I'm sorry it took so long but I've had loads of other stuff to do. Thanks to Fi3Fi3 who has helped me with the end bit of this chapter and will do for the next several? I'm not sure how much she's written but for a while at least it's a joint thing. I don't own anything, hope you like it and prepare for a shock at the end. It starts off as mainly a filler but there's things you may need to remember. Cheers guys and let me know what you think please? And I shall pass comments on to my wonderful parter in crime :) Enjoy xx
Chapter 11
Oscar's POV
When I arrived home, Carol was running around trying to get into the kitchen but failing. I smirked. I guess Emily had locked herself in the kitchen again and was burning something from the smell of it and from the clouds of black smoke that were pouring under and around the door. Carol dashed past and stopped as she saw me and Amy standing in the hallway.
"Oh there you are. Amy, I just got your dress back from the dry-cleaners and it's hanging up in the spare room with the rest of your stuff. Oscar sweetie, your shirt and trousers are in your room and are freshly ironed so don't ruin them. You don't have to wear a tie but you may want to take a jacket as it will be cold in the evening."
Amy smiled and clapped her hands together. "Thank you Carol. Right, well I better start getting ready. I'm going to take a shower which means it'll be busy for a while and I'll see you in an hour."
Carol smiled. "No problem. Did you want any help with your hair?"
I smirked. Girls, they're obsessed with how they look. Mind you, Kittie did look different to how she does normally, like she didn't care. No. What's the point of even thinking about her? She's… she's just so… argh! She drives me insane with her 'look at me, I'm such a good spy and such a pretty girl who can turn any head with deep chocolate curls, shinning grey eyes, rosy cheeks and deep pink kissable lips…' wait, hang on, I digress. She's a liar and a user. She doesn't care about anyone, or does she? I mean she did look really upset and hurt when I ignored her earlier and she did hurt herself pretty badly. I guess I should've helped her but she doesn't need help from anyone, she just goes and does things her way and Frank lets her! No, no. Stop thinking about her. That's all done and gone, no more MI9 for a bit. I can just be… normal.
Amy put her bag down and picked up the cat who was winding its way around Amy's ankles. I smirked. It always wants attention, when it's not sleeping. "Um, yeah, yes please. Thanks Carol. I'll call you when I need your help. Come on kitty. You can have a nice sleep on my bed whilst I get ready."
Amy walked up the stairs stroking the cat but I barely noticed. Why did she have to say kitty? Carol turned towards the kitchen door again and banged on it, snapping me out of my unwanted thoughts.
"Emmy darling, open the door. Let mummy in. Please Emmy, open the door! Emmy! Emily!"
I rolled my eyes. Carol was probably over-reacting again and as usual, I had to sort out the problem. I dropped my bad, coughed and look at Carol. "Uh, Carol. Let me try. You know what Em's like."
She nodded and moved away from the door. I walked up and knocked on the door, smirking slightly and thinking how easy this would be. Em was probably just annoyed with Carol and had locked herself in until she got her own way, although come to think of it, she generally locks herself in her room, or my room or the lounge, not the kitchen. Then again it was probably something like Carol wouldn't let her bake cakes as we're going out in a couple of hours and she didn't want to have to spend ages clearing up cake-splatter from the walls, ceiling and wherever else Emily managed to get it. I frowned. Again, that's not really something she'd do. She'd protest openly or shut herself in her room and bombard anyone who entered with teddies.
"Em, what's wrong? Why don't you open the door? Are you hurt? Are you stuck?"
Carol stepped forward, her mouth open to speak and I held up my hand to stop her. "Just, let me deal with this. You know I can calm her down if anything's upsetting her."
She nodded and stepped back again.
I turned back towards Emily and what I now realised was a smoking kitchen. "Em? What's wrong? Are you hurt? Can you move? Do you… do you need medical help?"
"No," came the muffled reply and I sighed with relief. At least she was conscious and seemingly uninjured.
"Then why won't you open the door?" I looked at Carol and saw how scared she looked. "You're scaring mummy and something's burning. Em, what's burning?"
"I… I don't know, something in the oven I think, but it's scary and I don't want to go near it. Oscar help me, please." I could hear how scared she was in her voice and I groaned, not wishing to have a scared 9 year old on my hands that was locked in a kitchen with something burning in the oven.
I sighed and banged on the door. "It's alright Em, I'm coming. Where are you?"
"By the sink, away from the oven. Hurry Oscar, please!"
I turned to Carol. "Where… is the back-door open? I take it the kitchen's locked or jammed or something."
She shook her head. "Well yes, the kitchen door's stuck somehow and no. The lock, it's broken. Half of Peter's key is in there. It broke off earlier and we couldn't get it out."
