Promised an update this week, since it's been so long. I hope I can make it up to you with this.
After about half an hour of driving, I managed to pull over into the bay on the side of the motorway. I turned off the engine, not wanting to risk the car rolling away by itself, and asked Becca to fetch the manual. She fumbled in the glove box, pulling out a notebook of phone numbers, a packet of mints and a battered instruction manual. I knew it wouldn't have everything I wanted in it because, let's face it, you're not allowed to drive a car without being taught how to, but I was hoping it would have a few helpful 'reminders' to get me started.
I flipped through the book, trying to find the page about switching gears; it was one of the only things I hadn't been able to figure out how to do. When were you supposed to switch? I pored over the monochrome page, soaking up as much information as I possibly could, and Becca and I popped a mint into our mouths. I flipped through a few more pages, trying to get the general gist of the driving, and then twisted the keys. The car brought itself to life, the dashboard blinking with lights and the radio playing softly in the background. I handed the book back to Becca and eased the car out of the bay with Noel Gallagher as our soundtrack.
Using my new gear switching skills, I increased the speed and we flew down the road. Becca and I barely spoke until we reached my home town another half hour later, when she asked,
"Do you have any idea where we're going?" I shook my head, trying to focus on driving so that I didn't ruin my streak of near-perfect turns as we rejoined civilisation. Buildings began to rise up either side of us, and I could see the headlights of other vehicles sweeping the roads relentlessly. "Well, what are we doing, then? Why did we leave London?"
"The question is: why did you leave London?" I retorted. "I left London to find myself, to find a purpose for all this. You followed me. If you're not enjoying yourself, tough tits."
"To 'find yourself'?" Becca laughed bitterly. "What is that even supposed to mean? Don't you dare go all philosophical on me, Amy. You used to be a killing machine." My fist tightened impossibly around the wheel as I swerved to the side of the road, slamming on the brakes heavily. Becca jolted forwards in her seat.
"Don't you ever say something like that again, you hear me?" I seethed, glaring at her. I started to think that maybe it was a terrible idea bringing her along with me after all. How foolish I had been, thinking that we were somewhat friends! "I am not a killing machine, nor have I ever intended to be. Yes, I have killed before, but they were Strigoi. Undead monsters. I was protecting people. If you can't appreciate that, I might as well just kick you out and leave you to burn in the sun. You don't deserve my help." I felt my face flush with rage as she gaped at me. We turned away from each other, an awkward silence settling between us and, as I began to pull back onto the road without crashing with another car, I could've sworn I had her whisper, "Yeah, right."
I didn't bother replying. However, her words cut deep. I had just proven a point, hadn't I? I'd threatened to leave her to her own devices. I'd nearly broken the rules of the guardians. I'd nearly let her die. All by trying to prove that I only killed the guilty. How ironic.
As we drove on, I tried to think about what I'd planned to do. Essentially, I was just looking for a point to my life that wasn't just killing but, as Becca had just proved, I probably wouldn't be very good at that.
"First things first," I muttered, breaking the ice, "we need to change this car."
Rose POV
"Hathaway!" somebody in the corner of the office yelled. "We've got a lead! Get over here!"
It was getting late, twilight was seeping in through the handful of windows, and I hadn't slept for what felt like years. I shuffled over to the guardian waving at me, peering at the computer he was sat in front of. A news article had cropped up on the screen and as I scanned through the text, I felt my mouth fall open. A blurred photo showed a girl hanging from a balcony whilst the windows above her were blown out by fire. She was helping a tall man out of the building. The picture below it showed the same young girl with her feet planted safely on the ground. Most of her face was hidden behind a veil of thick, dark hair, but I could see the curve of her nose and the slight glint of an eye. She was identified as an 'Amy Torres'.
My heart clenched as I took in the picture. She'd saved someone. She was out there acting as a vigilante hero, my younger sister. Why hadn't I thought of doing something like that? Not to say that I wasn't worried about her safety, because I was absolutely terrified, but I was just in awe at her decision.
"That's her," I confirmed, my throat dry. "It has to be."
"Amy Hathaway identified and located!" the guardian yelled, and all the other heads in the room swivelled around to see him. "She was in London last night with a supposed step-brother and step-sister, saved them from a fire. Looks like she was trying to integrate herself or something, but she wasn't exactly keeping her abilities a secret. Not sure where she's gone to now, but it was only a handful of hours ago, so I doubt she's got up to much since then."
"We need to send a group out to try and fetch her. I'll be head of the operation, but I'm going to need a couple of you to come with me. You never know what we'll come up against. And she's quite the feisty one."
