Underground Hatred - My Hero Origins (MHO)

28: Bad Feelings and Warning Signs

Word Count: 2066

(Kat)

 Kat's frail hands trembled against the tops of her thighs, her palms clasped together to keep in warmth. The tint of her skin was paired to white like snow, no rosy cheeks, no scarlet fingers. Her amber eyes appeared sunken, almost hollow with bags to weigh them down. A skeleton sat on the bench, Kat's skin the only thing to cover it. A massive, evergreen jacket shrouded her torso, draping to her knees. Auburn strands encompassed her face, the liveliness of the color the only thing depicting Kat was alive and breathing.

Barely a soul wandered by in the park, leaving Kat to bask in the chilly sunlight on her bench. Leaves blew at her feet, crashing into her legs and scurrying away like small children who wandered too far from their mother. Cars in the distance made a hum of noise—not the annoying buzz of a bee, but the mellow tone of a sound machine with the help of shrubbery coverage on the edges of the park. The yells at the vehicles were merely the chirps of birds hidden in the trees. The molding of leaves drifted through the air, damp earth to accompany it. The grass was beginning to die with the warm season, the scent of cut grass no longer drifting as it would in the Summer.

Kat's stomach ached from the previous night, barely hungry with how torn up it had become. Her mouth was dry from the lack of water in her system, a throbbing headache drifting in the back of her head. After her interaction with her paranoid hallucination, Kat went to bed, and thankfully crashed for the night; but her eyes begged to close, still exhausted from how much energy she exerted the previous day and night. All her limbs were made of lead, weighing her down and anchoring her sickly stature to the bench.

A few texts were thrown Kat's way from Davis that morning. It was brief, just mentioning how he needed to catch up on his studies for a day or so. It was a relief to hear that she would see him the next day after her memories of the warehouse, but disappointment hung in her chest at the lack of companionship for the day. Yes, she believed it was important that Kat got a break from Davis, but she was in the worst state she had been in for a few weeks. She was alone in her frail state, fending for herself.

She hated how she had grown out of that lack of independence when she was in a terrible state.

"Kathryn?"

Kat's head lazily turned up, exhaustion hanging deep in her face. A rise of an eyebrow was the most expression she could give before a yawn overtook her. The facial movement forced her eyes to close, only to sit there for a brief minute, panic striking that the lids were unable to unglue themselves. A hand reached up and Kat's thumb and index finger rubbed her eyes to force them to open again.

Blinking to rid of the welling of automatic tears in her eyes, Kat glanced up to find a woman staring at her, a shocked expression on her face. The disarray Kat found herself to be in the morning pulled her features directly away from the woman, but under normal circumstances, the woman held the same, business-like stare Kat carried, but wore emerald green eyes. Her matching auburn hair was tied back into a neat, low bun, two pieces of hair to encase the front of her face. She was older than Kat, carrying minimal wrinkles across her facial features, but still appeared to be full of determined youth. Beneath a black, business winter coat was a matching emerald dress with skin-toned tights and black slip-ons.

The shocked look across the woman's face put her out of place from Kat for a moment, only for Kat's stomach to drop farther than it originally would have. "Mom..."

Another brief round of silence, but it was broken by Kat's mother, who placed herself down on the other side of the bench from Kat. A purse that slung over her shoulder placed itself on the bench beside the woman. Automatically, Kat slid closer to the furthest side of the bench, pressing against the armrest; she wanted no place beside her mother.