SORROW WOODS (11 page)

inches away. “Come on, Kaiden.”

She tugs on my hand and I realise that she wants me to follow her. The naked image of her

comes swarming back into the forefront of my mind as she jogs through the rain and towards the

trees. As she runs, I can see every bit of her backside that sways and moves. I can see her cheeks, her crack, and how she isn’t wearing any knickers underneath her dress. We run over the damp, orange

sands and into the trees where the woods soon swallow us up.

Serena lets go of my hands and leans back against a tree, panting and smiling at me. I stare at

her and swallow as I take a step towards her. As if she realises that there’s something going on, she stops smiling and panting. She shuts her mouth, but her chest continues to rise and fall. I can hear her breaths flowing in and out of her nose as her eyes scan over my face.

The tingling of anticipation buzzes and charges through my blood. My whole body wants her,

not just my mind. I close the distance between us in one quick step. Every single part of her body is pressed against me. I can feel her firm breasts touching my chest as she inhales and exhales. I can feel her warm breath skimming across my face. I’ve never been more turned on in all my life. I’m

literally aching to kiss her and to get her into my bed.

This is normally when I would run the back of my hand down a girl’s face. I’d tuck a piece of

her hair behind her ear and then tip her chin up with my hands and kiss her.

But not Serena. I look into her eyes that stare back at me, and watch as a slither of water

snakes down her forehead and down her cheek. I take a deep breath.

“I have to leave today. I’ll be gone this afternoon,” I tell her.

I expect her to say something or ask why I’ve decided to go now or what I’m going to do, but

she says nothing. She just stares at me. I want to know what she’s thinking. I want to know if she’s as sad as I am that I’m going. I close my eyes and let my lips touch down onto her forehead, never

wanting to pull them away.

“Kaiden,” she whispers after a few minutes.

I take a deep breath and pull away from her. “Yes, Serena?”

“It’s stopped raining. We can go and get eggs now.”

I let go of her and straighten up. I clear my throat and pull my shirt down, but it’s still

soaking wet and sticks to me. “Okay,” I finally say. “Let’s go and get those eggs.”

It took me two hours to hike back to my truck from their house and then another six hours to drive home. When I eventually roll into driveway, I can’t even see straight. My thoughts are going around and around in my head like a whirlwind. I’m still not sure what to do. I’m a kid after all. A messed up, rebellious kid and I’m way out of my depth.

“How was your trip?” asks my Mother when I push open the front door.

I smile at her. “Good, but exhausting.”

She takes my bag out of my hand and nods. “I thought you might be tired. I’ve put some

fresh sheets on your bed.”

I turn around and do something that I haven’t done in years. It’s been so long that I can’t

even remember the last time I did it. I hug my Mother. I expect her to be shocked, but the instant I throw my arms around her, she curls her arms around my back, squeezing me and sighing into my

neck.

“I’m not going to ask what that was for,” she says, releasing me. “If you’ve done something

bad, we’ll deal with it. But that hug was just too nice for me to start questioning you now.”

I try to smile at her but it doesn’t feel right. “I’ve not done anything bad. Honest.”

She nods. “Good night, Kaiden.”

“Night, Mom.”

I climb up the stairs. The muscles in my legs feel like they’ve shrivelled up and died. Instead

of a shower, I run a bath. A scalding hot bath that’s full of fruity-smelling bubble bath. When I look in the mirror, I see that my face is still red from the sun but I look refreshed. My skin is usually tanned anyway, but now it’s so brown that it makes the whites of my eyes look brighter and whiter than

they ever have before.

I strip my clothes off and sink into the bath. I let the water pass over every inch of my aching

body before letting my head slip underneath the water. Doing this reminds me of when I watched

Serena bathe herself in the outdoor tub.

When I get out of the bath, I rub myself down with the Egyptian-cotton towels that my Mom

always has hanging on the heated rail and revel in the feeling of the softness against my skin. I stalk back across the landing wearing nothing but my own skin and collapse on the top of my bed.

