The Portal - Pain Is The Password

Chapter Eight - Packing bags

The picture is Audrey's bag

The last of the rain had stopped hours ago and the sun beating down is scorching the three boys in the back garden. All windows in a twenty-mile radius are thrown open and the duvet on Audrey's bed is all scrunched up. Every few moments she curls up in a ball and snuggles her blanket close to her, then she flattens out like an iron board. The heat is destroying her sleep. She just wants to spend ten more minutes in her magical dreamland, ten more minutes of peace.

It wasn't a peaceful night for her, with the dark cloud of Oit's personality. Every time she felt herself falling asleep the memories of what he said came back, crashing into her mind and making her feel like a monster had been peering into her brain.

When Oit had finally left, the sun hadn't yet risen, she finally fell asleep. But not for long, the slamming of the doors and calling voices awoke her. She wished that they would stop and pulled pillows over her head, trying her hardest to block out the noise. No such luck.

She really wishes that she has one of those rocks, the ones that tell you the time, her phone is back home with the rest of her belongings, probably dumped in the bin as her dad was wanting her gone anyway. Her bedroom is probably now the nursery. She flattens out into an iron board once more, hating the fact that you couldn't have a proper lie in here. 

The door flies open and hits the wall, Audrey sits up straight, absolutely terrified, she sees it's Sias and relaxes once more. She says, "why do you keep doing that?" and he shrugs, holding up the letter that she had left in the tree house the day before, for safe keeping.

"What is this?" Sias asks and then before she can answer he speaks again, "don't reply because I've already read it, Audrey, someone who is also the queen, has threatened you." 

Audrey nods her head in shame, "me and Fate said we're going to do something." She tells him and he shakes his head.

"Your both under eighteen, that's too young to be travelling alone." He mutters, "I'll come with you, we leave in an hour, pack a bag with only essentials."

"Um, we have multiple problems there Einstien, "Sias looks confused at the mention of Einstein but Audrey ignores it, "number one; you have school today, number two; Fate isn't here and last but not least your dad doesn't need another reason to hate me."

He thinks for a second, "I'll speak to Fate during school and we'll go around her house after, then when we get back, I'll tell my mum something stupid, like we're going to the beach and by the time my dad gets home. We'll be long gone." He maps it out like it's simple, "gone by sundown."

"Sias, you don't even know the plan, you don't know where we're going or what we're doing."

"I know that you're going to Aitor and finding a man, that's all I need to know." He says with a sense of recklessness that Audrey takes an automatic dislike too, he could kill himself with that attitude. Audrey just shakes her head and he leaves the room with his head held high.

As much as she wants too, falling back down onto her bed in defeat is not the right thing to do. She has to look after herself, practice her power and at the very least talk to someone on the outside of the bedroom. She swings her legs over her bed and heaves herself off. Walking out into the hallway and she starts to make her way to the bathroom when she gets intercepted by Sias again.

"You look like a lion, sort that out." Is all the boy says and then he skips down the stairs, leaving her in shock, how dare he comment on her mane like that. She continues to the bathroom and once she's inside, she just stares at the mirror. Only a few days she has been gone and already the difference is outstanding, her small, skinny figure with no curves at all, has changed, not by a lot but it has had some changes. Wider hips and the beginning of breasts, the dark circles under her eyes are fading, admittedly last night didn't help, the scars and cuts already dimming. Still, Audrey can see new flaws poking out of her body, how she wishes that her hair was a lighter shade of blonde or that her feet didn't look the way they do.