I sighed again and ran a hand through my hair. Think Oscar, you're a spy. What would a spy do in this situation? There's got to be something, there's always something. I thought back to all that had happened recently, before Kittie and I fell out, but nothing. When a door is closed, God always leaves a window open. Wait, what? Why… why did I just think of that? Oh, yes. Sophie and Tom locked themselves in the bathroom and Kittie stood there thinking and then said that before… Before climbing through a window and unlocking the door from the inside. Of course, I knew there was I reason of why I was thinking of her. She is a good spy I'll give her that, but a lousy person.
"Carol, are any of the kitchen windows open?"
She shook her head. "N-no. Wait, yes, one by the table is slightly open but there's no way anyone could fit through, not even Emily."
I smiled, "You may not be able to, but I can." Quick Oscar, think of a reason why. "I always had to do this when Amy got stuck in her… her wendy-house, so it's no problem. Just like old times really but I'm bigger but then so is the window I have to get through. Easy as pie." Urgh, why did I have to say that? That was so cheesy! Hmm I wonder what I can have for dinner. No, no. Getting side-tracked.
Carol looked shocked but nodded. "Okay, let's… let's try this. If not I'm calling the fire brigade to get her out. And you of course if you get stuck."
"Carol, that really won't be necessary and it's not going to happen. Em will be fine, I promise."
I walked past her and outside before trying the back door anyway. You never know, being me I could've made it work. It was locked like she said and I shrugged. Always worth to check these things. I looked around the garden, trying to spot the open window and it saw it over the flower beds in the far corner. Maybe this wasn't going to be so easy. Maybe I'd need a leg up like Kittie had had from me, but maybe not. By the shed I noticed a rather large empty flowerpot which I could stand on to reach the window ledge. Why did the window ledges have to be so far from the ground? That was one thing I didn't like about the house, even if the windows and the ledges themselves were big, the height could cause a problem if SKUL ever find me here and I need to get away to protect everyone, or to get them out if necessary. Maybe I could ask Kittie who designed the house, oh wait that'd be stupid. Maybe we'd have to leave flowerpots out of all the windows to make a quick escape easier but how would I explain leaving enormous flowerpots - upside-down flowerpots outside all the windows on the ground floor? I shook my head, grabbed the flower pot and began carrying it over to the open window. I set it down with a sigh. Geez that thing was heavy.
"Alright, Carol. Here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to pull the window open more so I can get in, get Emily and get out, hopefully through the kitchen door and sort out whatever is burning, but Em is the main thing. The oven I can just turn off."
She nodded. "Alright, just be careful okay Oscar? You're part of the family now."
I smiled. That was the nicest thing she could've said. It felt nice to be part of a family, a nice family without my evil mother, without being an outsider and watching from the side-lines. She hugged me and I awkwardly hugged her back. She held me tight for a couple of seconds and I coughed. She let go and I walked over to the window and the now upside-down large flowerpot beneath it, stepping onto it. Beneath me the pot sank a little, crushing the few flowers I couldn't avoid and I winced, expecting Carol to shout at me. Nothing so I pulled open the window so I could get through it. I pulled myself up onto the windowsill, looked through making sure I wouldn't land on anything, and climbed through. My feet hit the floor and I coughed as smoke flooded into my mouth and covering my eyes. I blinked, trying to see and stumbled side-ways into the kitchen table.
"Em? Where are you? I can't see you. Em? Can you hear me? I'll try to find you." I began walking towards what I thought was the sink but hit the food cupboard. I rubbed my forehead and turned right, moving away from the smoking oven. In front of me I could hear movement which I hoped was Em. I didn't want to have to rescue anyone or anything else.
"Oscar? I'm over here. Can you hear me? Oscar, help me, please. I'm scared."
I slowly made my way over to her, my hands outstretched so I wouldn't hit anything else and slowly the smoke around me began to thin, hopefully meaning it was thinner and not finding another way to get out. I could make out her silhouette in front of me and I moved quicker, shortening the gap. She ran into my arms and I held her tightly as she sobbed on my shoulder.
"It's alright Em. I've got you. We're going to get out of here. Come on, let's get out of here. But first, shall we open some windows to get rid of this smoke and turn off the oven?"
She let go and wiped her eyes, sniffing a little. Slowly she nodded a little shakily and clutched hold of my hand tightly. "Ok. Windows first or oven?"
I stood there, thinking. "Hmm windows I think, that way we may be able to actually see the oven." Right, if I lift you up, can you push open the ones over the sink?"
She nodded. I took hold of her waist and lifted her up onto the sink. I let go and she clutched out at my arm. "It's alright Em. If I leave you a few seconds to open these ones, I'll go open the ones where I came in, alright? That should get rid of more smoke."
"Okay, just be quick please. I don't want to fall off."
