New Rise

Leaving Again

"Listen, about yesterday. It's fine, you'll learn to control it," I tell him but he stands there shaking his head.

"No. Yesterday, I thought of at least 100 ways to get you alone so I could...," he begins but trails off.

"So you could what? Kill me? It's not your fault."

"As long as I exist, you will never be safe. Take Andrew for example."

"I lived, that's all that matters," I shout at him.

"We're leaving," he says.

"What? When?"

"Tonight, we leave at 8:20."

"That gives me time to write dad and Jordan a note, pack my things," I say but I look at him and he doesn't seem to agree with me.

"Not you, I meant Georgie and myself."

"It's fine, I'm 18, a legal adult my dad can't object and I can make my own decisions."

"You still don't understand," he snarls.

"What do you mean I don't understand?" I ask, even more confused.

"I don't want you to come," he shouts and I feel tears roll down my cheeks.

"You, don't, want me?" I ask, his words sinking in.

"No, I don't want you." I burst into tears when I hear what he's saying. I knew it was too good to be true. "Good bye forever, Kaitlyn." He turns and runs off at full speed.

"No, wait," I call after him. I begin running after him. It felt like I was running for hours. It was now dark out and I could barely see a thing. I stupidly left my phone in the car. It was also getting cold and I was wearing a thick jacket.

I continue stumbling around and then I trip over a tree root. I was too numb to move, let alone get up. I just give up and I curl up into a ball. Maybe I'll die of hypothermia, anything is better than the pain in my chest.

I hear low growls coming from around me, then a distinct howl. Wolves. Maybe they'll think I'm dead and eat me. I close my eyes and accept death with open arms.

I then feel myself being lifted up off the ground and I'm in someone's arms. I scream and shout at the person to put me back down but they continue.

I then see flashing red and blue lights, I then hear my father in police mode. "Let's expand the search by 5 km."

"I found her Jason," the guy holding me says.

"Thank you Ian," my father says to him. "I can take her."

"It's alright sir, I've got a good hold on her," he tells him.

"Alright, bring her inside to warm up." Ian listens to him and I'm inside my house. Ian places me on the couch and I feel blankets spread onto me. "Thank you so much, we couldn't have found her without you," my dad thanks him.

I pull the blankets closer to my face and I pretend to sleep, I instead listened to my dad and Ian talk.

"Where did you find her?" my dad asks.

"About 20 minutes into the forest. She was curled up in a ball, mumbling, He's gone, do you know what that means?"

"No I don't, I tried to get a hold of her boyfriend, but his family said he wasn't there."

"Do you think he hurt her?" Ian asks. He's not wrong, Shawn did hurt me, just not physically.

"No, he's a good kid and she's a strong girl, I think she just got lost and couldn't find her way back." I sigh with relief internally. I yawn, pretending to wake up. "Sweetie, are you okay? What happened?" my dad rants.

"I'm... he's gone," I say breaking down into tears. My dad stops and comes over to comfort me.

"Who's gone?" he asks confused.

"Shawn!" I shout, crying even more. He just pulls me into his arms. As I calm down, Jordan bursts through the door.

"Where's my sister?" he says stomping around. He stops dead in his tracks when he looks at my face. "Are you okay?" he asks concerned. I shake my head and he runs over. He picks me up easily and he puts me into my bed. He gets on top of my covers and pulls me close, wrapping his arms around me. I just cry into his chest. I fall asleep in my brothers arms.

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