In Another Life

Part 1

Chapter 1

The screeching coming from the telephone jolted me out of bed. The tangle of sheets wrapped their arms around my tired legs, making it impossible to reach the phone. The fabric seemed to pull me back, keeping me from silencing the wailing. It was going to wake Shaun up, and the last thing I needed was a sleepy child bitching at me.

Groaning, and with more force than I intended, I lunged for the phone. The sheets lost the battle and dropped me to the floor. Scrambling up, I grabbed the plastic receiver before it could go to voicemail.

I cleared my throat. “Hello?”

“Hello, is this Katarina Labore?” The man’s voice sounded wide awake. After all, he wasn’t the one being forced out of bed.

Trying to keep the annoyance out of my voice, I rubbed my eyes. The clock read: 3:39. Could it have killed him to call me three hours ago? “This is she.” I glanced back at Shaun, his small body was still curled up in a pile of linen and animals.I lowered my voice. “Whatever this is, can’t it wait until morning?”

The man continued, like I hadn’t said anything at all. “I don’t know how else to say this, but…” he paused, something in his voice made me sit up straighter. His voice was almost an anxious mummer. I opened my mouth to give him lessons on how to prank call a person, but his next words made mine catch and die in my throat. “Your parents, Kyle and Mary Labore, were found dead on the side of the road along with Gabrielle Cates’—“

“Katarina Labore!” Hearing her name made Kat almost all out of her chair. And for the first time in her life, she was glad for it, Professor Dell stopped her from reliving that horrible night. Kat shivered out of the nightmare and rubbed her eyes as she waited for them to focus on Professor Dell's face. The teacher was a middle aged woman, and would be pretty if it weren't for the overly used Botox. She reminded Kat of the Barbie dolls she used to play with as a child.

“Yes?” Kat asked, trying to keep the grogginess out of her voice.

The Professor tapped her fingers on the whiteboard next to her, glaring at Kat with beady eyes as though she were a piece of old chewed up gum she happened to find on the bottom of her shoe. Dell cleared her throat, taking time to make Kat feel even more uncomfortable.

“Clearly you have better things to do than use my classroom as a resting lounge. Might I suggest retaking my class next semester?” She was staring down at Kat from the tip of her nose. The Dell reminded Kat of a bird; she had a peaked nose and occasionally cocked her head to the side when she was studying something or someone. Her eyes were hard black stones engraved in her face, and stood out against the contrast of her white hair.

“No!” Kat didn't mean to scream the word, but the last thing she needed was to get kicked out of a class her cousin Jaden was paying for her to attend. Dell raised two perfectly plucked eyebrows at Kat's outburst, and did that thing with her head that intimidated her so much.

Kat cleared her throat before the Professor could suggest another disciplinary solution. “I mean, it's just I love the French language so much. It's interesting.” She tried to resist the urge to spit out the lies dripping off her tongue.

The Dell cleared her throat and glanced behind her at the whiteboard. “Very well, then would you mind translating this sentence for me?” Her eyes turned to ice as she watched Kat straighten out of her slouch. When she opened her mouth to respond, those black eyes narrowed into slits of black glass as sharp as daggers. “Since you just love French so much.” She said, mimicking Kat's tone.