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     I find a room to lie down in. I just lay there to think for a bit and get my bearings. Grace walks in the room and lies next to me. “You haven’t asked about Enrique.” Grace says to me. “I know. That was not an accident and no I have not forgotten about him. 5 years is a long time, figured he was dead or married.” I tell her. “Do you care where he is?”  She asks me. “Should I?” I ask Grace. She lays next to me completely silent for a moment. “I think you should.” She replies. “How about we take a nap and talk about this later. Today has been a lot.” I tell her. She nods and gets comfortable.

                “Cahira, I wish I knew if you could hear me. I really need you right now. I think I am turning into them. They tell me to just focus on the anger inside of me but they don’t understand that……… my anger is hard to put away once it is out. Cahira I need you please come back to me, I need you more now than ever, wake up!” I hear Percy voice calling to me in my sleep. I can hear him as if he is next to me whispering in my ears. “Little warrior.” I hear Hope’s voice and I open my eyes to see her. She puts her finger over her lips for me to not wake Grace. She grabs me by the hand and takes me to the window.  She opens the window and climbs out. I look back at Grace who is still sleeping.

                She hands me a jacket.  “Follow me.” She says as she starts to walk toward the gates.  I follow her to the gate and she starts to climb over with such ease. I follow her and climb over to. I am not sure where she is going. Hope stops at a parked car. I look at her. “Listen to me; there are a lot of things in this life I could not control. I had to always work with the hand I was dealt. For you I wanted so much more. That was why I left you with your parents. They found out when you were in the coma that you were my daughter. They promised not to take you; but they how ever wanted to speak to you one on one without any interference.” Hope says as she looks over at the black town car. Well let’s see what they have to say.

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    I look at the picture my mother just handed me. Percy is lying with his body opened up and most of his insides missing. I feel the anger wash over me. I look at my parents and this feeling of anger gets worse when I look at them. So I turn away and look at Grace. “How close did he get?” I ask Grace. “Close enough to scare me.” Grace says. I sit there and look down at the coffee table in front of me, this dark brown little coffee table with a glass insert. I pick up the coffee table and throw it at the wall. My family doesn’t even flinch. “I want his head on a spike!” I scream at my parents.  My mother gets up turns to the broken coffee table on the floor. “As do we.” She says to me.
                 “So why isn’t he dead?” I ask. “We can’t find him. It is why we needed Hope’s connections to change our names and give us a new start.” My dad says. “You mean the mob.” I reply back to him. “What did you say?” My mother says to me even though I think she is asking a question. “Hope works for the mob. That guy Frankie clearly a mobster.” I say back to her. My mother just looks at me for a moment. “Let’s not waste our time with semantics. Hope helped us change our identities and hide you away.  Since then, there has been no sign of Daniel.” I nod my head and start to walk away. “Where are you going?” My dad asks me. “Away from you. He killed Percy and went after Grace and your solution was to run away with new identities. I just need a moment to wrap my head around all of this.”
                My mother chases after me. “Don’t you dare judge us Cahira! You have no idea what it has been like for us. You cannot fight a ghost.” My mother says to me. I stop walking and think of all the different ways to get her to shut up. I could rip her throat out with my teeth or I could strangle her or even better I can put her in her place. I turn back to her and smile. “What do you do if you have a bug problem? You call an exterminator. What do you do if you have a ghost? You call a witch doctor. There will always be someone who can solve your problems if you just take the time to look. So before you tell me that I don’t know what it was like. Tell me you tired and exhausted every avenue you could before getting scare of the unknown and running away?”  I stand here and wait for her response. She is speechless. “That is what I thought.” I say as I turn back around and walk away. 

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What does he mean I can’t handle it? I look at him for a second. “Anything you can handle, I can handle.” I tell him as I turn the page. I see the ripped out organs. The organs were not cut out they were ripped out. Daniel didn’t just kill Percy he butchered him. I look at all the different organs ripped apart.  When I get through all the pictures I realize something. “Where is the picture of his body?” I ask my parents. My mother hands me a letter, this does not answer my question at all. I open the letter and instantly I recognize the hand writing.

                The letter read as followed. “Dear Dad, See as you want nothing to do with your first born son I have taken your baby boy. I decided he was going to be the first to go. If you wish to bury him in peace you will give me Grace. You will put her in the play room for me. If you do not comply you will never find where I hid the rest of Percy. So make sure to choose wisely. Also if you choose not to give Grace to me just know it is only a matter of time before I get her on my own. Love your first born.” I finish reading and look at Grace.

                “They didn’t give me up.” Grace says to me with a smile. “I can see that.” I say with a smile back. Grace laughs and we both just look at each other. “He did keep good on his word and went after Grace.” My mother says ruining the nice moment I was having with Grace. I turn to look at my mother. “Did you think he wouldn’t? Is this it, this is all he sent?” I ask her. “How did you know?” My dad asked. “Know what?” I ask him. “How did you know he sent pictures with the letter?” My dad asks me like I am some kind of palm reader. “I didn’t know that. I just know Daniel and he wouldn’t just send a letter.  He goes big. Where is the picture?”  I ask.  My dad looks at my mother and gives her a nod. She lifts her leg and pulls out the picture and hands it to me.

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       My dad makes sure that my mother sits as far from me as possible. “We thought Daniel was dead. There wasn’t any evidence to prove us wrong. Also it had been years since that day, we had all moved on with our lives. Grace was away at college while your mom and I were raising Percy. Percy had really changed a lot after your accident. He was a much stronger person. He had really come into his own.” My dad stops talking and looks over at my mother. “What your father is trying to say is Percy wasn’t the boy you remember.” My mother says as if this has anything to do with how she let him get killed. Both of my parents sit there silently.
                “None of this tells me about the night Percy was murdered. Do you even have the police report?” I ask them.  “Yes we have the police report.” My mother answers as she gets up. “So tell me how you didn’t protect him.” I say to my dad. “He didn’t need protecting because there was not threat, or so we thought. Percy was very social he was always at one event or another. So the dance wasn’t even on our radar.” My dad says as my mother walks back in the room and hand my dad a folder. He looks at it and hands it to me. I open up the folder to see the police report. I start to read through it.
                He didn’t just murder Percy. He tore Percy into pieces. The report states that the kids thought a pipe had busted. The floor was covered in Percy’s blood. When the children noticed the blood the faculty turned on the lights. That is when they started to find pieces of Percy. They found a part of his liver, his spleen, fingers, toes, a chunk of scalp and…….  I look up at my parents. “Does it say his testicle was found on the floor?” I ask them. My parents both nod. I go to turn the page to look at the evidence photos. My dad grabs my hand. “You don’t want to look at those. You can’t handle it.” He says to me.

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      My parents stand there just waiting for me to walk in. “Cahira.” My mother says almost as a whisper. “We weren’t sure if you would ever wake up.” My dad says as he goes to hug me. I feel his arms embrace me. My dad has always had big strong arms that I often felt safe in as a little girl. I am no longer a little girl and his arms did not make me feel safe, it actually makes me feel nothing at all.  I pull back from my dad’s embrace and put on a fake smile. My mother steps towards me with her thick black hair tightly pulled back with metal hair stick. I move away from my dad and walk up to my mother with open arms. She goes to hug me and I pull her sharp metal hair stick out of her bun. I stab her in the leg and as she goes down I whisper in her ear. “I never took you for an idiot, I guess I was wrong.” I tell her.
                “Cahira what are you doing?” My dad says as he pulls me away from my mother. “Out of all the times I went to visit you and spoke to you in your coma that is the one thing you heard and held on to.” My mother says to me. “That’s the only one I heard from you.” I tell her with a smile on my face as she pulls the metal stick out of her leg. My dad pulls me back and looks me in the eyes. “Grace wasn’t kidding, your back.” My dad says as his eyes search mine. I am not sure what he is talking about nor do I care. “How did Percy die?” I ask my dad. He puts his head down and steps away from me.
                “We didn’t see it coming. We saw his dead body, he tricked us.”  Grace says from behind me. “Grace this is not your fault and your also not who I asked the question to.” I tell her without turning around to look at her, no my focus is on my parents. “How did this happen? How did he get close enough to kill PERCY!” I start yelling at my parents. “Don’t take that tone with me!” My mother says as she limps towards me. “Or what mother? What are you going to do!?” I ask her as I step towards her. My dad grabs me and pulls me away from my mother. “Stop it both of you! Now do you want to hear about what happened to Percy or do you want to kill your mom.” My dad says to me. I push him off of me and walk over to the living room that I see off to the side to sit down. “I don’t wish to kill her just yet. That would be boring, so why don’t you tell me what happened to Percy.” I tell my dad as I sit down.

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    I wake up to see Grace at the end of my bed. “You killed a nurse?” she asks me. “Did I?” I response. “I suppose not. The official story is she killed herself.” Grace says as she comes close to me. “Cahira why did you kill her?” She asks me. “I didn’t care for the tone of voice she took with me.”  I explain to Grace. Grace puts her hands over her stomach and takes a deep breath. “Your back.” Is all she says. “Grace where is dad and mother?” I ask her.  She closes her eyes for just a second, like she is taking what she just said in. “They are at the safe house. Where I am going to be taking you as soon as the doctor signs you out.” Grace looks out the door. I can see the panic all over Grace’s face.

