STALKED AND STOLEN

Chapter 2

"Sorry, Miss Zoë, but your parents and brother are leaving and I was told to wake you," Justyna said, her head hovering in my doorway.
"I will come down now.” I rubbed my puffy, tired eyes and slipped the book I had been reading last night back onto my bookshelf. I’d fell asleep on top of my covers, my slippers dangling off my feet over the side of my four poster bed.

The soles of my feet dragged across the carpet, gathering static on my socks, as I made my way out into the hallway and down the staircase that sloped slightly to the left. My palm skimmed the banister as I lazily strolled down the steps. At the bottom, my parents and Sam were waiting by the front double doors while the waiters and maids loaded their luggage into three different cars. It was weird, one family, all living separate lives.

"Oh look at you, Zoë, in your pyjamas, you should be up and ready. It’s past eight in the morning!" my father declared, flicking his wrist to look at his watch, always the early bird.
Holding back the urge to roll my eyes, I wrapped my arms around him tightly. My cheek snuggling up to his blue tie that rested on his chest.

As much as he could be an overbearing jerk, I loved him more than anything or anyone. He was my pops, my everything. The person who taught me to ride a bike, who had sat up reading my stories. The person who had cancelled important business plans when I caught the measles.

“I will see you on Wednesday, I have got a flight back Tuesday night. And I promise we are going to look for somewhere nice together." He planted a firm kiss on the top of my head and held me close. I felt as safe as a new-born in its mother’s arms.
"Ok, dad, I love you"

"Love you too, Zoë" he said. We broke our hug, and dad wrapped his arms around my mother. My little brother’s goodbye was a punch in the arm before he wheeled himself down his ramp and towards the sleek black car he and my mother would be traveling in. I didn’t really feel emotional, because these goodbyes were common. I knew they’d soon be back, and we’d do it all over again.

I leaned on the front door frame, waving as the three of them climbed into a polished black car, each with their own driver. The car tyres crunched on the gravel as they pulled away, my dad tooted the horn once and waved, and off the went. I sighed, and planned to spend the rest of today pigging out on the sofa in my room, with ice cream and chocolate.
#
After my fourth movie of the day, and lunch, and a shower, I sat in front of my video shelf in search of what to re watch next, wishing there was a way I could have any movie ever made somehow ready and available to watch on my TV. Instead I had to go back to my shelf in the corner of my room, choose a video, shove it in the player, rewind it, then press play.

I missed the days of my dad not working so much. Every Saturday we’d drive out into the city to the video store. This was before I’d decided to become vegetarian, so we’d go to McDonald’s for a happy meal, then we’d rent a move from the video store across the road. I loved exploring the rows and rows of stacked up videos. Then the owner, Chris, would always give me a lolly.

But it all changed once my dad opened up his own firm and began representing high profile clients. Instead of going to the video store, he just bought me my own rows and rows of videos.

It wasn’t the same.
It was at that moment, right there, sat staring at The Little Mermaid in its plastic pink case, that I made the decision.

I was going to run away.
Although, not your typical run away, with a bear and a hanky tied to a stick, lost. I was just going to go for a few days, somewhere normal... not the “Walker” normal, actual people normal. Somewhere like the city, where I could sit in a cafe and order a coffee. Maybe rent a hotel room.

Justyna would sound the alarm, but I’d be back before dad, then i'd face his wrath, but it’d be worth it.
I jumped in the shower, then washed and straightened my long hair. I blushed my cheeks with bronze, and a little mascara. I slipped out of my towel and into a plain pair of black trousers, a white tank top, and my bright pink Skechers.

Since it was winter, I planned to grab my coat on the way out. I was going to leave after dark when I knew Justyna would be sound asleep, and the rest of the staff would be off guard. I knew the security officer my dad hired did his rounds every hour, so eleven PM would be perfect. I’d catch the late bus into the city, and wing it from there.
I had absolutely no idea where I was going. I wished there was something I could use to look up nearby places. Hotels. Nice places to visit. There was no such thing, I only had the giant Yellow Pages book that was filled with names and phone numbers, so I decided to wing it, and buy an A-Z map from the first store I went past.
I stuffed a wad of money into my bra for safe keeping, and sat at the bottom of my bed in waiting. My toes curled inside my trainers and my leg bouncing up and down.

I hadn’t ever done anything so rebellious, it terrified me, yet excited me at the same time. The time seemed to go by slowly as I got up and paced the room. I made sure my bed was made. My bathroom taps were turned off, and I packed a small bag with clean underwear, two changes of clothes and my toothbrush.

Then I wrote a note for Justyna to find when she came to wake me in the morning.
Please don’t worry about me. A friend called, and I’ve went to stay there for a couple of nights. I will call you, please don’t tell dad, you know what he’s like! Love you 

A loud thud and a scream made my back snap up straight and I froze, staring at the wood on my heavy bedroom door. I knew it would have just been one of the maids who had dropped something, or maybe a new starter fooling around, we had had plenty of those. But that thought didn’t stop my heart from beating a little faster.

I slid my weekender back off of my shoulder and it landed on the carpet with a slight thump. I never took my eyes off the door as I stormed towards it and swung it open.

I leaned half my body out into the hallway, my ears pricked up for the sound of laughing, but it felt like my heart stopped when I heard a high pitched scream.
I didn’t think, I reacted in an instant and went running across the landing to the top of the stairs, looking down into the foyer where, surprisingly, I didn’t see anything.

My eyes scanned the marble tiles that covered the floor, over the two extra large potted plants that sat at each side of the front double doors. The two cream sofas that my dads business partners and clients often sat in, were in the exact same place they always were, emtpy.

My toes gently touched the next step down before I put my full weight down onto it, then the next, then the next, my heart beat pumping inside my ears. I could feel the tension in the air, something was wrong, I just knew it.

"Help, help" I heard Justyna screech as people emerged from the side room where my dads office was located. Justyna’s body went sliding across the floor like she’d just slipped on a banana. She rolled, and her face slammed off the tiles. She pushed herself up using her arms and elbows, but quickly fell down again when a man, dressed all in black, slammed a foot down in her back. Blood oozed from her nose and pooled on the floor.

My first thought was we were being robbed, and we were, in a way. Just not in the traditional sense. What they were going to take couldn’t be sold or banked.