Based off of the video game Gone Home. All characters belong to the makers of Gone Home, except for Andie.

An End and A Beginning

6.7.95

3AM.

Katie... I'm so sorry. That I can't be there to see you in person. That I can't tell you all this myself. But I hope, as you read this journal, and you think back... that you'll understand why I had to do what I did. And that you won't be sad, and you won't hate me, and you'll just know... that I am where I need to be.

I love you so much, Katie. I'll see you again. Someday.

Love,

Sam

Katie read and reread Sam's letters trying to make sense of what happened. But before she let herself feel anything she thoroughly made her way through the house, collecting everything connected with Sam and Lonnie. She cleared the house diligently and made sure the basement, secret tunnels and rooms, Sam's room, and the attic were all empty, save for their Great Uncle Oscar's belongings. She made sure every secret door was closed and concealed from view. Instead of putting Sam's belongings in the locker, Katie entered her soon-to-be bedroom, took a box from under the bed, and unpacked it. Then she put Sam's tapes, the basement and attic keys, tattered letters, papers, posters, and photos inside the box. She slid it back under the bed, making sure to move another box in front of it. She knew that when her parents found Sam gone, they'd turn her room upside down searching for clues. She knew they'd blame Lonnie.

After all she found she finally realized that she was exhausted. Her bed wasn't made and she was too tired to find her pillows and blankets among the boxes in her room. So she decided to head up to the attic, since it was a place where Sam and Lonnie found comfort. As she sat down on the sleeping bag and looked at Sam's final letter, tears slowly formed in Katie's eyes. She cried until she couldn't breathe. She cried for Sam and for Lonnie. She cried for her parents who pushed away what they could not understand. However, she cried most of all because she was not there when Sam needed her most. And now she didn't know if or when she would see her sister again.

9:45AM.

After Katie cried she fell asleep. Six hours later sunlight poured into the attic windows, stirring Katie awake. Groggy and sleep deprived, Katie didn't know how to feel. She loved her parents but felt angry at them for refusing to accept Sam as she was. She blamed them for Sam leaving.

She needed to see Sam. To talk to her. She sighed, got up, and went downstairs to make something to eat.

10:50AM.

An hour or so later Jan and Terry pulled into their garage. Katie heard the garage door open but didn't go out to greet them. Part of her didn't even want to see their faces. But she'd have to face them eventually, she figured.

"Katie? You're home? You're home!" Janice, confused but happy, smothered her daughter in a hug. Her dad followed. Katie hugged them reluctantly. Despite everything, she admitted to herself that she still missed them.

"I took a late flight and got in at 1 in the morning."

"Oh, so you already reunited with Sam?" her mom asked, hanging her purse on the chair.

"Not…exactly." Katie took a step back. That's when her parents' eyes fell onto the emptied out kitchen drawers. They turned back to Katie.

"What's happened, Katie?"

"Mom, I got home and I found the house like this. A little…empty. And—"

"And what?" Terry interrupted impatiently, with an edge in his voice.

"Sam's gone," Katie answered quietly. She couldn't look her parents in the eye. "She left me a note, 'Tell mom and dad sorry about the stuff that's missing.'"

Her dad—a normally quiet man who she thought she knew well—began to tear through the house, yelling. Katie tried not to cry. She tried not to yell back at her father.

Janice ran after Terry frantically trying to calm him down, but it was in vain. He tore Sam's room to pieces as Katie expected. Eventually Terry tired from his rampage and comforted Jan who was crying quietly behind him. They returned to the foyer where Katie sat quietly. In her head she was already planning a way to find Sam. Salem was where Sam was heading, so that's where Katie would go.

"This note—it's the only thing Sam left for you?" Terry paced back and forth.

Katie looked up, shaking a little. "No, she also left a note on the door: 'I'm sorry I can't be there to see you in person. We'll see each other again, someday.'" Katie ripped the note off of the front door and handed it to her father.

"That's all."

"And her locker?"

"I wasn't able to get into it."

"Well you don't need to. She had stolen clothes, cigarettes, and of all things, porn."

Katie lowered her head, trying to act surprised. "Oh."

Katie retreated to her room to unpack and her parents went through the house room by room, taking inventory of what Sam took.

All Katie could think about was finding a way to reach Sam. She didn't care what she had to do.

6.9.95

After hugs exchanged, questions answered, and photos developed, Katie began to plan the ask.

12:40PM

The busy hum of the diner excited Katie. She loved Europe so much, but she only realized how much she missed the States now that she was back. She checked her watch and looked around, waiting for someone.

The door opened and Katie smiled, getting up to greet her best friend.

Alex Anderson, or as Katie called her, Andie. Katie's best friend since elementary school. Dark, black, short hair, dark skin, and a chubby frame. Brown eyes that glistened. She was beautiful.

"Alex! Hey!"

"Katie!"

After a year they were reunited. They exchanged a long, tight, squeeze.

"Tell me everything!"

"I will, I will. But first. You've still got your car, right?"

Alex's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Yeah, I do. Why?"

"Well…" Rather than tell her about Europe, Katie spilled to Alex about everything she found in the house. Everything she found about Sam and Lonnie. Judging by how fast Katie spoke, Alex could tell how much she needed to get it off of her chest.

"And I need to find her, Andie. I've got to find her."

4:00PM

"Mom, Dad. Bear with me, here." Her parents shot her a suspicious look. A basketball game glared from the television, causing Terry to turn his head every couple of seconds until Katie grabbed the remote and turned it off.

Finally, having her parents undivided attention, Katie continued.

"As you know I made sure to have a summer job here before leaving for my trip." Jan and Terry both nodded slowly. Thats it, Katie. Remind them you're responsible.

"And when I was away, I missed a lot of important moments with my friends. Andie's birthday, Jane's graduation party. They're understanding, but I know they're upset that I wasn't here."

Terry shifted in his seat. "Katie, honey, what is this leading up to?"

"A road trip." Katie blurted out. "Alex asked me, and I haven't seen her in so long, and I just…" Katie carefully paused and sniffed, as if to hold back tears. She had a plan.

"I just missed her so much." She forced tears to well in her eyes.

Jan and Terry looked at each other, then back at Katie.

"If you can push your first day of work to a month from now, then, I guess it's all right."

Katie would be lying if she said she hadn't used her position as the older sister to her advantage. She always did what was asked of her, and, as she knew now, she fell in favor with her parents because she always dated boys. It didn't mean she never thought about girls, though.

"You guys are the best. Thank you."

So, she had one month.

One month to find Sam.