                “Cahira you are good to go. Just make sure to go to your weekly checkups for the next few months.” The doctor says as a nurse walks in the room with a wheel chair. “I am not getting in the chair. I am okay to walk.” I tell the nurse. “It’s hospital policy.” She says to me. I look her up and down; she is a small mousy thing. I would be able to crush her wind pipe with ease. “Cahira, I’ll push you it will be fun.” Grace says to me. She smiles just like when we were girls. “Ok.” I say as I get in the wheel chair.  As Grace pushes me she whispers in my ear. “You can’t just kill people for disagreeing with you.” I hear her words and laugh. “I don’t know what you are talking about.” I response to her. “You forget I was always with you as a child. We were inseparable before your accident and I remember that look in your eyes before you kill someone. The same one you gave that nurse back there.” Grace says. I just laugh and get comfortable in the wheel chair as she pushes me out of the hospital.

                We pull up to a house that looks more like a fortress. We wait outside these big black iron gates. As the gate opens I see a house covered in snow. I assume this is where my parents are waiting for me. I sit in the car for a moment and close my eyes to think. I wonder if I really want to see my parents, I do have lots of questions about what happened to Percy. I get out of the car and Grace opens the front door for me. Here goes nothing.

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    “I wasn’t around when Percy died. I had to keep my distance so Frankie wouldn’t figure out you are my daughter. We thought you had killed Daniel. Your parents had gone back to their normal lives. Daniel got Percy at a school dance. He gutted Percy bleeding him dry. He left pieces of Percy all over the dance floor for the other kids to find.”  Hope reaches out to me but I look out the window and I see snow. “Where am I?” I ask her since it doesn’t snow where I am from. “We had to move you around a few time. We found out Daniel was visiting you after he killed Percy and we didn’t want to risk him killing you to.” I look back at Hope. “I know he was visiting me I could hear him in my sleep. Where is Grace?”  I ask. “She like your parents are on their way here.” I nod my head and lay back down.

                I must have dosed off, I look around and its night time. I look around my room to see no Hope. She must of left. I really don’t want to be here. I start to pull off the heart monitors and the machine starts making the most annoying beeping noise. I look at it and all of the buttons on it.  A nurse comes running in and looks at me. “You can’t just pull your monitors off it makes us think your dead.” She is scolding me. I do not care for her tone. I look and she is wearing scrubs with pockets. I see a pair of scissors in her left pocket. “I don’t want to be here anymore. I wish to go find my family.” I tell her. “You cannot just leave because you feel like it. You have been in a coma for 5 years. You need to stay here until the doctor tells you that you can leave.” She is scolding me again. “I do not like your tone.” I tell her. She looks at me and I see her grab a shot out of her other pocket. “That would be a mistake.” I tell her as I grab the scissor out of her pocket and stab her in the throat. I feel a pinch in my side. She got me with the shot.

                I stand over her body. She isn’t dead yet she is choking on her own blood. “Like I said I didn’t care for your tone. No one tells me what to do.” She looks at me as she fights for her last breath. I feel my legs getting weak. I am not sure what was in the shot but I feel myself going down. I hit the floor hard. I can hear other nurses screaming as they come in. The scream is the last sound I hear.

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     My room is full of nurses trying to calm me down. I see one step off to the side and call someone on her cell phone. I read her lips. “She has awoken.” The nurse says. I feel a pinch in my arm and look at the nurse giving me a shot. “Percy!” Is all I can get out before I gently fall back to sleep. “Cahira.” I hear, I open my eyes. I look to see a doctor at the foot of my bed. I look him up and down. “Glad to see you with us.” The doctor says to me. “Where is my brother Percy?” I ask the doctor.  “Cahira you were involved in a horrible accident. You have been in a coma.”  I start to sit up. “How long was I out for this time?” I ask the Doctor. “Far too long.” Hope says as she walks through the door. “MOM!” Is all I can say as she floats on in?

                “That will be all doctor I will take it from here.” Hope says as she sends the doctor away. “I could hear you in my sleep.” I tell her, she smiles at me. “I was hoping you might say that.” Hope sits next to me on my bed. “I need to talk to you about a few things.” Hope says as she touches my face. Her touch feels different; it doesn’t have the same warm feeling in my stomach as before. “Where is Percy? Daniel is going to go after him.” I tell Hope.  Hope kisses me on the forehead. Her kiss feels hollow like she is about to tell me something I don’t want to hear. As she kisses my forehead she is holding the back of my head. I don’t feel any pain. I start to touch my head and I don’t feel any stitches not ever a scar.  “How long was I out for?” I ask her.

                “You were in a coma for 5 years.” Hope says in a soft voice. “5 years!” I just sit here. “Wait where is Percy? You never answered me.”  I ask Hope. “I was going to wait until everyone got here but I guess I’ll tell you. Percy is dead, Daniel killed him.” Hope is trying to hug me. “When? I just heard Percy’s voice.” I pull back from her. “Percy hasn’t seen you in 3 years. He was killed about 2 years ago.”  I just stare at Hope. “You need to tell me how this happened, every detail.”

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   “Cahira if you can hear me please come back to me. Please wake up.” I can hear Grace’s voice but it is so far away like I can barely hear it. “Little Warrior what were you thinking!? Why would you do this?” I hear Hope’s voice. “I never took you for an idiot, I guess I was wrong.” I hear my mother’s voice. How can I hear all of their voices but I can’t see them. Their voices fade in and out, almost like a bad cell reception.  Where am I?

                “Everyone says you can hear us and talking to you will make you heal faster. I don’t know if I believe them. I do know that I need my sister back. Grace is a mess without you. I am a mess without you. The doctors say that your brain injury is in the same place as the last time. They say you might never wake up, but we are not supposed to say that to you. We are only supposes to say positive things to you. I... I… I need you! So I guess what I have to say is. FIGHT! Fight to come back! FIGHT for me!” I can hear Percy and I can hear the pain in his voice I just want to come back for him. I am trying to see him but I can’t seem to get to where he is.  I am stuck here in the darkness. “PERCY!” I try to scream but there is no sound here. Where am I? Am I dead? Is this hell?

                “Cahira….. They really did name you wrong didn’t they? Here you lay so defenseless, not much of a warrior if you ask me. Then again no one asked me, probably because they think I am dead. Little do they know I am just buying my time, I have made my choice that everyone is going to die and you can’t do anything about it? I think I’ll start with Percy since he will be the easiest to take out.” I hear Daniel’s voice and I open my eyes. I start screaming and this time I can hear it. “PERCY! HE IS GOING AFTER PERCY!” I scream. I look around and it is night time and no one is around. A nurse comes running in. She must have heard my screaming. I don’t understand what is going on. Where is everyone I could hear them, where is Daniel!? 

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“Why!?” I scream at him. “Like I said she is not going to be a part of my family.”  Daniel is standing there so proud of himself. This smug asshole thinks he won. Hope is looking down at her side where he shot her. “Just a flesh wound.” She whispers to me. Blood is pouring out of her side and her shirt is slowly soaking up the blood. I can’t let him win! I need Hope to get out of here so she can get help. How am I going to convince Daniel to let her go? I need to come up with a plan fast.

                How am I going to get us safely off this roof? I look around and Daniel is standing between us and the fire escape. We can’t run back the way we came, Daniel could shoot Hope again if we try. I feel so helpless. I have never felt like this but I wish my mother was here. My mother Rose would know exactly what to do. I take a deep breath. “Why don’t you put that gun down!” I hear Enrique’s voice. I see him come up the fire escape with a gun pointed at Daniel. I can’t help but smile. Enrique smiles at me and I start to tear up knowing that this is all over.

                “It’s over Daniel. Give him the gun.” I say as I look at Enrique. “You really think I am that easy to beat? That I can just be taken out like that.” Daniel says back to me, I look at Daniel’s face and he is smirking. He turns around and shoots Enrique. I stop breathing and run toward Daniel. I push Daniel off the roof. We both fly off the building. All I can hear as we hurtle to the ground is Hope scream my name. They say your life flashes before your eye when you know you’re going to die. I don’t see my life I just see my sister’s and brother’s face. Not their face now but when they were just little kids. I feel the love I felt for them all my life. I know once I hit the ground I might never see them again. This fall feels like it is taking a hundred years, I feel as if time has somehow stopped.  I slowly feel my head hit the ground and I can feel the impact of the fall crack my skull. Is this it, is this the end? If it is I hope I killed Daniel along with me.

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“Frankie was only 6 years old when they bought me. I was the youngest girl they ever acquired. I was raised by Frankie’s father’s personal mistress. She was the best money could buy; it’s why Frankie’s father bought her. She only trained his best girls, the real money makers. Since I had been with her all my life, I only ever learned how to be the best from the best. Frankie grew up visiting me and playing with me as a child. His father spent a lot of time at our house. One day when Frankie was a teen he came to love me, so he paid for my time. His father told him nothing in life was free. I was already working out in the world and had many loyal clients.  I was the top earner. Frankie’s father treated me with such respect and allowed me to pick my clients and decided if I want to serve someone’s fantasy. I thought I was blessed then I met your parents and fell in love for the first time. However giving you up was more then I could ever take. So once I came back from being with your parents, Frankie offer to buy me so we could marry but I turned him down. I couldn’t marry someone I didn’t love; I also knew that I could never be his wife. His father would never allow it. I would have had to become a mistress meaning no children for me. After holding you that was a thought I couldn’t bare.” Hope’s eyes tear up.

