The wintery storm was too much for the old casement windows in the tower room I called mine and I could see the curtains moving each time a strong gust or wind hit the side of the building. I shivered, reaching for the Afghan blanket and pulling it around me to ward off the chill as I nestled down to read my book.

A quick glance at my mobile showed me we still had no signal, the storm having stopped completely was what was already a poor reception. I just hoped it would pass soon so I could let my parents know I would not make it home. I huffed to myself as I thought of them, would they even notice if I didn't call, if I didn't make it home... would they even care?

I had put off leaving the campus till the last minute, not wanting to be stuck in our big empty house whilst waiting for my parents to get back from work, then having to play the dutiful socialite daughter for all their grabby friends during the never ending rounds of Christmas festivities. And now that departure was not possible, due to the storm that had shut down the whole area, I could breath a sigh of relief, I had an acceptable reason not to be there.

I had toyed with the thought they could send the helicopter to collect me but remembered their complaints last time they tried to get here that way and had been told it was not possible due to the local military base presence preventing it. I knew I wasn't worth their time to fight the MOD to get to me.

In previous years I had learnt the hard way to avoid my parents parties where possible if I didn't want to get felt up by some sweaty, drunk, friend or colleague or theirs, and be blamed for it when I complained. Nothing I had ever done was good enough and I soon learnt I could only rely on one person... myself.

As my mother had told me after one particularly nasty encounter, she had done her duty, I was the heir, and to deal with it and not bother her. That argument had come just weeks after hearing her and father arguing about me and my lack of interest in their business, the disappointment I was a girl and not the wanted male heir and my mothers anger at my causing her problems during pregnancy so another child was not an option.

I settled back into the blanket and closed my eyes, not able to focus on the book as the memories assaulted me, the slaps, the shouts, the cold shoulder, I tried to find a happier memory but nothing after the age of 14 really stuck. That was the age they had decide I no longer needed my nanny that the household staff could do her job, they were wrong and I was soon sent to boarding school, as far from them as they could get away with and to schools where I was told to make friends with the children of their friends and business contacts.

It hadn't worked, I was not social, I was not popular, I was then and was even called now a nerd, a title I actually quite liked.

When one of their friends son's thought it would be fun to corner me in my last school's dorm room and push himself on me, telling me, as his hands had pulled at my clothes, that our parents wanted us to get together, so to just relax and let him do his thing, I had seen red and pushed him away, he didn't take the hint and I had ended up knocking him out with a chair over his head.

The school had been torn as to who to blame, I was covered in fingerprint shaped bruising and had a torn blouse but he was unconscious. My parents and his had hushed it all up and I was sent home, only to move again within a couple of weeks to The Glen, a remote exclusive college in Scotland, to finish off my schooling. With small classes and a very high tuition cost The Glen was a dream for me, students were here to learn, not play silly games, and I no longer felt at risk from my peers and could be me.

The shriek of the wind was enough to rattle the windows and bring me out of my thoughts, I hoped I would have signal soon, just so I could send the message and then turn the phone off, I grinned, I was stuck here for the foreseeable future.

I wasn't worried about being here alone with just a skeleton staff, I know all the local staff had headed home as soon as the main students had gone, there were a couple of groundsmen and caretakers who lived on the estate in cottages with their families and a few of the teachers were permanent residents but as far as I was aware everyone else had gone. I was alone on campus.

I knew I could still get access to the main kitchens for supplies and could use the little kitchen area in the communal area of the girls dorm to cook for myself, and each dorm block also had a walkie talkie that would link to the caretaker, in case of emergency.

The wind shrieked again and with a pop the lights went out and the room was plunged into shadow. I sighed and grabbed my phone, switching on the torch and scanning for the walkie talkie. I had been shown how to use it when I first started but hadn't ever tried to, I gave myself a mental shake and pressed the button on the side.

"Hello, Hello, Mr Jones"

I released the button and waited, but all I could hear was silence.

"Hello, Mr Jones!" I repeated

Nothing

"Mr Jones, if you can hear me the power had gone out in the girls dorms" I say pressing the button again.

Nothing.

I bite my lip and settle back on the sofa, thinking through my options, with the power out it was unwise to go wandering through the halls in the dark. I could keep trying to reach him but it looked like a night tucked away safely would be best and I would have to go and find him if I couldn't raise him in the morning.

I looked at the battery on my phone and sighed, hitting the power off button, with no power to charge anything I needed to make sure I kept as much battery life as possible. If the signal came back, my parents would have to wait.