by Mia Hoddell
CHAPTER SEVEN
“You did what?!” Chloe’s hands flew up above her head as she tried to find some way to express her frustration.
“I sort of forgave him and I’ve persuaded him to tell me everything when I speak to him next.”
Okay, so I was bending the truth slightly but it was the only way I was going to convince Chloe, not that I needed her approval, I kept reminding myself.
It was a warm, sunny Saturday and with only a few weeks left of term we were all finally free to do what we liked, and this meant meeting up in the park. As much as I wanted to hear what Kai had to explain, he hadn’t messaged me when I woke up so I assumed he was either busy or wasn’t back yet. This did irritate me more as I was starting to wonder if he really was what he claimed to be. However when Chloe phoned ordering me to meet up it gave me the perfect distraction, well at least until the interrogation began.
“I was just about ready to dump him but when I got home I had a load of messages apologising. I didn’t make it easy for him and when he realised he was getting no where he told me to look at the game we met on. Here, take a look.” I switched my screen on to find the list of messages everyone had sent me before passing it to Chloe to scroll through.
“Seriously how could I break up with him when he does that? He was making an effort and maybe I overreacted.” I sighed, then turned to smile at Lindsay, Mel and Becka who were lowering themselves to sit beside us on the grass.
“What she done now Chlo?” Mel said, jumping to conclusions as usual.
“Only gone and forgave the guy. He did do something pretty sweet though. Check this out.” She threw my iPod across and the three of them crowded around the tiny screen.
“She wouldn’t forgive him so he did that and I’m not really surprised Rea forgave him after that, even I probably would have.”
I looked at her stunned, Chloe wasn’t the type to give anyone, except maybe us four, a second chance so she must have loved what Kai did.
“So do you like him now?” I knew it was still a long shot as I asked it.
“I wouldn’t go that far yet. He’s definitely worked his way up my scale as at least he’s shown he wants you, but like? No, I still think he’s bad for you.”
I laughed at her screwed up face that was just reinforcing her point.
“Anyway can we do something other than talk about Kai for once?” Only Chloe heard me, the others were still pointing, and mumbling about certain messages.
“Of course not. Your personal life is way more interesting than anything we have going on. Oh and don’t think I’ve forgotten about Ian, because you still owe us all the details about that encounter.”
Groaning inwardly I mentally cursed Ian for talking to me in front of them. The three who were previously looking at my iPod suddenly looked up eagerly awaiting my explanation, but I was unsure as to whether I wanted to give it them.
“Yeah come on Rea you’ve got to tell us,” Lindsay said. She wasn’t as pushy or nosey as Chloe but I could see she too was dying to know what happened between the two of us.
“OK fine. He followed me all the way to history because we are in the same class and sat next to me like normal. He said some stuff about wanting to be just friends, apologised for everything and then started asking how things were going with Kai. Happy?” Already I could tell from their expressions that they were far from happy. They were after more detail than I had just provided them with and all looked slightly disappointed.
“So are you trying to be friends?” Becka asked while handing me back my iPod.
“I don’t know, I said yes but that was only because I have to put up with him for another eight lessons and he was driving me crazy. I’m hoping I won’t have to see him again after this term finishes,” I said while sighing and burying my face in my knees. Thankfully they realised that this was a sign that I wasn’t in the mood to talk about either Kai or Ian and the subject quickly changed to something more neutral.
I didn’t realise how quickly the time had gone by and before I knew it I had spent six hours in the park with them. By that time I had forgotten all about Kai and his promise to tell me everything. My distraction had worked for so long but now I had remembered I needed to know so making up an excuse I started to try and leave.
“You’re going to talk to him aren’t you? Find out what he’s been hiding?” Chloe said as I began to walk away. I only smiled over my shoulder as I left, waving at Becka, Linds and Mel.
“Make sure you phone me when you know, I want all the details.”
I heard the faint order from Chloe and laughed to myself and her sudden interest. The day before she didn’t want to listen to me whine and now she wanted me to phone her with details.
Even though I had previously forgotten about learning what Kai was keeping from me, as soon as I got home it was the only thing on my mind. I stopped to grab an ice-cream and a drink on my way through the kitchen but that was the only detour I made before heading up to my room.
Signing onto the instant messenger, Kai’s chat window popped open before my laptop even had time to load everything.
Kai: Hey
Darcie<3: I’m listening...
Okay, so I probably hadn’t needed to be so blunt and cold but I was in no mood to mess around with small talk. All I wanted to do was hear him out and see if it was good enough to stay with him.
Kai: Um OK... So what do you want to know? Ask me anything and I’ll try to answer if it is possible.
I was caught off guard by this question, I had expected him just to tell me what he could, not ask me to pose him questions on what I wanted to know.
Darcie<3: So what’s your job?
I was just about to hit enter and send the message when I heard a bowl shatter on the floor and my mum screaming downstairs. Running out of my room I peered over the banister.
“Are you okay Mum? What happened?” I shouted, concern creeping into my voice but no reply came. I could hear her mumbling around in the living room, something about somebody trying to pick up the phone, but even when I shouted again I still got no reply.
