Katrina was groggily awoken on the second day of school to the sounds of Bastille's "Pompeii" flooding from her phone. Realizing that this was her emergency back up morning alarm, she leapt out of bed to quickly find an outfit for the day. Finding a turquoise and black, three-quarter sleeve body con style dress hanging in her closet, she hastily threw it on, shoving her trusty black combat boots on to match. Slipping on her favorite leather jacket, Katrina grabbed her school bag and checked her appearance. Deciding against make up or styling her hair, choosing to let it fall in the messy waves created from the braids she slept in, Katrina left her room and proceeded to the kitchen. Hiking her bag higher onto her shoulder, she scrounged through the fridge to find some decent breakfast. Deciding on a strawberry greek yogurt, Katrina headed out her front door, surprised to see Lydia's car waiting outside.
"I didn't know we were riding together again Lydia." Katrina remarked as she slid into the passenger seat.
"I was driving this way anyway." Lydia replied with an eye roll.
"And here I thought it was because you wanted to spend time with me." She muttered, turning her gaze out the window to watch the scenery pass by. Katrina knew that the relationship between Lydia and herself was strained since Kyle's disappearance but she was desperate for some kind of family connection. Since her parents were never around and did not seem to care what she did, Lydia was the only person left but she was more worried about her reputation at school than making sure that Katrina was happy and loved. Watching the trees go by, Katrina began to replay what happened the day Kyle disappeared.
"Hurry up Kat!" A teenage boy called running through the forest.
"Ky… I can't… run that… fast!" Katrina panted as she tried to keep pace with Kyle. The cool autumn air was brisk against the twelve year olds skin while she trailed after her brother, traveling deeper into the woods.
"Here, this is perfect!" She heard Kyle shout a few yards ahead of her. Katrina slowed her pace to a jog, finally stopping next to Kyle, grabbing the nearest tree for support. Gasping, Katrina tried to get the air back into her lungs. "I need to do more cardio," she thought as she took a look at what Kyle was doing.
Noticing he was digging in his pockets, Kat asked, "Hey, what are you searching for?"
"Glad you asked, dear little sister," producing a pocketknife from his jeans. "I came up with the BRILLIANT idea of carving something into one of these trees to show we will always be together even though I am in high school now."
Katrina grinned brightly at her older brother and launched herself onto him in a smothering hug. Maneuvering behind her brother, she rested her forehead on his back while he started to carve what he wanted to say.
"And done!" Kyle said as he stepped sideways to allow Katrina to see the finished product. The tree was now marked with "Katrina + Kyle, big bro – little sis" surrounded by a large heart. With tears in her eyes, Kat hugged her brother tightly.
"I love you Ky." She said, squeezing her brother more.
"I love you too, Kat," returning the hug with just as much strength. "Now lets go home."
Slinging his arm around Katrina's shoulders, Kyle began to lead his sister out of the forest. Suddenly there was the sound of cracking branches behind the pair. Kyle turned his head to investigate, still making sure his sister was right next to him. His eyes widen at the sight behind them and he immediately stopped in front of Katrina, grabbing her arms, forcing her to look at him.
"Listen very carefully Kat, there is someone behind us. Do not look back, run straight home. I'm going to protect you, don't worry about me. I'll be fine. I love you so much, my dear little Katrina. Now go," he hastily explained in a whisper, pressing a quick kiss to her forehead. "Run!" He hissed, pushing her towards the direction of home.
She obeyed her brother, taking off in the direction of home. She kept running until she heard a male voice screaming for her.
"Kat!" Freezing mid step, she looked back toward where she came.
"Kyle!?" She screamed, circling around, frantically searching for her brother. He was gone, vanished, missing. Katrina didn't know what to do; her heart was pounding in her chest, tears streaming down her face as she tried to look for signs of her brother.
Taking his last wish to heart, she continued running home. Crashing through the front door, she told her parents what had just happened. Hours turned into days, days into weeks, and so on. There was no trace of what had taken place in the woods or of Kyle.
"Kat? Kat!" Katrina was startled out of her memories by the yelling of her name.
"God, will you pay attention to what I'm tr-, Katrina what's wrong? Why are you crying?" Once she took a look at Katrina, Lydia's tone went from bitchy to concerned. Tears were streaming slowly down her face going unnoticed by Katrina, as well as the fact that they had arrived at the school.
"Sorry, sorry, just caught in a memory, I'm fine." Katrina began frantically wiping the tears from her face, hoping that her eyes weren't absolutely bloodshot from crying.