                I hug Hope and I turn to show her that we have made it to the fire escape. “Do you know I taught Rose that trick?” Hope says with a smile on her face. “You can tell me all about it later. We have to get off this roof.” I tell her. I hear a shot sound right next to me. Daniel has fired his gun in the air. “She really can’t tell you later. Because she is not going to be a part of the family.” He says to me. Why don’t I have a gun on me? I look at Hope who looks calm as a cucumber.  “Why can’t I be a part of the family?” Hope asks Daniel. He is circling us and Hope slowly pushes me behind her. “Because you are not like us. You were raise with no emotions and no real feelings. You are an illusion at best. That is just not good enough for my family.” Daniel sounds like a total nut job. “Not your family. MY FAMILY but sure as hell not yours! So do not tell me who is going to be a part of MY family!” I scream at him.

                Daniel is laughing at me. “You don’t believe in killing, so you expect me to listen to you about your family?” Daniel says to me sarcastically. “Let me and Hope go. I will leave with her and never look back. You can have my family.” I tell him as I try to push Hope behind me.  Hope will not go behind me. “You can’t just leave with me now that Frankie has seen you. I can’t risk it.” Hope whispers into my ear. “Let’s talk about it later.” I whisper back to her. “So do we have a deal?” I ask Daniel. He moves is head back and forth like he is thinking about it. “No, I don’t want a family without you.” He says as he shoots Hope. 

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   “We need to get off this roof.” Hope says to Frankie and I. “The only way I saw off was the way we came up and it sounds like someone is coming from that way right now.” I tell Hope. “Go to the fire escape on the side of the building. Just get down to my men and I will meet you at the spot. My men have the location.” Frank says as he kisses Hope on the lips. I think there is way more going on with them then I thought. I look away as he kisses her. “Hope please be careful don’t make me come hunt you down again.” Frankie says. “I’ll see you soon.” Hope says not so lovingly back. She grabs my hand and we start to walk to the end of the large roof.
            I can hear the shooting behind us. We start to run to get to the end of the roof where the fire escape is. Hope is breathing very hard and stops running. “Come on we are almost there.” I tell her. She lifts up her shirt to show me bandages. “What is that?” I ask. “He punctured my lungs and had a doctor sew me back up. To ensure I couldn’t run away.” Hope explains. “You must be in so much pain.” I tell her. “Not pain, I’m use to pain this is just very annoying. It’s like my body can’t breathe the way I want it to.” Hope says as she holds her side. I can hear the gun shots behind us, they do not sound like they are getting closer. They sound like they are not moving. Maybe Frankie is keeping the shooters back.
            I for some reason can’t shake this memory of my mom Rose. I keep thinking of the time she told me the best way to really make someone suffer is to make them focus on the pain. When she is torturing someone she likes to make them tell her what they are feeling. So that way they cannot find relief in their minds from her. Maybe it can work both ways maybe I can make Hope focus on something else so that way she won’t feel her body fighting her to breathe. “Who is Frankie to you?” I ask her, I am trying to change her focus but I also really want to know. “Frankie is the closest thing I have to a childhood friend. His father bought me as a baby. As you know I was raised to serve the fantasy of others. I was never mistreated in the way you might think. I just was always for sell to a high caliber of men.” I can see Hope choosing her words carefully. As Hope is telling me her story I am picking her up and making her walk toward the fire escape. We need to get off this roof is all I am thinking as I continue to listen to Hope’s story.

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    Frankie pulls Hope out of the fake AC unit. She has her hands tied behind her back and her feet tied together. “HOPE!” I say as I pull the tape off her mouth. “Frankie what are you doing here?” Is the first thing she asks? “I have come to save you my little warrior.” He says. Frankie is untying Hope’s feet as I untie her hands. “Who is the girl?” Hope asks as she looks at me. I get the feeling that she really doesn’t want Frankie to know who I am. “She is your precious Rose’s daughter. You haven’t met her?” Frankie asks as he helps Hope up. “You know what I think I did briefly before I was taken. Where is that psychopath by the way?” Hope asks as she looks around. “He is down stairs with the boys. I brought a good amount to come save you.” Frankie smiles. “Thank you, does your dad know you’re here?”  She asks him. “Of course he does and he knew I had to come save you. You are mine and no one can take that away.”  

            “Is the little boy Percy okay?” Hope asks. “Rose’s son is okay and with her.” Frankie says. Hope nods. “Hope why did he take you?” Frankie asks. Hope looks at Frankie and touches her head. “I haven’t had any water in two days. I will answer all your questions after I get some water I feel dizzy.” Hope says. Frankie looks at me. “What about the girl?” Hope looks at me. “We give her back to her family, give her back to Rose.”  Hope says. I think he wants to kill me by the way he is looking at me. “Is Rose her family? Because she looks a lot like your mother.” He tells Hope. I see Hope slowly moving herself in front of me. “My mother? I don’t remember her, seeing as she sold me to your father as a baby.” Hope sounds almost angry.

            Hope is standing between Frankie and me. “Are you not happy with the life we gave you?” Frankie asks her. “This is not the time or place for that conversation.” Hope says. “You are acting like a completely different person right now. One who does not know her place. You should be thankful to us for all that my father and I have given you. You could have walked away from the travel but you didn’t want to get married and slowdown from the only life you have ever known. That is what you told me.” This seems like a conversation that has been going on long before today. I hear the gun shots from down stairs coming closer. “Do you hear the gun shots?” I ask. “It’s headed toward us.” Frankie says as he pulls out his gun.

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      I tap on the AC when I notice a lock on it. There isn’t a lock on any of the other ACs.  Something inside taps back. “FRANKIE!” I scream. I think Hope might be in here. Frankie runs over. I just point at the AC and he walks around the unit. He starts tapping on the AC unit. The unit once again taps back. Frankie smiles as he starts taping rhythmically on the AC unit. The AC unit seems to be taping back rhythmically. “It’s her! She is in there.” Frankie says to me. “That’s great but how do we get her out?” I ask him.

            Frankie looks at the fake AC unit puzzled. “I would say just rip into it but we don’t know how she is tied up in there and I am afraid to hurt her.” Frankie says. “You really care about her?” I ask him. “Have you ever had a pet before?” I look at him confused by his question. “Yes I did for a bit but my mother made me kill it.” I tell him. “Well then you will never understand what I feel for her. I could never hurt her. She is mine to protect.” He talks about her as if she is more of an object then a person.

            Frankie is tapping as he walks around the AC. I can hear in the distance gun shots. “We are out of time!” Frankie says to me as he starts kicking the AC unit wall. “Hope if you’re in there duck!” Frankie is yelling as he keeps kicking. I hear the fake AC unit breaking. Frankie starts to pull the now broken AC unit apart. The gun shot sounds seem to being getting closer. Frankie is pulling pieces of the AC unit away and I see hair. “HOPE!?” We both yell.

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  We go to open the door. “You better pray that Hope is on the other side of this door.” Frankie says to me. He has no idea how much I’m praying for her to be on the other side. Frankie opens the door and pushes me through. I look around the roof and I don’t see Hope. I see a lot of AC units but no Hope. I am starting to get a little scared that I am never going to see my mom again. I put my head down. “She has to be hidden somewhere up here.” Frankie says to me. I turn to look at him. “Hidden? Where?” I ask him. “Yes hidden. He wouldn’t leave her out in the sun, plus he wouldn’t risk someone finding her on accident. So he hid her. That’s what I would do.”  Frankie says.
            I look around and I don’t see where he would hide her. I look back at Frankie as he is looking around. I want to walk around the roof but Frankie has a good grip on my arm. “I say we walk around and see where he would hide her.” I tell Frankie. “If you run I’ll shoot you.”  He says as he lets me go. “I won’t run I promise. I just want to help you find her.” I start to walk off to look at the lined up AC units.
            Why is this roof so big but nothing is up here. I walk through the rows of AC units. I hate the humming sound they make. I can’t stand how loud the humming sound is. I feel like my brain is humming. I keep walking through the rows and the humming stops. I stop and sit next to the AC unit making no sounds. Finally a moment of peace, I felt like my brain was rattling in my skull.  Why is this AC unit not on? All of the other AC units are on. So why not this one? I start to circle it when I notice that this AC is a lot cleaner than the other AC units up here. I wonder why.

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We all just look at Frankie. “I don’t trust you, so I am going to take your sister here with me up to the roof to make sure that Hope is really there.” Frankie says as he grabs me. “You’re not taking my daughter Frankie!” My mother says to him. “Rose you really have no says here. Plus I think there is something about this one that you are hiding from me. So until I get Hope back I am going to keep her close.” He says as he hugs me tight. Frankie puts a gun to my head and I can’t help but laugh. “You think this is funny?” He asks me. “You’re not going to use the gun, you’re too curious about me to kill me. I just don’t get your fascination with me. I am no different from my sister and brother but you seem to be drawn to me.” I tell him as he puts the gun away. “You have eyes I have seen before.” He tells me. “You wish.” I tell him back. He laughs at me. “No matter how drawn I am to you, if I don’t get my Hope back I will kill you to prove a point. Do you understand me?” He asks. I look him in the eyes and nod yes.

