Ridiculously Long But Much Needed Authors' Note
Hello everybody, it's your adorably funny pal Kaylee, here with the brand new and better (hopefully ^_^) version of "To Have & To Hold" the first of a two part Mortal Kombat series I've come up with. I didn't get a chance to explain last time I started this story, but this is my first ever fanfiction written entirely on my Kindle Fire. So, please bare with me if updates aren't always daily, I'm still getting used to this dang thing. Also, unlike last time I will be giving each chapter a 12 hour rest period before I post a chapter. That way if I write a chapter in the middle of the night, I can come back to it and add or subtract things I like or don't like.
Last time I started this story there was a slight miscommunication between fellow author (completely my fault mind you) and I just wanted to assure all of you that no one's criticism will be over looked. I may not always change something just because someone says to (character wise) and that's usually because I have a reason for a character to act that way. While there will be some randomness to my OC, I'm going to try super hard not to do it too much. But if you get lost, please just let me know and I can either PM you or if enough of you are just like o.O uhhhhhh... what? I can edit it to better explain.
I think that's it... yep. That'll do for now. I hope you all have a wonderful day regardless of when you read this. I know I am every time I get to sit here and write for you lovely ladies and gentlemen.
Xoxo Kaylee
Chapter One
She closed her hazel eyes, wiping a lone tear that had managed to escape before it hit her bruised and swollen lip. 'This was it.' She thought as she prepared to make the most important jump of her life. This would set her free, after this there would be no coming back to any of this...freedom was a fifteen foot drop from her bedroom to the rain soaked ground below. So close, but so far away for someone who was terrified of heights. But there was no other option at this point and her father would wake up soon for another bottle of whiskey... which she had smashed the remaining two in the kitchen sink.
'No going back, not this time... not ever again.' Her brain screamed. 'Just jump Amanda... just let go!'
Her eyes flung open at the sound of thunder above her, looking up at the starless night sky she said a silent prayer. Then, with one push of her long legs she fell to the ground, landing with a dull splash. Grabbing onto a rose bush branch so she didn't topple forward may not have seemed like the best choice but it did its job. Freezing on the spot just below the living room windows, she held her breath and listened for any indication her father had heard her. Only when she was certain he had not, did she exhale and released her now bloodied right hand from the the branch. It hurt like hell, but none of that mattered now, she would deal with it later. Regaining her full balance, she sprinted across the front lawn, jumped the white picket fence, and took off up the road to her first stop just two houses down. Tucked just out of sight in between the Anderson's recycle bins was her back pack she had placed the day before.
She made two more stops on her way before she would be leaving her gated suburban hell for good. An envelope with her life savings from loose brick in the garden wall of Mrs. Douglas' and another envelope containing her mothers' locket which was hidden in a hollow tree stump just outside the gates of the neighboring cemetery. She didn't even bother looking at or putting it on right now as she marched towards the end of street where the last of the street lights marked the end of the block and where she would decide on where exactly it was she was running away to. About a half a mile down the hill that the cemetery was perched upon, Boston's lights painted the cloud filed sky in a washed out pinkish purple glow. That's where she'd make a new start, away from her father...away from it all.
But she had taken all of two steps toward the outermost wall that surround the entire neighborhood, when she saw a pair of familiar headlights turning down the road towards her. 'Oh god,' She thought, 'It was his truck... he had discovered her missing and had come to track her down!' Thinking fast she dipped out of sight along side one of the concrete pillars that parted the rod iron fencing that surrounded the cemetery. The space in between each rod looked just wide enough for her to squeeze through, so that's what she did. Shoving her backpack through first then herself, she had guessed correctly. Once safely in she quickly ran behind a nearby tombstone, flattening herself against it and prayed she hadn't been spotted. She hugged her bag to her chest tightly while holding her breath and running through scenario after scenario in her head. Her best bet was to bolt up further into the cemetery and perhaps lose him in the dark shadows. Her heartbeat pounded in her ears and hands that she almost missed the sound of the car driving past. Relief washed over her and she braved a peek around the edge of the tombstone. The vehicle that drove by caught enough of the street light that she was certain it wasn't her fathers' red truck at all, instead she recognized it as Mr. Douglas' blue mini van.
She pressed her back against her cold stone hiding place and eased her grip from her bag. A sharp stinging sensation caught her attention instead and she remembered her hand were still cut up and bleeding. Fearing the next time her luck would run out, she hastily opened up her bag pulling out her flashlight and an old bandana. Taking it in between her teeth, she ripped it in half and wrapped her wounded hand tightly. It did little to ease the pain, but it would have to do until she could find a place to clean it up properly.
Getting to her feet, she surveyed the area for any sign of a safer way out. She couldn't risk the street again, she would be spotted to easily from there. So without any other choice, she through her backpack over her left shoulder and wondered further in to the creepy cemetery.
It wasn't the fact she was in a spooky cemetery that frightened her. It was stories as had heard of strange figures, screams in the night, and something her father called 'The Specter' that really frightening her. It didn't matter if she believed any of it or not... the story had been drilled into her head since she was a young girl. Instead of trying to comfort her after the death of her mother, her father had filled her head with nightmares of the man who had allegedly murdered her mother in cold blood. As she had gotten older the story he had told never changed, accept for a few nights ago on her 18th birthday.
'He killed your mother, Amanda. He brought her lifeless body to me in the night and said he'd be back for you... he killed your mother because of you!'
Then of course he passed out in a drunken fit, so she hadn't taken him very seriously. But that hadn't stopped the nightmares, rare as they were, they were always the same. I colorless figure watching her. His eyes colorless and unblinking as he observed her from the shadows. It always felt so real. So much so in fact, that she'd sit straight up in bed and turn on her bedside lamp. There was never anything or anyone there, but the feeling remained. The feeling she was never really alone, that just beyond the safety of the light... he was watching.
She was so lost in her terrifying memories she didn't even notice she was now well off the gravel trail that lead to the opposite side of the cemetery. Only the sound of a raven calling to the moon snapped her back to the situation at hand.
Looking around frantically, she cursed herself out. "Damn it, where the hell am I?" She groaned and chucked her backpack against a nearby headstone and rubbed the back of her neck in frustration. "Stupid... there is no such thing as a Specter."
The sound of a snapping branch from behind her caused her to spin around quickly. Her eyes struggled to focus in the blotches of moonlight that was breaking through the retreating storm clouds. Shadows cast from the barren trees in front of her cast human like figures on the ground in front of her. She laughed dismissively and rolled her eyes. "Ooo, spooky shadow people are gonna get me." She said sarcastically. She reached down and picked up a small stone and chucked it at one of the shadows. "There's no such thing as 'The Specter'" She whispered before reaching down for her bag. She hadn't even put hand on her bag when she heard footsteps in front of her. Her eyes widened in terror, her heart leapt up into her throat. Frozen in fear, she watched as a dark shadow crept across her hand and bag.
"Keep telling yourself that." The voice hissed.
