Chapter 6: Kate's Story

Kate woke up early. The alarm clock read five AM. Hurrying, she went to the bathroom and did her thing. Quietly, for some of them were early risers, she got dressed. White T-shirt, blue jeans, socks. Her shoes, she carried with her. -I have to get out, quickly, quietly-. She left her room and walked down the hallway of the east wing.

It was a big house.

She walked down the marble staircase to the great hall. She'd seen houses smaller than the great hall. Her house in Ireland could fit four times over in it. And her home in New York... but it hurt to think of that.

It was a BIG house.

She exited the house and started across the grounds. She felt a little better now. She was out of the house. She turned back to look at it. Three stories tall, two wings, more rooms than she had ever seen in a house in her life.

It was a really big house.

The grounds were nice. Fountains, bushes and flowerbeds spotted the South (or front) Lawn. Rows of flowers lined the cobblestone driveway that led out to the Main Gate. There were five Greek statues, three bird feeders, and a sundial placed more or less randomly about. The grass was green and misted with dew. There were huge shade trees hither and thither. Not tall, but wide.

There was a tennis court on the West Lawn and a volleyball court on the East Lawn. The North (or back) Lawn held the swimming pool. The tennis court had cement but the volleyball court was soft sand. The pool had a hot tub and that's were she was headed. The house stood on 5 acres completely enclosed by high hedges so she wasn't worried about any neighbors. She quickly stripped out of her clothes and got into the hot tub. The hot water helped ease her tension and soon she was almost relaxed. Just being out of the house helped a lot to relax her. Today she was especially nervous. There was a new girl arriving today. Or boy. She was still a little confused on that bit. But in either case, it meant one more person in the house. With her.

Not that there were all that many people in the house. Only seven people lived in the house and when the new boy (or girl) arrived it would be eight. Eight was not a lot for a house of this size, but as far as she was concerned, even one more than her was too much. There was a brick sauna next to the pool and hot tub. A steam room. Nobody ever used it. She had asked repeatedly to be able to move in there. They wouldn't hear of it. She hated living in the house. She hated them living in the house with her. Especially Jenny. When the new girl (or boy, she should really get that cleared up) showed up today, she would put her foot down. Kate figured that with all the activity and confusion, they would want one less thing to worry about and she could move into the sauna.

OK, she'd been in the hot tub long enough. A quick dip in the pool to cool off was what she needed now. She missed Nicole. She would have like some company this morning. But Nicole was off bringing back the... whatever. She would be back today, but Kate missed their early morning talks and training. How long had Nicole been gone? Six days? Seven? Or was it only three? After all the years drugged into a stupor at the hospital, it was taking her a while to get her sense of time back. How long had she been at the house? Six months? Or was it only three? She knew that the first couple of weeks didn't count. She couldn't remember that time, anymore than she could remember the years in the hospital. She was drowned in a pool of depression and drugs. Thank the Goddess for Jenny. She didn't know what she would have done if not for Jenny. She has to get out of that house.

Her nude body slipped gracefully through the water. She did a few laps, letting the water cool her off and wake her up. Later on she would start moving some of her things in to the sauna. She'd have to be careful though, she didn't want any of the others to see her doing it. That might lead to an argument. The last thing she wanted was an argument. Not after what happened the last time she got into an argument. Not after her parents. Not with Jenny still in the house.

Kate slipped out of the water and headed for the sauna to get a towel. And her hat. It was a big straw sun hat, providing enough shade for her lithe body. The sun would be up soon and she had to hide her skin from the sun. She had a tendency to freckle. She hated freckles. As it was, her skin was pale, almost milky white. Years strapped to a bed in a drug induced coma will do hell to a tan. She liked it though. Her pale skin really set off her red hair and blue eyes. The last time she remembered looking at herself before the fire, she had tanned skin covered with freckles. And she was flat chested. Now, she had pale skin and boobs! Pretty nice ones too. She supposed all that lying down prevented gravity from dragging them down to sag.

After a quick shower to rinse off the chlorine, she toweled herself dry. Hat in hand she grabbed her book and fetched her clothes. After dressing and donning the hat, she made her way to the South Lawn. She picked out a fairly respectable shade tree and sat down to read. She couldn't get into it. She didn't seem in the mood to read this morning. So, instead, she just stared at the page and thought. She thought about Jenny and how special the girl was. She though about Nicole and her flowers. She thought about the big house, and how wonderful it would have been to grow up there. And she thought about the fire.

