A Study in Scarlett.

Scarlett, despite everything she had just done, was in luxury as she had a hot shower; the Dursleys rarely if ever allowed her to wash herself, so as a result there were moments where she stank, making the Dursleys, particularly Petunia complain; she wasn't sure about the logic there since if the Dursleys wanted her to be clean, then they would have ensured she had more than one shower. Personally she suspected they only did it because then they would complain about her, call her filthy or things like that.

It didn't matter anymore.

As she scrubbed herself raw to get rid of the blood on her body, although very little of it had actually covered her technically, she knew the real reason was to be truly clean for a change instead of feeling disgusting. She wanted to get rid of the years of blood and pain, and she scrubbed herself until she was nearly raw while she tried to get rid of the last seven years worth of pain.

At the same time, she thought about what she planned to do.

Escaping Little Whinging had always been one of the defining hallmarks of killing the Dursleys. She didn't see anything wrong with escaping the place, not after she had spent so many years here being ridiculed by the Dursleys and their neighbours. The only problem was she didn't have any clue at all about what she was going to do when she got to London, and she wasn't sure if someone on the train would stop her. Fortunately, there were automatic ticket machines at the station, so she should be able to buy a ticket using the money she had taken from the Dursleys over the years in preparation for a chance of getting away from Number 4.

She had wanted to escape for years, but it wasn't until now she had the chance to truly be free. And best of all, the Dursleys were never going to be in her life ever again. No, getting a ticket into Central London where she could either find a place to stay, or make a new plan to put some distance between herself and Little Whinging would not be difficult as long as she kept her head, but on the initial train, someone could stop her and ask her questions. Scarlett decided to simply cross that bridge when she came to it rather than worry about it now. She needed a train to get into London, she couldn't walk or take a bus, otherwise, she would be stopped since the bus driver would ask questions.

After turning off the water and getting out and towelling herself dry, Scarlett got dressed in a clean set of Dudley's old cast-offs (she needed to do something about her wardrobe, she didn't want to keep these horrible things on her for the rest of her life) and she walked around the upstairs landing. She went into her Aunt and Uncle's room, and she looked around for any money or jewellery that she could take with her and sell in London for shelter, food and water. Her aunt had a fairly small jewellery collection, but she felt it might be enough.

In Dudley's room, she didn't have much trouble finding some of his pocket money, which he had stashed everywhere. You have to hand it to Dudley, she thought with a smirk while she picked up the loose change and the notes lying everywhere, he really makes it simple when you want to steal from him.

Aunt Marge was even easier.

She had her money in her purse which she kept in the bedroom she stayed in, and Scarlett found it easy enough. On the landing she counted the money she had, making £45.60. As she went downstairs she prepared the next stage of her plan after she had searched the ground floor for any more cash, making a lot more cash than what she'd had before, adding the cash she herself had in the cupboard under the stairs, and she grabbed whatever she felt she would need. She ended up stuffing her school backpack with a blanket, some fruit, and food from the fridge, and she dumped it by the door ready to be picked up and taken away when she left. Scarlett had initially planned to just leave the Dursleys to rot in their home and let the police come and deal with the mess, but as she had given it much more thought, she had decided to simply set the whole house on fire, and cover her tracks.

She went to the kitchen cupboard and brought out the massive bottle/barrel of cooking oil, which was the only accelerant she could find, and she went back upstairs with it, and grabbed all of the clothes she could find from the three Dursleys' bedrooms, and she pulled off their bedding. As she went she splashed as much of the cooking oil everywhere and took some of it downstairs with her. She splashed the Dursleys with the cooking oil and making it mix with the quantity in the hallway.

Once all of them were splashed thoroughly, Scarlett went to open the backdoor before she grabbed the matches. She took out three matches and struck them. For a long moment, she was hypnotised by the beauty and the glare of the flames, and then she chuckled then onto one of the cooking oil-soaked couches before she ran out, hearing the sound of the flame spreading everywhere while she felt the heat at the back of her neck.

Scarlett never looked back as she ran through the back garden and through the gate.

XXX

The good news was the station was still open and the trains were still running at this time of night, so Scarlett had no trouble getting to the ticket machine. She purchased a single ticket for a one-way journey into London; she didn't give any thought about the destination, she didn't know London well enough thanks to the Dursleys dragging her there on random intervals, so she didn't know the difference between London Victoria or London Bridge. She just went to one which would get her away from here.

On the platform, she found a quiet corner far from anyone else. Scarlett waited there for over twenty minutes for the train to arrive. When the train pulled into the station, Scarlett gladly got on it. She shivered as she jumped onto the train through the open door, shocked by the sudden shift from cold to warmth.

As she found a place to sit down, Scarlett wondered how long it would be before somebody asked her why she was on her own, and she ran through her mind the different excuses. But the truth was very few of them held water.

She debated if she should get off the train at the next station, but she decided against that. She didn't want to be slowed down on the way, and she pulled up her black coat out of habit.

"Tickets, please. Tickets please."

Scarlett jumped when she heard the voice, and she closed her eyes. Please, just leave me alone…..

She expected the guard to ask her why she was on her own, but as the guard walked nearby she looked up and saw that he had not noticed her.

Scarlett watched him walk past her into the next carriage.

Why didn't he notice me? she asked herself, knowing he must have seen her.

She sat back and gave it some thought, but it was so sudden and unexpected there was no way she could explain what had happened.