Winter Jackets

Chapter 13 - The Confession

'Everyone thought you were dead.'

These words affected me more than Lisa knew, because I had no idea of what happened after... the incident.

Lisa spoke again, 'I mean, you didn't come back for three years! What happened?'

I sighed. This was going to take a while to explain.

And so I began. 'When they sent the letter, I was actually sent on a sort of secret mission, which I shall not tell you about right now, and so they had to send a letter saying that I was missing. But then...yeah, the letter became true, because I did go missing during the final stages of the mission. And they couldn't send another letter, because it would say the exact same thing, but this time would be true - though, of course, you all would think of it as a mistake.

'Anyway, the mission was supposed to last a year, but I was kidnapped by the enemy and held hostage... until I escaped, about three months after I was captured.'

Lisa opened her mouth to say - or ask - something, but I already knew what.

'I'm not going to tell you all about it, just that my friend Reid found out and rescued me.'

I didn't want to tell Lisa what happened at the camp I was captured in, how they beat me up, how they threatened my... my family...

I shuddered to think of what would have happened if they weren't just empty threats, if they actually carried out what they said they would.

But they don't know anything about me or my family, and for that, I will always, always be grateful.

'And after that, I landed up in an unknown forest, and I only found a city about half a year ago. Then I had to work to pay for a flight ticket back home, and as soon as I did, I flew here.'

'How did you find my bus?' Lisa asked, and I smiled.

'I was in a taxi, when I saw your bus, and when I looked in one of the windows, I saw you! I told the taxi driver to stop, got the bus to stop as well, and, well, you know the rest.'

I didn't say that I had only looked in the window because I remembered that Lisa had always loved buses, especially because of their multiple wheels.

'Wow...just-wow.' Lisa shook her head, surprised that luck had been in our favour, and I felt the same way.

I sighed. How was I going to learn everything about Lisa? Wait a minute...

'Why were you so angry with me? I...I feel like it's something more than just me not being there...'

Lisa sighed. Maybe I was right about there being something more...

'No... A-After you left, I was convinced that mom and dad had sent you to...to die, and I...' she broke down in tears, unable to continue, and I held her in my arms. 

We stayed like that for a while, until Lisa cleared her throat and continued, 'I locked myself in my room, and...' She started moving, so I took my arms off from around her, and she rolled up the sleeve of her right arm, where there were at least twenty scars from scratches.

I stared at them, horrified, and then put my face in my hands.

It was because of me.

Lisa continued, looking at the carpet and fiddling with the zip of her jacket... wait. That was a navy blue one, like the one I used to wear! Like the one she used to wear too, because she always copied me! My heart lifted, but as I turned my attention back to her words, it sank again, and even lower.

'After we got... the Letter,' she shuddered, 'I-I fell...sick.'

'Sick? Like a fever?' How bad could it be?...I jinxed it.

'I c-can't. I don't want to...' It must have been really bad. 'The doctor said I was suffering from grief... because we thought you were gone.'

I almost lost it at that. I didn't actually lose it, because I would then have to punch something to get myself back together. Instead, I started pacing the length of Lisa's bedroom, which wasn't a lot.

A/N: So I plan to write a lot more in each chapter, because the 12 people who are reading it have to wait a while before I update with a new...and short chapter. Slowwwwly working towards it.

I've been a bit busy with my other story, Where did Rachel Cabot go?

And keeping up with the news on the protests

And, um, maintaining my account?

And...fixing my dumb Ikea bed.

So...yeah.

See you later!

- Fox