Marnie's Locket

Chapter One

A/N: Hi, okay so here is the first chapter. Sorry I know it isn't very long, but the next one should be longer. Please Please Please comment! Thanks!

 

Chapter One

 

I learned at a very young age that things and people are not always what they seemed. All people lie to get what they want. No I’m not a cynic, just realistic. And even if I WAS cynical, I’m pretty sure I have good reason to be. In an instant my whole family was ripped from my hands, on Christmas Eve no less. I was betrayed by a good family friend who ruthlessly murdered my whole family. At the tender age of nine I had nothing. I had no home, no family, and a very limited amount of knowledge of why my life was torn apart. And now, eight years later the only person I had left was Finn. He was like a second father to me. He was the one that protected me all these years. He changed our names and moved us across the country countless times.

This time we were moving to a sleepy town called Cashiers up in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. I had voted for Raleigh, or Charlotte, somewhere we could fade into the background and keep from drawing attention to ourselves. Finn argued saying that what happens in small towns might be broadcasted all about the town, but it stayed in the towns. He claimed that small towns were more private and offered us a way to hide from Nicolai. I was still bitter we had to leave New York. I had enjoyed the fast paced city. I was pretty sure that Cashiers wouldn’t even remotely compare. I knew I shouldn’t have been upset we were leaving, we did this every six months, but I would miss the hustle and bustle of the city. We never took planes; they were too easy to track, so we were stuck in the car for ten to eleven hours. Lucky for us Finn was a car snob, taking great pleasure in driving large luxury vehicles.

 We left New York this morning at five am. It was almost noon, and hopefully that meant we could stop soon. I was so used to long car rides. I had developed a habit of sitting in the car and staring out the window until my mind went blank and I basically day dreamt without dreams. It made the time pass quickly. Of course if I grew restless I could always listen to my iPod. My one weakness was music. I loved music of every genre from the classical stuff and the blues to hard rock and indie pop. So for the first six hours of our trip I alternated between absorbing myself in music and peacefully clearing my mind. I chose to relax until Finn finally pulled off the highway to an exit.

“Looks like it’s Moe’s, Hardee's, or McDonald's for lunch. Take your pick Marn.” Finn deep voice pulled me from my thoughtless thinking. I shrugged with disinterest.

“Whatever we pass first is fine, I’m not really hungry, I just want to stretch my legs and pee.” He took a right at the top of the exit and pulled into Hardee's. I pulled on my standard jacket, a simple black leather jacket, much like the one my mom used to wear when she was younger. It might have been out of style to some but it was warm and I welcomed the heat as the cool November air nipped at my face and any exposed skin. I walked around the car waiting for Finn to haul himself out of the car. I saw him tuck his gun into the back waist of his pants

. I didn’t even bat an eye at it anymore. He had good reason to carry it with him. Besides, I carried a blade strapped to my calf, tucked inside my boots. And I was damn good with it. I had forced Finn to teach me to defend myself. I would not run the next time Nicolai caught up with me. He shrugged on his dark coat and zipped up the front before grinning at me.

“Cheer up Marn; you’ll love this new town. I heard they have tons of waterfalls and trails and stuff.” I grimaced at the shortening of my name, only Finn would be ballsy enough to call me that, because he knew he could get away with it.  We walked into the Hardee's and ordered a couple burgers and fries. I filled our cups with coke as he found us a table. I ignored the looks we got. We always got odd looks, this big intimidating black man, and a young teenage girl, I'm pretty sure they assumed he was my pimp. The story we gave at new cities and towns were that he was a family friend who adopted me after my parents died in a car wreck when I was little. Nobody ever questioned it, but I had a feeling it had to do with the massive amount of man telling the story.