I was awoken, once again by a nightmare of the day when Callie died. I sat up quickly in my bed, wanting to scream, but my vocal chords wouldn't allow it. So I just sat on my bed, my mind racing and gasping to get air into my lungs. The man's voice still rang clear in my head. After I calmed down a bit I remained sitting, then I sighed mentally as I looked around the small, one bedroom apartment that I was renting for my stay in Minnesota. Alone. My seventeenth birthday had been recently and it hurt, like it did for the past few years, that my family couldn't be there but that couldn't be helped. My family is still alive, which I'm thankful to no end for, but I have to keep them safe. So in return, I haven't seen them since I was almost fifteen.

I glanced at the clock and sneered slightly, of course I had to wake up a few minutes before my alarm started going crazy. Ugh, that makes me so mad, it's not even funny.

I hit the button on my alarm clock and swung my legs over the side of the mattress. I stood up, stretching my thin frame as I attempted to make myself a little less sluggish. I grabbed a pair of jeans and my 21 Pilots tee shirt, taking them to the bathroom where I started the water for my shower, stripping out of my baggy sweats and tank top that I had slept in. I stepped into the shower and scrubbed my hair and body, praying that the red dye didn't fade out too much. It was cheap and I didn't know what to expect as I got it from the Walgreens down the street from my apartments. I rinsed and quickly got out, drying just as quickly and pulling my clothes on, brushing my hair with my fingers. I threw it up into a messy bun and went to grab my black high tops and went to my small kitchen to get a banana. I grimaced as I saw that the bananas didn't look very appetizing and shook my head. Ew, I thought as I slipped my shoes on and grabbed the keys to my beat up truck, walking out of my apartment.

I worked at the small diner downtown and the customers loved me, even if I couldn't talk to them. I had only been there for two weeks and I had brought in even more business for the owner. I parked the truck and got out, shutting it off and slipping the keys in my pocket. I walked into the small space and smiled softly, going back to the kitchen to clock in. The manager smiled at me as I passed, "Mornin' Kasai!" he said in his thick country drawl, I smiled back and waved slightly. After I clocked in, the day went by pretty fast, until I saw a group of guys walked into the diner. I stopped dead as I turned to smile at them. They all had the tattoo on their necks that I saw on the man that murdered Callie and her parents. I gulped and one of the other waitresses said, "Kas, can you go get them? Betty and Phil are busy." I shook my head and she pleaded, "Please? I promise I'll make it up to you." I gulped and plastered on a smile, walking over to the table with the order pad. The men saw me and smirked as they sat in their booth. All of them looked like creeps that you'd find in a bar fight, except for one of the guys with a head of wavy, night black hair and piercing grey eyes. Speaking of piercings, he had a lip piercing and triple ear piercings. But what really surprised me, was that he looked my age...

One of the bigger looking men hit the table hard and I jumped, looking at him as he snarled at me, "Ya got that sweetheart?" I froze and slowly shook my head, the man laughed humorlessly and growled, "Speak, puppy, speak..." The other men laughed, except for the younger man, he smacked the back of the big guy's head and sighed, "C'mon Billy, cut her some slack, yeah?" He looked at me and said, "He said that we need two teas and three cokes. Thanks, love." I wrote it down quickly and nodded, walking away. As I was walking, my heart was beating out of my chest as I realized that he had the same british accent as... That man... Could that be... No, no, no, no, no-- that couldn't be it.

As I began to get their drinks, I had a clear view of the table and I saw them looking from a piece of paper to me, back to the paper, then back to me again. My eyes went wide. No, Kasai, don't jump to conclusions. They talked to the younger guy and he got up, walking up to the bar where he could lean and talk to me. He looked me up and down and I scowled slightly, snapping my fingers and pointing to my eyes, as to say, "My eyes are up here, perv."

He laughed slightly, "Sorry, I'm not trying to make you uncomfortable, I was just wondering if you'd seen this girl in town recently." He held up a picture of me when I was about 14, sadly I hadn't changed much so he could probably tell, even through the red hair dye. I think my face showed the fear I felt because he smirked slightly and folded the picture, "Sorry, stupid question. Sorry for preventing you from doing your job." He stood straight again and walked back to the booth.

Crap, they were onto me... And even worse, I was dealing with that guy's son...

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Chapter 1 down, like 20 more to go....

WOOHOO

~K