Fear

• Briana Sampson, Grade 9
• Short Story
• 2014

The area was dark, the only light coming from the flickering street lamps. Although the air was chilly a slight sheen of sweat coated my skin as a feeling of dread washed over me. No more than half an hour ago I had received an S.O.S message from Adelaide telling me to meet her at the park and I left without hesitation. S.O.S messages were our code to tell each other that we needed to speak urgently and we dropped everything.

A small scuffling sound rose from somewhere behind me and I quickened my pace, trying not to make it seem obvious. My breath was coming out in sharp pants, more from fear than exhaustion and I let out a shuddering sigh, trying to pull myself together. The buildings around me were familiar and I knew that if I walked fast enough I could make it to the park within a few minutes.

"Rae, is that you?" I heard Adelaide call out as I neared the park entrance. Her tone wasn’t happy like it normally was; instead it was a tone so fearful that I swore my heart stopped for a minute.

"Adelaide, where are you? Are you alright?" I screamed nearing the trees we always met at. A muffled grunt was all I got in response, followed by a pain filled cry. In the shadows by the base of the tree I could see a figure curled into a ball on the ground with three large figures surrounding it; a figure I instantly recognised as Adelaide.

As I opened my mouth to yell out, it was covered by a large gloved hand. My eyes widened in terror as a cold, hard object was pressed against my temple and out of the corner of my eye I could just make out the shiny silver colour of the gun. Breathing in and out of my nose I opened my mouth as wide as I could, biting down on one of the large meaty fingers covering it, hoping I hadn’t just done something that would result in mine and Adelaide’s death.

"You little câtea. Veti plâti pentru ceea ce au facut!" the man yelled, changing from English to a language I had never heard as he released me, shaking his hand out. Using his distraction to my advantage I quickly turned, kicking my leg up and knocking the gun out of his grasp. The man cursed and lunged for me but I quickly dodged away, knowing that if he caught me I would be dead for sure.

"Stop right there or your friend dies!" one of the figures by Adelaide threatened and it was then that I noticed my captor wasn’t the only one with a gun. The same man who had restrained me only minutes before caught my arm and twisted them behind my back, kicking the back of my knees until I fell to the ground.

The man had obviously learned his lesson before and held a knife to my throat, digging it in until a trickle of blood ran down my skin. I noticed that Adelaide was now being held in a similar position and it was impossible to miss the fear in her baby blue eyes. My own eyes filled with tears the longer I gazed at her and I knew without a doubt that I had to do something to get us out of here.

Before any ideas began to run through my head, Adelaide opened her mouth and muttered something to her captors while struggling to escape their hold. I watched as their faces changed from a sick satisfaction to clear hatred and I knew nothing good could come from it. I began to struggle viciously in his hold and he pushed me back so his body was covering my own.

Running his knife tauntingly down my chest he stopped just beneath my bra on the left side and without warning plunged it into me. His hand once again covered my mouth, muffling my pained screams as he shakily dragged the knife downward in a diagonal line before stopping at my right hip. My tears began to mix in with the sweat covering me and as black spots danced across my vision I prayed that it would be over soon.

"We'll be seeing you again very soon, Kataraeha. But first watch your friends punishment for her disobedience!" my captor spat, using my full name that wasn’t known to anyone but my family. Without pausing he dragged me into a sitting position and held my head in his hands as he forced me to look at Adelaide. I was confused at first until I heard the sound of a gun being loaded, followed a few seconds by a loud bang. I was forced to listen as Adelaide let out an ear piercing scream when the bullet entered her chest and as my world faded away the sound of my best friend gasping for air echoed through my head, along with the voice of my captor reminding me that he'd be seeing me soon.

I shot up in bed, gasping for air as I fought to control my erratic heartbeat. This wasn’t the first time I had dreamt of Adelaide’s death and I doubted it would be the last. The bed dipped slightly as someone sat up and it wasn’t until I had all but jumped off the bed that I remembered Rickee had stayed over last night.

"Are you okay? You were crying out in your sleep," Rickee asked, rubbing his eyes as he let out a loud yawn. I felt guilty that my nightmares had disturbed the little sleep Rickee had been able to get, but there was nothing I could do to change it.

