Craved Affections

Chapter 2

Katherine was waiting in the living room couch, staring into the fireplace. Her legs were tucked in, her fingernail being chewed off in her anxiety. The door burst open as her brother Storm walked in with a pile of books in his arms.

"Hey Katie," turning he closed the door behind him and made his way to the kitchen, tossing his jacket on the way. "How's it going?"

"Storm, hi." Katherine smiled looking at her shoe.

"Is Mom home?" He paused.

"No, she's out working." Katherine watched her brother set his books on the counter.

"She's working too much." Storm frowned in concern.

"Just try and tell her that." Katherine remarked, launching herself out of the chair.

"I intend to," Storm answered looking through the mail. "Any meatloaf left?"

"Yeah, I think so." Katherine walked towards the stairs.

"I got finals, have a lot of studying to do," Storm dropped the mail unto the table. "How about being a good kid sister and making me a sandwich." Storm realised that Katherine seemed a bit distant. "Is something wrong?"

Katherine spun around guiltily. "Storm---"

"Katie, I'm just gonna go over to the---" Scarlet stopped as soon as she saw her brother's tall physique and head full of black curls. She saw Katherine trying to spot her bruises and was smugly pleased when she saw that they weren't all that visible. "Storm!" Scarlet grabbed her bag from the awaiting sofa. "I'm so glad you're home. Can I take your car?"

"Sure," Storm answered fishing around his pockets for the keys. "Not going to work?"

"No, not today." Scarlet answered, waiting patiently for her brother to drop the keys into her awaiting palm.

"Something wrong with Katie?" He asked Scarlet.

"No! There's nothing wrong with me." Katherine snapped. "Scarlet, where are you going?"

"Someone I've gotta see," Scarlet faced her brother once more. "Keys."

"What happened to you?" Storm asked immediately.

Shocked Scarlet snapped her head up from dropping the keys into her bag. "What happened?"

"That bruise," Storm stated sternly.

"Look I've gotta run," Scarlet tipped up to kiss her brother's cheek before racing through the door. "I've gotta go meet someone."

As soon as the door slammed shut, Storm turned his questions to his youngest sister. "Katie, what the hell is going on!"

"I don't know!" Katherine cried. "About half an hour ago, Scarlet she-she came home from school." Katherine walked right in front of her brother. "God if you had seen her."

"What do you mean if I had seen her?" Storm was getting more impatient by the second. His light grey eyes narrowed.

"The bruises on her face was a lot worse... She's got it covered with make-up." Katherine flashed her hand in explanation. "The front of her dress was all ripped open and Scarlet was terrified. And then Stan came over."

"Stan came?"

"Yeah, but I'm sure more of a cop than her boyfriend." Katherine looked slightly perturbed. "Someone had phoned in a report... And Scarlet didn't want me around when she talked to him." Katherine sighed. "I don't know what happened to our sister, Storm, but it scares me."

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Nora strolled slowly through the tiled hallway, glancing to and fro from the paintings on the walls. Before she could leave the building, she saw a light left on. Making her way into the office she was surprised to see Wyatt bent over his desk sketching away. A small smile enveloped her lips as she closed the door behind herself. The sound made Wyatt look up in surprise before his face softened to a smile.