Never Again

Chapter 4: Moving

'Shit,' Keira said out loud.

She was standing in the bathroom, the only safe place in her house it seemed. A bruise was starting to form on her left cheek, she could see the skin turning a pale purple. She was hoping that it wouldn't get any worse, as it hadn't been the hardest of blows this time. It had still hurt, but she knew it could be much worse. The pain in her thighs was more painful, the force David had used to pull them apart had left dark purple bruises. She didn't really worry about them, because her trousers would hide them for her. There were some problems though, the weather outside became warmer each day and soon she wouldn't be able to wear long sleeves anymore without being asked uncomfortable questions. Without looking she grabbed some foundation from the bathroom cabinet and made herself busy putting it on. She normally didn't wear any make-up, but in the past few months she had became rather depended on it. A lot of little accidents had happened and the make-up made it able to conceal the traces of violence on her face. Looking at herself from different directions she appreciated her handy work, if you didn't know it was there you wouldn't notice. She smiled at her reflection and readied herself to go out.

She was walking downstairs and felt her phone vibrating in her pocket. The screen said she had received a message from Abby.

Abby - Hey, at what time will you be here?

Keira - I'm on my way, will be there in 15 minutes.

Keira hit send and put her phone back into her pocket. She had to hurry if she wanted to be there in fifteen minutes. She had promised to help Abby pack, she was moving to Frimley in the next few days and she was having a meltdown. It was true that she had already called Keira ten times during the last three days, so Keira figured it would be in her own best interest to go help her. Tom had agreed to come too, he was also moving, but only next week so he had called it practise to help Abby. It was also good to get out of the house, it was her day off and she hadn't felt like spending it inside. She quickly grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl and checked if she had her keys. David had already left and she didn't want to be depended on him when she came home, because maybe he wouldn't even let her in the house. With a swing she closed the door behind her and stepped into the bright sunlight.

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'You're here!' Keira was pulled into a hug when the door had opened.

She stepped over the threshold and followed Abby inside. The house was a mess, there were boxes everywhere and it looked like a bomb had exploded. Keira chuckled, this was typical Abby, completely chaotic. She was the total opposite of Keira who liked everything to be neat and tidy. Tom was already sitting on the sofa, but had a helpless look on his face. Keira made her way over to him and flopped down next to him.

'So, how is it going?' Keira smirked when looking around the room.

'Fantastic,' Tom said sarcastically.

Abby was bouncing around the room while throwing several items in different directions. Some items ended up in a box, but a few seconds later she had already pulled them out again. 'I don't know what to do,' she cried while holding a large teddy bear.

'OK, time to make a plan then,' Keira responded. She grabbed the notebook that was laying on the table and looked for a pen. When she had found one she scribbled some things down. 'Ok, we'll organise by room. We have kitchen, living room, bathroom, bedroom, workroom and one we call junk-we-do-not-want-to-throw-away-room,' Keira wrote this down so the others could remember.

'That sounds logical,' Tom admitted.

'So, we'll first prepare the boxes. In each room put three boxes, one for stuff you want to take with you, one for stuff you are going to give away and one for stuff you want to throw away. And oh, first write the room on the box, before we forget to do that later,' Keira added.