            We slowly make our way through the warehouse to the stairs that lead to the roof. “Have you ever met Hope?” Frankie asks me. “Just recently. She came to help my parents find my little brother. He was kidnapped by my deranged older brother that you just met.” I keep walking. “You see that is where I can’t help but scratch my head.  Why would Hope come to help your parents when they casted her out? That is the part I don’t get.” We keep walking. “I am sorry I don’t know this story. I met Hope only when she showed up.  My parents never really explained who she was to them.” I tell him hoping to hear what he knows. “Well your parents and Hope were in love according to Hope, so much so she left everything she knew to be with them. She got pregnant with your father’s baby.” He stops talking and looks at me to see my response. “Really? What happened to the baby?” I ask. “She had a stillborn; the baby was dead in her stomach. After the baby boy was lost they casted her out. She wasn’t as much fun, so they kicked her out. That was why she never saw them again. That is what she told me.” Frankie says. “Well seeing as I am my parent’s child you can understand why they wouldn’t tell me that story.” I say as we walk up the door to the roof. “Here we are.” I say as I stop in front of it.

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      Daniel smiles at Frankie. “Kill me!” Is his only response. Frankie just seems to growl at him as he walks away. We all just look at Daniel. Kill him? That is really all he has to say. “Just as I suspected, you won’t hurt me because you care too much about finding Hope. So how about we make a deal. You go away and let me finish what I am doing here, I will gladly give you back Hope alive and well. How does that sound?” Daniel says to Frankie. Frankie shifts his head back and forth. “You see that doesn’t work for me. So how about I counter your offer.” Frankie says as he snaps his fingers.
            All the guys with guns grab us. They have a good grip on me, Percy, Grace and my mother. “How about I kill them one by one and ruin whatever it is that you’re doing.” Frankie says as he points a gun at Grace. “Or how about you kill him and we search for Hope.” Grace says. I look over at Grace who is struggling to get free from the man with the gun. Frankie looks over at me again and walks over to me. “What do you think I should do?” He says as he walks right in front of me and looks me in the eyes. “Kill us all.” I say. “What is your name?” He asks me. “Why does it matter?” I ask him. “Her name is Julia.” My mother says. I am not sure why she just lied. Well I guess it’s not a complete lie, Julia is my middle name.
            Frankie keeps circling me. “You don’t look like a Julia to me.”  He says as he sniffs at me. “What do I look like to you?” I tell him as I try to back away from his sniffing. “You look like a little warrior to me.” He says to me. I can’t help but think of how I got my name. “What is a little warrior?” I ask him. “It is a child with death in their eyes. I have only seen one other girl with this. I use to call her my little warrior my Hope.” He says this with such love. I look Frankie up and down. “I am not you’re Hope nor if you let me feel will I inspire any hope trust me.”  I say as I try to step towards him. The guy with the gun pulls me back. He looks over at my mother. “I think I’ll keep her.” He says with a laugh. “You can’t have my sister.” Daniel says. “Wait you were doing all of these to your own family?” Frankie asks Daniel. “They are my family to do what I want with.” Frankie smiles at Daniel’s response. “Give me Hope and I will leave your family alone.” Frankie says. “Fine, she is on the roof.” Daniel says. Finally Daniel tells us where she is and she is here. I can’t believe it soon I will have my mom back. I can’t help but smile to myself. “See now was that so hard?” Frankie asks Daniel. “Yes it was. Now why don’t you go get her and leave me to what I was doing?” Daniel says as he points at the stairs. “No that’s not going to work for me.” Frankie says.

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     “Frankie there is nothing more I can say about the past. All I can do now is point you in the right direction. I want Hope to be safe as much as you. So instead of focusing on me, get him!” My mother says to him looking over at Daniel. Frankie turns and walks over to Daniel who has guns pointed all round him. My mother grabs Percy and Grace. We start to move towards the door when more men with guns walk into the warehouse. These men look completely different from the men that came with Frankie. Two of the men point their guns at us, while the rest move toward Daniel and Frankie.
            “So let’s have a conversation about why you felt it was okay to take my Hope away.” Frankie says to Daniel. “I needed Hope so I could draw out other people. She really was just collateral damage.” Daniel says with a smile. “She better not be dead or you are going to have to pay me. Seeing as I owned Hope and she was not yours to be collateral damage or however you want to put it. She belongs to me!”  Frankie says with a serious look on his face. “I think you might be over playing your hand here Frankie. I really don’t have to explain anything to you.” Daniel says as he points at the men surrounding Frankie with guns. “You think you can kill me?” Frankie screams at the men with guns. “They could if I tell them to. So why don’t you take your men and go while I am kind enough to let you walk out of here.” Daniel says back to Frankie.
            Frankie just looks at the men with guns and smiles. He puts his two fingers in his mouth and whistle loudly. I hear more footsteps coming from the door of the warehouse. More men with guns come running through the front door.  They surround the guys who have guns on us and surround us as well. More come in and surround the guys with guns on Frankie. “What you thought I came unprepared. I never come to a party empty handed. That is the problem with the youth of today; they always think they are so much smarter than they actually are. So let’s try this one more time. Where is my Hope?”  Frankie says. 

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     “I have the big gun so I ask the questions. How does that sound?” The man says. “Seeing as none of us here are afraid to die, your gun really doesn’t matter.” Grace says as she steps towards him. “I am simply here for my beloved. She was taken so I have tracked her here. I just want to be sure she is safe.” The man says now fixing his eyes on me. I talk from behind Grace. “He is here for Hope” I whisper in her ear. “Who is this love of yours?” Grace asks him as the swat team slowly surrounds us. “Hope, I am looking for Hope and she was last seen being dragged into this warehouse.” The man says not even looking at Grace. The man’s eyes are locked on me. “Cahira come here.” My mother says to me, still strapped to the table. Grace turns and looks at me. “We need a plan to get out of here. We can find Hope later or just wait for these nice men to find her. I am sure once she is back with her people she will contact you.” Grace whispers to me.
            I am ignoring my mother’s request for me to go to her. I am staying right next to Grace. “Are we going to kill mother or take her with us?” I ask Grace. “If we don’t have to kill her I say we take her.” Grace says back.  “Sounds good to me” I whisper back to her. “We did not take Hope. He did, we are the ones trying to get her back.” Grace says to the man pointing at Daniel. “I can see that. My question for you is why are you trying to get Hope back? Who is she to you?” The man asks. I look back at Percy and he is gone. The swat men are surrounding Daniel now. I look over at my mother and see Percy unstrapping her from the table. “Because they are my kids Frankie.” My mother says as she walks out in front of us. “Hello there Rose didn’t see you there strapped down.”  Frankie says to my mother. She seems to know him. “Well we were having a little bit of fun. You have the man you want, he is the one that took Hope and is keeping her hostage. So my children and I will be on our way. Tell Hope to give us a ring some time.”
          My mother is trying to grab us all and push us behind her. “Rose, oh sweet Rose.” Frankie says to her. I notice my mother stands right in front of my ensuring that he has to take his eyes off of me. “I don’t feel like you are telling me the whole truth. So I think you and your children are going to need to hang out for a bit until I can sort somethings out.” Frankie says. “What could I possible be lying about Frankie? We have always had a good relationship.” My mother says. Frankie walks right up to my mother. “You’re right we have. But there was a time you hid my Hope from me which left me with many questions on why she did not want to come home.” Frankie says right in my mother’s face. “I was in love with her Frankie I was not hiding her she was simply staying with us for a bit and if I remember correctly we paid you for that time.”  My mother says right back in his face. “Yes you did pay you’re not lying there, I just did not like not knowing for a whole year where my Hope was.” Frankie does not seem to like my mother. “That was her choice Frankie, we paid like we were supposed to and the rest you have to take up with Hope.” My mother is still blocking me. “HOPE DOES NOT HAVE A CHOICE. I OWN HER!” Frankie yells at my mother. I have never seen my mother let anyone speak to her this way; I am starting to fear this man. 

