Chapter 2

     Katherine's tiny feet pounded on the ground as she ran through the frozen forest, heading in a beeline for the spot marked by her sister on the map. Today was supposed to be a momentous day, a day where she could not worry about her neglectful parents or bullying brothers. She should have known better than to believe that they would behave themselves for just one day, and let her forget about the fact that she would be losing her only lifeline in mere hours. Instead, they were merely driving home the point that without her sister, even more painful days were awaiting her ahead. Kat's eyes burned with unshed tears, but she refused to let them escape. She had cried enough tears to last a lifetime in the few years she had been alive, and she swore she would give no more to her evil brothers or parents. No more.

     Knowing that Deever and Dumfree would likely take the trail towards the gate, since they didn't know the forest like she did, Kat figured that she could beat them to the spot marked on the map even with her shorter legs and their head start. The trail skirted the edge of the forest before looping around to the gate on the other side, whereas her intended path cut straight through the center of the forest. As small as she was, she would have little trouble with the dense overgrowth, and predators were non existant in the valley, so much so that Kat didn't have any knowledge of them even existing. The largest wild animal in the valley was a fox, and even those shied away from her people as if they had the plague, and were hardly ever seen. A few frozen roots and vines tried to trip her up, but Kat avoided them as much as possible, running until her breathe came in ragged gasps and a stitch developed in her side. She wasn't used to running like this, and she quickly had to drop to a fast walk, panting large puffs of steam from her mouth, a hand held to her side.

     To add insult to injury, she didn't notice one of the many frozen roots on the ground, buried in dead leaves. Her foot snagged and she stumbled, trying to catch herself on a nearby bush, but the limbs were too flimsy to support her falling weight. She only succeeded in gashing her hand through her gloves as it slid through the thorny bramble, the pain shooting up her arm before her knees hit the hard, packed earth, said pain shooting up her legs as well. Flopping forward onto her chest, she lay there for a few minutes clutching her hand to her chest, whimpering at the pain, but the thought of her brothers beating her to the spot forced her back to her feet. The little advantage that she had was starting to get farther away. After a few limping steps, she was able to start walking again, and the pain in her legs faded a little, assuring her nothing was broken. Her hand felt like it was on fire, but there was nothing she could do about it right now. Angry at herself for the lost time, she quickly walked through the forest again, this time paying closer attention to the ground around her.

     After what seemed like forever, the edge of the forest came into sight, like the finish like of a race, and she could see the remains of the large Gate ahead of her. Unfortunately, she could also hear loud whooping and dark laughter. Stumbling out of the forest into the decaying light of the day, her eyes burned hot again as she saw her brothers running ahead of her towards the small shepherds shack in the middle of the field. The shack was where Maddie had left Kat her surprise, as noted on the map, and Kat's heart dropped into her stomach. There was no hope of her keeping up with her older brother's longer legs, and she knew they would beat her to the shack easily. Not knowing what else to do, she continued walking towards the shack her brothers disappeared into, laughing raucously as they burst into the abandoned building's door. The shack was empty at this time of year, nothing but a shelter from the elements in case the elements got too bad while the elderly man was attending to his herd.

     Approaching the building cautiously, Kat wondered what was taking them so long when her brothers swung the door open with a bang, triumphant smiles on their face. Kat glared at them as she approached, not showing any sign of the pain she felt in her body or her heart. The boys finally saw her and scowled, Deever's arms quickly disappearing behind his back, an innocent look on his face.

     "Oh look who it is, Dumfree, our little unwanted sister. What could she ever be doing out here?" Deever asked his brother ina snide voice.

     "Oh I dunno, Deever, maybe she's out for a little stroll?" Dumfree replied with a snicker. His eyes seemed to catch on something on Kat's body, and his eyes widened a little, something like worry passing over his face. It flickered for a second and was gone, but Kat was sure she had saw something, and looked down herself to see what it was. Her new pants were stained red around the knees, and torn from her impact with the ground, and her hand was slowly dripping something red onto the snow, little droplets looking like tears as they hovered on the end of her glove, before jumping to the ground.
 
     Deever seemed to notice too, but he only scowled and curled his lip. "Mom's gonna tan your hide for messing up your new clothes!" he spat out at her with glee. Kat wanted to argue that the clothes were gifts from Maddie's fiance anyway, that they would have dressed her in rags, but she knew it wouldn't matter. Her parents would take any excuse to punish her, but that was the least of her worries at the moment.

     "W-where's my gift from Maddie!" she called out to them in a tremulous voice. She knew that Deever was probably hiding it behind his back, but he only lifted his eyebrows in mock surprise at her exclamation.

     "What ever could you mean, dear sister?" Deever said, his voice laced heavily with sarcasm. Dumfree's eyes flickered again towards her wounds, and then to her face, this time noticeable worry creeping into his visage.

     "Deever, she's bleeding a lot," he said quietly to his brother, grabbing his brother's arm. She doubt the worry was extended to her, but rather towards what Maddie would do to them when Kat went home wounded. Deever merely sneered at this brother and pushed him away with one hand, something flashing behind him as it fell to the ground. Surprised, he quickly picked it back up and shoved it behind his back, but Kat had already seen the flashy paper on the small box, and he knew it. She just hoped it wasn't fragile.

     "Give it to me!" Kat cried out, walking towards them as angrily as a six year old could. They both flinched back a second, and Deever seemed to falter for a second, before they realized they were being intimidated by someone almost half their age. Deever's face began to turn red as he sputtered and backed away towards the remains of the Gate. Kat could only watch, horrified as Deever angrily pulled back his arm and turned around, hurling the small package over the fence. Dumfree seemed just as horrified, his mouth gaping open and for once, words seeming to elude him. Kat froze as she watched the small package fly through the air and seemingly disappear as it went over the other side.

     Both brothers were quiet for once as they all stood there, stunned at what Deever had done. The color drained from his face like water through a sieve, his mouth gaping as wide as Dumfree's. Without a word, he turned and ran back towards the town as fast as he could, little puffs of snow kicking up behind him. Dumfree took one last long look at Kat before pressing his mouth into a thin line and taking off after his brother, his face unreadable. Kat threw out her arm as if to stop them, even though she wasn't even close, not knowing what else to do. A strangled sound came from her mouth, and she looked back over at The Gate with anguish.

     She had been threatened and warned about The Gate ever since she could remember, and thoughts about the horrors that might await her beyond the simple fence kept her rooted in place for several minutes. Indecision rocked through her small body, torn between her sister's gift and her own fear. Not knowing what else to do, she stumbled over to a set of bushes nearby, throwing herself into them as if to hide herself from the cruel world that continuously punished her for nothing she could control.

    

Reviews

[Aaron Browder]

Again, this is awesome. God, Kat's family is so awful to her. Seems like she has all the motivation she needs to run away, even if it's past the dreaded Gate. I have high expectations for the next developments.

'To add insult to injury, she didn't notice one of the many frozen roots on the ground, buried in dead leaves.' I found it amusing that you used the phrase "add insult to injury" when you were actually literally adding injury to something else, perhaps insult. Maybe it would be best to use a different phrase.

' "What ever could you mean, dear sister?" Deever said, his voice laced heavily with sarcasm.' This is pretty much the only thing that struck me as off. It's very obivious that they are being sarcastic, so you don't need to mention it explicitly.

Regarding the paragraph beginning ' "Give it to me!" Kat cried out, walking towards them as angrily as a six year old could...' and the one after it. There is a lot of emotional and facial expression description in these paragraphs, and I got bogged down in it. I think you should focus more on the action.