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#1

Chapter 1

Apollo Kingsleigh

May 12, 2018

423

15 Mins Read

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How did I get here? I thought to myself while leaning against a cold,

uncomfortable brick wall. I mean it's the middle of the night, it's fucking freezing and

definitely not safe for my five foot, three inch tall self to be out here alone. And yet, here

I am! How the hell did I get here? How the hell do I get out of here? I took another long

draw from the Camel between my fingers before throwing the filter to the ground and

smearing its blackish-brown insides across the pavement. Looking back and forth several times; I

almost feared leaving the dull light of the street lamp above me but I had to go. I had

overstayed my welcome in this town, in that house. Apparently being a parent to a kid

for more than a year was too much to ask any adult; especially if you weren’t their kid.

None of that mattered anymore! I was eighteen, an adult in the eyes of the government.

“Just pick a direction, Kayla, damn!” I whispered before bouncing off the sidewalk

and onto the dark, dead highway. I balanced myself on the dotted yellow line; one foot in from of the other with

both of my arms extend out at my sides. I envisioned a tightrope as I walked further and further away from the lights

of that town. A circus of the unknown appeared miles below me as I ventured forward into the blackness of night. I stopped only once to turn and dramatically blow it a kiss ‘goodbye'. I was

ecstatic, the air was icy but that just added to the sensation of freedom that

overwhelmed my body. The soft breeze left chilly, Autumn kisses on my face and then

entangled itself in my long, brunette hair. How long had I been walking? The sun

peeked up from the horizon and bled the first warm rays of light onto the ground,

graciously offering me a shadowy companion for the next few hours. I grinned, it was

nice to see something that resembled a human after that walk. I slid my hand into the

pocket of my old, shapeless, army jacket and pulled out the box that contained my sticks of nicotine dynamite. Empty; figures. I tossed the box onto the shoulder of the

road and continued forward. Where am I even going? I wondered as I scoped out the

landscape around me. Fields. Gravel. Heat. Figures, since I live in Ohio.

The sun was starting to get warm; I shed my jacket and tied it loosely around my

waist; a sleeve of my T-shirt falling, exposing my shoulder. I was starting to regret the

decision to wear black, that I had made the day before. Where did I get this shirt

anyway? It's definitely too small seeing as how the hem of the T-shirt hung just above

my waist. The collars even cut out, must've been how I ended up with it. I always ended

up with the shitty odds and ends my Aunt and her children threw out. I should've planned this

whole running away thing a little better. I thought to myself as I examined the state of

my extremely weathered jeans. God I feel trashy. No deodorant. No clothes. Nothing. I

brought nothing. How fucking stupid can I be?

Fatigue had begun to cast its ugly shadow over me. How long had I been

walking? It's been hours since that little town disappeared from my view. The sun was

high in the sky at this point and, Jesus, was it hot. My shadowy friend had begun to

shrink and finally left me completely alone in the middle of the day. The black, knock off,

converse I wore seemed to have increased in weight causing my feet to drag. I slumped

my shoulders forward and dangled my hands; harboring a stocky gorilla stride. Damn,

I’m so tired. I thought to myself, wiping the endless beads of sweat away from my

forehead. My steps became slower and slower and I could feel my body becoming more

like putty by the second. Slowly sinking to the ground, I gave out small bursts of the last

bit of energy I could muster to continue walking, however, these attempts proved to be quite flaccid. Then, suddenly, my vision faded into blackness and my body seemed to

disappear. It was dark and quiet in this little haven that unconsciousness had thrown

me into. It had been so long since I had felt this total overcoming of peace. And just as

fast as it came, the dark blissful quiet slingshot me right back into consciousness.

I opened my eyes to find that a glass window had now separated me from the

fields outside. I was in a car. But whose car? I pushed myself to turn my head to the left,

still fuzzy from the loss of consciousness. I could feel each muscle in the back of my neck and shoulders

tighten and ache as I moved. I must’ve fallen pretty hard, I thought; I can’t even

remember it. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a young woman; a girl with bangs that

covered her forehead, slightly overlapping her glasses and framing her face. The rest of

her blonde hair twisted and turned into kinky curls that dangled just above her

shoulders. She was the essence of, what I could only describe as, an ‘adorkable’ girl; with her dark blue, full framed

glasses, cat eared headband and bright, red lipstick. A white, knitted sweater hung over

her slender body with the large sleeves folded at her wrists. The final detail I noticed

about the girl whose eyes were concentrated ahead, was her nails - unpainted and bitten

to the quick.

