Katherine fell to her knees coughing up black mucus as she struggled to breathe, sweat stuck strands of her ebony hair against her face. She could still hear the screaming downstairs. The smoke made it near impossible to navigate the corridors she’d grown up in. She crawled towards a door at the end of the hall, the doorknob cool against her burned hands as she struggled to open it. She fell to the ground as the door swung open, smoke poured in behind her. Katherine clutched her burned hands to her chest, her eyes watered as she looked around the room.
Katherine jumped at the sound of someone screaming with pain, and loud heavy footsteps began running towards her. She rolled under the bed in the room, hands still clutched to her chest as she kept her eyes shut. The steps entered the room and circled it frantically, shoving items aside and onto the ground.
“Kat?” A hoarse voice whispered, and she yelped with relief from under the bed.
“Daddy!” She called out as she scrambled out from beneath the bed. She stood up and ran into her father’s arms. She coughed loudly, her chest aching from the effort of it. “Dad, I’m scared. What are we going to do?”
They heard shouting coming from the hallway. Curtis stared at his daughter, the smoke having nothing to do with the tears forming in his ice blue eyes as he met his daughter’s sapphire blue ones. He pulled her close to his chest, kissing the top of her head.
“I love you Kitty-kat. You have to go, okay?” He whispered, his arms held her steady as she tried to push away from him.
“No! You have to come with me!” She screamed, shoving against his chest. “Dad, you have to come with me, please!”
“I love you so much,” His voice broke as he kissed her forehead. He held her steady as he pulled her away from himself. The voices were getting closer, shouting angrily. He looked over his shoulder at the door, tears streaming from his eyes when he looked back. “I love you, don’t ever stop smiling Kitty.”
She desperately tried to hold onto his wrist as he shoved her. Glass shards cut into her back as she impacted with the window, as she fell she watched the two of them enter the room, guns aimed at her father.
“Daddy!” She screamed, reaching out her hand towards him as the gunshots rang out.
…
“Daddy!” Katherine screamed as she sat up in bed. Tears and sweat dripped from her face as she stared at her surroundings with disbelief. Her fists clenched around the blankets surrounding her. Slowly she turned her head, the alarm clock on her nightstand read 3:24am. She leaned forward, and began sobbing. She pulled her blankets up to her face, trying to wipe away tears only to have them replace by fresh ones.
She struggled to breathe evenly as she sat in bed, resting her forehead against her knees. The tears had begun to slow, but still fell as she stood from her bed and stepped out into the dark hallway. She walked gingerly across the cold polished wood floor. The small tinkling of a bell startled Katherine, causing her to nearly fall to the ground.
“Jynx you scared the life out of me,” Katherine grimaced as her pet cat sauntered up to her. She lifted the cat into her arms as she continued to make her way through the very large manor. She inhaled deeply as she reached the door, knocking softly.
She stood silently in front of the door, shivering against the cold. Jynx began to bat at her loose strands of hair as she stood and waited. She felt tears forming in the corners of her eyes once more.
“Mom?” She called out softly, knocking against her mother’s bedroom door once more. Still there was no answer. She reached for the doorknob, her eyes widened as it easily turned in her hand.
“Moma?” Katherine called out again as she stepped into her mother’s room. She set Jynx down beside her before tiptoeing towards the bed in the center of the room. “I know you hate when I bother you. I just… had the nightmare again. I really don’t want to be alone right now. Could you please make an exception and let me stay with you?”
Katherine felt her voice crack as she spoke. She stood a few feet away, shaking with her hands clutched against her chest, “Mom, please.”
She stepped closer, her toes relaxing at the feel of the soft rug at the foot of her mother’s bed. She placed her hand against the rail at the foot of her mother’s bed, her eyes finally began to adjust to the extreme darkness of her mother’s room. She looked over the bed, neatly made, pillows propped up, and empty.
“Mom?!” Katherine screamed as she ran out of the room. Her feet slipped as she tried to run up the glass staircase to get to the living room. She fell against the stairs, her hip took the brunt of it. She felt tears in her eyes again as she forced herself up and ran into the living room. She ran through every room in the huge manor and every single one was empty.
She ran outside, the cold air nipped her legs but she ignored it as she ran to the garage. She threw it open easily and fell to her knees. Her mother’s car was gone, and from the looks of things had been gone for a while. She covered her eyes with her hands and screamed while tears slid down her face. Her cries echoed in the cold empty garage, the rest of the house stayed deathly silent.
