{:Chapter 1- Introduction:}~
I'm not the best at introduction, so as a typical introduction I'm going to start with a hello.
Hi.
My name is Kayla, I'm a 5ft 6', 17 year old female. I have a hourglass body type, not the skinniest but also not the chubbiest. I have my dad's brown eyes with a little mixture of my moms green. My hair is brown, reaching to the length at the end of my shoulder blades, with a tint of red when the sunlight hits it just right. I'm not much of a girly girl; wearing the normal skinny jeans, sneakers (maybe combat boots if I feel dangerous), and a plain black shirt with occasionally a jacket over top.
Sorry if this entry sucks, I'm currently writing down my thoughts in this journal that I found lying around the base. I'm going to tell you a little bit about myself before I begin on the adventure that has forever changed my life. I was born in the state of Pennsylvania out in the suburbs. Personally I thought it was perfect, places were close but sparse, it was still but active. People were local and well-known, this made connections more convenient. When I was 11 I started taking piano lessons for a skill, quit when I was 13 out of boredom. Since then I've self taught myself learning some songs once and a while. As the world grew, more dangers started lurking in the dark, as a result my dad signed me up for some martial arts classes. Began with a beginner white belt, enhanced, ending with a black belt. After that no one in the family has messed with me. Enough about that though, let me tell you about my family.
As a 14 year old everything seemed pretty normal. Going into high school, acne having a party on your face, getting the gist of braces fun stuff like that. I took studies pretty seriously so I could prepare myself for a brighter future. My parents took education as a life essential, they wanted me to become the independent women I am now. I was raised by my fabulous parents, giving the right amount of discipline but just as much love. I was accompanied by my little sister since I was 4 years old. I remember her being such a spark of energy, showing her crazy creativity through her drawings and art... On the walls. Yeah, my parents weren't too happy with that, but she was just a little toddler what did they expect? We traveled a lot as a family, practically went all over the world experiencing new cultures. I will always remember their smiles, laughs, humor. How could I forget.
I remember that night. I was with my sister in my room just hanging out, she was only 10 years old. She'd grown up so fast, maybe a little too fast. Judging by her personality she acted like she was the queen of the lands. It's like her whole persona had changed from the time she was a toddler to almost a pre-teen. Each year she showed a different personality, it was truly amazing. But this year her personality was confusing as ever. She showed signs of shyness but yet she was as loud as ever, as if her own emotions were contradicting their selves. Guess those are hormones for ya'. Anyhow, it was getting pretty late into night and we had school the next day. My mom came into the bedroom quietly knocking on the door signaling that she was going to come in. Her face peeked from the doorway until she fully made her way in.
I can recall her voice being so gentle and smooth. "Girls it's time for bed, you start your first day of high school tomorrow missy. I suggest you get some rest." Her eyes fell upon mine communicating her eyes with her words. I looked at her seeing the notion to say goodnight. I looked back at my sister, dark brown eyes connecting with mine. I gave her a smile and playfully shoved her off my bed.
"Alright get out of here, night." I say, she rolled her big eyes rounding her goodnights as well. When she walked over to the door I realized how tall she'd gotten. I was only 5 4' at the time and she was 4 12'. Not only did her growth show but her hair as well. It use to be so thin and light, but as time grew so did her hair; getting thicker, longer, and darker. She closed the door behind her as it made that clicking sound indicating it was fully shut. I wrapped myself in the blankets set on my bed drifting to sleep peacefully.
I just wished it would have stayed that way, peacefully I mean. Sometimes I wish that I could have gone back in time to at least say that I loved them. I wasn't prepared for the fire, the deaths, the mistakes. I guess everything happens for a reason. I was pulled away from my sleep when I heard screaming, but it wasn't from a person, it was from an alarm. My eyes burst open from the sudden changes in the atmosphere. I remember being warm going to bed but now I was scorching hot. My eyes stung from the smoke moving into my room. I closed them immediately opening my window next to my bed. I quickly looked back remembering I still had family in there and that I needed to get them out. I ran back over to the door feeling with the back of my hand, it was warm but not deathly hot. At that moment of time I was thankful for taking those martial arts classes, my foot connected with the door throwing it open. The flames quickly engulfed the hallways, the stairs, and were now headed for my room.
I never really thought that life could be so crude or unfair. My family didn't really deserve it, if anyone did it was me. I knew I couldn't have saved them, it was too late, I just wish I was a minute earlier. From that point it was a blur, I remember the flashes of Blue and Red lights at the scene. A man trying to give me a mask for more oxygen.
"Are any of your family members still in there!" A firefighter came up to me yelling.