"We can't take too many people, otherwise the Academy will be unguarded," somebody piped up with.
"I know. Dimitri will stay here and take my job looking after Lis-Princess Dragomir, and I'll only need three of you at the most. Hands up for volunteers."
Guardians were selected and rushed off to swiftly pack bags. We needed to leave as soon as possible, as it would have been roughly twelve hours since the accident by the time we landed in London, if not more. We wanted to be as close on her tail as we could be.
Just as we were about to leave, I popped my head back into the office and asked,
"No news on that Rebecca girl, no?" The guardians shook their heads sadly and I nodded at them, heading out to drag my sister back where she belonged.
Amy POV
I located the local 24 hour Tesco, pulling in to the car park sloppily due to the lack of cars at this early hour, and switched off the engine. Cold air rushed in through the open door, the heat fading quickly out of the car. Becca and I scanned the seats for anything that might identify us and shoved any useful items in our pockets. I gave the wheel and dashboard a quick wipe, hoping to mask our fingerprints for as long as it would take the police to find the taxi and, miraculously, find us.
I shoved my hands deep into my jumper pockets, the cold even making me shiver as we left the car in the parking area and walked back to my old house. Following the roads brought back too many memories for me to cope with; rushing home with my friends so we wouldn't miss Doctor Who, learning to cycle in the alleyway during the day, meeting Rose and Dimitri after being attacked and, finally, the time that Lewis met my mother. I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to distract myself with finding my keys in my bag.
When we reached the house, I ordered Becca to remain outside, and softly twisted the keys in the door. This was the second time I'd broken into my own home and I felt just as stupid as I had the first time. I slipped into the porch, knowing that nobody would be up at this time, and carefully closed the door behind me. Staying ever so quiet, I tiptoed into the kitchen where my mother kept her keys. I was about to turn into the living room when I saw light flickering against the wall through the gap in the door and heard a dull chatter. What was my Mum doing up at four in the morning?
I eased her car keys into my deep pocket and pulled a pencil from the case on the sideboard. Scrawling out a quick note, I pinned it to the fridge with a magnet. As I crept back towards the door, I accidentally stood on a creaky floorboard that definitely hadn't been there last time.
"Sam? Is that you?" my mother called. I bit my lip, refusing to breath out as I inched closer to the porch. I heard the sounds of my mother getting up off the sofa and swore internally. If she caught me now, everything would be over. Everything.
I managed to leave the house just in time and jogged around the corner, the keys jostling in my pocket, to meet Becca. After five minutes of patient waiting, during which I assured myself that Mum would have gone back to watching TV, I unlocked the car door and slid into the driver's seat. It felt bizarre, sitting where Mum would usually sit and, as I checked the glovebox, I realised that nothing had really changed at all. She still listened to the same old CDs, Sam still brought his LEGO on long journeys and left it on the seats, she still took a flask of coffee to work. For some reason, I felt my face fall.
Ignoring my wistful emotions, I reversed out of the driveway and rode off towards the main road before she could peek out of the curtains. This really was the last time I'd ever come here. For definite this time.
Mary's POV
Hearing a car outside, I got up from the sofa again and scowled. Nobody ever came by at this hour. For the first week, I'd counted the cars going past in each night and had never reached ten. After those first painful days, I stopped counting. I wasn't getting any news, and neither were they.
I peered out of the window, watching a car swerve around the corner, and sighed to myself. I shuffled to the kitchen to make myself a cup of early morning tea and, as I pulled the fridge door open to fetch the milk, a bright pink post-it note caught my eye. Frowning, I pulled it off the surface and held it up to the light.
Mum
I'm sorry. Please forgive me.
X
The writing was neater than Sam's but still a scrawly, nearly illegible mess that I would recognise everywhere. I felt my eyes brim with tears as I read and re-read the note that my daughter had left me. Was that her I'd heard out in the hallway when I hadn't bothered to get up and check? Had I missed her by a mere five minutes?
Why did you leave, Amy? Ever since the guardians contacted me to say that you were missing, I'd been worried sick. I never received any news from you; I didn't even know if you were alive! How was I supposed to go through with daily life without knowing that my daughter was safe and well, without the weekly updates the Academy sent me about your progress without informing you?
A strange sense of dread filled me as your words finally sunk in, and I rushed to the front door. If you'd just been here, maybe I could catch up with you! Maybe I could chase after you! However, as I flung the door open, I noticed the lack of a shiny, red vehicle parked in my driveway.
I'm sorry. Please forgive me.
"Oh, Amy," I whispered softly to myself. "Why do you do these things?"
Bulletproof Heart- My Chemical Romance