"Are you al- oh my god, your stomach!" Rickee said, his tone changing from one of concern to one of pure terror. Without hesitation Rickee gently wrapped an arm around me and helped me walk out of my room. We both knew that I wouldn’t be able to walk down the stairs so Rickee scooped me into his arms reluctantly and stepped carefully down the stairs.

"Nik! I need your help!" I called loudly, the words followed by a quiet scream of pain when Rickee stumbled on his feet. Footsteps pounded against the floor and less than half a minute Nik appeared before us, closely followed by my brother and Ashton. Nik turned to leave the hall, snatching his car keys out of his pocket but quickly stopped when Ashton spoke.

"Rickee take her to the kitchen and lay her on the bench. Caeden, fetch my medical bag from my room and Nik please find some towels. Quickly!" Ashton commanded and everyone obeyed without question. Inside I was fuming, wondering why we were wasting time here when we could’ve been on our way to the hospital by now, but if no one else questioned Ashton I would just have to keep my opinions to myself.

"You're going to be okay, Kat. Ashton will patch you up and then we can head to school and see who our dorm-mates are for this year. Fun!" Rickee muttered in my ear and I smiled gratefully, knowing that he was trying to keep my mind off the pain. But sadly it wasn’t working and I gritted my teeth as another wave of pain washed over me.

I tried to block everything out as Ashton stitched me up again, but I couldn’t think of anything except the pain that never seemed to end. Hearing Ashton gasp in surprise I looked down and saw black liquid dripping from the wound and as if that wasn’t strange enough, every area the liquid touched burned like boiling water was being poured onto my skin. Ashton let out a choked sound before ushering everyone from the kitchen and returned to my side, looking at the liquid that continued to leak onto my skin, muttering words under his breath that sounded like 'she is a risk to us all' and 'we must keep an eye on her.'
****
"Kit Kat, I - we - have some bad news," Caeden said softly as I took a seat in Niks office "Ashton and I have been offered a job as the princes personal guards. While that may seem like good news, the bad news is that you will have to come with us. Nik has urgent business in Trinlae and won’t be back until after Christmas."

You’re joking! School starts tomorrow and you want me to just forget about it so I can go to the palace with you? And for what? For you to babysit some spoilt prince? Thanks, but I’ll pass! I wrote on the notebook before me and passed it to Caeden and Ashton to read. Part of me wished that Rickee was still here, but he had left a while ago to sleep off his hangover and I was now regretting letting him leave.

"No matter how mad you are, you have no right to disrespect the prince like that! If someone in the palace heard you speak like that you would be hung for treason against the royal family of Rosaius! If anything I thought you'd be glad to leave Crezent, especially after everything that has happened!" Caeden exclaimed looking pointedly at my stomach. Letting out a frustrated sigh I sat back in my seat, knowing I wasn’t going to win this argument.

Fine I’ll do this for you. But if it doesn’t work out - me living in the palace I mean - then you have to let me move back here...without argument I wrote down reluctantly, hesitating to hand over the notepad. When Caeden read what I had written a relieved smile spread across his face, making it seem like he thought I’d say no.

"I’m sorry Kit Kat. I know this is hard for you, but we have just been reunited again and I am not willing to leave you so soon. I can’t help but think that if I had been here that night things might have been different. Being in the palace will protect you and will keep me sane so I can concentrate on my duties," Caeden explained while giving me a gentle smile "we leave tomorrow, so say your goodbyes to your friends before you start packing."
The instant I made it to my room I turned on my iPing, the familiar neon green light shining from the small glass screen on my desk as the holograms began to take shape. When the large glass screen nailed to the wall lit up I walked towards it, watching the screen as my fingers moved along the familiar surface of the iPing.

Pressing on the call icon I scrolled through the list of contacts on my iPing, stopping on Rickee’s name and pausing before I pressed on it. The screen of the iPing in my hand instantly darkened, along with the screen on my wall and I nervously chewed on my bottom lip until a hologram of Rickee appeared before me, showing that he had accepted the call.

"Hey Rickee. Caeden just gave me some really bad news and I need to see you. Can you meet me at Jocee's in half an hour?" I asked softly, the words coming out of my mouth so quickly that I didn’t think he would understand me.

"Of course Kat. You don’t even need to ask me. Although it has to be pretty bad if you are actually willing to go to Jocee's. Id usually have to drag you in there kicking and screaming," Rickee answered with a smirk and if he was standing in front of me - instead of his hologram - I would have slapped him.