I took the oxygen mask off and nodded my head frantically. "Yes. My mother, father, and little sister." It was kind of hard to speak when smoke stayed in your lungs. He just nodded and left getting his other men to join him in the rescue, but before he could the house started to fall apart. The roof caved in on itself, wood being chard to grey dust. Other men and women took their long water spouts, aiming at the orange glowing monster consuming my house. It took them a while but they soon managed to put everything out. Only burnt wood and chard metal was left. One of the policeman came up to me as I was sitting down in the ambulance, hypnotized by the smoke emitting from what once was a house. Her hair was pulled back into a bun; black, kind of short. Little fractions of her hair swayed across her face. She wore these glasses that made her green eyes pop. Not to mention her voice, stern but had a hint of sympathy in it.
"Hi my name is Victoria, I work for the police department. Do you have any family or friends that we could contact for you."
I recollect looking at her and saying "No." My parents didn't really talk a lot about their parents, probably because they were all dead, or they were drunks. Same way with friends, I didn't really make any. They all thought I was weird for some reason. Either way, I didn't have any other family/friends but them.
It was a day after the incident and I stayed at this orphanage overnight. I was eating in their kitchen area when I got called down to the main registration room down on the main floor near the entrance. There were 3 policeman looking at me with these sad facial expressions. I'm not sure what was wrong with me, if it was normal at the time, or if I was just 'different', but I didn't feel anything when they told me my parents died in the fire along with my sister. I couldn't make out any expression on myself, I just stayed neutral.
"How did the fire start." I finally said.
"We thoroughly investigated the debris to find this. "One of the investigators held up a bag with the written words 'Evidence' at the top. Inside contained what looked like a curling iron and a can of hairspray. "Do you think this could have any connection?"
My jaw instantly dropped. Some days my mom would have these meetings for her job during the evenings, she would use her curling iron and hairspray to make sure the curls held in place. Sometimes she would even forget to turn off the iron, but luckily I would be able to catch it just in time and turn it off. This time however, I was too late. "Y-Yes... I think so."
"We believe that the iron was left on during the night beside the can of hairspray, which is highly flammable. This most likely caused the can to heat up and then explode, starting the fire."
Pretty much after that conversation things just went downhill from there. I was put into an orphanage permanently until I was adopted by my new parents, but here's the thing with adoptions. Adults prefer babies and toddlers then some stuck up teenagers, supposedly, like me. I didn't really mind waiting I was patient. Waiting patiently turned into a day or two, then weeks, then months. Not a day goes by that I think of what I could have done to save my parents and little sister. I would have nightmares about it every night, although it has lightened up a bit. There wasn't really much to do around the orphanage besides eat, sleep, and maybe watch some T.V, but they didn't really get lots of stations. I did learn a few things or two while I was in the orphanage; like don't bother the upper class, a group of 16 year older kids and up, when they are outside of their dorms. Trust me, that is a day I will never forget. I would always be bullied or abused by them. I was still 14 at the time all this happened. They would call me by these childish names, poke me, maybe even punch me once in a while. But none of that really hurt me, except when one of them started to call me Killer Kayla.
They blamed me for my parents death, saying that it was all my fault. I should have been more aware of my surroundings, how I was stupid for not noticing. One day it got a little too far and I used my martial arts for protection. I ended up being the one in trouble, the irony of it too. I may have twisted her leg back a little too far, snapping the ligament to her knee, may I just say that I regret nothing. Except for the fact after that day I was badly beaten up. A group of her friends went after me holding me down on the floor, as the others kicked me, punched me, spitting in my face. I can't tell you how weak I felt, how vulnerable I felt to be in that position. Afterwords, they told me not to tell another sole what happened or else the next beating would be much worst. I took their word for it, and since that day I haven't spoke another word to anyone.
My 15th birthday had past, I had spend that whole day sitting down just lying around my room all alone. The bedroom was nothing near the room I had when I was 14 living with my real parents. My sheets weren't gray, my bedroom didn't look depressing, and the window next to my bed wasn't broken. Before this night I've planned it before but it wasn't stable enough. I didn't have enough money, a backup plan, or a place I was going to sneak off too. Now that I had a year to plan and gather all the essentials I remember telling myself "Today is the day, I'm getting out of here."
I was ready to escape, it was time for me to be free. When night time rolled around I packed up everything, including money, an extra pair of clothes, a weapon (hey you never know going out into a world as dangerous as it is. Plus it took me a while to earn the money to buy this thing. Do you know how hard it is to sneak a concealed pocket knife into an orphanage without anyone knowing, yeah it's not easy.) some food, and water. I dressed up in my black skinny jeans, hoodie, and black converse sneakers with my hair tied in a ponytail. I grabbed the backpack and slid it onto my back, opening the window and crawling out silently and carefully. I placed my feet onto the balcony that you see in city apartments and shuffled down that latter dropping myself onto the slick black concrete ground.
