Location: Katrina’s Guardians Home in Greater Manchester
Date: Summer 8/15/2021

Katrina heard the door close as Liam and her Guardians returned from an errand run. They liked doing things the old fashioned way, driving to the store, picking things up, then driving back home again. Katrina was pretty certain there was an easier way to do a lot of those things with a little bit of magic but her Guardians were insistent that wasn’t necessary. Whatever, they could do their things. Katrina just didn’t want to go with. She’d gotten out of errand duty this time saying she was meeting some friends from school in the city. Surprisingly enough, Katrina got away with it sparing very little details. Of course Katrina didn’t actually have someone to meet, she would much rather alone, have the silent soft echoing home to herself.

Liam was talking about something rather excited, Katrina could hear him slam at least two bags probably full of groceries into a wall before the sound of the door again as he went back out for a second load. He returned with the same amount of fervor, yelling and laughing so loud, filling the house with much unwanted noise. Katrina gritted her teeth, turning the music in her earbuds up. The ipod just barely worked in the farthest corner in the home thanks to her guardians aversion to magic. It was her one relief.

A little while passed and Katrina was hungry, just hungry enough to bear facing her overeager brother and whatever ‘exciting’ stories he had from their few hours out. He always made the most mundane things seem like wild adventures with wild exaggerations. It was slightly endearing at first but now was mostly a nuisance.

Katrina left her ipod in her room and walked down the stairs, looking over the kitchen. She paused at the landing, noticing the tone was very different than the excitement she’d expected. “…we heard that something happened but they wouldn’t let us leave our common rooms…” Katrina furrowed her brow, going back up the steps, really not ready to face whatever it was he was talking about. Probably another one of his dramatic retellings.

She hesitated at the top, hearing another line, “I heard from James that Kat was chased by a werewolf, she didn’t get bit as far as I know but she’s been acting weird ever since. She wouldn’t even-“

Katrina reactively yelled, “Liam!” Her voice was sharp and hostile. She nearly sprinted down the stairs, already fuming. “What are you doing?!” Katrina could hear her volume, the echoing of the house returning her words to her a moment after she said them.

“I-I didn’t know you were home I-“ Liam stumbled out a response, already turning beet red and backing away.
“You promised me-“
“I know but it was so long ago and I didn’t think you-“
“Well it’s obvious you didn’t think! If you wanted to talk about it you could talk to me!”

The two siblings spoke over each other. Liam was quick to defend, obviously embarrassed and Katrina was happy to note he was regretting saying anything. She had made him promise to not tell her guardians what had happened that last October. The incident with the kidnapping and escape, the chasing through the forest by Kyle turned werewolf. Liam didn’t know many details, no one knew the full truth. But Katrina didn’t want her guardians freaking out. Besides, she was fine now, she was better, she had hardly even been hurt in the whole fiasco.

Emma cleared her throat, trying to get between Katrina and Liam as they stood staring at one another, both glaring and waiting for the other to make a move. Liam waiting for Katrina to blow up and get in trouble. And Katrina waiting for Liam to apologize or say it was a story. Emma spoke up after a moment in a soft pacifying tone, “I think its was a good thing Liam came to us. We didn’t know,”

Katrina’s just barely restrained anger was redirected at Emma without thinking. “Yeah, and you didn’t know for a reason! Why did you think I never told you?” In the heat of the argument, Katrina found herself saying how she really felt, mostly unintentionally.

Emma tried again, this time with a bit more tenacity, “It’s alright Kat, we’re here for you,”

Katrina felt herself tense. She hated it when they called her Kat. Only the people she let call her that was she okay letting them say it. Katrina felt herself shake. She knew she’d already messed it up. Yelling at her guardians who have only ever done their best was definitely not her intentions. She couldn’t help herself but not want them. Replacement parents. Doing it out of obligation. Pretending to be something they could never be. Katrina had just recently starting referring to them as Grandparents but she was done with that. They weren’t family. Not close enough anyway. And she didn’t want them calling her Kat.

This happened in a heartbeat and Liam jumped in, making his position on the argument. Making Katrina look like she was in the wrong. Bringing the attention away from his broken promise, “I’m sorry Kat, I didn’t mean-“

“Liam, SHUT UP! Don’t you think you’ve done enough already,” Katrina was mad, livid, even. She couldn’t recall ever being so angry at anyone in her life.