"Goodbye Rickee!" I called, rolling my eyes before I waved a hand through his hologram, effectively ending the call.
Looking at the small brick building before me I was beginning to regret asking Rickee to meet me here. The sign displayed the word Jocee's in large writing, flickering orange lights illuminating it every few seconds. With a sigh I pushed open the heavy black door, listening as a loud trumpet-like noise echoed through the area.

"Hello there little miss, how can I help you?" a thickly muscled man ambled into the room, the brightly coloured tattoo sleeves more than noticeable against his pale skin. Biting down on my bottom lip I handed him the piece of paper stating what I wanted done and was relieved when an understanding smile spread across his face.

"Wow, it looks great!" Rickee said as we both stood before the full length mirror a few hours later. Rickee had arrived less than ten minutes after I had and when he'd learned what I was here for he was shocked to say the least. But no matter what my initial fear had been, all worry disappeared when I saw the final result.

Taking up residence on my back below my left shoulder blade was a dove in flight, carrying a leaved twig in its beak. Outlining the bird were smudges of black ink, making it look like wind beneath the birds wings. Adelaide's name was written in cursive above the bird, wrapping around the tips of the birds wings. Beneath the bird, in the same swirling script were the dates 14 - 05 - 1996 and 07 - 08 - 2014. It was satisfying to see a permanent reminder of Adelaide inked into my skin and I was so happy that I had decided to go through with this before I left.

"Your brother and Nikias are going to murder you when they see your tattoo," Rickee chuckled as he parked his car in front of my house. I already knew that they would be mad when they found out, but I hoped that their reactions would change once they understood why I did it and what it stood for.

"I really don’t care what they think. Caeden told me this morning that he and Ashton are going to be the princes personal guards. I was happy for them too, until I learned that I have to move as well...and we leave tomorrow," I rushed out, refusing to look Rickee in the eyes as I spoke.
"What do you mean you're leaving? You know they'll never allow that! You aren’t safe Kat and yet you still want to go live in the palace like nothing is wrong!" Rickee fumed, his voice rising with each word he spoke. I knew that he wouldn’t be happy with my news, but I hadn’t expected him to go off like that. Blinking back tears I shoved the car door open and ran away from the car, half expecting Rickee to come after me but he didn’t move.

"Hey Kat, I didn’t expect to see you home so soon. Did you have a good - are you crying?" Nik asked, approaching me as soon as I entered the house. Even though I knew I shouldn’t be, a part of me was mad at Nik too. If he didn’t have to leave the country then I wouldn’t have to move and Rickee wouldn’t be mad at me right now.

Ignoring Niks question I hurried upstairs, not wanting to see anyone. I was so mad at nearly every single person in my life and the one person I wanted to talk to was buried six feet underground. But that didn’t mean I couldn’t talk to her. Changing direction I headed back outside and began the fifteen minute walk to the cemetery.

"I don’t know what to do Adelaide. I know that the rest of the gang blames me for your death, like I am the one that killed you. Why did you disobey them to save me? If you hadn’t stood up for me you would still be here today!" I screamed as I punched the trunk of the tree beside Adelaide’s gravestone "it really messed me up Adelaide. I really need you, but you're not here!"

I began to sob as I repeatedly hit the tree, my emotions spiralling out of control "I hate that you protected me! I hate that your dead and I am living in my own personal hell. It should have been me who was on the other end of that gun, not you! But because you're so god damn stubborn you had to disobey them. I need help Adelaide, but l am so afraid of opening up to someone if they will end up leaving me...just like you did!"

"No one blames you, Kat. We all know that you did what you could to save her. We're all just glad that we didn't lose both of you that night. Out of all of us you're the youngest; Adelaide knew that and did what she could to save you. I’m sure that she doesn't regret it because I would do the same if I were in her position, without hesitation," Leroy spoke from behind me before crouching down by my side and taking my now bruised hand in his own. I should have known he would have been the one to find me; he seemed to know me better than I knew myself sometimes.

"I know that I’m the youngest Leo, but I know how to fight and I know that if I tried harder I could have saved her. Important guessing Rickee has spoken to you about me leaving and if I know you as well as I think I do you are preparing yourself to talk me out of going. But I don't have a choice Leo, I need you to know that," I said, speaking to him for the first time since before Adelaide’s death. I had avoided all of the gang apart from Rickee, thinking that they all hated me and it was a relief to know they didn’t.

