Chapter 1

182 6 0
                                    

It's been nearly two weeks since Raine discovered that her family were the unexpected victims of a home invasion. It didn't make sense to her, why would anyone want to harm them? They were good, loving people who would do anything for anyone at anytime.

She managed to drag herself out of bed to go and have a shower. As she got undressed, she stared at her barely recognisable reflection and sighed. Her hair was still beautiful, it was light brown and slightly wavy falling just under her boobs. Though for last couple of weeks, she just threw it up into a pony tail. She has dark circles under her eyes where she's been struggling to sleep at night, getting only a few hours in. She'd lost a lot of weight through stress, but this wasn't all bad because she'd been wanting to lose some weight for a while now. She wouldn't want to lose anymore though, she'd look ill if she did.

"Pull yourself together woman" she whispered though gritted teeth at the girl staring back at her through the mirror. With a shake of her head and deep breath out, she started to get ready for the funeral.

She'd felt so alone since they were murdered, even with all the people who were offering to help. Sure, she had other family, but she wasn't close enough to them to pour her heart out. Everything that has been sorted, she's had to do herself. It's lucky that after her grandpa died, her mum thought it would be a good idea to pre-pay for all of our funerals just in case something was to happen. Every song that had been picked for the service would forever hold special meaning to her and would probably make her cry every time she hears it.

Dressed in a black fitted dress that comes just below the knee, a smart black jacket and dainty pair of black heels, she stands at the front ready to read her speech. She wipes away her tears, takes a deep breath and begins.

"Thank you to those of you who have come to pay tribute to my family, I'm sure they would be happy to know just how many people love and care for them. Each of them will be forever in my heart and my mind. I never got to say my goodbyes...I stayed over at my friends house the night of the incident. My body should be in a coffin, I should be there with them. But instead I'm here, being killed slowly with heart ache and pain. But as my daddy used to tell me 'where there's a will, there's a way' and I have that will to go on, it's just not easy to want to, but I will for them. They wouldn't want me to sit around upset all day, they'd want me to pick my lip up and carry on. I'm going to cut this short because I don't think I can make it through the whole speech. My mother, my father, my nannie, my brother and my sister were the best things that have ever happened to me and I'll hold onto to everything they've ever taught me. Please watch over me and give me the strength to carry on. I'll love you forever"

After walking off the podium and putting a single rose on top of each coffin, she broke down in her seat as the service finished. Everyone was crying, touched by at least one of the lives in the coffins.

The rest of the day was a blur, she was too physically and emotionally tired to pay attention through most of it. She crashed in bed by 8 o'clock and slept until noon the next day, walking up with tear stained cheeks.

A good idea popped into her head and she immediately sprung out of bed to root through her drawers for a map that she'd got given when she was in school. After a few minutes, a folded up map was pulled from the bottom of a pile. She pinned it up on the wall and grabbed a dart from under the dartboard she had hanging up.

The plan was, throw a dart and wherever it lands, that's where she'll move to. With her eyes shut tight, she let the dart go from her hand and waited for the sound of hitting the wall. Upon inspection, the dart had landed on the state of Massachusetts, USA. A faint smile played on Raines lips as she already knows that she wants to live in Boston. Everything about Boston is appealing to her, the accent, the harbour and the fact that they get snow in the winter. Moving there would be a fresh start for her and a chance to build a life and a future of her own.

With the little glimmer of hope for change, she quickly got washed and dressed so she could go to the estate agents office.

After what felt like hours in there, she had finally found a nice little house in the suburb of Sudbury. It's far away enough from the city so it's not too noisy or busy, buts it's close enough if she fancies have a big shopping day or something. With the inheritance money that was left for her totalling about £500,000, she was told she could easily exchange it for roughly $775,000. The house she was hoping to buy was $500,000, all paid upfront so there would be no mortgage. Things were finally starting to look up.

Having not been eating properly since the death of her family, she thought she'd treat herself to carvery, something she used to eat regularly. The estate agent said he'll be phoning back within the next two hours to let her know if she'd got the place or not. As she ate, she couldn't stop staring at her phone in the hope it would ring straight away. Her plate was piled high with a wide array of vegetables, roast and mashed potatoes, 3 slices of beef and a big Yorkshire pudding on the side. This is the most she's consumed in one day, let alone on meal. She smiled to herself as she finished the last bite, proud of the fact she'd been able to eat it all.

*ring ring...ring ring*

Grabbing the phone almost immediately, she swiped to answer the incoming call "hello"

"Good afternoon Miss Miller, it's Dan Harris from Manning's estate agency. We met earlier today" he greeted professionally.

"I hope you're phoning with good news" Raine pleaded

"I am indeed. They want to accept your offer because you're paying upfront, you're not in a chain and they believe young people deserve a chance" Dan announced, he could probably feel her smiling through the phone. They went over the details and set moving date so she could book her flight and send what she wants over. All that would be left to do is sort through what she wants and what she doesn't, tell her friends and remaining family that she's leaving and hopefully piece her life back together.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N - I hope you'll all like this story. I've got a few ideas where I'd like to take it.

Stick with me, it's not going to be a depressing story, I just needed to lay the foundation of Raine.

I hope you like it enough to vote and comment! Thank you my chickens:D

New beginnings (Chris Evans fanfic)Where stories live. Discover now