Survival of the Soul

Chapter 7: Playing Pretend

January 20th 1995

     "Woah, I got a cops and robbers action figure set. What'd you get?" The blond boy asks his sister.
     "I got a doctor kit!" She exclaims, showing it off to her twin.
     "Katie, that's so cool."
     "Your action figures are cool too, Jason." She says.
     "Yeah they are. Happy birthday, Katie."
     "Jason, it's your fifth birthday too. We're twins, silly."

20 Years Later

     "I can't believe you're moving to Australia, you son of a gun!" Katie squeaks, punching her brother's arm. Jason laughs and gives her a bear hug, knocking them both off balance. "I'm gonna kick your ass."
     "You can't reach." He teases, pinning her down.
     "I can't believe you're taking my neice and nephew all the way to Australia. I'll never see you guys." She worries.
     "You can always come with us. They need vets in Australia too." He says.
     "I can't leave Marc."
     "Course, you can't leave your asshole boyfriend to be with the only family you have left. Typical. Marc is ruining everything all over again. First when we were in high school and now as adults." Jason remarks, his playful mood gone.
     "Jase, that's not fair. Our situations are completely different. I can't just pack up and move, unlike you apparently."
     "Allie's parents are setting us with their old place, they're moving somewhere smaller. It's better for the kids to have Allie's parents. Eric and Maya need as much family as they can get. I wanna get them settled as fast as possible. It'll be easier for Maya to adjust before she's a year old and Eric before he's in school. When you have kids someday maybe you'll understand."
     "I understand wanting Eric and Maya to have family, but if Allie's parents have so much money, why don't they just move here?" Katie asks.
     "Because it's not just her parents. It's her siblings, aunts and uncles, cousins, neices and nephews, even her grandparents. We can't keep living like this, no friends and only one family member, it's no way to live. I'm sorry, Katie. I hate that I'm leaving you, I really do. But I gotta think about my kids. Goodbye, Katie. Good luck with everything, and I know I won't be around to nag you, but please leave Marc. He doesn't deserve you. It'd take a Hell of a guy to really deserve you."

2 years later (5 Days before the crash)

     Katie drops her bag onto the couch and lays down, sprawling herself out. The sound of car horns and screaming tell her she's defiently in the right apartment, her tiny, dark apartment. The apartment itself was nothing to write home about, not that she had anywhere else to call home. Or anyone for that matter.
     With her only living family in Australia, exactly two friends, and no boyfriend she was practically alone in the world. She didn't even have a pet, her building didn't allow animals of any kind, not even a fish. She'd watched her perfect life slip away from her and was powerless. Powerless was something she wasn't a stranger to.
     From Marc and his manipulation, to her mother's death just after Maya's birth, to her brother packing his family up and moving across the ocean. Abandonment and powerlessness were old friends of hers.
     The rain outside starts up, the sound drowning out the rest of the noise. The rain itself was a comfort, the city needed it. But it's short lived and after only a minute or two it clears, the noise of the city returns. The let up of rain gives her a chance to hear her phone buzzing, still in her purse.
     She digs it out and perks up, her brother's name lighting up the screen. "Hey, Jase! It's been so long since you've called. What's going on in the land down under?" She asks, trying to hold back her excitement. There's silence, then a soft cry. "Jason, what's wrong?"
     "Everything's gone all wrong. Moving here was supposed to be better for us, not this." Jason cries, his voice cracking and weak.
     "Jase, you're scaring me. What happened?" Katie repeats, slipping you the ground and brining her knees to her chest.
     "It's all over Kate, it's all over."
     "Jason, what's over? What happended?" She asks, desperate for an answer, already fearing the worst.
     "It's Maya, she, she's gone."
     "Gone? Like, missing? Kidnapped? She can't be de-"
     "She is. She's dead. One second she was playing with Eric in the back yard and the next she was on the ground. We got her to the hospital but they couldn't do anything. She's dead. I'm sorry, Katie. I can't live without her. Tell Allie and Eric I love them. You'll tell them, won't you? I know you will. You're the best sister ever. I love you Katie. Goodbye."
     "No, Jason! Jason don't! Jason!" She screams, a gunshot cutting off her screaming. She keeps the phone against her ear, staring blankly at the coffee table. Silence comes through the phone, no more crying, no more broken words, nothing.
     Katie gets limp, dropping her phone and crying. Finally the loneliness of her life caught up to her, she was truly alone.

In the next part we're back on the island, and someone will die. Maybe two people.