Chapter 1: A new beginning
July 20th 2003
Two weeks have passed since that fateful night at Novak's villa. Michael and Abigail have graduated highschool and were now waiting for their acceptance letters into the University of Defence, where they would study to become professional soldiers even though none of them had ever expected to go down this path.
Michael had to get his mind off of what happened and got a job in a warehouse in the town across the river. Abigail was working in a local café to be away from her home as much as possible. Her savings were safe, but money she earned from work mostly went to waste, because of Kate. Instead of the cheerful hopeful girl she once was, she was now constantly sad, pessimistic and lonely. There was however one person, who noticed how depressed Abigail was. His name was Gregory.
Abigail was serving coffee and cakes and when she was at the Gregory's table, he said: "Excuse me miss. I've noticed, you're always sad. Are you ok? Do you need any help?" Abigail said: "Thank you sir, but I have to go. We can talk later." And she went on about her duties. After her shift ended, Gregory was nowhere to be seen. She only found a small piece of paper with a message. "I'm sorry, I had to leave. Tomorrow I have free time. We can talk then." Abigail put the letter in her pocket and went home.
The next day
Abigail finished her shift and went outside. Gregory was already waiting there. "We finally have a moment to ourselves." Abigail although a bit nervous went towards him and said: "I appreciate you caring about me, but this is a bit creepy." Gregory responded: "Yeah sorry about that, but now to the topic. Why are you sad?" Abigail began talking: "It's mostly because of my excuse of a mother. Unless you've been living under a rock, then you should know. I'm Abigail Curychova." Gregory was shocked: "The one, who was kidnapped and escaped?" Abigail continued: "The very one. What the news didn't tell you however is the fact, that my ex-boyfriend and his dad helped me a lot with the escape and his dad was killed, while we both were severely injured." She then lifted her t shirt to reveal the scars beneath. Gregory looked at her and didn't know, what to say. Abigail continued: "Anyway, after this, my, the person, who I was born from, threatened to kick me out of my home, if I wouldn't break up with my boyfriend. I'm now waiting for my acceptance letter into college." Gregory stood there for a while, then he said: "That's horrible. I actually never met my own parents and grew up with my aunt and she's a cool person. We have a place for another person in our apartment. If you ever feel unsafe, you can come to this address." And he handed her a paper with the address and number of the apartment. After this, they both went their own way, but Abigail was sensing something inside her. The loneliness wasn't as severe as before.