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 “Stop!” Daniel yells at me. I am not going to kill her but I definitely wanted to scare her. She doesn’t look scared at all. “Stop?” I ask Daniel. “Yes I said stop, I have reconsidered. I think Percy should kill her as she wishes.” Daniel looks at Percy. “I am not going to kill my mom” Percy says without any hesitation. “What if you don’t have to kill your mom, what if you kill Hope instead? You will get to keep your mom.” Daniel says. “NO way, Hope is not on the table.” I scream at him. “You do not tell me what is on the table. That is for me to decide little sister. If I say he can kill Hope to save his mom than it is his choice of who dies here today.” Daniel steps toward me. “No one will die here today.” Percy says. “Either you choose or I have Hope killed and your mom.” Daniel says.
            Daniel seems very serious about Percy choosing. “I pick my father.” Percy says. We all stop and look at Percy. “Dad?” Grace and I both say. “Yes, to save Hope and mom I choose to kill dad.” Percy says this like it is an easy solution. “No.” Daniel says. “Why not? Because only we have to lose someone we love. You don’t even know our father any way. So I pick him to die here today.” Percy says. “NO! You don’t get to pick my father.” Daniel says. “Oh dear brother, you really want daddy’s love don’t you? If we kill dear old dad who will you have? Just us and we will most likely kill you in the end any way. This is all because you have no mother to go home to. So you’re trying to take one of ours. That’s if Cahira mother is even still alive.” Grace says to Daniel as she moves forward. “Don’t talk to me like you know me. This is not about me.” Daniel says. “This has all been about you! About your introduction into our family. OUR Family not yours. That’s why you want our mothers gone so you can have us. Guess what you will never be one of us. Good or bad we grew up together and trust each other. You will always be an outsider.” I tell Daniel.
         “That is it. They both die! I tried to be kind to you guys because you are my siblings but I am seeing that was a mistake. So now everyone dies.” Daniel says. “Oh look his feelings are hurt.” Grace says in a mocking tone. “How do we even know you’re a killer?” Grace follows up her mocking with. “How do you know I am a killer?” Daniel says. “I am sorry was I not speaking English?” Grace asks as she looks at me and Percy. I start to laugh at how Grace is getting under his skin. “I will kill you all!” He says to us. Grace, Percy and I look at each other and bust up laughing.  When we hear a loud boom coming from the warehouse doors. “No I will be the only one killing everyone here today.” I know that voice. Says a large man with an even larger gun and what looks like a swat team behind him. “Who are you?” We all ask.

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      Daniel is thinking and looking at Grace. “I mean I really wanted Cahira to kill her, you know deeper meaning and all. But you killing her is just as poetic.” Daniel says. “Grace you can’t be serious right now.” I stand in front of her letting go of Percy’s hand. “Cahira I know you don’t get it. But maybe if she is gone I will feel better. Maybe without her I won’t need to kill.” Grace says. Does she really think that our mother is the reason she needs to kill? “I have a hard time believing that you think killing mother will help you.” I tell her as I look her in the eyes. “You don’t know what it is like for me. Plus Hope seems like she would be more likely to love us all the way we are.” Grace says not blinking. She is serious. “You can’t kill mom!” Percy says.
      “We should vote on it.” I say hoping to buy time while I come up with a plan. “Do I have a say in who kills me?” Our mother says. We all just look over at her. “No, you have no say in who kills you.” Daniel tells her. I look at my mother who raised me and almost feel bad for her. “I think she should have a vote in who kills her.” I say defending her. “I say we don’t kill mom at all.” Percy says as he tries to walk over to our mother. “Oh dear sweet Percy, don’t be silly. I am going to have to die. If it was up to me, you would kill me Percy.” My mother says in her normal psychopathic voice. “You want Percy to kill you!? Are you kidding me?” Grace scream at our mother. “Yes, it is my dying wish.” My mother says in response. “Why Percy?” Daniel asks. This is the question I am sure everyone but me is wondering. “So she can see if he enjoys killing. She wants to be sure that Percy’s killer gene is activated.” I explain. My mother laughs. “Cahira, as much as you wish to be Hope’s you are more my daughter.”
      I am sickened by what my mother has said. “You would say that.” I tell her. “You are the only one here that gets why I want Percy to kill me. I want to ensure he is on the right path before I die.” She says. “Right path? Becoming a monster. You would want to set him on a path of lying and hiding. You want him to become a murder who can never live a normal life.” I yell at her. “I want him to live a life of freedom. Something you will never understand.” She says back to me. “Forget this! I’ll kill her.” I says as I go to grab a knife.

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     “One mothers life for another.” Daniel tells me. It’s my mother he has strapped to this table. “Why!?” I ask him. “It’s simple I needed someone Grace wouldn’t help you kill. Plus I don’t think she will ever welcome me into the family. So I thought how poetic that you kill your mother Rose to get your mother Hope. One life for another” Daniel smiles. “You are truly evil aren’t you?” I say as I take a step back. “She will never really accept us. She isn’t our mother and is the only thing standing in the way of having a great relationship with our dad.” Daniel is trying to get me to be on his side. “What happens if Cahira doesn’t kill our mom?” Percy asks. “I will kill Hope.” Daniel says as he rolls my mother closer to me. Percy grabs my hand and holds it. “Daniel can we make another deal? Is there something else we can give you in exchange?” Percy is trying to reason with him. I don’t think Daniel is the reasoning type. I can see Daniel thinking it over. “Aww my dear little brother Percy, don’t you see I just want to be part of your family with you. She will never allow that. We have to get rid of her. Plus we need to make you “ stronger and maybe losing her will allow your heart to harden.” Daniel says. Grace is being strangely quiet. “I don’t want to lose my mom.” Percy says so sadly.

            “You really are an idiot.” Grace says to Daniel. “Excuse me?” He says back to her. “YOU ARE AN IDIOT!” She says louder. “How do you figure that?” Daniel says back. “Dad will never forgive you or accept if you kill his other half. He will hunt you down like a dog. When honestly she would love you more than he ever would. She would admire all you have done, even this moment right now. Look at her she is smiling.” Grace says as she points to our mother. Daniel looks back at her. “She will never accept me. She told me so.” Daniel says. “Does it have to be Cahira to kill her? Or can I kill her and you still give Cahira her mother back?” Grace asks. “WHAT?” Percy and I can’t help but yell. “She will never see me, especially now that he is here. She will fall in love with him and his inventive murdering ways. I once again will be thrown to the side. Percy if anything I am doing you a favor to. Once mom and dad have their perfect killing machine son, they will never look at you again.” Grace says as she steps forward. “Well this took a turn I didn’t plan on.” Daniel says as he looks at Grace. “Grace are you crazy? You cannot kill mom. She loves us in her own way. I know it often feels like she should love us way more but she does love us.” Percy says to her. “No Percy I am just sick of living in perfect Cahira shadow and she hasn’t even been that person for years. Now that he is here, well he will just be another shadow I will have to live in. No I want to put a stop to it now!” Grace says. “So Daniel are you going to let me kill her or what?” Grace asks. 

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We all stand here looking at our older brother. I pull out Grace’s gun and point it at him. “This is not the way I planned on this going” he says. “Where is she?” I ask him. “She is hanging around here somewhere. How about we make a deal?” He says. “How can we make a deal with a nameless person?” Grace says. “That’s  an easy answer, you can just have to ask for my name.” He says back to Grace. “Do you have just one name?” I ask. “Now you’re asking the right questions.” He says to me. “What would you like us to call you?” Percy asks.  “You can call me Daniel if you would like. It was my name the longest.” He says. “Okay Daniel, what is the deal you want to make?” I ask him. He smiles as he walks out of the room and starts to head down the stairs. I roll my eyes and follow him. He does love the dramatics doesn’t he?
            We all follow him down the stairs and through the warehouse. He leads us back where Grace and whatever that little girl’s name was who killed everyone. All the bodies are gone. He must have cleaned everything. How long were we in that room for? “So what is the deal Daniel?” I ask him as I stop walking. “Grace did all the work to get Percy back. Cutting into people and killing them. I think if you want your mom back so badly I want to see you slice someone open and kill them.”  Daniel says to me. I point it at his head. “How about I just blow your brains out and just search the warehouse for my mom without you.” I tell him. “You could but did I say she was in this warehouse? Maybe I meant the one in New York or London.”  I look back at Percy who is standing behind me. “How many days ago did he take Hope away?” I ask Percy. “It’s hard to tell time in the room but I would say a few.” I look back at Daniel. “You want me to kill someone. That’s it? Why?” I ask him. “I just want to see if you have it in you. The first time I met you it seemed like you would kill anyone for no reason at all. Plus let’s just call it a life for a life. What if I promise to make it a good one?” I turn to talk to Grace. “I don’t want to take a life.” I whisper in her ear. “I will help you. You’re just going to have to do the torching part. You use to love this maybe you will again.” Grace says. “I don’t think so. But promise me I won’t have to take a life.” I whisper back to her. “I promise.” She says.
            I turn back to Daniel. “You are a real son of a….” I start to say. “Hey now let’s be nice, I lost my mother, much like you I had no idea who she was. You want a chance to know yours. I’m willing to give you that chance.” He says it like he is doing me some kind of favor. “What did you mean you promise to make it a good one?” I ask him. “So you agree to kill someone after you cut them up for a little while?” He asks me. “No I agree to do what I have to in order to get my mom back.” I tell him. He claps his hand and guys roll in a person strapped to a table with a sack over their head. “So you promise to do whatever it takes to get your mom back right?” He says. I look at the figure and it looks like a women’s body. “If that is my mom you’re trying to make me kill, I promise to end your life.” I point the gun back at his head. He laughs. “Oh no I would never do that. I am sorry I didn’t even realize how it looked until right now.” He says so light hearted. “Okay fine ill do what I have to.” I stop pointing the gun at him. He smiles and pulls the sack off her head. “NO!” Grace screams.

Life update: Timetopia is out!

I am so Excited to announce that Timetopia the book is finally released. After years of hard work it is finally available on amazon. Be sure to buy a copy. Tell me what you think. Thank you so much for all of you that supported Timetopia as a weekly series, you made this possible. I couldn't be more grateful!