The sun is beating down on me, but it’s not nearly as hot as it was when I was with Serena and

Elodie. Although it’s Monday, I’m not going to school today. If I go to school, I won’t be able to think and I need to think, which is why I’m heading down Main Street towards my favourite café.

I push the door open and inhale the sweetest smell in the world, coffee and cakes. There’s

nothing better. I walk up to the counter and wait in line whilst reading the menu board. After

spending two days with Serena and Elodie, I feel like I need to splurge on all the indulgences I can.

I order a latte with an extra shot and a piece of homemade coffee and walnut cake. My

mouth is watering as I stand and watch the waitress cut a thick slice from the centre of the cake. I grab a napkin from the dispenser, silently hand over my cash and take my drink and cake from her.

I’m so desperate for coffee that I flop down at the nearest empty table and take a swig of my

drink. The warmth and frothiness of the milk glides easily down my throat. I close my eyes and

savour the taste. Serena has never tasted coffee and probably never tasted cake.

She’s missing out on a whole world of stuff, but if she’s never tasted it, would she miss it? This is the question that has been replaying over and over in my head. How can she be sad about not

tasting coffee or not shopping with her friends and all that other stuff if she’s never done it? She wouldn’t. She doesn’t know the difference.

She doesn’t know that having a bath outside in a tub is ridiculous. Should I really be the one

that gets to decide if she should be plucked from her little world of normalcy? It’s not normal to me, but to her it’s her everything. It’s her world.

“Hello, Kaiden.”

I look up and almost drop the cake when my eyes fall onto the face of Angela Scott. She

smiles politely and slips into the seat opposite me. Of all the people I had to see, why did it have to be her?

“Hello, Mrs. Scott.”

She places a cup of tea in front of her and waves her hand at me. “Call me Angela. I

shouldn’t have to keep telling you this, Kaiden.”

I nod. Why do I feel so guilty all of a sudden?

“It’s a nice day,” I offer. I could shoot myself. Am I really talking about the weather with her?

The woman I’ve known all my life? The woman I’ve spent fifteen years talking to whilst having to

stare into her sad, gloomy eyes.

She smiles and nods. I notice the dark circles under her eyes. In all the years I’ve known her,

I’ve never once heard her complain of the effect everything has had on her. It couldn’t have been easy.

“Yes, it’s a lovely day. How come you’re not at school?” she asks.

I shrug.

“Is your shoulder better? Your Mom told me what happened.”

I nod. “Yeah, it’s better thanks.” I offer her my plate. “Do you want some cake?”

She shakes her head. “No, thank you. I’d like to know that you’re alright though.”

I pull the plate back to me and tear a small piece off the cake and huff. “I’m not at school

because I need to think. School will distract me.” Honesty again. It’s beginning to become a bit of a habit, I think, as I shove the cake into my mouth.

Her eyes connect with mine. I hold her gaze for a few seconds before I look away.

“What do you need to think about so badly that you can’t go to school, Kaiden? Is everything

alright?”

I nod, but don’t look at her. “It’ll be fine. I’m sure of it.”

“You’re being very cryptic. I’m starting to worry about you,” she says.

I shake my head. I can’t have her being intrigued. Not now. “Honestly, Mrs. Scott. I’m fine.

Just boy stuff.” I look up at her and give her a weak smile.

She wrinkles her face up. “Ah, in that case I’ll leave you to it, unless it’s a problem about a

girl. I used to be ones of those, you know. I might be able to help you.”

I laugh. I actually open my mouth and laugh out loud. Angela Scott grins at me and tucks a

piece of her short, fine blonde hair behind her ear. For the first time in months, her green eyes are sparkling.

“There is a girl but it’s not what you think.”

She raises her eyes. “Oh really?”

I nod. “It’s complicated.”

Now she frowns. “Is she pregnant, Kaiden?”

I shake my head. “No.”

“Good,” she says, “having children causes so much worry.” She sighs heavily and looks at me

with that look that I’ve seen many times before.

I freeze. I need to say something. Anything.