I was on my way to freedom and adventure. I looked back at the place that I escaped from reminiscing in the moment and turned back taking my steps to a new experience. I didn't know how long I was walking, I stuck with the shadows avoiding as much light as possible. I walked down some alleyways, streets, and bridges getting as far away as I could from... Well where I was at the time. I needed to find somewhere to escape, get away from all these problems. Morning was soon arriving as I could tell from the peak of golden yellow coming from behind the trees. At that moment I knew I had to find shelter fast, or at least somewhere to hide until night had arrived again. I knew that the orphanage would soon find out that I was gone and call the cops, and that's exactly that they did. In some town areas I walked by signs would be posted on the walls of stores, or on televisions sets.
Every once in a while I would see them pop up, but then one day they started to disappear. All the signs, alerts had stopped. I had become non-existent to the world now. I figured that maybe the police had finally given up on the search, and that's exactly what happened. Not that I was complaining, I didn't want anyone or need anyone in my life, I was a full independent person now, or so I thought.
Not only did my food start to run out but my water as well. I had spend nearly all my money on food and water, with the remaining left it was practically useless. Things were just too expensive at the time. I made my journey to Philadelphia, PA exhausted and hungry. My legs ached all over along with the splitting headache that was starting to make me nauseous. The shadows of the night began to walk among the living as the day grew darker. The moon was out and the night felt pretty cool. Leaves fell from the trees in browns, yellows, and oranges. I found myself stumbling into an alleyway, it was dark, kind of comforting. I decided to take shelter there thinking I would get some good rest. I huddled myself over to the corner of the alley depriving myself of as much light as possible. The wall supported my back, as the cold damp ground was now my bed. I placed my worn out backpack on the ground, using it as a pillow. I relaxed my body feeling all the emotions gathering up inside.
I remember crying that night. I thought that maybe I finally figured everything out. My body had finally caught up with the events that happened since that one year. I missed my family, my home, I was even beginning to miss my school. The cool wind started to pick up sending chills up my body. I huddled as close to my body as possible keeping as much warmth as I could. I know I'd been in better shape, but walking such a long distance through the rain and cool air can make a mess out of you. I had a dirt stains all over my clothes matching my face, my hair looked like I just woke up in the morning and decided not to brush it, my shoes were getting warn out almost to the point of no return, and don't get me started on the stench.
It had been 6 months when I was out on my own surviving the cool rainy weather of autumn. At that point I had definitely ran out of money, food, and water. I guess you could call me homeless. For the rest of the other 6 months I'd learn to adapt being alone, surviving using a plastic bottle I found off the streets to use as a water canteen. You don't really think about food when it's just there for you. You wouldn't believe the amount of food that people waste, let's just say it was enough for me to survive off of. Living on the streets I learned you need to have a defense. From past experience, it's good to keep a protective weapon on you. Not to mention some martial arts skills for defense, but if things came down to it murder. Personal Hygiene, you need to have a good health to prevent yourself from having infections and dying. I may or may not have stolen a few items here or there to keep myself in good health. Brushing your teeth is a must. Survival of the fittest right? Seriously, I'm kind of a clutz and trying to climb fences to escape intruders coming at you with knives; can leave you with a couple of cuts here and there. Don't forget staying fit, on nights when my life is being threatened I would practice my martial arts. Using trash bags as punching bags, fences and walls as obstacles, and my pocket knife as a last minute resort.
All these rules were key to my survival out in the streets, and on a certain night, those rules changed my life. One night I was walking down a concrete sidewalk scavenging for some food to eat. Everything seemed pretty normal a few cars passing by, people trying to avoid eye contact with you, the usual. I heard a slight scream though, not the excited screams you hear when someone wins the lottery, no. This scream was a panic scream, it sounded male. Then I heard a cry of pain, like when you get impaled by something(if you even know what that sounds like). Being a curious human I wanted to know what it was, but also being smart I cautiously stayed back. I ran over to the side of this brick wall that lead into the alleyway. I peeked my head around the corner seeing two men, one lying on the ground, and the other standing over him with what looked like a butterfly knife. I couldn't make out their faces at the time but it looked like the man standing over the other male, had this Blue suit on. When the other had on this Red suit.
The man in blue was speaking out these words, but they seemed foreign to me. Was he speaking french? Anyhow, he was saying something to the man on the ground before he lifted up his knife swinging it toward his chest. Now I didn't know if it was the adrenaline that got to me, or the fact I thought I had this strange feeling I had a connection with the guy, but I leaped forward. I ran over to the man in Blue and tackled him to the ground, catching him off guard. He fumbled to the floor with me on top of him, I didn't know what got over me, I just started throwing punches. To the chest, upper-stomach and ribs. He made this painful sounds with his throat, reversing the situation. I remember him saying something in his heavy accent.