"Were you thinking about…" Lydia's voice trailed off, already knowing what Katrina was thinking of. Kat could only respond with a nod, confirming to Lydia that she was replaying what had happened to Kyle. Lydia's own eyes began to water at the thought of all the pain Katrina put herself through. She knew that Kat was always blaming herself for Kyle's disappearance even though it wasn't her fault at all. Turning to face Katrina, who was trying to fix her appearance before school started, Lydia grabbed her hands and faced her.
"I know I don't really show it at school, but I do love you very much Kat." Lydia said softly, staring down at their joined hands. "I know you like your loner vibe but if you want some one around, you can always come to me."
"Thanks Lyd," Katrina murmured while taking deep breaths to calm down.
"Now, let me grab my bag and I will put some makeup on you so you'll be set for school. Hold still." She proceeded to apply a thin layer of foundation to her face to hide the sickly pale color her skin had turned while crying. Adding some eyeliner and a swipe of mascara, Lydia finished helping Katrina look like she was fresh and awake instead of washed out from crying. This is the happiest Katrina has been in a long time because she feels like she's a part of a family again instead of loner. Katrina gave Lydia a smile as thanks and fluffed her hair in the mirror, deeming herself ready for the day.
The second day of school wasn't much. The only thing that interested Katrina was the Lacrosse eliminations. She sat out on the bleachers, watching the players stretch and check their equipment before Coach Finstock called them together. A tall, brunette came and sat by her, giving Katrina a large smile. She recognized her as Allison Argent, the girl who came with Lydia to practice yesterday.
"Hi, I'm Allison. I don't mean to bother you but you look kinda like my friend Lydia Martin. I hope that wasn't weird to say." A slight blush crept onto her face, showing she was embarrassed to ask.
"I'm Katrina Martin and no that wasn't weird. Lydia is actually my cousin, it's nice to know that people can still see the similarities." Katrina laughed a bit at her own comment.
Allison turned out to be a really nice girl and Katrina was still surprised how easily Allison approached her despite of her loner personality. The girls turned their attention towards the elimination game. This was a big deal for the team because it determined who would be on first line and who would be warming the bench. Katrina noticed Allison give a small wave to someone on the team, realizing it was Scott McCall when he returned it. "Looks like they are crushing on each other," Katrina thought with a small smile.
To say Scott was doing an impressive job on the field was an understatement. He was dodging, twisting, and running at speeds that looked somewhat inhuman. He even flipped over three defenders before shooting the ball into the goal, where it got nothing but net.
"McCall! Get over here!" Coach Finstock yelled across the field. "What in God's name was that? This is a lacrosse field. What are you, trying out for the gymnastics team?"
Scott shook his helmet clad head, "No, coach."
"What the hell was that!"
"I… I don't know. I was just trying to make the shot"
"Yeah, well you made the shot. And guess what? You're starting buddy, you made first line." Coach said proudly slapping Scott on the shoulder. Everyone in the bleachers went crazy, applauding Scott for his achievement. Even Katrina was happy for him, clapping along with everyone else.
Lydia drove Katrina home, talking about her party the entire way. Katrina was most likely not going to attend because she would rather just be by herself. Kyle loved going to parties when he was a freshman before… Katrina shook her head to rid herself of those thoughts, once was enough for today.
"Why won't you just come to my party?" Lydia's tone was whiney, making it seem like she actually wanted Katrina around her in public.
"I don't know, it feels wrong having fun without Kyle." Sadness creeping into every word she said.
"I know but still come, it'll be fun and you need fun even if you'll act like a loner." She flipped her strawberry-blonde hair over her shoulder while driving. "So… No news on Kyle at all?"
"No, if there was news, you would know. That and he would be home." The words sounded bitter and angry as they left Katrina's mouth as she got out of the car.
Lydia frowned "Fine. Any idea what could have happened? I mean it's been four years."
"I don't know Lydia," using her full name to prove a point, "but I don't want to think about this again today. Hating myself everyday is enough." Katrina shut Lydia's car door and walked to her house in a slight rage. She knew that Kyle's disappearance was her fault; she didn't need to think about all of this again today.
Lydia watched as Katrina walked away. She knew she shouldn't have brought up the sensitive subject but Lydia only wanted Katrina to let the tough walls she built up to crumble, allowing herself and maybe some friends to get through to her; so she wasn't all alone. Lydia sighed and drove home, hoping Katrina was all right by herself in her house.
Here's chapter 2 for you all! I hope I'm doing all right with my writing and with this story. I've been wanting to write a Teen Wolf story for awhile now. Let me know if you like it! ~Kathryn