Hurrying down the stairs I walked through the living room, which Mum had obviously left and went to see what had happened in the kitchen.
“Mum? What’s going on?”
She was bent over the phone muttering to herself; only as I touched her shoulder gently did she acknowledge me. She had worried tears in her eyes as she looked at me and raised a shaky hand to point towards the kitchen window.
I hadn’t noticed as I walked into the kitchen but now I was looking more carefully I saw brief orange flickers dancing in between the trees.
“Shit,” I whispered, gasping as I covered my mouth in horror when I saw the flames spreading rapidly throughout the dense wood.
“Mum we have to get out of here. Grab whatever you can and want, while I do the same, but then we have to move. Those flames won’t take long to get here,” I ordered, knowing my mum was in no position to start making decisions.
“I can’t Serena. I need to get hold of your dad. He’s not picking up his mobile and I’m worried about him.”
Her words stopped me as I was heading back to my bedroom.
“His office is miles away mum he’ll be fine but we have to move,” I said trying to emphasise my point as much as possible.
“No Rea he’s not there, he came home early and decided to go for a walk...out there.” She stuttered, tripping over the last words while pointing outside to the flames that were coming increasingly closer.
“Mum, even if he is, we can’t do anything while stuck in the house. Phone the fire brigade and then grab some stuff and get out OK?” I saw her nod slightly and satisfied that she was going to follow what I told her I headed back upstairs.
Kai: Rea? You there?
Kai: Don’t you have like a million questions you want to ask me?
Kai: Rea???
I mentally cursed whatever started the fire for ruining my chance to find out what Kai w
as hiding. Quickly sitting at my desk I rapidly deleted my previous message that now seemed irrelevant and rewrote a new one.
Darcie<3: The woods around where I live are on fire, I have to go as they’re getting nearer the house. Here’s my mobile if you need me.
Kai: Shit Rea. Listen to me. You have to get out of there OK? Don’t hang around and whatever you do, do not go anywhere near those woods. I doubt this is a normal fire.
Darcie<3: What do you mean “not a normal fire?”
Kai: Just get out of your house OK? I’ll explain when I get there, here’s my mobile number, text me an address when you have got somewhere else to stay and I’ll come find you. I’ll see you in a few hours bye x
I knew he was signing out to stop me talking to him so I would listen, but I couldn’t help but feel slightly irritated by being ordered around by him. I was nearly eighteen and was quite capable of making decisions in tough situations. That only lasted until I read his final sentence though.
What does he mean coming here? Why would he do that? Oh god I’m going to have to tell Mum and Dad.
Forcing those thoughts to the back of my head I hauled myself out of my chair and began grabbing everything I could throw into a few gym bags: laptop, phone, iPod, chargers for each, clothes, keepsakes. The list went on and I continued packing until I heard my mum come into my room.
“You got everything you want?” She asked as she pulled a few bag straps of her own over her shoulder.
“I think so. Well I hope so anyway. How about you?” I began to head towards the door, remembering my camera just before I exited the room.
“Just about, let’s go,” she said.
I hurried to pack my camera and all the relevant leads in my overflowing bag. “OK I’m ready, where are we going?”
We both rushed down the stairs. I could tell Mum was trying to hold it together and she seemed to have taken control back, which I was grateful for as I didn’t know where I would go after getting her out of the house. I knew she was worrying about Dad, but I couldn’t let myself think about him until I was alone. I would have crumbled if I had let myself think about it then and I needed to stay strong for Mum.
“I phoned my sister after I rang the fire brigade and she agreed we could stay over at hers until this mess is sorted. I’ve left a voice mail for your dad too.”
She kept talking all the way to the car and it was obvious she was just babbling to keep herself occupied. The only problem though, was that her talking was bringing Dad to the front of my thoughts once again.
We had just finished loading our bags into the car when the wailing sirens of the fire engine blasted down our drive.
Suddenly the back garden was a flurry of activity as men in fluorescent suits rushed to try and control the flames. I remained detached from them all, just witnessing from the car. It took some time but the firefighters were slowly pushing the flames back and keeping them away from the house, however they were refusing to die.
I noticed that Mum was talking to a man who I suspected to be in charge, she was pointing frantically towards the wood and what looked like pleading with him about something.
The only explanation I came up with was that she was begging the men to go into the forest to look for Dad, but by the look on his face, and the size of the flames it was evident it wasn’t going to happen. I saw my mum’s shoulders heave in a reluctant defeat as she headed towards me and the car.
“We should go, the fireman said there’s nothing more we can do and the men can’t search the woods until the fire is under control,” she murmured. I had already figured out what she said but I nodded anyway, getting into the passenger seat as she walked to the driver’s side.
“I gave him my number and he said he would ring to update us or if they found anything.” She sighed.
My tactic of trying to suppress all the thoughts was wearing thin and as I looked back at the blazing orange glow I didn’t hold out much hope for finding my dad alive.
