Chapter three
The moment tea was finished, I was told to go back to my room. I did so, almost unwillingly. I went to sit down on my bed when the sound of something hitting my window started. I walked over and, pulling back the curtains, peered out. Standing below my window, in the alleyway was Casey Jones. I opened the window and looked down at him.
"Mr Jones, I must say I didn't sense any stalker vibes from you at all," I said, a smirk on my face.
"I wanted to see where the mysterious library girl lives; and I must say dainty toes, not bad," Casey replied.
"Okay, now that you've seen where I live you have to go. My dad is here and he will flip if he saw you."
"Oh, come now; don't you like to let loose and have fun?" I leaned against the window sill.
"Now Mr Jones, why would I want to do that?"
"I thought girls liked to live on the wild side." A grin appeared on Casey's face that matched mine. I looked back to the door, listening for any member of my family. Hearing nothing, I turned back.
"I'll be down in a minute," I called down. I grabbed my mobile phone from my bed, climbed out the window and down the drain pipe. I jumped the last bit and faced Casey.
"Ready to go?" I asked.
"Always," he replied. The two of us walked down the street, talking along the way. The whole time, I wondered what had caused me to leave home just like that with someone I barely knew. My guess was that I wanted to be seen as something other than the lonesome girl in the library. Casey took me to an arcade. At first I felt uncomfortable; but only at first. After an hour that I was competing against Casey, I was surprisingly able to beat him at some arcade games. By the time midnight had come around, we had played all the arcade games at least once. We left as the arcade closed for the night. We stood out the front for a few minutes.
"What do you think of real life?" he asked. I looked at him from the corner of my eye.
"It's fine," I replied, "Not as good as the fantasy world though."
"Did you want to have some more fun?" I shook my head.
"I really should get home," I said, "It would be bad if I'm not home before one; I could be in a lot of trouble."
"I'll walk you home." After a brief nod, we started back to my home. We stopped at the drain pipe.
"Let's do this again, sometime," Casey said.
"I suppose it'll be okay," I replied, "Give me your phone and I'll give you my mobile number." Casey obliged and I punched in a twelve digit number and saved it under 'Katie- Dainty toes.' I handed Casey's phone back.
"Good night, Mr Jones," I said.
"Night, dainty toes," he replied. I climbed up the pipe and entered my room. I heard a fight from the kitchen and I felt my heart skip a beat and my stomach drop. I crossed the room and opened my door. Mum and dad were arguing. I dashed to Lauren's room and entered it. Lauren was in the furthest corner of her room, right beside her bed. I went over to her. Lauren's eyes were closed, tears streaming from them; and she had her hands over her ears. I gently took her wrist, causing her to jump. The moment her eyes rested on mine, she embraced me in a hug.
"Katie, where were you?" she sobbed.
"What happened?" I asked.
"He came in while mum was asleep and... and..." Horror filled my face the moment I realised what dad had done. I helped Lauren to her to her feet and led her to my room. I took her to the closet and made her hide in my washing basket, piling clothes on top of her.
"Don't move or make a sound," I ordered, in a small, rushed voice.
"Okay," was the only response from Lauren. I shut the closet door and exited my room. The moment I saw dad as I got to the kitchen, rage filled me. I bolted across the room, balling my hand into a fist. I struck, punching dad clean in the jaw with a loud crack. He stumbled back.
"You custard," I growled at him, "I thought you were a man of god." Mum stepped in between us, her hands raised in defence.
"She didn't mean that honey, " she said to dad. Dad didn't want to listen. He grabbed a knife and, pushing mum out of the way, lunged forward; stabbing me in the stomach. The first thing I felt was pain, then fear. The only thing I thought was that I had to get Lauren out of the house. I shoved dad away and threw a pan at him. He ducked, giving me just enough time to turn and run to room. I slammed my door and pushed my chair against it just as dad started pounding on the door. I grabbed a jumped and pulled it over my head. I then went to the closet and got Lauren out. I picked out a jacket and got her to put it on.
"We are going," I said, "You remember how to climb down the pipe?" Lauren nodded. "Climb down, I'll be right behind you." Lauren did as I told her. I watched her from the window. I was about to follow when my door burst off its hinges. I turned to find dad. His eyes were filled with rage. I scrambled to get through the window; however I was too slow. Dad grabbed hold of shoulders and tried to force me back in. Lauren screamed as I struggled. In my struggle, I managed to elbow him. He loosened his grip and I wrenched my arms free. I lost my balance and fell from the window and to the ground. I landed heavily on side and my glasses fell from my face.
"Katie," Lauren said, in a panicked voice, "Are you alright?"
"Yes," I managed to groan out. I got up. Lauren handed me my glasses and I put them on. I took Lauren's wrist and dashed away. "We need to go somewhere safe," I said. I thought about calling Casey, decided against it and made a left right into a dead end. I puffed slightly. I don't know why but, as I looked around for a new escape route, I looked down. I saw a man hole cover that had already been half taken off. I knelt down and took it off completely, with some difficulty due to the pain in the arm I had landed on.
"Get in," I ordered. Lauren didn't make any complaints as she went down the ladder. I entered right behind her and replaced the cover with a bit more difficulty. I climbed down the rest of the ladder and felt my hit the ground with a splash.
"Lauren?!" I called out.
"I'm right here!" Lauren called back from the darkness. I pulled my phone from my pocket and used it as a light source to find my sister. We held hands and headed in a direction we had agreed upon. I kept my phone out until sewer light had shown up, giving us more light. I pocketed my phone again.
"Do you know where we are?" Lauren asked. I looked around for a sign or a indication of where we were.
"Uh... I... er..." I stammered, trying to string a sentence together.
"We're lost, aren't we?"
"We're lost." I sighed. Lauren laughed slightly. It took me a while for me to realise that she was actually crying. I stopped and turned around. I wrapped my arms around her in a hug.
"I'm so sorry," I said, "I never should have gone out tonight."
"Why? Why would he do that?"
"It's just who he is. I tried to keep you safe from him for so long. He did the same thing to Janice and me." Lauren pushed away.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"You were still young. Lauren looked down and felt her shirt. I looked to see a pool of blood.
"Oh my god," I exclaimed, "What else did he do?"
"It's not mine." I looked down to my stomach. Blood had leaked though my jumper and soaked it around where my wound was.
"Crap," I said. Lauren lifted my shirt and gasped.
"That looks deep," she said, starting to panic, "We need to take you to a hospital." I shook my head.
"No, that'll be the first place he'll look."
"Where do you suggest we go?"
"I... I don't know," I admitted. There was no way I was going to involve anyone else with our problem. Not too far ahead, I heard voices.
"What if it's dad?" Lauren asked.
"It's not," I replied.
"How can you be so sure?"
"Those aren't adult voice." I dashed forward, Lauren not too far behind. I turned a corner and found myself staring at four large turtle- like creatures. They froze when they saw me. Lauren stopped beside me.
"I think I've lost too much blood," I stated.
"W... What makes you say that?" replied Lauren.
"I see four turtles." My eyes fluttered and I dropped, falling into the darkness that was claiming me.
"Katie!" I heard Lauren shout out. Everything else faded and I gave into the darkness.
