Haunted From Another City

Lauren leaned against a tree. The forest was a little scrubby and she could feel the blood from where her brother Jason had cut her with the kitchen knife. She felt the tree bark prickling the back of her head and she knew she was going to have to keep running. She glanced over her shoulder and got the feeling someone was following her. It prickled under her hairline and burrowed into her brain, not letting her go.

She ran into the forest. This wasn't the first time she had run into the forest out of fear. It wasn't the first time Jason had cut her with a kitchen tool. It wasn't the first time she had felt blood drip down her wrist.

She knew this was the end.

Lauren knew she wasn't going back. It didn't matter that she didn't have anything. It probably mattered, it probably would've been better to plan. There were books where the characters did more planning, but she couldn't bear to go back to the house where Jason was waiting.

***

Lauren picked up plates of stray fries and streaks of ketchup, mustard and tartar sauce, half-finished glasses of water, cold tea and lemonade and mugs of coffee dregs. She had found a job in a pub on one of York's side streets, a short distance from the Shambles. She had a flat with two friends she was going to re-do the university application process. She was thinking Scotland, where Jason would never think to find her. He thought she was too much of a homebody, never wanting to leave Norwich - little did he know that's all she had dreamed of doing.

"Come on, we're taking our break."

Lauren looked up from where she was gathering glasses from a table.

"Leave it," Kate continued. "The others will take care of it."

"Are you sure?"

"You don't need to worry about that here." Kate pulled Lauren into the back where there was outside seating.

In the warm months, they let patrons sit out there, but now that it was starting to get cold, the patrons weren't so keen, the tables and chairs were still there and Kate and Lauren had continued to sit out here during their breaks.

Kate had been one of the first people Lauren had met after she moved to York after her escape. Kate had never asked for much, and for that Lauren was grateful, but even after nearly a year, Lauren still found herself turning around in the street. She would feel the same prickles she felt when she was running into the forest, she would get the feeling she was followed and would turn around to make sure it wasn't Jason.

She knew there was every possibility she was going mad, but she couldn't shrug the feelings away. She wanted to forget about him. It had been her intention when she moved to York after all. Lauren had never wanted to see Jason again, but recently she felt like she was being followed whenever she left her flat, and she hated the feeling. She wanted to forget that she had been the girl who had been scared of her brother. She didn't like that person. That person never would've left Norwich. That person never would've gotten a job at a pub or made friends with Kate and Poppy, their other roommate, who worked in the local Waterstones', but would rather frequent Fossgate or Ken Spelman.

"There's something wrong, isn't there?" asked Kate. "Something you don't want to talk about or maybe it's something you've never told anyone."

"You were right that I don't want to talk about it."

"Okay, but know Poppy and I are around if you change your mind."

Lauren nodded and Kate left. Lauren was grateful. She wanted to be alone, but she hadn't wanted to seem rude. Kate had solved the problem for her. Lauren leaned against the back of the chair, tipped her head back and looked into the mottled grey sky. She should probably go back in, that someone was probably looking for her, but she trusted Kate would make up a story and she would be able to go back in when she was ready. Not for the first time in minutes Lauren found herself grateful for Kate.

Grateful. Grateful.

"You should be grateful for what I give you." Jason's voice broke through Lauren's happy moment. She gritted her teeth and clenched her hands. ""I gave you everything."

"You gave me nothing."

It had been a moment in the garden last summer, when they had the fight. A thunderstorm was coming and Jason wanted to get a few things out of the garden before it started pouring. Lauren hadn't been the one who had taken the trowel, twine and cages out of the shed. Jason was the one who had planted more carrot seed and had tied up the tomatoes so they didn't bend over. Jason always made a mess with the gardening. It wasn't Lauren's fault that Jason had never picked up after himself.

"I put clothes on your back and food in your belly."

"Because our parents made you. They're the ones who died that day, not me, no matter how much you may wish it."

"You didn't try to save them."

"You weren't there."

That's where all their arguments ended with Jason blaming her for something that wasn't her fault. He was too self-involved to notice it had been tearing her apart ever since and the physical abuse Jason applied with his hand or a knife was what pushed it all over the edge, what had forced her to leave.

She hadn't been back to Norwich since.

Did she miss her childhood friends? Did she miss the local pub of her childhood where Harry would give her free lemonade in the summer? Yes and yes. But Jason was there too, and if she went back, he would find her.

"Are you sure you're all right? You're been sitting out here for close to an hour." Lauren turned. Kate was standing in the doorway, leaning against the wall, arms folded across her chest, watching Lauren with a look that hold her Kate wasn't going to believe whatever she said.

Lauren shrugged.

"Do you want to talk about anything?"

Lauren looked around, making sure there weren't any other employees there smoking or reading. "I know I should tell you, but I think Poppy should hear it too, and the last thing I want is for anyone here to know what I'm going to say."

"That's all I needed and I would've left you alone."

Lauren smiled. "Tonight. We'll talk about it tonight."

"I'll message Poppy and tell her we need her at the flat later," said Kate.

***

Lauren could feel Kate's eyes on her for the rest of the day, and when it was time to go home, Kate laid a gentle hand on her shoulder and guided her to the staff coatroom.

"You don't have to do this," said Lauren.

"I don't want you to escape," Kate replied.

Lauren smiled.

Some days it felt like she never smiled, but recently Kate and Poppy had started to pull them out of her. She had felt like she was getting to a place where she wasn't looking over her shoulder as much, but since she'd told Kate she'd tell the truth, she'd felt like Jason was whispering in her ear to not say a word.

I'm not listening to you anymore, Lauren thought.

They walked home through twisting streets and through Walmgate Bar to the outskirts of the old town. They went to the second floor of the building. Kate unlocked the door and they walked in.

Poppy was already home, wearing a t-shirt and leggings, her hair twisted up in a clip, holding a mug of tea.

"Sit," she said.

Lauren sat on the couch and leaned into Kate when she sat beside her. Poppy handed the mug she was holding to Lauren. Lauren wrapped her hands around it and took a sip.

"What's happening?" asked Poppy, coming back, handing Kate and taking a seat in a chair on the opposite side of the coffee table.

Lauren hadn't even realized Poppy had left. She took a deep breath and forced herself to look across the low table.

"I'm ready to tell you what happened in Norwich."