My cousin would bite her nails when she was anxious or worried. I missed

her. How had I just noticed? How had I gone all night without thinking of her? Aunt Rita and her oldest children, Connie and Clarke, were awful to me, I felt no remorse when leaving them but Candice, the youngest,

had always been so kind. She had a soft voice and a good heart; she was my best

friend. I wonder if I had caused her to bite her nails. Maybe her fingers were bleeding because she keeps gnawing even when there’s nothing left but skin. I shouldn’t have left

her. But I had to.

Kayla, stop. There’s nothing you can do now. I pushed those thoughts from my

head. Focus on the issue at hand, please. My mind turned back to the girl driving the

car.

“Who are you?” I uttered weakly.

“Oh! You’re awake, yay!” The blonde squeaked, “I found you on the side of the

road, you poor thing. I thought to myself, ‘Now why would this poor girl be out here all

by herself and why is she unconscious?’ You’re not supposed to sleep on the side of

the road, you silly! So then, I decided to just pick you up and put you in my car because

I couldn’t leave you out here all by yourself. I mean, like, what could happen? You

could’ve been kidnapped! You could’ve died from dehydration! You could’ve been

eaten by a--”

“Woah, woah! Okay, crazy, you’re gonna have to slow down.” I sat myself up in

the passenger seat and rubbed the back of my head. I know I should have tried to

escape but I was honestly just so glad to see another person.

“Oh-oh, dear! I’m so sorry. You must be so discom-discomboh-discomboo--” She

stammered.

“Discombobulated?” I asked slightly annoyed, but amused.

“Yes! That’s how you say it! I’m using this new app that's teaching me new

so-phis-ti-cated….words!” She giggled with glee after tackling the big word. “You’re so

smart...and SO pretty! I should keep you!”

“What?!” I exclaimed as a car honked at us from the other lane. It was then I realized that the crazy girl had veered into the other lane.

“Sorry!” She shouted, sweetly out the window.

I exhaled deeply but it brought me no relief.

“I’m Mags by the way. Magdalene Lorelei Nowicki! Don’t wear it out!” She threw

up a finger gun, “Don’t worry, it's impossible; I’ve tried!”

“Okay, Mags, let’s keep both hands on the wheel.” I instructed as I motioned her

finger gun back to its driving position.

“Right, right.” Mags said, softly, in agreement, “whoops! So what’s your name?”

“It’s Kayla..” I replied hesitantly.

“Ooo, that’s pretty! Kayla…?” She silently expressed her need for my full name.

“Just Kayla.” I nodded.

“Oh, alright. Well, it's nice to meet you, ‘Just’ Kayla.” She smiled.

How did she make that sarcastic comment sound so innocently sweet? I looked

out the window just in time to notice that we were closing in on a large city.

“Where are we?” I asked, not recognizing any of my surroundings.

“Well Cleveland of course! If you don’t live in Cleveland then you might as well not

live in Ohio at all! Haven’t you ever been to Cleveland before?”

“No..” I spoke feeling as though I should be embarrassed.

“Oh yay!! A ‘noob’!” Mags giggled.

“What’d you call me?” I jumped to defense.

“Woah, a feisty one!” Mags exclaimed, “It just means a new-bie. I would never

insult you, don’t worry. I’m not that kind of person...yet!” She giggled maniacally

I nodded, a bit worried.

“Well welcome to the windy city, Kayla! I’m so glad I get to be your tour guide! Oh

speaking of which, do you have someone you’re staying with? Because if you don’t, I

would totally be cool with you being my roommate. It gets so lonely in my apartment. My

old roommate left one night… I’m not sure why… She didn’t even say ‘goodbye’. Some

people can be so rude, am I right?” She took a large gulp of air, “Sorry, sometimes my

brain moves a lot faster than my mouth and I just forget to breath. That’s normal, right?”

