Coveted

A Chapter by LanaCollins

Kathryn Hadaway is a seventeen year old orphan. Moving to Clydesville, Louisiana her life takes an unexpected turn. She will be faced with new challenges, evil foster-parents and a blooming romance.

There wasn't many things in this world that I hated but sitting in a room full of social worker's had to be one of them. I sighed as I numbly listened to what the bald man sitting at the desk had to say. He didn't look much like a social worker to me. He was middle aged and from the food stain on his shirt I figured lazy as well. He was rambling on about a new home they had found for me.

"Good couple they are, with a good home. They seem like the perfect family for Kathryn." I rolled my eyes and tilted my head backwards staring at the spider web cracks in the ceiling. After about the eighth time of having to sit here in this room I was no longer interested in what was being said.

It was always the same conversation, one I had no say in. It didn't matter to them what I thought, if the foster parents came up with clean records and a stable life my bags were already packed. Don't get me wrong my last god knows how many foster homes were all great, but it was never to stay, it was never definite.

"Kathryn?.." My head jerked towards the bald man who looked bored as hell. " Does that sound okay?" his eyes bored into mine as if he didn't really care if it was okay or not. I nodded.

The next few days were a daze, filled with packing all my belongings - which weren't a lot- into brown boxes and saying painfully numbing goodbyes. Turns out I had to leave this good home because they were expecting a baby, but I knew deep down from the start that I wouldn't be a permanent resident here, I was seventeen now and parents wanted babies not adolescent teenagers. I had sort of grown attached too Georgia which I mentally scolded myself for. When you were in foster care you learned not to grow attached to things, places or people.

I left the house and walked towards the black sedan that was parked out on the street. My eyes rested on my social worker, Layla. I loved her, she was like the sister I never had but always wanted. Her blonde hair fell loosely around her face and her large brown eyes settled on me and she smiled.

"C'mon Love, you're new family is waiting for you." The smile never left her face as she opened the car door for me. I climbed in and draped the seatbelt over me and secured it in place. I took a glance back up at my old house, my part-time family were standing out on the porch waving at me, but I couldn't bring myself to wave back instead I slouched against the car seat and closed my eyes.

It wasn't a long journey to Clydesville, Louisiana but I was glad I slept the whole way through it. I rubbed my eyes and yawned as I glanced at the digital clock on the dash board, It was just past one in the afternoon and it seemed we were already here. I pushed myself up straight and glanced around, there wasn't much here. I frowned all I could see were a few shops and restaurants but mostly just tree's. I had never been a materialistic girl but I liked to have the options.I folded my arms against my chest and slumped backed down again the seat.

"That's the house just up there on the left." Layla's voice was quite as we drove along the street. It looked normal enough, a two story house with a porch and a swing. Just like my last home. Knots formed in my stomach making me feel sick, I got this way every time It came too meeting new foster parents no matter how many times I had done it.

Before the sedan had even stopped a small blonde woman and a red headed man were standing on the grassy area just outside of their home, greeting us with large grins. Here we go. I stepped out of the car and waited until Layla was at my side then took the few short steps towards my new parents.

"Hi, you must be Kathryn. I'm Lillian and this is my husband Jonathan." Her grin was wide and her voice was just that little bit too chipper. "We are you're new foster-parents." I watched her as she extended her hand out to me and I shook it. I almost flinched away, a coldness snaked it's way up my arm and through my entire body leaving me with a feeling of emptiness. I smiled at her and Ignored it.

"Hello Lillian" I looked up at her face, she was pretty with Large eyes, full lips, small nose and a complexion too die for. My eyes pulled away from hers and fell onto Jonathan. He was taller than me, but then most people were. I'm 5ft 6 but he was a good head above me. I grinned up at him. "Hi Jonathan." His green eyes stayed on me as he returned the smile.

"Let's get your belonging to your bedroom, shall we?" Layla said as she turned to face me. I nodded and she went to the car to collect my things, which was about four boxes worth, sad I know. Once we had all grabbed a box each we made our way over to the house, I was last to go through the threshold and the same cold feeling sliced its way through my body, startled I dropped the box. I could feel there eyes on me, burning holes through my body.