CHAPTER EIGHT
We arrived at my aunt’s later that night. We only had the bags we were able to carry and as we stood at the old wooden door on the open porch I couldn’t help but feel that I wasn’t going to be happy there as I was already missing my home.
My aunt opened the door to us, immediately embracing us into a hug while cooing nonsense about everything being okay. It sounded like she was talking to a four year old, not her forty-two year old sister and her seventeen year old niece.
“We’re holding it together thanks Jen. I think we both just want a lie down, we’re shattered,” Mum said as she pried herself from her sister’s grasp.
Jen showed us to our rooms and thankfully she had no children so I was able to have a room to myself. As she shut the door I collapsed on my bed, heaving a sigh that turned into a sob I didn’t even know was building in my throat. Rolling over to muffle my cries in the annoyingly pink pillow I allowed the emotions I had been repressing to wash over me. They came in a flood and soon I was shaking from the silent sobs as I thought of my dad, the house we might have lost and how everything might have changed.
I wasn’t sure how long I spent crying in the dark before I fell asleep but when I was awoken by my phone ringing I knew it wasn’t long enough. My eyes still felt puffy and I could feel the dry paths the tears had made on my cheeks.
“Hello,” I groaned into the phone, sniffling a bit as I did.
“Rea are you OK? Where are you staying I’m just leaving your house now?”
I was so shocked to hear Kai’s voice on the other end of the phone I barely registered what he had said.
“Rea? The address.” He sounded a little out of breath and not in a good mood so I gave him the address before I could wonder why his voice was strained.
“I’ll be there soon okay? I’ll ring you when I’m outside.”
Before he could hang up I interrupted him quickly.
“Why were you at my house?” The previous messages were registering slowly in my mind and groggily my brain was trying to come up with logical answers to the questions I was posing to him.
“I’ll explain everything when I get there okay? Don’t worry everything is fine, just go back to sleep and I’ll ring you again soon.”
He sounded so concerned and my heart melted slightly, even though I was still trying to figure why he had travelled all the way from Maveria.
“I’ll try.” I groaned, already half asleep again.
“Cya soon.” With that I heard the faint start of an engine and then the constant ring as he hung up.
I found myself waking after only being asleep for half an hour later to the sound of a phone ringing in the living room. At first I thought it was Kai ringing me on my mobile but then I heard the faint voice of my mum talking somewhere else in the house.
Walking out of the room that I was staying in, I made my way to the living room, where I saw my mum kneeling on the floor. My aunt’s arms surrounded her as they both cried. The phone lay on the floor a few metres away from them both and their bodies heaved with furious sobs.
“Mum what happened?” I asked as both heads turned to look at me. I already had my suspicions but I needed to hear whatever it was out loud to confirm them.
My aunt raised her head from my mum’s shoulder, her face set in a stern, grim line. I already knew what she was going to say before she spoke.
“They’ve controlled the fires and thankfully they didn’t reach your house but they also found a body in the woods.” I was listening to what she was saying but the words weren’t sinking in. Nothing felt real, my dad couldn’t have been dead.
“They need to ID the body but the guy sounded almost certain.”
She went on to say but I had stopped listening. Instead I just stood there in a trance as I tried to comprehend what she had told me. My dad is dead and I didn’t even get to see him this morning. How can he be gone? He can’t be.
I remained silent, not knowing what to say so the only sound filling the room was my mum so
bbing. I wanted to comfort her but I needed time to deal with this myself and I don’t like people seeing me cry so heading back to my room I locked the door and for the second time that night collapsed on my bed. Only this time sleep didn’t come. I lay there staring at the same spot on the cream ceiling, thoughts crashing around in my head as I tried to make sense of the past day’s events.
At some point I curled up on my side, clutching the pillow to my chest for comfort as a few single tears fell from my eyes, staining the pillow. All that had done though was stop me from staring at the ceiling as I was now focused on the wall. I wasn’t sure how long I lay there, the faint chokes of my mum trying to control her cries barely audible, before my phone went off. The sound only faintly registered in my head as I lay there in blank trance. It was almost like I was no longer connected to my body.
Finally the sound went on too long for me to ignore, so slowly rolling over I fumbled around in the dark for the mobile.
“Hello?” I sniffed, I hadn’t looked at the caller ID but I still tried to hide the fact I had been crying.
“Rea? What’s wrong? Are you OK?” His voice was frantic with worry but I still didn’t know how to answer his questions, I wasn’t sure what to tell him.
“I...I...Um I don’t know,” I stuttered. There was a long pause before he spoke again.
“I’m waiting outside your aunt’s house now if you want to come out?” he asked sounding concerned.
“Yeah I’ll...be there in a sec, hang on.” Despite my best efforts I couldn’t control my snivelling.
Rummaging around in my bag for a hoodie I pulled one out and before putting it on I grabbed my phone and emerged from my room. My mum was no longer on the floor in the living room and she seemed to have stopped crying. I was just deciding whether or not to sneak out or tell someone when my aunt appeared from the kitchen.
“How you holding up? Do you want a drink or anything?” Her eyes were tinged with concern as she smiled sadly at me.