“Right…” I nodded.

We entered the city, the buildings were immaculate, at the least. I had never

experienced a city before. Being tossed from home to home, you usually weren’t put in

a large city with a lot of people. I pressed my face against the car door window, trying to

see the tops of the buildings. Suddenly the glass disappeared and my head fell forward.

I turned sharply to see Mags giggling, “Go ahead! You can see them better that way!”

After giving her a threatening look I stuck my head out the window and looked up

to get a better look at these seemingly endless buildings. The brisk wind hit me hard in the

face and took my breath away. I

pulled my head back into the car and gasped for air.

“Oh gosh, Kayla, are you okay?” Mags watched in terror as I quickly reached into

my jacket pocket for my inhaler and sucked two puffs of air in from the device. I slowly inhaled and exhaled with my hand on my chest to feel my heartbeat

slow, “I have bronchitis.” I spoke slowly.

“I thought you had to be sick to get that.”

“Who says I’m not sick?” I snipped.

Mags gave me a look of concern. Oh God, I can’t play off being sick to this girl.

She’ll probably try to shove soup and medicine down my throat. “It’s chronic bronchitis.”

“Oh you poor thing--” Mags started.

“No, no, I’m fine.” I brushed off her attempt at consolation.

Mags smiled even at my rudeness, “We’re gonna have so much fun living

together! It’ll be like an endless sleepover! We can have movie nights and eat popcorn! We'll be best friends!

I’m so excited!”

I nodded uncomfortably. I never had a best friend before, other than Candice.

Even then, I had only known Candice for a little over a year and only bonded with her

over music and a mutual disliking for Aunt Rita’s parenting. But I

missed her and, this girl, Mags made me miss her even more.

Mags pulled her little car into a parking space, parallel to the side of the road. We

were in a little neighborhood on the outside of the city. The building across the sidewalk,

that Mags had indicated, enthusiastically, was where she lived, was made of orange

and red brick; the windows were lined with white frames and covered from the inside

with beige curtains. There were three concrete steps, braced with a black, metal railing.

The steps led to a dark green door with a gold painted knob. Mags slipped her key into

the golden deadlock and turned until the door clicked, then pushed it open.

“After you.” She smiled and gestured for me to enter the apartment.

I hesitated.

“Oh, come on! You’ve been in a car with me for the past hour. You know

I’m harmless.” She giggled waving her hand at me.

“Yeah, a car you put me in while I was unconscious.” I snipped as I slowly

passed through the forest colored entrance way. Mags followed behind, shaking her

head and smiling with way too much understanding.

The door opened into a long, wide corridor that stretched the length of the

apartment. The floors were made of polished wood, the walls covered in maroon

wallpaper and lined with light colored wooden trim. I smiled at how domesticated the

home felt. There was a coat rack by the door but I wouldn’t dare leave my jacket there.

A dark brown table next to the coat rack held envelopes addressed to ‘Ms. Magdalene L. Nowicki’. I looked up and was shocked to see my reflection staring back at me in a

large, golden rimmed mirror.

Meow! I felted a giant creature roughly rub against my leg, nearly knocking me

over. I jumped back a bit and looked down to see a very, very, very, fat cat with long

spotted hair run to Mags.

“Oh, hello Ms. Rosie! Did you scare my friend? Yes you did. Yes you did.” Mags

rubbed her cat's belly and spoke to it in a way that made me want to run far away.

“Kayla! This is my kitty, Ms. Rosalinda Michelle Nowicki, but I call her ‘Rosie’ for short.”

She extended the cat’s paw in my direction.

“What?” I stepped back.

“Oh, you silly, shake her paw!” Mags giggled.

“What!” I was dumbfounded. This girl really was crazy.

“Come on, it’s alright. She doesn’t bite.” Mags gave me a persuasive look. I knew

there was no way around this. I had to shake this cat’s paw. Now, how in the hell did I

get here?

I took that cat’s paw between my thumb and pointer finger. “Hello... Rosie...”

Meow. The cat purred before jumping from Mags’s arms and running down the

corridor.

