Classified Romance

Prologue

No.

She stared at the photo in front of her. Her blood ran cold, her heart was pounding. The photo she held in her hand was familiar, yet she had never seen it before.

Why? She questioned silently. Why would he have this photo?

Her mind scrambled, trying to think of a valid reason, yet she refused to come across the only one that made sense.

Her hands started shaking uncontrollably. Her deafening heart rate, even louder than before, increasing.

"No..." She chanted again, this time out loud. It couldn't be. It can't be. This isn't true. There has to be some sort of explanation.

After what seemed like eternity for Katherine, yet was only a mere few seconds, she slowly placed the photo in the back pocket of her worn-out denim jeans.

She took a deep breath, ignoring the burning feeling from her behind. She knew she should leave, yet her heart was only telling her one thing. To find out the truth. To find some sort of valid explanation as to why she found the photo in this room.

She looked across the room, her deep, brown eyes dilating, reflecting the fear and uncertainty she felt.

The desk.

Moving her legs cautiously, as if she was afraid someone might hear her, she made her way towards the imposingly, heavy looking and ornate desk. She tucked a loose stray of charcoal coloured hair behind her ear and bit her lip lightly. A nervous habit that she inherited from her mother. Bending down, she fumbled around with the drawers, realising they were all locked.

"Damn it," she muttered, frustratingly. Running her soft, delicate hand through her hair, yet again. "Breathe...breathe...," she recited to herself. The level of anxiety was becoming unbearable, leaving her in an excessively paranoid state – a significant lump forming within the cavity of her throat.

She inhaled and exhaled slowly, trying to ease her mind into calmness, although she knew at this point it was almost impossible. Her mind kept darting with questions, wanting to find an explanation. Something that would tell her the truth about the photo. That there was some reasonable, valid explanation to everything. She had to find it. She must. The thought of not doing so was unbearable.

Taking another deep breath, Katherine looked around the room. She needed answers and she knew it was somewhere in this room. She needed to find the key.

As if there were some sort of gravitational pull, her eyes stopped at the small, silver pen pot, sitting on the desk. Surely not?

Grabbing the object, Katherine dumped the contents onto the desk. Scattered were multiple pens, all black, and two small keys in the middle of the table. She gaped at the keys in disbelief. Her throat tightened. In the back of her mind was a voice telling her, warning her, that something wasn't right. However, she locked the voice aside and snatched one of the keys. It's now or never. She sat down on the pristine, leather looking chair and placed the key inside the lock on one of the drawers.

Click.

Katherine stared at the drawer and opened it carefully, preparing for the worst.

Inside the drawer was a single object, a large, velvet box, with the chromatic colour which resembles the hue of blood. She cautiously took the heavy box out of the drawer and placed it on the desk. Unlocking the golden clasp attached, she delicately opened it. Inside was a camera, papers, including newspaper clippings and even more photos, similar to the one which was previously found on the floor. Katherine felt disoriented, the truth, everything, it was all here in front of her. Taking the contents out of the box, she flicked through them.

This was what he warned her about. Yet, she refused to believe him when he told her that she was in danger.

She felt herself crumble, after withholding her feelings and ignoring them, it all came together.

"No," she sobbed, tears flowing down her cheeks. "This can't be real, it can't."

Katherine felt like all the oxygen was wiped away from her, she grabbed her chest and leaned back against the leather chair, trying to steady herself. She sucked in another breath and another. Too fast. Breathe. Closing her eyes as tight as she could, she continued breathing, quick, short breaths. Calm...calm...calm... She recited her mother's words, that she quickly became used to during her adolescence, until she felt herself relax slightly. Minutes passed. Until eventually, Katherine opened her eyes. Ignoring all the negative thoughts and feelings, she threw all the contents back into the box, slamming it shut and placing it back in the drawer. She locked the drawer with the key and placed the small, shiny object back in the pot alongside the pens.

Now that Katherine knew the truth, there was only one thing she wanted.

Revenge.