“Kat-“ Neil started, in a warning tone. Katrina had gone a step too far.

“It’s Katrina” Katrina growled, glaring at Neil.

“Katrina, we want you to feel comfortable talking to us, like Liam,” Emma stepped in before Neil could punish Katrina. Emma’s words only threw gasoline on the fire. Comparing the two was arguably the worst thing you could do to siblings. They may be similar but siblings were never the same person and to expect that was wrong.

Katrina scrambled for words, not knowing how to get how she was feeling in words and yet unable to stop herself. This had been months of biting her tongue, avoiding any sign of conflict, “That’s all fine and good but I didn’t ask Liam to be the one telling you. Wait, Liam- don’t even get me started. You think he’s telling you the truth? Did he tell you about his ‘friends’ That he’s skipping class and cheating on assignments? That he doesn’t show up for dinner and does who knows what in the abandoned bathrooms with his so-called friends,” Katrina raised an accusing hand at Liam, redirecting the blame from herself just as Liam had. Time he got at taste of his own medicine.

“KAT!” Liam yelled, the strain and hurt in his voice evident. Katrina felt a selfish pinch of satisfaction seeing him in her same situation. She didn’t want to be mean but it was only what he’d done to her.

“Doesn’t feel good, does it?” Katrina couldn’t help but prod at Liam.

“Katrina. Enough. Those things are between Liam and us,” Neil’s voice was in an arguably darker tone than before. Katrina knew at this point punishment was unavoidable but she wanted to speak her mind for once.

“Like my things that are supposed to be between me and you two? You are too protective of me, I can and do take care of myself just fine, thank you. If I wanted to talk to you about things I would. This shouldn’t be a lecture at me, you should be lecturing Liam for being in my business,”

Liam spoke up, trying to defend the accusation that was thrown his way, “But you weren’t telling them what happened! You don’t talk to anyone! You just take everyone’s situations as your responsibility and try to help everyone else even when its bad for you,”

“You don’t have to tell me things I already know” Everyone was lecturing her, Katrina never had someone by her side when it was family. That’s why she never bothered speaking up. There was no point if she wasn’t going to be heard anyway. There was no winning the argument. It was infuriating.

“I’m just trying to help!”

Help? Liam was trying to help?! It was unasked for! Is anything truly helping if it isn’t requested? No, its just getting in the way. She couldn’t believe Liam thought that telling her guardians what had happened would help much of anything. He’d even said that it happened so long ago anyway. Telling them now would do nothing. Nothing besides get her in trouble for not telling them and breaking what little trust she had just managed to scrounge up these last few months. Katrina couldn’t believe it. All of this. Sure, he'd thought she wasn’t home, but that surely didn’t help the fact that he had been telling her guardians this stuff. It just led her to think about everything else Liam knew, if he wasn’t going to keep this promise, what was keeping him from talking about the violence of dueling, her dates to the balls, all of the situations she’d gotten into besides the Train Crash which they already knew. This was not a good place and it was only going to get worse.

“I don’t need your help,” Katrina said, punctuating each word with a beat of silence. Then in a rush of anger, the next words came out before she could restrain herself, “Things were fine before you came to the school, better even!” Katrina knew full-well the implications of that. Things were better when she didn’t know he was alive. It was a lie. Sure. But at this moment it felt closer to the truth and she almost wanted to hurt him.

Katrina, in the heat of the moment turned to her guardians, “And you, I don’t want your help and never asked for you in my life either,” The reactions on their face was delayed one moment. And in that one moment Katrina realized how badly she’d screwed this whole thing up.

Before her eyes had the time to well up with tears, Katrina turned on her heels and left. The kitchen was silent. The only noise were her footsteps echoing on the wooden floors. No one spoke as Katrina went up the stairs and slammed the door to her room shut. Katrina went out to the balcony outside her room and closed the door behind her.

Tears streamed down her face in the warm overcast summer evening. Katrina muffled her sobs as she pulled herself tight, curled up on the floor. She wouldn’t let them know she was crying. She wasn’t going to apologize. Katrina was done keeping her opinion to herself.