Body Thief

Chapter One - The Anniversary

“Charlee, sweetie, it’s time for school.” I heard my grandma yell up the stairs. I grabbed the quilt and pulled it over my head. Who ever invented school deserves to die. I laid underneath my quilt for a good twenty minutes doing nothing but thinking about my parents. It had been seven years since they died today – the twelfth of June. I walked down the stairs and straight away, I could tell my Gran knew what day it was. My lunch was packed and ready to go sitting on the bench, there was a plate with two golden pancakes sitting on it with maple syrup drenched across them and my Gran was sitting on the couch with a photo album on her lap. This was far from the normal day.

“Good morning Gran.” I said in an unusual cheery voice. My Gran’s head lifted up from the photo of my mum and I on my sixth birthday.

“Took your time getting up, you better eat quickly or you’ll be late for school.” I smiled at her then grabbed the plate off the counter and went and sat down next to Gran. She was still looking at the photo album, continuously flicking through the photos of my parents and I.

“I remember that day.” I announced as I pointed to a photo of my parents and a young boy who I could not remember the name of. That was the last day I saw him actually. He stayed with us for a few weeks then just disappeared. Mum said he went on a holiday with some family friends, but I never bought it. I was only six in the photo, but I remember the day as clear as though it was yesterday.

“It’s a good photo isn’t it?” My Gran replied rhetorically. We sat there for a while, just flicking through the photos. I wish my life was as easy as it was then. Now, my life just involves changing my name and running from the people who are trying to catch me.

At the moment, my name is Clarissa Johnson. Every time I get a new name, I have to learn a whole new lifestyle. Apparently I am from Australia and moved to the UK when I was eight. I was living in an apartment in London up until I was fourteen then I moved to Cheshire; and then, three months ago, I moved here with my Gran. Well that’s the life my new name requires.

I understand why I have to do it, but it does get frustrating. I have lived in twenty nine different towns since my parents died. At the moment, I live in Berkhamsted. This place is the longest I have ever lived anywhere, well in the past seven years anyway. I actually have a best friend, we have never stayed anywhere long enough for me to actually find friends before. I like it here.

“You better leave, school starts in ten minutes.” Gran said, distracting me from my train of thought. I nodded and stood up. I put my lunch in my bag, quickly washed my plate then kissed my Gran on the cheek.

“You can take the car today if you want; I don’t need to go anywhere today.” She said.

“Thanks Gran! Probably wouldn’t have made it to school if I had to walk anyway.” I said. I walked over to the bench and grabbed the keys.

“Bye Gran! See you when I get home. I love you” I said then closed the door behind me. I walked over to the car, unlocked it then jumped in. I pulled my phone out of my pocket, clicked on contacts and scrolled down to find Claire’s name, clicked on the message icon and typed in ‘Need a lift? Gran let me have the car for the day! x’. Claire was my best friend. She was really annoying at first, but now, she is bearable; I guess you could say she has grown on me. I put the key in the car then reversed out the drive way. I felt my phone vibrate on my lap. ‘YES! I’m running late though! Meet you out the front! x’ spread across the screen. I drove down the road and stopped out the front of her house. She only lived about one hundred metres down the road.

I swear I had been waiting there for twenty minutes when she finally walked out.

“Fucking hell, how long does it take you to get ready?” I practically yelled.