"You shouldn't have done zhat, mon petite fille." Yeah still have no clue what the dude said at the end.
He threw his fist to my face, but I quickly blocked grabbing his arm. He used the other one to stab, but I tightly grabbed his hand throwing him to the my side. I got up kicking the knife out his hand, which was pretty stupid of me. He grabbed my foot kicking me from my weight sending me to the hard cold ground. He then lifted me up, pinning me harshly against the brick wall. Which was his stupid doing, I lifted up my leg connecting with his crotch. He fell the ground saying some more words in his french, probably swearing out a storm.
At the moment, it was a perfect time to escape. I turned around to see the man in Red still on the ground. In my head I was thinking of how I didn't want to leave him, but I also didn't want to stay a second longer. As a choice, I went over to him supporting him on my weight. As fast as I could we made it to another alleyway that I knew was farther away, not to mention safe. Luckily I've been on the streets enough to know some secret short cuts. No one would ever see us trespass. Besides it was an abandon shelter that someone left to die overtime. It wasn't the perfect place to live, with the green growing inside of it, windows that were probably once new, and the water damaged floor tiles, but hey it was home. I'd made ourselves way into the building, checking the outside to make sure no one followed. I placed the injured man on the side of the wall, while I took out my backpack from underneath this desk, I hide it behind. I unzipped the bag rummaging through to find some medical supplies. I took out the bandages, antiseptic, the bottle of collected water, and a rag.
I gathered the supplies into my hands making my way over to the injured man. He looked so peaceful just lying there sleeping off the pain. I set the supplies beside him taking a look over him to see if he needed any assistance. From what I could tell he was bleeding near his abdomen. A blood stain was more prominent there, I took off his suit jacket, tie, vest, and white shirt that was underneath. I could definitely tell he worked out, his body was pretty pleasing to the eye. What I'm a girl, I have the right to gander. But dang he had a lot of clothes on, how long did it- sorry getting off track. I found his entry wound and grabbed the bottle of water pouring the clear substance over the wound to clean off the mixture of dry and new blood. I took the rag softly dabbing drying off the access liquid. The antiseptic was then smeared over the wound being accompanied by a white bandage tied around it. I grabbed back his clothes only dressing him in his white shirt, I buttoned the shirt half way before placing it over him. I lifted up his left hand slipping down the sleeve repeating it to the other side, pulled down the shirt sliding it down his head. From there on I buttoned it the rest of the way. With what bottle of water I had left I cleaned up his face, clearing the dry blood off his lip and nose. Taking a step back from the Red I observed a little bit more.
I thought maybe the guy was a burglar, with this Red ski mask on and everything, but he was wearing a suit. That's what threw me off guard, what would a man wearing a very expensive suit be doing in an alleyway wearing a ski mask, not to mention having on the color Red. If I were to rob a place I wouldn't wear Red. 'Strange' I thought. Wherever the guy came from, I knew he was bound to bring bad news. But in a way looking at him he looked trustworthy... I know sounds weird, finding a guy off the street wearing a fancy suit but at the same time wearing a ski mask, bleeding almost to death in the middle of a dark alleyway. I probably need to rethink my life choices.
I grabbed my backpack and sat it down near the unconscious man, I laid his head on the fabric material. I took another look and was curious to what I was getting myself into. I bent down next to him feeling up his arms and legs. I put my hands in his pocket feeling for anything. An object was left in his pocket, I took it out finding out it was another one of those butterfly knives. 'What the heck is this, the new must-have criminal weapon?' I thought. I set it to the side reaching in his opposite pocket finding a fancy pocket watch. It was gold, almost looking like a handed down family heirloom, with a design engraved around in a circle. In the middle of the watch was what looked like a hummingbird. It was pretty cool, I shrugged and placed both the weapon and watch by the desk to keep hidden. Just in case, this guy could have been a nutzo for all I knew.
I went back over to the Red and wondered what his identity was. I didn't find any ID or anything on him, just those few things. I recall making my hands over to his neck slipping my fingers gently underneath his mask slightly lifting before he quickly grabbed both of my hands. I slightly jumped at the sudden action 'wow you can wake up to me barely touching your mask but you can't wake up when I'm carrying you up two flights of stairs to fix your injury...' I thought to myself at the time. I looked into his eyes they seemed angered but calm. But there was something else behind that mask that was comforting, wow that didn't sound crazy... In that split second of a jump scare my heart rate came down to its normal range. I stared at the man with soft eyes, and let go of his mask, as he slowly did the same with my arms. He didn't leave eye contact, it was sort of intimidating. I guess it took him a while to figure out where he was, because he looked around the building in a panic way before saying.
"Merde."
To Be Continued...
