I wake up in Shawn's arms and I smile but his face stays straight. "Good morning," he says monotonous.
"Morning," I say sleepily and I stretch out.
"I'd better head back home. You can drive yourself to school today." I nod head and he jumps out my window, landing gracefully on the ground below. I change into random clothes from my closet and head downstairs. Jordan is sitting at the table.
"Morning my gorgeous sister. So, when is man candy coming to pick you up?" Jordan asks as I grab a granola bar.
"He's not, I'm driving myself." He looks confused but brushes it off. "How are you awake after an all nighter?"
"No matter what, I'm a morning person." He looks so awake, no dark circles under his eyes or anything. I on the other hand, am not a morning person at all. The only reason I get up early is for school and Shawn.
"I'm gonna head to school," I say grabbing my keys. He gives me a quick hug goodbye and I get into my car. I drive to school but I don't see Shawn's car. Confused, I head to my locker, but he's nowhere in sight.
The bell rings and I go to first period. Shawn isn't there in his seat, he's not here at all. I see Lyla and she sits beside me. "Where's your brother?" I ask her.
"Beats me. I thought he left to pick you up for school." I send him a text asking where he is. I get no response, he didn't even look at it.
_________________________
The bell rings for lunch and I still don't have a response from him. I just get a lemonade and I sit with Lyla and our other friends. "You're not hungry?" I hear Sarah ask me from across the table. Lyla and I became friends with her sophomore year.
"No I'm not," I mumble and she continues talking to Lyla. The bell rings and I head to Physics. As hard as I try, I can't focus, all I can think about is what Shawn is doing.
I'm startled when I hear the bell ring. Lyla walks over and walks me to tech class. Again, Shawn isn't there, I sit in my usual spot beside Griff. He must've sensed my sorta foul mood and just left me alone mostly. The teacher then assigned us as partners to work on an instructional video. He pairs me with Griff.
"What do you want to do the video about?" he asks. I shrug my shoulders and he thinks for awhile. "I know, I can show people how to fix their vehicles?" he suggests, the last part coming out like a question.
"Sure." He blabs on and on about how I can film and he can edit it and stuff. I don't really pay attention. I just want this day to be over.
Finally, the bell rings. I dash out to my car. I notice a note on my seat. I open it up and it reads:
Kaitlyn,
I need to talk to you. Meet me at your house. It's very important.
Shawn
I put the note in my backpack and drive to my house, slightly speeding. I pull in but I don't see his car. I walk to my door and it's unlocked, I know that Jordan would've locked it. As I go to step in the house, I hear him call my name from behind me.
"Kaitlyn, follow me," he says and I try my best to follow him, he's walking really fast. He suddenly stops, a few steps into the forest behind my house.
"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.
October
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