Forbidden

Chapter 3

The fresh air felt like heaven in her lungs and the clouds in her mind dispersed. She stood there, inhaling pureness at its finest, until the door opened. She ran down the street, barely hearing her name called by her mother's voice as it echoed through the still night.

She ran. Ran until her legs screamed. Ran until her lungs burned. Ran until tears streamed down her pale face. Catherine stopped, panting, as she took in her surroundings. The streets were dead. Not a soul dared stray along these streets, not even a cat. Darkness wrapped its arms around the deserted town, leaving only the dim lights of the scarce houses.

A slight dizziness came upon Catherine, causing her to catch her breath at the bench in front of the store across the street from her. She sat still, her head buried in her shaking hands, for what felt like an eternity. A call pulled her out of her trance. Not recognizing the words or the voice at first, she strained her ears in order to focus on the sound. A moment passed, but it came back. Catherine lifted her head, her eyes open in bewilderment as she heard her name. Not by her mother's soothing voice as she had expected, but, to her surprise, being called by her father's hoarse, deep voice. She could not for the life of her understand why her father, of all people, called her name. She turned around to go back home when a shadow darted in and out of sight. She swiftly turned her head in the direction of the movement, but came to the evidence that she had missed it. Catherine shrugged, and walked slowly back. Dreading the moment where faith would oblige her to face her father, Catherine dragged her feet, barely lifting them off the dusty pavement.

~*~*~*~*~

The dim light of an oil lamp brightened with every step. Soon enough, her father's traits swam into focus. Without knowing why, Catherine had hoped for a twinkle of concern lighting up his eyes, wondering where his daughter was. Instead, she was greeted with eyes who bubbled with fury and crisped fists. Step after step, Catherine slowly progressed towards her father's silhouette. The reason, however, did not appear in the young girl's mind. Almost unconsciously, she responded to her father's harsh call. His tone was anything but inviting, yet she obeyed blindly. Furious at herself for doing her father's bidding without question, she turned around and left in the opposite direction. Her father's voice resounded once more through the night, but Catherine chose to ignore him. She refused to offer him the satisfaction of obeying, to grant him the last word. With a resolute step, she continued to err the deserted streets.

She walked aimlessly in the neighborhood, going from one street to the other without a precise destination. Every store she crossed was denuded from life, even if it was only 7:30pm. Depressed by the lack of life in this part of town, she turned left onto a side street, using a shortcut towards the neighbouring residential area. The light and the lively chatter through the windows cleared her mind and soothed her throbbing anger. A knot of nostalgia replaced the anger as she walked by happy families. Her feet guided her through random streets, and she ended up near her friend Shirley's house. The thought of knocking at the small house briefly passed her mind, but got rejected. Of course, spending time with Shirley would do her good and take her mind off the recent events, but Shirley's mom would be suspicious and call Catherine's parents to inform them their daughter was safe and sound. That happened to be the absolute last thing on Catherine's to-do list. She went on with a sigh, strolling half-heartedly.

Somehow, the minutes rolled by. Catherine glanced at her old pocket watch, and gasped when she noticed it already indicated 9pm. A yawn took her by surprised, as she hadn't felt tired until she had seen the time. Perhaps her mind had ordered her to be sleepy because 9pm represented getting ready for bed. Something she wouldn't be doing at this time tonight. Worry overwhelmed her when she realized she had no roof to sleep under that night. Now that her stubbornness had rejected her father's call, home was absolutely out of bounds. A friend's house offered no more shelter, as the parents would contact Tom and Julia and Catherine couldn't stand the thought of that either. Her pockets held no money, so the warm bed of the near inn would not comfort her. A thought slowly latched onto her mind. She kept it as a last resort, hoping to be struck by a genius idea.

After several more minutes of head-wracking thinking, the evidence dawned on Catherine. Her last resort was the only one left. With a heavy sigh, she rounded the next corner and exited into a less habited place. A park spread out in front of her. Oak trees covered the ground, with the exception of a small clearing in the middle. She slithered through the labyrinth and finally came upon the opening. She curled up on a nearby bench, and gave in to the welcoming arms of a deep, dreamless sleep.

~*~*~*~*~

The fresh light of dawn and the joyful tweeting of early morning birds woke her up too early. Her numb fists wiped her groggy eyes as she tried to sharpen her mind. She stumbled to her feet, aching to quench her burning thirst. Squinting, she struggled to remember the way back to civilization. Just a few more trees stood in her way when she stiffened with fear. Her parched throat was now the least of her worries. Once again, her name made its way to her ears, distant but present. She took a cautious step forward, and another, until she emerged into the light, curious as to whom might be calling.

"Catherine!" Came the voice again. It was loud, yet somehow soothing in its mystery. It did not belong to anyone Catherine knew, which was all the more intriguing. Another unidentifiable sound accompanied it, and Catherine puzzled a moment as to what it was. Hooves?

"Y-yes?"

"Catherine Porter?" The sound of horses trotting about made itself crystal clear. A middle-aged officer rounded the corner, concern creasing his face.

"That's me..."

"Mark, go tell Chief we have her." A horse galloped away, and the kindly officer took to Catherine. The concern on his face gave way to relief, and his stiff body relaxed. "Boy, are we happy to find you, young lady! Your parents have been worried, you know. Who wouldn't be, after their child took off the way you did! I'm constable Sanders, by the way." He hopped of his mount with apparent ease. "Would you like some water?" Thankful, she took the gourd offered to her and greedily took two, three, and then four large draughts. Her thirst finally quenched, she handed the near empty bottle back to Sanders, smiling. "Do you need a leg up?" Catherine shook her head, and scrambled soundlessly onto the beast as it took her back home.

Neither of them uttered a word as the horse strode through the streets to Catherine's house. It finally stopped. The trip had been interminable, yet too short, to Catherine. Interminable because the agony of waiting, terrified of her parent's reaction, gnawed at Catherine since the moment she had left. Too short, it seemed, for there never was enough time to prepare for such an encounter.

The muffled sound of Julia's voice alerting her husband that his runaway daughter was there arrived to the latter's ears, paralyzing her with dread. Constable Sanders gently urged Catherine forward. Just as the frightened girl was about to open the door, it flew open, revealing the harsh, reddened face of her father.

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Hello my darling readers! I hope you will enjoy this story! As with my last, this is my first shot at this type of fiction. So please forgive me for any timing issues you may find!

Sorry for the cliffhanger, I'll update again soon with chapter 4 :)

Until then, comment, vote and share if you liked!