“How’s the campaign going?” Shit. I should have said anything but that.

She shrugs. “It’s the same as it always is. We run the campaign, we get a few calls, we spend

all the money on chasing those calls, but it turns out to be nothing.”

She turns her head and looks out of the window. “I probably would have given up by now,”

she says, tapping her chest, “but I can feel that she’s still alive.” She taps her chest again. “In here.”

I nod, even though I don’t know how she feels. “I guess it’s hard.”

“It gets worse. I thought it would get better with time, but each time those photographs

come out, it gets harder. The wound in my heart opens up just that little bit more. I imagine all the things she’d be into now. At nearly seventeen, I imagine she’d be a nightmare like every other

hormonal teenage girl. But the truth is, I’d have her arguing with me every single day over not having her at all.” Something catches in her throat and when I look at her, I see tears filling her eyes. She sniffs and I look away.

After a few seconds, I take a deep breath and look back at her. “Do you think it would be

strange if she just walked back into your life?” I ask, hoping she doesn’t find the question too

strange.

She blinks at me. “I would imagine it would be equally wonderful and terrible at the same

time. I have no idea what sort of life she’s had. All of these horrible thoughts go through my head every single day. It would probably take a lot of adjustment on her part if she’s been living a

completely different life.” She sighs. “Sometimes, I wonder if she even speaks the same language as we do. Can you imagine if she came back to us and we couldn’t even communicate with one

another?”

I shake my head, but don’t look at her. I shouldn’t be talking to her about this.

“I never thanked you,” she says, surprising me.

I look up at her and sip the last of my coffee. “Thanked me for what?”

“For helping us over the years. I know you were only little when she was taken and it was

your parents that originally ploughed all of their efforts and money into helping us with the

campaign, but I know you’ve helped over the last few years. Your Mother told me.”

I swallow, suddenly feeling like there’s a piece of cake stuck in my throat. “You don’t need to

thank me,” I whisper.

I didn’t help at all, so God knows what my Mother has been telling her. The worst part about

all of this is that I’ve resented the Scotts and how much time my parents have spent at their house and how much they have talked about them and their missing daughter. I hated that they seemed to

feel guilty whenever they looked at me. It was as if they felt bad because their child hadn’t been taken.

She takes a deep breath and stands up. “Well, I am. So, thank you.”

She offers me her hand which I shake.

“See you again soon, Kaiden. I hope you manage to think about whatever it is that you

needed to come here and think about.”

I smile. “I think you helped a lot, actually. I’ll speak to you soon.”

She leaves the café. I stare at her and watch as she crosses the road. Decision made.

I hope she’ll be able to forgive me.

Serena

I put my book down and stare at the clock. It’s only ten but it feels much later. Elodie went to bed an hour ago and I’m thinking about blowing the candle out and joining her when there’s a knock at the door. My immediate thought is that it is my Mother. She was due back three days ago but never

came. I wasn’t worried at first because she’s been a day or two late before, but today was Elodie’s birthday. How could she have missed it? Why isn’t she home? I don’t care what supplies she thinks we need, she should never have missed Elodie’s birthday. That’s something that I don’t think I’ll be able to forgive her for.

I stand up and realise that it can’t be my Mother because she wouldn’t knock on her own

door. As I walk towards the door, I remember the knock that came last week when Kaiden decided

to visit and feel my heart flutter in my chest.

“Who is it?” I call.

“It’s me, Kaiden.”

I sigh with relief and smile at the same time. I rush over to the door and swing it wide open. I

want to jump into his arms and hug him. I’m so happy he’s come back to see us again, but when I see his sad face and eyes, I stop in my tracks.

“What’s the matter?” I ask, looking him up and down. He’s wearing his coat and scarf again.

“I’m not here for a visit this time, Serena.”

He sounds sad. He sighs and leans against the door frame.

I feel myself frowning at him. He looks as if he doesn’t want to be here. He hasn’t even looked

at me properly yet. “What are you here for then?”

“Can I come in please?” he asks, sounding impatient.