For Timetopia Click here

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             “I can’t make a decision until I know that my mom Hope is okay.” I explain to Percy and Grace. “I will accept him as our older brother.” Grace says. “What really? He kidnapped me.” Percy says. “Yeah I know but with the way our family is I get why he did it.” Grace defends her answer. I sit next to Percy and hug him. “Grace is playing it smart.” I whisper into Percy’s ear. He gets what Grace and I are doing. We are going to say what we need to get out of here. I have known Grace long enough to know when she is lying. Percy looks at Grace. “Okay Grace convince me.” Percy says. That’s my little brother catching on. “Well think about it if dad has him he won’t push you to decide if you want to be a killer. He will be so focused on his new son; you can slide under the radar.” Grace tells Percy. “Yeah that makes sense. I guess we are kind of better off letting him into our family. He didn’t hurt me at all; he was very humane to me. So my vote is yes.” We all nod in agreement. The door unlocks. “Let’s go before he changes his mind.” I say as I run to the unlocked door.

            Grace and I peak our heads out the door to see if our big brother might be waiting for us. “Coast is clear. Let’s go.” I tell Percy. We all walk out into the waiting room we were in with little Hope before. “You two go home and I am going to find Hope.” I tell Percy and Grace. “Not happening. We are going to help you find Hope.” Percy says. “I am not even sure if she is still here. I have no idea where she is?” I tell them, I realize I don’t even have a starting point. “Let’s search the rest of the warehouse and see if she is still here.”  Grace says. “Thanks you guys. You have no idea how much it means to me to have you both by my side.” I tell them. “Of course we might not always agree but we are family.” Grace says. I smile as I hug Grace and Percy. It means everything that even though Grace hates the fact that I want to know my mother she still wants to help me. “So let’s get going.” Percy says. “Missing your room?” I ask Percy. “No, oddly I am kind of happy this happened when it did. I needed some time to think.” Percy says. “Have you decided where you stand on killing yet?” Grace asks Percy. “I think that we should focus on finding Cahira’s mom Hope.” Percy responds as he walks to the door. He opens the door and there he is. “Or you can just ask me where she is.”

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 “Percy its Grace open your eyes.” Grace says as Percy slowly opens his eyes. I can’t hold back my tears. “Cahira don’t cry I am okay.” Percy says to me. “Are you okay? Did he hurt you?” Grace asks him. Percy’s slowly sitting up. “No he didn’t hurt me. He just wanted to get to know me.”  Percy seems just as confused as we are. “So he wasn’t mean to you in any way?” I ask. “Mean no, just kind of intense. He asked me a lot of questions about myself. He just wants to be a big brother to us.” Percy says confused. “So Percy do you think we should let him come home with us?” I ask Percy.

            Percy and Grace just sit looking at the floor. We aren’t talking about what we are going to do. “So are you going to answer me?”  I ask Percy. “No, I can’t answer that.” Percy says. “Why not?” Grace asks. “Because I know something about Cahira’s mother Hope that might change her mind on letting him be our big brother.” Percy won’t even look at me. Grace is the exact opposite she can’t take her eyes off me. “Percy what do you know?” Percy is sitting on the edge of the bed. I walk over to him and pick up his face for him to look at me. “He killed or is going to kill Hope.” Percy has tears in his eyes. “How did you know about Hope? Did he tell you?” I ask Percy since we only found out about Hope because Percy was kidnapped. He has been here the whole time so how did he find out. “She was here with me. She told me who she was and how she wanted to get back to you.” Percy puts his head back down. “She was here?” I ask. Can’t believe he got to meet my mom. “Yea she was here but he took her away. She told me to tell you she loved you little warrior and that she would be okay.” I am not sure what to do now. Hope could be dead but I need her. “Why do you think she is dead?” I ask Percy. “I don’t know if she is dead yet. But I just have a feeling like he is going to kill her.”  Percy says. I need to figure out what happened to Hope. I need to get out of this room. “We need to get out of here.” I tell Grace. “Of course we do.” Grace says. “He won’t let us out until we make our decision.” Percy says. “So let’s make our decision and get out of here.” Grace says.

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    The door is locked and Grace is trying to break it down. “We are trapped!” She tells me. “Of course we are.” I tell her back as I look at Percy, he looks just as he did when he was a baby. I stick close to him and brush his hair with my fingers. “I need your help getting us out of here!” Grace says to me. “When he wakes up, the door will unlock. He is just locking us in here so we are forced to make a choice if we are going to allow him into our family.” I tell her back. “So let’s talk about it. Are we going to side with him?” Grace asks me.  I turn to look at her. “Side with him? I thought we already knew where we stood. Our parents will never welcome him with open arms. Well at least mother wouldn’t.” I turn back to Percy. “Don’t you think we should make our own decisions on how we feel about him?” Grace says as she sits against the wall across from me. “You want us to make our own decision? You really? You’re really willing to fight with our parents.” I ask her. “He is our brother, so how we feel about him should be our choice.” Grace has a point.

                We sit here just watching Percy sleep. “I think we should each make our own choices about him.” I tell Grace. “Why do you say that?” She asks me. “He still has my mom, so if I have to kill him to get her back I would. With that being said I feel like you should make your own choice when it comes to him.” I just want my mom back and as much as I am against killing, I will do what I have to for Hope. “I think we should make our choice about him together. Mom and dad have always had us competing with one another. For once I would like us to be on the same side. If you have to kill him I will stand beside you.” Grace says. This is the first time in a long time I have my sister standing by my side. “What do you really want Grace? Do you want us to just except him as our big brother? Setting my mom Hope aside and him keeping her captive.” I ask Grace, wanting to know what she wants. “I wouldn’t just write him off. It’s super hard to go through the world alone with the type of urges we have. I don’t think him learning how to control it from mom and dad isn’t the worst thing.” Grace says it like her urges are to dance not like she is out there killing people. “Grace no one is better off with dad and mother’s teachings.  No one should kill for fun; killing should only be for survival. I wish you didn’t down play being a murder by calling it an urge.” I am not trying to be mean to Grace, I just don’t agree with her. “Cahira don’t act like you weren’t just like us. Before your stupid accident you were a murder. You also didn’t do anything to stop us, so how are you any different?” I look at Grace and know she is right. I should have stopped them and yes before I was a murder but I don’t really remember that. “You’re my sister stopping them meant hurting you and Percy and that was something I couldn’t live with. It doesn’t mean that someday I won’t stop you. It just means not yet.”  I have never said this out loud. I guess I always did plan on stopping them. “I don’t think you will ever stop us, especially if Percy joins us. If you turn us in or kill us you will be all alone. Have you ever thought of that?” Grace asks me. “Of course I have.” I take a breath to think of what I am going to say next. Percy makes a noise like he is waking up. “Percy!” We both say as we turn to him.    

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Percy is just laying on a bed, he is not moving. “Is he dead?” I ask Grace. “No, look at the IV bag. He is on some kind of sleep drug.” Grace is moving her body around to find where the IV is connected. “The IV isn’t connected.” Grace says holding up the unconnected IV line. I hear my cellphone ring. I pull it out of my pocket and see on the caller ID that the call is coming from an unknown number.  “Answer it.” Grace tells me. “Hello?” I say as I answer. “Hello little sister.” It is him, my big brother. “What did you do to Percy?” I ask him. “He is fine. I had him on an IV that was keeping him in a medical induce coma. I took it out before you found him. He will be waking up in a bit. I didn’t hurt him, he is after all my little brother. Now that we got that out the way, I want you three to decide if we are all going home as siblings after this or am I going to meet our dad on my own.  Don’t answer right now I’ll let you talk it over and get back to me.” I look at Grace who is just staring at me. “Where is my mom?” I ask him. “Don’t worry about her right now. You should be taking care of Percy. I am sure he will have a lot to tell you once he wakes up.” He hangs up on me. I throw my phone across the room and start screaming.
                I calm down and look at Grace who is shaking her head. “Who was it on the phone?” She asks me. “Who do you think?” I tell her. “What did he say about Percy?” She looks back at Percy who is still asleep. “He is in a medical induce coma and he is the one who took him off the IV. Percy should be waking up in a while. Also our screw loose older brother wants to know if we are going to go home as siblings or not?” I explain to Grace. “Is he nuts?” Grace asks me. “No he is a genius. What would dad and your mother respect more than this? He wants them to except him as family and our parents love psychotic crap like this.” I sink to the floor. “You know mom will never take him in to our family. Although this was all pretty impressive, if you really think about it. He took our little brother and mom will never let that fly.” Grace says. “We have Percy back and that’s all what really matters. We need to start coming up with a plan to get you guys home.” I tell her as I look at the open door. “What do you mean get us home? We are all going home after this.” She says. “He has my mom, I can’t just go home. I need to find her and make sure she is okay.” Grace walks over to me. “Cahira we need you, forget about your dead beat mom.” I push Grace. “Don’t start with me right now Grace. I will make sure you guys get out okay and then I am going to find my mom. I know you want us to get Percy and go home like everything is great, but Grace everything is changing. We have an older brother who wants to be a part of our lives whether we want him to or not. Plus Grace I can’t go back to just acting like she is my mother. All my life I have known something was wrong and now I know what it is. I just want my mom to be a part of my life.” I know this is going to hurt Grace’s feelings but she has to start understanding that everything in our lives is about to change. I can see on Grace’s face that she is gearing up to say something to me but she stops. “Do you hear that?” She asks me. I get quiet and hear a loud ticking and it seems to be getting louder. “What is that?” I ask her. She looks around. The doors slams shut on us and locks. What is happening?