"Sorry, I uh..tripped over my own feet. Clumsy me." Mumbling a lame excuse I glanced up at Lillian who had her eyebrow raised. I could feel my cheeks burning up and I bent down to gather my things back into the box. Once everything was picked up from the floor we continued our way to my new room. The house it's self was somewhat nice, modern furniture and good sized plasma TV's. They obviously had some wealth.

The house felt larger inside than it looked from the outside, It felt like forever when we finally came to the door to my bedroom. I took a deep breath, I was nervous to see the room I would call my own. I fumbled around with box managing to settle it between my elbow and my hip then opened the door. Compared to the rest of the house the room was bland, cream walls, wooden floor, green sheets and a brown rug. The room was very earthy, I liked it. A genuine smile spread across my face.

"I love it." I placed the box that was in my hands down on the bed and sat down. My eyes wandered around the room taking in its rich tones. I could see myself staying here but a little voice reminded me that nothing is permanent and I sighed.

"Of course it's bare just now, but once you pick out the things you like it will start to feel more like your own room." Jonathan spoke quietly and when I looked up I seen him standing at the door with one arm snaked around Lillian's shoulders. I smiled at him but It wasn't genuine. The weird feeling was poking at my insides making me want to vomit.

I was thankful when Layla spoke and suggested I maybe needed a few minutes alone to help me adjust. She couldn't have been any more right or wrong. My foster-parents nodded in synchronization and headed out the room. Layla gave me a small smile before closing the door behind her and I let out a sigh. Not again.

I knew I had recognised that feeling before. A few years ago when I was staying with a family in Brooklyn I had been walking home one night from a friends house and had literally bumped into this guy on the street. The same feeling had coursed it's way through my body nearly knocking me on my a*s, weird right?. I had seen his face on the news only a few days after and he had been convicted of killing 14 young girls, something do to with him being in a cult. His face had stuck with me since and I had convinced myself that the feeling I had gotten was the coldness of his heart, it was pure evil.

Now I am not saying my new family is evil, but I wasn't just going to ignore it. I didn't know what it meant but I was going to keep my eyes open for anything. A small knock on the door broke the silence and I jumped. It creaked open and Layla popped her head in.

"Honey, I have to now but I wish you the best of luck here. They are really nice people and I think you are going to like living here." Her smile could light up a dark room, she really was so happy for me but I couldn't shake this feeling I had, it was making me uneasy.

"Don't go!" I blurted out the words before I could stop myself and I instantly regretted it.

"You will be fine, you have my number if you need me." I nodded and smiled at her as she crossed the room and gave me a tight hug. We stayed like that for a while. I felt her gently pulled away from me and kissed the top of my head. She didn't say anything else and left the room. I felt alone but then I always did.

As they days past I began to feel more comfortable, I hadn't experienced another cold feeling which was a good sign. I figured it must have been my nerves. I had one last day before school started tomorrow and I wasn't sure how I felt about that. I wasn't a shy person and I made friends easily but It was my temper that could sometimes spiral out of control, I was never any good at hiding my emotions.

Lillian and Jonathan had been trying there hardest the last week to make me feel apart of their home and it was working. I had gotten a new laptop for future homework and a TV which I never used. I didn't ask for them but I guessed my foster parents were just trying to settle me in.

I woke up early that morning, earlier than normal the sun hadn't came up yet. Yawning I made my way downstairs to the kitchen and almost had a heart attack. Lillian and Jonathan were sat at the breakfast table sipping mugs of coffee and reading newspapers. My hand flew up to my chest as I tried to level out my breathing. What the heck were they doing up?

"Morning Kat." Lillian grinned up at me and I returned the gesture, mumbling morning. I went straight to the coffee machine and began pouring my mornings supply of fuel. Grabbing my cup I sat down beside my foster parents, I sipped at the hot liquid doing my best not to burn my tongue whilst I glanced at the clock. Six in the morning ugh why was I even awake, I should be asleep dreaming about anything! I couldn't care as long as I was asleep.