I smiled and squeezed her hand before letting go. I stumbled over to the table and pushed at the windows, sighing when they opened letting in the fresh air and getting rid of some of the smoke. Behind me I could hear Em struggling and I dashed over as she slipped and fell backwards. I caught her and lowered her gently onto the ground. "Steady on Em. I don't think I'll let you do that again for a while." She giggled and hugged me. "Thanks Oscar. Come on. Can we get out of here? I need to pick my dress for tonight."
I laughed and shook my head. Girls, seriously. All they seem to think about is dressing up and appearances. "Alright. But hold tight ok? We have to go past the oven."
She nodded and began pulling me towards the kitchen door. I laughed again and let her pull me after her. As we reached the oven she stopped and if I hadn't been a spy and trained to stop quickly, I would've run right into her. "Em? What's up? Why'd you stop? It's just the oven."
She looked back at me and rolled her eyes. "I know it's just the oven but you wanted to turn it off, remember?"
How could I forget? I let go of her hand and stepped up towards it as it still continued to spew out black clouds of smoke. I ran my hands along the top, trying to find the switch and on finding it, twisted it off. Slowly the smoke pile began to reduce to nothing. I looked along the wall for the socket and switched that off as well. I looked up at the sound of scuffling and saw Emily run over to the door. She began yanking at the handle and I walked over to her, placing my hands on top of hers. Her hands fell down and I turned the lock and pulled down on the handle. The door opened and Carol came rushing in. She gathered Emily up and kissed her head, tears streaming down her face. I turned back towards the oven and opened it, wanting to see what was burning.
Inside I could see a bunch of papers that had been pushed right into where the fire would be had it been on. I frowned and taking hold of the tongs that were hanging on the wall, grabbed hold of some of them and pulled them out. The pieces of paper were A5/A6, the colour melted and running, the edges burnt and blackened, most unable to be identified as to what they were. Underneath a several others lay one not so badly burnt, and using the tongs I moved them aside to get to it. I frowned and lifted it up. It was a picture of Kittie and me, one that I didn't remember having. What I couldn't understand was why someone had set fire to it in the oven and why it was in the oven in the first place. Emily walked over and hugged me from behind, looking round me to see what I was holding.
"What's that Oscar? Where'd you get that?"
"From the oven…" I mumbled. She didn't need to know.
"Is that girl your friend Kittie?"
"She's not my friend," I mumbled back as she continued to speak.
"She came over earlier, just before you got back. Said she wanted to give something to you then said it probably wasn't a good idea and asked what she could do with these, holding up a bunch of photos. I said well I could give them to you and she said no, I'll just put them in the bin. They're not important. So I said well if they're not important and you want to get rid of them, why don't you burn them. She asked what I meant and I said burn them like Daddy does with paper he doesn't want. She said not to worry about it and put them in the bin. When she'd gone I took them out, turned on the oven and put them in, right at the back to burn them."
I looked down at her. "Say that again. Kittie came here with photos to give me, put them in the bin because she didn't want them and didn't think I'd want them and you put them in the oven to burn them?"
She nodded happily. "Yeah. Was that good? I mean Mummy and Daddy don't let me play with matches or the fires so I put them in the oven as I didn't have to touch them."
They must have been her pictures, ones that I'd taken a couple of days ago before the whole Honey thing and she'd come to give them to me as I'd taken them and then paid to have them developed. "Em, that… that was clever thinking of how not to touch the fire but you should never put things in the oven and leave them to burn."
She looked at the floor and scuffed her feet. "I didn't mean to leave it but Scooby-doo was on and I wanted to watch it. I'll never do it again."
"No, you won't. Next time if anyone puts something in the bin, you leave it there. And you're not going to touch the oven again without an adult or I'll be forced to tell your mum what happened."
She looked up at me, her eyes shining. "Really? You won't tell? Oh I promise promise promise!"
She hugged me and smiled. "Oh thank-you Oscar! Thank-you, thank-you."
She skipped out of the kitchen and Carol walked up to me.
"Thank-you Oscar. That was very brave of you."
I shrugged. "Think nothing of it. She's like a little sister to me."
Carol looked over my shoulder at what I was holding. "What's that you've got there?"
I moved them away and tucked the less-burnt photo into my pocket. "Oh just some paper that must've come off a tray or something the other day in the oven. That's what caused all the smoke. But I'm not sure how the door was locked though, with Em inside."
She looked at me. "It was locked?"
"Yeah but maybe Em locked it as she didn't want anyone coming in and disturbing her whilst she was watching cartoons."
Carol nodded. "You're probably right. I did make her move from the lounge earlier as I wanted to watch something else to help with my research. That's probably it. Well thanks Oscar."
I nodded and walked out of the kitchen and up the stairs towards my room. From the bathroom I could hear Amy singing in the shower which would've normally made me smile, but not today.