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         Grace and little Hope are covered in blood. Both walk around the bloody bodies on the floor making sure every one of them is dead. Little Hope kicking each body in the head to ensure they are not faking and Grace stabbing the bodies randomly. I still can’t believe what I just watched. The two of them were like killing machines, so fast and efficiently. These poor people didn’t stand a chance. I still don’t get it. Why have us talk to these people if he was just going to have Grace kill all of them. “Everyone is dead.” Grace says so proudly. “Don’t sound so happy about it.” I tell her. “Hey I am willing to do what it takes to get Percy back. Can you say the same?” Grace says to me. “Being a ruthless murder is not some kind of sacrifice for you.” I tell her back. “Whatever Cahira, tell someone who cares what you think. I just want my brother back.” She says to me. “So what now?” I ask little Hope. “Follow me with the three keys.” Little Hope starts to walk through the warehouse. I look at Grace as we start to follow her. “She is like us.” Grace whispers to me. “Like you.” I tell Grace back. “Wrong, you were the stone cold killer when you were here age, not me.” Grace says to me. Little Hope stops at a gate with a pad lock on it. “First Key” she says to us pointing at the lock.  We unlock the gate and little Hope walks through first.

                “This warehouse is a lot bigger than it looks on the outside.” I tell Grace. “Yeah I know I have always thought that to. I also always wondered why that church threw its fundraisers here.” That is a question I never really thought about. We follow little Hope up these stairs to an office. This must be where Percy is being held. Little Hope stops at the front door. “Second key” she says as she sticks her hand out. We walk in an office and little Hope stops. “I have done what you asked; please give me my father back.” Little Hope yells up. “Wait Daniel isn’t your father?” Grace asks. “Daniel?” I ask her. “That is the only name we have to really go by.” Grace says to me. “No, Daniel isn’t my father and my name isn’t even Hope. I did what I was told to pay off my father’s gambling debt.” Not little Hope says. I don’t get what was the point of her showing us the way. I hear a sound like something unlocked. Grace and I look around and see a closet door off to the side has opened. A man comes running out of the closet and little not Hope runs to him. “Good Lucky!” Little not Hope says as her, what I am assuming is her father grabs her and runs out of the door. “Would it be bad if I say I kind of hope she gets an arrow on her way out?” Grace asks me. “Yes, that’s bad.” I tell Grace. “Well she was kind of a brat. So if she dies I am sure she will not be missed.” Grace says with a smile. “Still wrong Grace she is a child. She just did what she had to for her family.” I tell her as she rolls her eyes at me. “So I guess that door leads to Percy.” Grace says pointing at the only other door in the office. We walk up to the door and Grace sticks the key in. We open the door to a dark room. I walk in and look for a light switch. I touch the walls until I finally find the switch. “Percy!” Grace screams. I can’t help but just stop moving. I am not sure what to think. What am I even looking at?

Life update: So much work on Timetopia

HI!
   Sorry I skipped last week edition of Family Game Night. I have been working around the clock on getting Timetopia ready for publishing. There is so much that goes into getting a book ready. I am working around the clock and cant wait to show you everything i have been doing.  Here is the cover of Timetopia. Coming to Amazon very soon. I love you guys and thank you so much for all your support.

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“Hope how do you know Percy is okay?” I ask her. “I was with him before this, before the game started.”  Little Hope says. I knew she was more than just a little girl. She has to be his adopted daughter. “So you know what room Percy is being held in?” I ask her. “Yes I do but I can’t tell you that until you find the key” she says. So she doesn’t have the key. “Do you know where the key is?” I ask her. She just looks at me with her big green eyes. I am going to take that as she isn’t saying.  “Did your dad tell you this?” I ask her. “I am not allowed to tell you that. I am only allowed to tell you that I am going to help you once you find the key.” She says as she looks over at Grace, who is yelling at the girl crying about being cut.
                Grace screams “Finally!” She is holding the key in her hand. I look over at little Hope. “That’s not it.” She says to me. What could she possibly mean that isn’t it. The guy helping Grace shows her a key he just pulled out of one of the guys. Well this is great! “Is that the key?” I ask little Hope. “Maybe, that is only 2 found. There should be 3.” Little Hope says. “What in the hell!” Grace screams. “How are there 3 keys?” Grace turns and yells at me.  I motion for little Hope to stay here as I walk over to Grace. “This is bull and you know it.” She tells me. “There are 3 keys.” I tell her. “No, we found two keys.” She tells me as she shows me the two keys. “Little Hope says there are 3 keys and she can’t help us until we find all 3.” I stand back after telling Grace.  “Of course there are 3 keys. We are almost out of people to check.” Grace looks at the line of people. She has cut through most of them. There is only like 6 people left. Grace looks around and sees the guy with the arrow throw him. “I bet.” She says as she walks over to him. I follow her as she pulls the sheet off him and cut his side and pulls out a key. “Of course he had the last key. So what now?” She says. “The dumbie?” I ask her. “What about little Hope can’t she just help us find where Percy is?” She says to me. “Play by the rules. Go pull the back on the dumbie” I tell her. Everyone is standing around talking to each other.
                Grace walks over to the dumbie with all 3 keys. “Wait” Sara says. Everyone looks at her. “If you got the keys does that mean we can leave? Or are we still going to get an arrow in the back?”  Sara asks Grace. “That is a good question. I am not sure, I have to pull the string on the dumbie and he will tell us what comes next. Okay?” Grace says in a very sarcastic manner. Grace pulls the string on the dumbie. “I am sure you’re confused on why there are 3 keys and all these people. Now that I have found you, my family it is time for a cleanse of anyone who has seen my face. Kill them all! Expect for Hope she will show you the way to Percy. I cleaned up your mess it’s your turn now sister.” The dumbie stops talking. Grace takes a deep breath. I hear a scream from behind me and little Hope stabbed a man in the throat. “The faster we get this done the faster I get home.” Little Hope says. Grace runs to her bag as people start trying to run out of the warehouse. They are getting shot down by arrows. “Time to get to work Grace says as she runs toward them stabbing them as she runs through the people. I turn to grab little Hope who turns out to be a mini serial killer. I look back at her and she is running around stabbing people to. She is so fast and does not even blink, like this isn’t her first time. I stand here just watch them slaughter these poor people.

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                The Vet Tech is slowly cutting people’s stitches and trying to see who has the key. Laura doesn’t have the key in her and Sara offered to go next. Grace is sure that Mario has the key in him. I am not so sure, to me it seems too obvious. I sit with little Hope and try to keep her from watching the others get cut open. “How are you feeling?” I ask her. “I miss my mommy.” I feel sad for her. “Can you tell me about your mother?”  She looks down. “I don’t know much about my mother. I was adopted and I only have a dad” she explains. “What is your father like?” She smiles at my question.  “He is very smart and clean. He works and travels a lot but he is very sweet to me. I have a full time nanny but she isn’t as much fun as my dad” Hope says. “Hope how did you get here?” I ask her. “I am not allowed to say.”
                I walk over to Grace and pull her away from the people. “Whoa, what is the problem here” she asks me. “I think Hope is his adopted daughter and I think she has the key” I tell Grace. “What are you sure??” She asks. “No I am not sure but I have a feeling” I tell Grace. “So what should we do? Should we scare the key out of her?” Grace says looking at little Hope. “NO! I think she has orders. Like she can’t give us the key until we figure things out. This is all a game remember. So he probably wants us to play, not just cut people open and get our answers that way.” Grace shakes her head at me. “Fine how do we play?”  I look at her. “Maybe I can work on little Hope. We can’t let him know we have caught on to her being his adopted daughter. Well that’s if she is. I really think she is however.” Grace just looks at me. “Little Hope?” Grace asks. “Yes I have decided to call her little Hope so you don’t get her mixed up with my mom Hope” I explain. “Fine doesn’t matter what we call her. If she has the key we need to get it from her. You’re saying to play the game but we don’t even know what the game is or how it works. Just tell me if I keep cutting people open or not” Grace says. “Yes keep cutting but I need you to talk to the people to see if we can get some more information out of them. That is the game” I tell Grace. We both nod and go our separate ways.
                I sit with little Hope and think of a way to try to make her give me the key or tell me who left her here. “How are you holding up?”  I ask her. “I am okay, just miss my home” she says. “I miss my baby brother. That’s why it is so important to find the key we are looking for” I tell little Hope. “Why do you need the key to see your brother?” She asks me. “Because an evil man took him from us. He is the one who put us all here, he has my brother Percy locked up here somewhere.” I let a tear fall down my cheek. Little Hope whips my face but doesn’t say a word.
                A lady screams out in pain. “Stop being a baby!” Grace says. I look over and Grace is cutting the lady’s stitches. “Why do you think you’re here?” Grace asks her. “Not sure I make blankets and sale them online. I am not sure why I would be here?”  Grace looks at me super confused. “You make blankets to sale online. Do you have an online store?” Grace asks her. I can’t help but over hear.  I don’t get why these people are here? I just don’t understand what a woman who sells blankets online has to do with this. The fake ID maker and the hairdresser I can kind of understand, but her I am not sure.  All of this makes no sense. I look back at little Hope. “Percy wasn’t taken by an evil man he is okay I promise.” Little Hope tells me. How does she know this?

