Death By Her Hand

The Call - November

I poured myself a glass of orange juice and took a long drink. Much better. Orange juice is always the best thing to drink after a jog. I started to look through my mail and noticed I'd recieved a small package. What could that be? It had no return address and the label was printed so I had no way of telling where it came from. I tore off the tape and ripped open the box. Inside, I found a burner phone. Before I could wonder what was happening, it rang.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Hello," sang the voice on the other end and my heart skipped a beat. I would recognize that voice anywhere even after 18 years. "It's me," she continued, "I was wondering if after all these years you'd like to meet.
To go over, everything.
They say that time's supposed to heal ya,
but I ain't done much healing.
Hello, can you hear me?
I'm in California dreaming about who we used to be.
When we were younger, and free
I've forgotten how it felt before the world fell at our feet.
There's such a difference, between us,
And a million miles."

I paused, the tears that fell down my face were no surprise to me but I didn't let them stop me.

"Hello from the other side," I sang in reply, remembering all the words despite the years since I last heard the song, "I must have called a thousand times,
To tell you I'm sorry for everything that I've done,
But when I call you never seem to be home.
Hello from the outside,
At least I can say that I've tried,
To tell you I'm sorry for breaking your heart.
But it don't matter. It clearly doesn't tear you apart anymore."

I heard a sniffle on the other end.

"Katerina, is it really you?" I asked, sniffling myself.

"Yes November, it's me," she replied.

"Where have you been all these years? What have you been doing? Why are you calling me now?" I rushed through my questions afraid that if I paused for too long she'd disappear.

"I don't have long, the government are listening to this call so I can't say much," she explained hastily. "But I need to meet with you, in person."

"Yes," I replied instantly.

"I need you to meet me at the Barnes and Noble near the park," she said. "Do you understand?"

Of course I understood, Barnes and Noble is easy to-

Wait.

"Yes I understand," I replied. "What time?"

"At the end of period 2," she told me. "Make sure you aren't followed."

"I'll be there," I confirmed.

"Destroy the phone," she instructed before immediately hanging up.

Without hesitation, I snapped the flip phone in half and stamped on it until it shattered. Then I stood for a moment and ran my hands through my hair.

Katerina is back!!!

I couldn't believe what had just happened. My ex-girlfriend who I hadn't seen for 18 years after she randomly disappeared had just contacted me on a burner phone and our conversation had been listened to by the government. What was she into? And why did she need to hide from the government? She was clearly a fugitive but of course I didn't care.

I glanced at the clock. 9:35am. That gave me an hour and a quarter to get changed and find the location. "The end of period 2" had been easy to understand, school timings, and when she'd said Barnes and Noble she didn't mean the bookshop. Barnes and Noble was a ship name for the marvel characters, Captain America and Bucky Barnes. Another name for them was Starbucks. And "the park" didn't mean a green space it meant the clothes shop "The Park" on the other side of town. I prayed the roads wouldn't be too busy. I quickly ran upstairs, changed my clothes and grabbed my handbag.

'I can't believe this is actually happening!' I thought.