A Life for A Life
In Medias Res
*Caitlyn’s POV*
I should’ve seen it coming. All my life, I’ve been training for survival, the instinct I’ve gained for having two parents that were agents for the Central Intelligence Agency. You never know what could happen, so I had to learn how to fight, how to survive on my own.
Even if that meant travelling through an old sewer that smelt horrid.
I’ve been through one of these before, but that was when I was seven. Twelve years later and I still hated it. It was either this or get ran down by the dogs. I was soaked from the waist down with the stench, but I had no choice in the matter. If I wanted to live, I needed to keep moving.
I knew the town’s sewage system by heart pretty much, but my knowledge didn’t stop there. Ever since my time in growing up, my knowledge of the world broaden. It was how I was raised. I had to know everything to rely on myself. I couldn’t rely on anyone. Trust came through so few people, and now for me, none.
Not my family, my mother, my father, not even my older sister that I use to be close to.
And now I was in it for the run of my life. Why? They wanted me dead. Why they wanted me dead, I didn’t know. All I knew was that I had to get my ass out of there and stay alive.
I was relieved whenever I climbed up the ladder and got out of the manhole. No one was around. Good, less chance of getting caught. I ran to the nearest house, seeing a clothesline with rows of clothing. The stench was overwhelming for me and I grabbed their water hose. I quickly stripped from my shoes and pants, making sure no one was around and sprayed the cool water over my legs.
Your typical Sunday in Washington DC, houses were deserted with families going to church and doing other odd things. I frowned at the clothes on the lines. I wasn’t trying to be picky about what I wore at the moment, but these pants wouldn’t be able to fit me well. I sighed, looking towards the windows. Locked.
I walked over to the back door, checking under the mat on the ground. What I loved about most families: spare keys. Such a simple tactic most families did and I was grateful to whoever this family was for following such traditions. I stuck the key in, quickly stepping in. I quickly stripped off my clothes. I was in the kitchen and I looked through the cabinets, finding small plastic bags: another tradition most families carried out. I put the clothes and closed the bag in a way that would hide the stench before throwing them in a garbage bag I got out from under the sink cabinet.
I was completely naked now, but I could care less. I wondered just how well my luck would play out, I ran upstairs. Looking into the rooms, I could tell it was a family of four. Three bedrooms, one younger daughter and two teenage kids, one of each gender. I found myself in the girl’s room. Judging from the items around, it could be a teenager ranging from 15-17 years of age. I ran over to the dressers. I was small for a 19 year old, so I could pass for a high school teenager.
Whoever this girl was, she was the exact same size as myself. I started to quickly put on clothes, running over to the closet. She obviously had a shoe fetish, ranging from heels to tennis shoes. I grab the simplest clothing I could, hoping the girl wouldn’t notice. Tennis shoes were my best option, so I grabbed a pair of Nikes.
Time was running short and I needed to leave. I needed to leave the state if I didn’t want to get caught. My eyes landed on a pair of white tickets that stuck out on the dresser. I reached over, looking at them. Tickets to a One Direction concert that was supposed to happen tonight. I should’ve noticed the girl was a fan from the posters on her wall.
I could hear a door slam downstairs. My mind kicked into gear. I shoved the tickets into my pocket and ran to the window, quickly opening it and throwing the bag of clothes I had on the roof. I jumped out, closing the window just in time and getting out of the bedroom’s view before the teenager could be heard stomping into her room. I didn’t waste any time, I quickly ran across the roof, swinging my feet over to land on the first story roof, making much to no noise.
I had to stop fast in my tracks and pull back into the roof as someone stepped out the back door. Damn kids, I thought, seeing a little girl run out toward a swing set toward the back yard. I cursed under my breath, staying out of her view as I ran to the other side of the house, looking over to see if anyone was down. Luckily, no one. I let out a breath of annoyance, knowing I would have to prepare myself for a ten foot fall.
I threw the bag over and it landed in the bushes with a soft brushing of leaves. There was a six foot wooden feet about eight feet from the house. I took a deep breath, at least the fence would smother my fall some. I stepped back and began to run quickly, jumping off the edge of the house, falling to where my feet landed on the top of the fence. It shook some but I quickly jumped down, landing safely on my feet onto the grass.
I let out another breath, this running shit was about to get really old. I ran to the bush, grabbing the clothes and quickly making my exit toward the street. No family was in the front yard so I quickly started to make my trek on the sidewalk. After about five minutes of walking with a trash bag in hand, I found a dumpster and threw it over, getting rid of my old clothes.
I looked at the tickets in my pocket. I felt slightly bad for stealing a girl’s dream in seeing these boys. My sister was a huge fan of these boys and the two of us was even going to go see their concert, something that took a while to convince our parents to do.
I knew it was risky, but it was my only ticket out of here.
The concert would be tonight at the Verizon Center at 7:30 PM. I checked the time through a window at a coffee shop. It was past three o’clock, so I had four hours to kill until then. I noticed my reflection in the mirror then. My black hair was short and slightly choppy, knotted from the wind caused by my running. My green eyes pierced back at me, bright and seem to slither. One thing that stood out the most was the birthmark on my neck in the shape of a paw with claws. I sighed.
I had no money, no clothes, nothing. The only possession I had were these tickets and the knowledge that I gained through the years. I couldn’t trust anybody but myself. I would make it out of this somehow. I’ll be damn sure if my own family wasn’t going to kill me.
8/3/13