*AUTHOR'S NOTE* LONG TIME NO SEE GUYS! I am back and continuing the chapters once more. I hope you all didn't miss the story too much. But here it is! Enjoy guys.

Chapter 17.

*KATIE'S POINT OF VIEW*

"I'm not who you think I am"

Toby laughed nervously. "What? Of course you are. You're Katie Myra"

I shook my head. "No I'm not. That's not who I am". This response gained a bewildered look from Toby's face. I sighed.

"I'm not supposed to tell you this. Hell, I'm not supposed to tell anyone this. But Katie Myra is the name of...my new identity" I explained. Surprise overwhelmed Toby's face. "I don't understand. Are you a spy or something?"

I smirked. "No don't be silly I'm not a spy. The police gave me a new identity and a new location to keep me safe. It was never my decision to move here or have that name- it was all theirs. So like I said...I'm not who you think I am"

Silence.

You could practically see the clogs turning inside Toby's mind trying to process all this new and, quite frankly, absurd information. But I understood. I was basically lying to him this whole time.

"S...s...so what is your...your real name?" he stuttered. I think he was trying to work out whether he was angry or not I lied to him. But it wasn't exactly an unnecessary lie.

I swallowed nervously; my throat as dry as a desert. It had been a while since I've said this name. The name originally on my birth certificate. "Kimberley Morgan" I stated.

Toby was struggling to form a verbal reply for this. He just nodded his head in a formal state and frowned. He ran his hand through his tussled brown hair. He bit his lip and stared in to my eyes.

"Why? Why did you need a new identity Katie? I mean Kimberley. I mean, err..." He was now a perfect shade of crimson red.

This was the point where I looked down at my feet and studied them with all my might. I couldn't face looking at Toby as I knew I'd be likely to break down. I wanted to be strong. I had never told anyone this story other than the police themselves.

"My father is in prison. I don't even like calling him that; that name disgusts me and feels like bile in my mouth. His name is Terry Morgan. I don't like to call him my...my father because he...he used to beat me. And I don't mean just a smack on the bottom when I was naughty. I mean the full works"

I abruptly stopped my awaiting speech to take a bit of a breather and pull myself together- I was not prepared to collapse now. I had held everything together for so long since I had been assigned to Los Angeles and I didn't want to ruin that hard work and grafting. After I felt prepared I carried on my speech not bothering to take note of what Toby was doing.

"My mother was a distant character as I already explained to you. Therefore Terry needed someone to blame to help himself sleep at night and he chose that victim to be me. His own damn daughter." A tear escaped from my eye without permission but I carried on. "Whenever something went wrong for him, even if it was just a power cut, it would always be my fault. I could beg, plea, ask for mercy but nonetheless he was unstoppable. Until I plucked up the courage to go to the local police station"

I took another break and took time to fidget with the shoelaces on my shoes. Yet still Toby said nothing at all and nor did I take the opportunity to look at him. Not yet.

"I remember that day so perfectly. I had run away from the house after having one of my frequent beatings and somehow I ended up at the local police station. Terry was always careful to make sure my injuries formed in places that wouldn't be seen by the public eye but this time he hit the brink of aggressiveness and lost control. My face was a mess. And although I didn't directly think about going to the police something in the back of my mind led me there. It was bringing me to my senses. But to cut a long and painful story short- I told the truth and the police instantly arrested Terry. They had enough evidence and such to send him to jail for a lengthy amount of time. My mother didn't care at all- she just took the current events as a reason to go live with some new guy and make a life there. She didn't give a toss. I was old enough to live alone and such so the police offered me new placements. However when Terry was finally titled as guilty in court he shouted he would get me back for my disloyalty and it wouldn't be the last I heard of it. This encouraged the police to change my identity and location and I agreed without a doubt because I wanted nothing more than to have a new start where nobody knew me and also so I could be somewhere Terry didn't know of"

Now I just had to look Toby in the eye. How was he dealing with all this cruel information? I looked up and stared at him hopefully. He was sat there clutching at either wrist of his and looking at me as if he was hanging on to every word of my story with sadness and guilt.

"This morning I had a phone call from the police" I added. "Informing me that Terry had been released early on good behaviour. I knew I had to get out of there. I thought at first I would be safe here but I know for sure Terry has contacts and people who owe him favours. Terry vowed I would pay for grassing him up in court and I have no doubt he will. Which is why I need to hastily leave the country. I need to keep moving. The predator can chase all he wants but the prey won't sit still and surrender."

I placed my hand on Toby's shoulder. He was shaking. "Now do you see why I need to leave Toby?"

Toby said nothing.

He just burst in to hysterical tears.