On The Run

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Thud. A litlte white paper had landed on my desk. I picked it up, unfolded it and read the neat script.

Kastella, are you free on Friday?I was thinking we could go see a movie or something?

I looked up, trying to find who had thrown it at me. I found Elliot lookinhg at me expectantly. I quickly scrolled a message on the paper.

No. You know that I don't want a relationship. And do you seriously think that I could forgive you after what you did to me?

I flung it back to Elliot, hitting him on the head. He turned around at me, and rubbed his head mouthingthe words, "Oww". I rolled my eyes in response before he turned around to read it. As he read my message I saw as a scowl formed on his face. I really wasn't in the mood for this. It was last period on a Monday. Uggh I hated Mondays.

I looked back to the front as Elliot scrolled some more stuff down. I listened and took nots as Mr Trotter gave a lecture on the Civil War. I already knew everything he was saying, I had read ahead. I have no idea why. I wasn't a nerd or anything. I mean, sure I didn't really have any friends, but I don't know. I guess I just felt inclined to study. Weird? Yeah I know.

The little paper landed onmy desk again. I looked at Elliot. He was angrily scrolling things in his notebook. He was frowning and his eyebrows were furrowed. I let out a little chuckle. I couldn't help it, knowing I had annoyed Elliot was a win in my eyes. He betrayed me a long time ago, yeah a lont time ago, but I couldn't let it go. I held that grudge towards him. I was too hurt to let that pass. He left me. You see me and Elliot used to be best friends. We would be inseperable. We did sport together, had most classes together, we were always lab partners and we would always be eachother's dates to dances because no one else wanted us.

That all changed in high school. Freshman year. He was given a chance on the football team. Don't get me wrong I was happy for him. It was something he really wanted. I didn't expect for him to leave me the way he did. He ditched me. He left me for all the cheerleaders and jocks. I wasn't mad because he had other friends. I was mad because he threw all those years of friendship away and never even showed any remorse. That really hurt.

Snapping out of my painful flashback and read what was on the piece of paper.

Look Kastella. I know you don't want a boyfriend. I know that I hurt you, but I just asked you becasue I wanted to make things right. I know its been a long time but don't get mad at me because I'm not doing anything wrong.

I felt my face start heating up. Not from embarassment, or becasue I was flattered. Because I was angry. I'm not doing anything wrong? He's not doing anything wrong? He actually thought that after 2 years of ignoring me and acting like we were never friends he just thought he could make evrything right? Fat chance. eh lost that oppurtunity a long time ago.

I scrunched up the paper and threw it into the bin. As the bell rang I swiftly collected my things and left. I needed to walk home. Good, time to clear my head before I exploded with anger.

I loved the breeze blowing through my hair. The feel of the warm wind, as it touched my bare cheeks. The sun was beginning its descent. The birds were still singing, as I passed house after house. Yeah. I know, it sounds like a pretty cliche afternoon. Oh well. Cliche stuff does happen.

I was about a block away from home, pretty much completely calm from this afternoon's events, when I heard tyres screech next to me. A door flew open and hands grabbed me from the side. Whoever it was that caught me was obviously not very gentle. One of his huge hands was over my mouth and the other over my eyes. A deep voice spoke from behind me, "Are you Kastella O' Blien?" I shook my head, trying to get rid of the man's hands over my face. The one over my mouth released but the one over my eyes tightened. I quickly spat out the first name that came to mind,"No I'm Sarah Solo. What the hell do you want from me?" Another voice came from thr front, "You got the wrong girl idiot." The hand over my eyes released but before I could see who my captors were, they threw me out of the car. I landed on my side on the concrete. The car sped away. I scrambled to my feet and ran all the rest of the way home, taking alleys and back ways just to stay away from the main road and get home faster.

I fumbled for the keys as I reached my front doorstep. Heart racing, I slammed the key into the hole, twisted, pushed the door and practically ran inside. I checked all the windows, closed the blinds, locked the back door. "MUM!!! DAD!!! WHERE ARE YOU?!?!" I still couldn't believe those idiots bought that, but I was greatful. I put my hands on my knees panting. My mother and father instantly appeared at the stairs. They ran down and practically yelled, "Kastella? what is going on? What happened?"

Trying to catch my breath I explained what I could, between pants. "Two men...black car...found me...escaped...looking for me." My mum put a hand on my shoulder and led me to a chair in the dining area. I sat down and got my breath back. Her face didn't look worried, it was the face of someone who had dreaded something for so long and all of their nightmares were coming true. What was going on? Did she know those guys? More importantly, did my dad? He showed no expression what so ever, he just stared at me as if in deep concentration. "Kastella, follow me." my father said. I followed him down the hallway near the stairs.

"Dad? What is going on? Do you know those guys? Who are they?"

Dad flipped a panel that I didn't know was there, revealing a keypad. He typed in a bunch of numbers and the wall slid open. I gawked at the room behind it. How long had this been here?

Without turning dad answered, not answering any of my questions,

"Kastella, I know you have alot of questions, I know what you really want right now is answers but you just need to trust us." I simply nodded and followed him into the room. It was lit with blue lights behind dark panels. There were computers, tvs and glass cabinets covering the walls. One cabinet was full of guns and bulletproof everythings. I stared around the room, taking it all in. What was this place? I didn't dare touch anything, but dad seemed well aware of this place and its contents. He handed me a gun, a tin can and a box of matches.

"Go to your room. Pack clothes, books, anything you need. Anything with your name, that you won't be bringing, burn. I don't know how long it wil be before we can settle back in, so bring alot of clothes and a few books. Just hurry."

I obeyed his orders and ran up to my room. I took out two duffel bags and my backapck. I threw diffrent arrays of clothes and a blanket. I packed my camera, a few books, and my laptop. I threw chargers into my backpack and started ripping my photos off of the walls. I tucked them into my backpack too. I stood in the middle of my room and hurriedly looked around for anything else I needed. I spotted my school books and chucked them into the tin can. I struck a match and watched as the flames quickly engulfed my books, then went out. It was crazy just how fast those books burned.

I threw my backpack over my shoulder and grabbed my two duffel bags. Before I could run back down the stairs I spotted the green jumper that Elliot had given to me, on my 14th birthday, in my opened closet. I ran to it and grabbed it. I stuffed it into one of my duffels and ran down the stairs. When I got to the bottom I saw mum and dad packing, food, clothes, blankets and anything else we needed. When mum saw me she threw me the car keys and instructed me to put my bags in the back and get the engine started.

I sprinted to the garage and threw the door open. I unlocked the car, and as mum said, I threw my bags in the back. I made sure to leave as much space in the back as possible so I took my backpack into the car with me. As I jumped in the front seat to start the car I flung my bag into the back seat. I revved the engine and as I jumped into the backseat, mum and dad came in. I helped them pack bags into the back. Once all the bag were packed and we were seated mum shouted, "GO!!!"

Dad revved the engine and before we knew it, we were speeding down the highway toward Georgia. I leaned forward and spoke in a serious tone,

"Care to explain what's going on?"

Mum met my eyes and replied with a simple, "Ok."