…
Katherine’s eyes were glued to the ground; hands toyed with the cords of her backpack as she sat in the waiting area. Her ebony hair created a curtain for her to hide from the pitiful eyes of passersby. She pulled her knees up to her chest, and tried to even her breathing.
“Katherine?” She jumped at the sound of her name. A man had poked his head out from behind the door, a sympathetic smile on his lips as he looked her over. “We’re ready to see you now.”
She nodded and trotted over to him. He stood aside as she walked past him and into the mess of hallways. She followed behind as her led her down the hall and into an even older gentleman’s office just as he hung up the phone.
“Ms. Caine, I’ve been reading your case file. Sounds like you’ve had quite a difficult month,” His eyes gave away his uncertainty. “Your father passes away, and three weeks later your mother goes missing. I can’t even imagine.”
“Murdered,” Katherine corrected the man, her eyes finally lifting from the ground. “My father was murdered.”
Both men glanced at each other for a moment continuing on, “And you’re sure you don’t know of any other family members?”
“No, I never met my grandparents and I have no idea if I would have uncles or aunts or cousins,” Katherine felt her eyes began to water. “The closest thing I could guess is my dad’s best friend Nicholas Ashton.”
The younger man nodded in sequence with the older one’s sighed, “It’s preferred by the state government that you be placed with biological family.”
“Sir, there aren’t many other options if she doesn’t have any that she is aware of. It’s not as if we have been able to track anyone down,” The younger one cut in, offering Katherine another sympathetic grin.
“I was actually doing some research of my own while I was in group housing,” She turned around, pulling a folder out of her backpack, “I really don’t want to go into foster care. The odds are the family fostering me would try to take advantage of the money my father left to me in his will. However, I was looking into the possibility of emancipation.”
She placed the folder onto the man’s desk and spread out the pages, handing him the ones she expected him to look at while she was speaking. The younger gentleman stood off to the side with his arms crossed, grin on his face as Katherine explained her thoughts and exactly how to efficiently complete her emancipation process.
“And lastly, I was hoping there were some kind of way I could use the last name Ashton as an alias for my own. I don’t expect you to be aware but my father’s murderers are still at large,” Katherine exhaled and leaned back in her seat. She felt her hands shake as she watched the older gentleman go over the papers she had handed him.
“Even if this were a feasible option, you would still need to get a declaration of emancipation from a judge which isn’t something we-“
“I actually already have court date set up for later this month,” Katherine explained, taking the folder from his hands as he closed it. “And I’ve hired the best lawyer that money can buy, so there really isn’t much point in fighting it.”
The older gentleman glared at Katherine while the younger one covered his mouth in an attempt to conceal his light laughter. For the first time in a month, Katherine smiled as she shoved the folder back into her backpack.
“I don’t know if I could have just called in with this information, and if I could have then I apologize for wasting your time. Being an orphan is kind of new to me,” She tried to chuckle, but the sound that escaped her lips sounded more like a scoff which further aggravated the older gentleman.
“Would you please escort Ms.Caine out? She seems to have things handled,” He sighed, gesturing again to the younger man.
“Ashton!” Katherine corrected as the door closed behind the younger one. He laughed as he led her back through the halls once more.
“I’ve never seen anyone your age get Tim that riled up in such a short time,” His laughter continued. He opened the door into the waiting room for her, stepping in front of her path for a moment. “Are you sure you’re going to be okay though? You’re only sixteen and you’ve already gone through more than most adults do. I’d be terrified honestly.”
“There’s time to be scared later,” Katherine swallowed as she looked up, meeting his sandy brown eyes. Her small frame shook; her knuckles were white from the force she clutches her backpack’s straps with. “Right now there’s stuff to get done. I can be scared later.”
“That’s really impressive for someone your age,” He sighed softly and stepped out of her way. “My name is Hayes by the way. Take care of yourself, Kid.”
“Thank you,” Katherine responded softly. She inhaled deeply as she walked past him, back into the crowded waiting room and out of the building. Katherine’s eyes squinted from the harsh sunlight outside. She inhaled deeply as she mouthed the list of things she would need to do from emancipation, to bills, to enrolling in the city’s public high school. She smiled politely as the Taxi driver pulled up to the curb. She gave him the address, and fell silent, staring out the window as the city flew by. Bridgeport, the city felt entirely too large for a sixteen year old orphan.
