A Penny For Your Tears

Four

It had been more than two weeks since my arrival and the thought of Luca was slowly but surely making its way out of my mind. I kept myself busy with frequent jogs and walks with Arie and helped out around the house whenever I could.My grandpa owned a shop so I often visited him there. Liya came over as often as she could, however, she had gone to Brighton for a few days with friends and I already missed her company. I was sat in the veranda,Arie on my lap as I did some research on universities and other possibilities for my future. I was tired of sitting and moping, it was time to leave te past behind and redefine my future.

"Olivia, honey, where are you?"

"In the veranda!" I called back. My grandma followed the sound of my voice and came into the room.

"I just wanted to tell you that your grandfather and I will be away next weekend, we're going on an elderly retreat that we had booked before we knew you were coming." She explained apologetically, I gave her a comforting smile, telling her it was alright. My decision to move here was rather rash and was definitely not something I had thought about beforehand. I just needed to get away from Luca and they were the only people I could turn to. Reaching out to them was difficulty, especially since they believed I was living with my late mother's sister. It amazed, the amount of lies Luca told without my knowledge.

"Grandma, don't worry about it. I'll be fine." She gave me a weary look, still worried about my wellbeing.

"I know, Olivia, but we had booked several of these little holidays over the course of the next few months. If I had known earlier, I would have cancelled but it's too late now. We don't have cancellation insurance."

"Don't worry about it. I'll hang out with Liya during those times you're not here. I'll be fine." It took a while but eventually I was convincing enough. She gave me a pat on the leg before walking out the room. Presumably to join my grandpa in his gardening venture. I watched them throught the tall windows that surrounded the veranda. I watched as they talked and touched each other lovingly, a smile finding its way to my face. I yearned to find love like that. Love that would follow me until my face was filled with wrinkles and I could no longer stand straight. My smile dropped as I though about it more. Perhaps Luca was my only chance at love and I was destined to be haunted by his memory, that is if he didn't find me and kill me first. I looked down at Arie who looked at me with his ice-blue eyes. They were begging me,begging me to take him out for a walk and I sighed, giving in.

"Come on then." I said as I put on my coat and left a note for my grandparents on the fridge. I decided to go against a leash since I was planning to take the forest route. It was part of the many things, I loved about this country. The nature, the trees, the fresh air. It didn't smell like burgers and smoke but instead my nostrils were filled with the scent of pine and dirt from the ground. Arie pranced happily alongside me, once in a while stopping to sniff the area and leave his mark. I took out my headphones and placed them on my ears, I turned it on, the music vibrated through my eardrums. God, I loved this song. As I lost myself to the singer's angelic voice, I hadn't noticed Arie's sudden disappearance and that I was straying further and further away from the intended path. Only after the third time listening to the song on repeat did I realize something was wrong. I took of my headphones, placing it in my pocket and looked around me. The trees were larger than the part of the forest I was accustomed to and they cast a shadow over me as the sun began to set slowly. The wind howled about me as I brought my arms to my chest. Though it was summer, the weather was not as warm as I had liked it to be but apparently that was english climate, summer days were unpredictable.

"Arie." I yelled, expecting to hear a bark in return. However, the only response I got was silence. Worry started to creep its way into my mind as I paced about screaming the damn dog's name, I hated and loved that creature all at the same time. The more I walked, the more lost I became; "Arie!" I screamed desperately as the sky darkened and the temperature dropped. The wind howled in my ear and the trees stood like statues, taunting me and instilling fear. I hated being alone, especially in the middle of fucking nowhere. I felt a tear slide down my cheek as fear gripped every part of me. I was going to die here. I had survived years of torture and abuse only to die of hypothermia in a fucking forest.