"Any plans today Kathryn?" Jonathan said in between chewing bits of his toast. My stomach grumbled and twisted into knots, I was starving.

"Nope, none, natta." I didn't look at him as I spoke but grabbed the local paper instead, scanning the front page almost as if I expected a headline that read 'New girl moves into town.' I rolled my eyes at my silliness. I needed to get a grip.

"Kathryn, staying in all day everyday is not healthy. I think...Well we both think that maybe you should take a trip into town today. You can take one of the cars." Lillian's voice was warm and soothing, I was starting to really like this woman.

"Mm...Okay" I flashed them a grin and snatched a piece of toast from Jonathan's plate and ran up to my room. I had to admit I was rather excited to not only drive the car but to be getting out. The last few days had made me feel suffocated and to get the chance to drive into town had me nervous... but in a good way.

When it got to twelve o'clock I decided to head out to the shops. I had sat all morning researching Clydesville on the laptop but surprisingly there wasn't a lot to go on. The main article that appeared on the web browser was about a guy who won the county fairs pie eating contest, way to go him. The second article was of a murder, some poor woman named Elizabeth Gates was killed in the local park a few years ago.

The other one was about a young orphan named Arian Waters. His parents were killed when he was twelve but the killer was never found. My heart tugged and I could feel my eyes starting to water. I could relate to him, I had only been eight when my birth parents vanished. The police didn't have much to go on but after a few years they had given up on them and I knew it was because the chances of them being alive were none.

It was a short drive into town only twenty minutes or so. I scanned the shops hoping for a Starbucks. I missed the taste of proper coffee and was dying on a Latte, my mouth watered at the thought. After five minutes I didn't find a single Starbucks but they had a Costa, better than nothing right. I parked Jonathan's Range rover in the nearest parking space, there weren't many. Grabbing my laptop I entered the small shop, the smell of coffee hit me instantly and I smiled. I had ordered my Latte and within seconds I had made myself comfy on one of the couches near the window.

Once my laptop was on I searched the web, checked my Facebook and my emails. I was already on my second large cup of coffee when a group of kids giggling ruined the quite atmosphere of the shop. I glanced up at them and frowned, Cheerleaders and jocks...great.

I felt like telling them all to shut up or get out but that wasn't really how I wanted to start any kind of reputation I might have here, Instead I rustled through my bag for my headphones. Movement in the corner of my eye cause me to whip my head up and realise they were looking over at me. Some were smiling and some were narrowing there eyes at me, like what the feck did I do.

"Hey! you're new here right?" A tall red haired girl walked over to me and sat on the opposite couch, totally invading my personal space bubble. She leaned forward resting her elbows on her knees. She was beautiful but then again what cheerleader wasn't it was as if it was scratched into all of their DNA's.

I gave her my best smile. "Hi, yeah you're right how did you know?, I'm Kathryn by the way." Why was she even talking to me, at least I sounded confident. After a moment of awkward silence I cleared my throat and took a drink from my cup.

" My name is Fauna and because this town is small as hell, it's easy to spot a new face." She laughed a little and rose to her feet."It was nice meeting you. I might see you at school tomorrow?" She smiled and I couldn't help but notice how perfect her teeth were, envy boiled through me, it's not like I was ugly or anything but damn. Some people were just born beautiful.

"Yeah, sure see you tomorrow." I smiled at her. I was shocked when she winked at me then turned and walked away. I watched her as she approached her circle of friends and they starting getting all there things together to leave. I scanned the crowd and my eyes fell on one of the guys, he was fricken beautiful. His light brown hair was messy like he had just rolled out of bed. His skin was like caramel and his green eyes were... well they were on me.

Oh! I could feel my cheeks getting hotter but I couldn't look away. Fauna tugged on his sleeve and I just managed to make out that she was saying Arian. Then it clicked that's where I had recognised those green eyes from. He was the young orphan boy in the article I had read, Arian Waters.