"Yes Rickee spoke to me about it. I also know that no matter what I say you’re still going to leave. That’s why you’re dangerous Kat, you know how to read people and that helps you protect yourself in so many ways. That’s the only reason I am letting you go, but I will be calling you every day and if I think that something’s wrong, no one will be able to stop me from taking you home!" Leroy said and I knew that he meant it. With a small smile and a weary sigh I leant against Leroy and put his arm around me as he rested his chin on my head, both of us lost in our own thoughts.

Taping the last box shut I looked around my room, bare of all of my things apart from my bed and desk. Everything I owned was packed into a few large boxes, ready to be delivered to the palace. It was strange to know that in a few hours I would be leaving the place that had been my home for years, the one place I knew I would always be welcome. Until now I hadn’t noticed how many memories this room held, like the burn mark on my carpet from when Rickee had accidently lit a piece of paper on fire and dropped it to the ground as he attempted to put it out, and the small hole in my wall from my sixteenth birthday when Adelaide and I had a bit too much to drink. But as soon as a smile began to form I remembered that those memories were all I had left and the smile instantly faded.

"She wouldn’t hate you for being happy, Kat. If she were in your position would you really want her to be this unhappy all the time or would you want her to keep living her life, to be happy?" Nik asked from my doorway. He knew why I was guilty, but he had been trying everything he could so I would try and move on, but he didn’t understand how hard it was for me. But I knew that what he said was right and if Adelaide were here she would probably yell at me to stop moping and that as long as I was alive I had no reason to be upset.

"I don’t want to go Nik. I can’t even speak to my own brother and I trust him more than anyone else. Every time I open my mouth nothing comes out and it is so frustrating. I haven’t seen him in over three years and now he is treating me like a complete stranger, yet he wants me to uproot my life just so he can keep an eye on me!" I ranted, rubbing my temples in frustration. Nik was the only one, who fully understood me, but he was leaving and I didn’t know what to do.

"Kat I promise you that everything will be fine. Caeden is my best friend and he is your brother. You will learn to trust him again, but it will take time. I know that you don’t want to leave, but if you try and understand what he is feeling you would know that this is the best option. But when I get back, if you are still against this we will talk about you moving back here," Nik spoke and I knew that he had put a lot of thought into what he was saying.

Briefly I wondered how Caeden was feeling about all this. When he left I had just turned fourteen and now, three and a half years later he returned to a completely different person. I knew I shouldn’t blame him for being over-protective; after all he was making up for everything he missed. I knew then that even though I didn’t want to go I would make the most of it, because I knew that he would do the same for me.

"I’m going to miss you Nik. You have to promise me that you will call and come and visit me. Everything there is going to be different and I’ve already lost Rickee’s friendship, I can’t lose yours too," I murmured, my voice hoarse. Nik shook his head as if that was the most ridiculous thing he’d ever heard, but agreed to my promise anyway. Heaving me to my feet Nik pulled me into a tight hug and I could feel his reluctance to release me.

"Are you ready to go Kat? Caeden is waiting in the car and told me to come get you because he 'deserves a break from all of the physical activities he’s done since we’ve been back' as he put it. So let’s go!" Ashton said from my bedroom doorway, gesturing for me to hurry up. Reluctantly I pulled away from Nik and gave him a small smile, trying to prevent nerves from taking over.

"Finally! I thought that you and Ashton had left me here to rot! Just think that if you had forgotten me I would have been left in here with nearly no food or drinks because I do not have the amount of energy that is required to climb those steps!" Caeden called dramatically as Ashton and I took our seats in the car. I let out a loud laugh when Caeden said he would have nearly no food and drinks as the seat beside him was covered in bags of chips and lollies, as well as a dozen unopened bottles of soda.

'Maybe this won’t be too bad' I thought as the house disappeared from view. After all I had my brother with me and I was leaving behind all of the painful memories that came with this place. Well, most of the memories anyway. Tugging on the charms on the friendship bracelet Adelaide had given me I gazed out the window, watching as the buildings were slowly replaced by trees. 'Well Adelaide' I thought 'it looks like my adventure is just beginning.'