It was the day after her twelfth birthday and Kate wanted a party. With boys. She didn't mind if her parents were there to chaperone, in fact, she wanted them there. They could be really aggravating at times, but she loved them both dearly. Her mother would have none of it. Oh, well, it was still early. She had the better part of the week to wear down her mother.

Her dad would side with Kate, if she could get mom to waver a bit. It was just a matter of time and patience. She wasn't too good with the patience part though. Her Irish blood boiled. She knew a knock down, drag out fight with her mom wouldn't help but she was itching for a shouting match. She sighed and walked to school, she would try again when she got home from school.

That afternoon proved no more fruitful than the morning. Her mother would not even consider a 'boy' party. She tried to reason with her, she tried bargaining with her, none to any effect. At dinner she tried again, her dad stayed out of it. Kate knew she had him, otherwise he would have been openly siding with her mom. A couple more days, that's all. Just a couple more days and she could pass out the invites that she had already written.

But Wednesday morning didn't prove anymore useful than Tuesday. She had hoped that a little wavering would be apparent by this time. She would have to step it up if her mom was going to say 'Yes' by Thursday night. She wanted to pass out the invites Friday at school. That afternoon almost escalated into a shouting match which would not have been good at all. In addition to strengthening mom's resolve against the party, it might have gotten her grounded too. That night at dinner, she tried a more calm and rational approach. No good. Thursday would have to be the day. She had to get her mom on Thursday. It was her last chance before the weekend.

Thursday morning was bad. Kate had said some things that she shouldn't have, but she was panicking now. No time for slow and easy. She had to go in fast and strong. Last chance, last day. Well she would try again after school. Mom just didn't want to understand. After school was worse. She started off apologizing for the morning but when mom still refused and showed no sign of wavering, she said even worse things. Damn her Irish blood. She felt like she was getting farther away from having the party instead of getting closer. After dinner then. Last time, last chance. Mom just has to say yes. Kate caught up to her in her room and asked again.

"No", Mom said.

"Mom, you have to let me have this party! I'm twelve years old and it's my birthday."

"You know full well that you can have a party, as long as there are no boys invited. And it's because you're twelve that the answer is 'No'. You are far too young for boys. Maybe, maybe next year, though I doubt it. Thirteen isn't that much different than twelve after all."

"You're saying that I can't invite boys 'till I'm fourteen?"

"I would prefer that you stay away from boys until you graduate from high school entirely. They tend to distract a girl from her studies."

"I'm not even in high school yet", Kate could hear her voice getting louder. She felt like her blood was beginning to boil. She would be shouting soon, but she couldn't stop herself. DAMN her Irish blood."

"Yes, and if you start hanging around with boys you never will", Mom was getting louder too. This pushed Kate even further. Her blood was boiling now.

"THERE ARE BOYS ALL OVER SCHOOL! THEY HAVEN'T STOPPED ME FROM DOING ANYTHING!"

"THAT'S BECAUSE YOU ONLY SEE THEM AT SCHOOL!"

"YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT! YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT ME! YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT ANYTHING! Her blood was on fire now. She was beginning to sweat from the heat.

"HA! I KNOW A LOT MORE THAN YOU DO!" Mom's face was just inches away from hers now. They were shouting full bore right in each other's faces.

"YOU'RE SO STUPID! YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO ME IF I DON'T HAVE THIS PARTY! YOU DON'T CARE!" It was hotter now. Mom was sweating to. The fire from her blood seemed to be radiating off of her in waves, enveloping her.

"THAT'S IT! YOU'RE GROUNDED! GO TO YOUR ROOM!"

"NO!!!!!!!!!" That's when it happened. Kate felt the fire from her blood rush out to mom... then mom was burning.

"AAAAAAAAAAAA, BIIIIIIIIILL" Dad came rushing in and stopped in his tracks at the sight of mom burning.

"MOM!!!!!!!!!!!" Fire covered mom's chest, and it was spreading.

"KATE, GET OUT! I'LL HELP YOUR MOM!" Dad rushed to mom taking off his coat. Kate couldn't move. She watched as he tried to smother the flames but only succeeded in getting his coat on fire.