“Oh, she’s a peach.” Mags smiled after her cat as it strutted down the hallway.

We stood there in silence for a few minutes while Mags seemed to have mentally

floated off to crazyville; leaving me in an awkward stand still.

“Oh dear, you must be hungry!” Mags spoke as her mind crash landed back here

on Earth. “Let’s get you something to eat.”

I quietly followed Mags out of the hallway and through the first archway on the

right. We enter into a kitchen with pink and white-tiled walls, splatter-stained with batter

from various baking experiments. Pots and pans dangled from a rack that hung from the

ceiling. The room was chaos but it radiated this welcoming feeling. I sat on a stool next

to the island counter underneath the suspended pot rack.

“Woah.” I exclaimed.

“Yeah, sorry… it's a mess..” Mags leaned against the other side of the island, shrugged then turned from me. "So what are you hungry for?"

My stomach flipped and flopped doing jolty contortions; I was so hungry that I felt

unforgivably sick. But because of my lack-there-of decision making skills; I simply

shrugged and said, “I don’t care.” Ugh.

She saw right through me, “Riiiight.. How about spaghetti? Do you like spaghetti?

I love spaghetti! Ooo! And how about brownies for dessert? That sounds fun!” Mags

bounced with excitement. “Let me show you to your room. You can settle in while I

cook.”

“My-my room?” I stuttered as Mags pushed me out of the kitchen and further

down the long corridor.

We entered the third door on the left which led to a narrow stair case. The walls

were plastered with dark green wallpaper to match the corridor and the stairs were

made of polished wood that squeaked when pressure was applied. I climbed the stairs

with Mags right behind me finally stepping up onto a wooden landing that transformed

into a short hallway. The beige walls reflected the sunlight that beamed in through the

large window at the end of the hall; giving the hall a warm, calming atmosphere.

“It’s the last door on the right!” Mags instructed as she nudged me closer to the

wooden doors that lined the hallway; three on either side.

Making it to the last wooden door on the right, I took the metal doorknob in my

hand and turned it while slowly pushing the door open. Mags stood quietly, eagerly

awaiting my reaction to the large room with light colored walls and dark, wooden trim

and matching polished floorboards. A white vanity sat cater-cornered on the right. The focal point of the room was the queen-sized bed placed at the center of the far wall; it

was decorated with a blue and salmon duvet comforter and matching pillows.

“T-this is MY room?” I stammered

“Mhmm.” Mags replied, “Do you like it?”

“Like it? It's amazing.” My voice rose in pitch.

“Yay!” Mags exclaimed.

“But it's too much.” I turned to Mags, cutting her excitement short.

“Oh hush, it’s perfect!” She rolled her eyes and smiled, “Make yourself at home!”

Mags popped out of the doorway and bounced down the hallway leaving me

alone in the room. I grinned as I listened to her footsteps trickle down the staircase. First

I’m a runaway, then I was kidnapped; now, I have a roommate. What a day!

The rest of the night was pretty quiet. Mags sat cross legged, cozied in a soft

chair in the corner of the living room, reading a book. I sat in an identical chair opposite

of her dazing in and out of my mind. Rosie had sprung onto the arm of my chair, sitting

uncomfortably close with her body arrogantly poised into a laying position. I never really

liked cats or any animal at all for that matter. Something about their fur touching me

always made me feel unclean and itchy. However, the weight of Rosie’s leg against my

arm gave me a sort of comforting feeling; as did the softness of the chair I sat in and the

quietness of the room.

I allowed the silence to consume me and began drifting off into my head;

somewhere far away from the little room Mags and I occupied. I thought about how long

ago the morning had felt. I marveled at how just hours ago, I had been walking alone in the cold with no predetermined destination. How was I here now? It’s almost funny how

quickly things can change. Further, I plunged into my thoughts, slowly working my way

to the most painful; Candice. I felt tears burn behind my eyes and quickly waved away

the thought. No, no crying. Not in front of Mags. I scolded myself. Letting Mags

know anything about me at this point seemed like too much. Nothing felt definite yet. I

couldn’t let my guard down; not until I knew where I stood in this situation.

ns 15.158.61.23da2

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