I flung open my door, took off my jacket and threw it on the bed. The photo fluttered to the floor but I didn't notice it. I grabbed a clean shirt and trousers and went into the small bathroom attached to my room. I quickly changed and glared at the mirror, my shirt unbuttoned. Why did Kittie have to be connected with everything? Why couldn't she just leave me alone! I hit the mirror and finished dressing, grabbed a clean jacket and slammed the door behind me, causing the photo to be caught in the breeze and float upwards onto my bed.
I thundered down the stairs, grabbed my phone from my bag, leaving my communicator. There'd be no need to take it. I wouldn't get back-up anyway. "Carol, I'm just going out for a bit. I'll be back soon."
"Make sure you're back by half four at the latest."
"Yes Carol," I called slamming the door shut.
I turned right and wandered down the street, not really caring where I was going.
How could she do this to me? I'm so annoyed with her. Why did she have to turn up and ruin everything? Today was supposed to be about me and my new family, and Amy, not her. She just couldn't leave me well enough alone, could she? She just had to go and stick her nose into my business, come into my house, my kitchen and get Emily- a 9 year old to burn a set of photos. Why couldn't she just leave me alone? It's bad enough I have to see her at school, but her coming to my house… She has no people skills whatsoever. She doesn't care about others, if she hurts them. No, she just swans around being two different people going 'look at me, I'm Honey Harper but really my name's Kittie and I'm so sad and desperate in need of people to talk to me as no-one will talk to me as I just turn them away from me. I get my friends and family killed because I don't care about anyone'. Maybe that's a little too harsh I mean it's not her fault, but because of her I've got a "leave-of-absence". Stupid Kittie… and stupid Frank for agreeing to it. I don't need to learn control and to have a break, she does. I need the break from her which I can get if she wasn't there. I don't need this leave of absence. I'm perfectly fine without her around.
So now I'm forced to wander aimlessly through the streets, not wanting to go home as it's not fair on Carol or anyone else and besides I need time to think. I can't go back to HQ and there's no way I'm going to go anywhere near Kittie. I suppose for now I could go to the park and sit on a bench, wondering what I'm going to do with my life if my leave of absence is never ending, never planning to return. Would Carol and Peter still be able to keep me? Probably not as MI9 arranged it so then I'll have to find an alleyway, a doorway and immerse myself in the local homeless culture, destined to be alone for ever, unwanted and un-loved. I could live on the street and never return. I wonder if anyone would miss me. Frank and Rose would eventually find my location, tracking my phone or something but they would see me homeless aside from a cardboard box, drug-ridden and begging for food as I have nowhere to go, nothing to do, no job, no money, no life. And then Kittie would show up in her usual Queen-Bee style, hair gently curled and blowing softly in the wind, make-up immaculate, clothes straight off the rail. She'd look at me and then she'd be sorry for reducing me to this, a low-life form with nothing. She'll regret everything she's done, burst into tears and beg for my forgiveness, but will I forgive her? No, not unless she offers me something in return, like her house, or the hotel or millions of pounds, to make up for ruining my life.
But beyond the point of revenge, that is stupid. I don't like the idea of being homeless and I'm sure I'd get thrown into a care-home and someone would foster me, preferably somewhere far away so I'll never have to see her ever again. For now, I can just count cars, or maybe identify them. Nothing too complicated for now, just nice and simple to help me calm down. It was always my favourite game to play with my dad when I got cross. He'd line up all my cars and tell me to name them, tell me their colour, their manufacturer and when they were made. I closed my eyes and breathed in deeply, trying to think straight and actually be able to see what's around me. Let's see. Red car, blue car, old car, new car… that sounds like a bad Dr Zeuss rhyme. Silver car, silver car, make that three silver cars. Black van, white van, motor bike, another red car, ooh a green car – that's different.
Suddenly I'm grabbed from behind, spun around and pushed towards a black van, make that the black van that I'd seen earlier. How could I be so stupid to not notice it? It was a SKUL van that had driven right past me. I stumbled and fell face first towards the pavement. Around me I could hear voices. I heavy black boot was placed on my neck and I could hear someone laughing cruelly. My arms were twisted behind my back and tied up sharply, the coarse rope cutting into my wrists. My world went black as I was blindfolded and dragged to my feet. Someone roughly pushed me forward as I struggled. I hate being in the dark and not being able to see. Someone- the same someone I guessed pushed me forwards and into the van. I was shoved to my feet and I heard the door slam shut, proving my suspicions. I was trapped, kidnapped and it all took less than half a minute.
So what did you think? Please let me (and Fi) know by hitting the little button review. Virtual what-ever you want as a reward and a smile (and reply) from me. I'll try and update within then next 2 weeks as I've got a lot on but i can't promise anything. For those reading "Christmas in Halliwell Mannor" the next chapter of that should go up before the next one of this, so please bare with me. Cheers, Kallie