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Everyone is freaking out. “Hope do you have any cuts on your body?” I ask her. I don’t want to touch her with out her permission to check. She starts to feel her body and nods no. “Okay sweetie.” I smile at her trying to make her feel safe. I can’t imagine being that young and feeling like that. “Cahira can I have a second?” Grace says, I rub Hope’s shoulder and get up to go to Grace. “What’s up?” I ask her. “Really what’s up? Well we have to cut these people open to figure out who has the key in them. That’s what’s up.”  Grace says as she pulls a to go surgical kit out of her bag. “You really just carry that around with you?” I ask her. “Yes, as should you. You never know when situation like this will arise.” Grace says like she is some kind of girl scout. “Why would we ever be in situations like this? I mean really? This is all happening because you, mother and dad are sick in the head.” I tell her, I don’t mean to sound as sassy as I do. “No, we are in this situation because dad’s high school sweet heart decided not to terminate her pregnancy. Instead she gave up the baby, who grew up to be a man that we now have to deal with. That is why all of this is happening.”  Grace says with a smirk. She loves to be right and isn’t afraid to show it. “Grace you might want to cover your face.” I tell grace. She looks at me confused. “What?” Grace says. “Your horns are showing.” I tell her and laugh. “Oh you’re so funny.” Grace says.

                “We should figure out a way to get this key.” Grace says to me. “Well I’m all ears.” I tell her. She walks into the middle of everyone and starts waving her arms to get their attention. I pick up little Hope and walk over. “Who here is a doctor or a nurse?” Grace says. Everyone looks around to see if any one raises their hand, but no one does. “So no one here can help with the cutting of your stiches and finding this key.” Grace says. “I was a vet tech.” said one of the guys in back. “Your name?” I ask. “My name is Michael.” He says. “Why do we have to listen to these two? You are just little girls.” Says the FBI’s most wanted. He steps in Grace’s face. She smiles and stabs him in the leg. “I just cut one of your major artery. Do you know what that means? Its means you’re bleeding out.” The guy falls to the floor and is trying to cover up the cut, like it going to save him. Grace circles around him and slits his throat. “That’s who we are.” She whispers to him. As he falls over, Grace lifts his shirt and cuts his stiches open. “No Key.” She says as she looks up at me.

                I look up at everyone looks super confused. Some but not most look scared. “So, any one got questions?” Grace asks. I pull a sheet over him. “Now back to you vet tech. Do you think you can check everyone for the key without hurting them?” Grace says to Michael. He steps forward and looks at Grace. “Yea I should be able to.”  Michael says. I notice a woman steps forward from the back. “Your related to Daniel, aren’t you?” She asks Grace. “Who is Daniel?” I ask her. “He was my high school sweet heart. That was the last time I say someone get killed in front of me and seen the murder with that look in their eyes.” Grace and I look at each other and back at her. “What’s your name?” I ask her. She looks scared. “I would rather not say.” She tells us. “Her name is Laura.” Says a guy behind her. “And how do you know that?” Grace says him. “I went to high school with them.” He says. “That what your going to say? You went to high school with us!” She now seems mad at the guy talking. “Okay so we know her name, now can you tell us yours.” I ask him.  “Mario. My name is Mario.” He says. “What does she mean when she said that was all you were going to say.” Grace asks him. “I mean that he was Daniels other half. We were both in a relationship with Daniel.” Laura says.  I step back and whisper in Graces ear. “So is he gay or straight?” I ask. “So Daniel was dating him behind your back?” Grace asks. “No, we always knew about each other. It was a well-known thing.” Mario says. “When was the last time you saw Daniel?” I ask them. “Graduation.” Laura says. “That was the day he broke up with us. He said it was fun well it lasted but he had to go on.” Mario said. “We were all going to different colleges, so we all agreed.” Laura said. “This is just weird.” Grace says. “It was their relationship, don’t judge.” I tell her. “Fine what ever, no judgement but I am going to have to cut you open. I am pretty sure one of you has the key.” Grace holds up her knife. Both step back in fear.

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What game is he playing? I pull Grace to the side. “I don’t know what to do here,” I tell her. “You go find what room Percy is in, so once we have the key we know what door we are opening.”  Grace tells me. “DO NOT kill anyone while I am gone.” I tell Grace. She smiles at me. “Can’t make any promises,” she says as I walk away from her. I start to wonder around the warehouse. I don’t see any rooms where he could be. This place is much bigger than it looks.  I am not sure what to do. I can’t yell for Percy because my older brother might hear me. I wish we knew his name. I hear screaming from back where I left Grace. I turn around and run back to see what’s going on. I hope she hasn’t killed anyone.
                I run up to see a guy with an arrow through him. “Whoa.” I say as I look at Grace. “There was a note attached to the arrow. She has the bloody note in her hand. She hands it to me just looking at the dead man lying on the floor. The arrow went right through his heart. The housekeeper is the one who screamed I see as she is still standing there with her mouth open. I look at the note in my hands. “The deal was not for anyone to go off on their own. Find the key that is your job. Anyone tries to leave again, and they get an arrow through the head and you might never find the key to Percy‘s door. Let’s hope he has enough food not to starve.” Great now he is threating Percy’s life. I look at Grace as more of the tied up are being untied. “NO ONE LEAVE THIS AREA!” I yell out as I point at the guy with the arrow in his chest. That is when I notice her, a little girl she can’t be much older than 6 or 7. I grab a sheet and cover the guy so she won’t see him. I hand the note to Grace and walk over to the little girl. “Hi sweetie.” she looks up at me. She doesn’t say anything she just looks around. “Sweetie are your parents in this room?” I ask her. She looks at all the people untied and getting untied. “No, I don’t see them.” She says in the smallest voice. “What is your name sweetie?” I ask her. “Hope” she says. I just look at her. Her name is Hope like my mom. Did he take her because he knows her or because she has my mom’s name? I wish we had a little more directions. Hope isn’t crying she is just standing here, she must be so scared. I put my arms out for me to pick her up. She comes to me and I take her back to where Grace is standing looking at everyone.
                “Who is the little girl?” Grace asks as I walk up with her. “Her name is Hope.” I tell Grace. “She looks just like Percy when he was little. Don’t you think?” Grace says as she stares at her. “All little kids look alike to you. Her parents aren’t in the group.” I tell Grace. I think he looks just like Percy to, but I don’t need Grace getting any kind of ideas. “Why are we here?” The hair dresser asks. “Not sure but the guy who put us all here gave one of you a key. That key is needed for you to get out of here and for us to get our baby brother back.” Grace says. I look at the four metal beams we all seem to be stuck in between, there are white shear sheet hanging down from the top of them. It would almost be pretty if we weren’t all being threatened with an arrow in the back. I look at Hope who has her head on my shoulder. “F that! He can’t get us all if we all walk out at the same time,” says a buff guy in the back. “I have seen this movie and let me tell you how your plan works. You die. But be my guest and walk away.” Grace says to him. “We should just find the key” Sara says. Everyone looks around.  “Does anyone have a key?” Grace asks. Slowly everyone is checking their pockets and shaking their heads no one right after the other. “The letter says someone has a key and we have to talk to you to find out who does. Please just make this easy and give us the key so we can all get home” Grace says. Sara keeps holding her side. I start to look and everyone seems to be holding some part of them. “Sara are you okay?” I ask her. “Yea my side is just burning like I have a cut. It is probably from whoever put me here they most likely were not very careful tying me up or something” Sara says. I look at her. “Let me see your side maybe I can help.” I put Hope down. “Wait right here for me.” Hope just nods yes. I walk over to Sara who is lifting her sweater and untucking her shirt. She lifts it up. “Do you see a cut?” She asks me. I look at her side and it isn’t a cut I see. I see stiches, fresh ones. “Grace come here!”  Grace comes walking over. “What is it?” she asks as she walks over. She just stops when she sees the stiches. “Oh, this is not good” she says to me.  We look back and everyone is noticing they have fresh stiches. “I hate him!” Grace says to me. I nod in agreement, not sure what we do now.

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                I open the envelope. “Oh dear sisters, this letter is for Grace once again she is just more fun to play with. Sorry Cahira step to the side. You are just Grace’s side kick on this one. To get Percy back is simple. One of these tied up loose ends has the key to Percy’s room. All you have to do is figure out which one has it. After you untie and talk to everyone get your key and pull the string on the dummy.  Then you will get Percy back. You remember dear sister you catch more bees with honey not vinegar.” I finish reading the letter. So he wants us to find the key to unlock Percy door by talking to all these people who are tied up. I look over at Grace. “Well let’s start untying these people and figuring out who has the key to Percy” I tell Grace. “I wouldn’t untie everyone,” Sara says.  Grace and I turn around and look at her. “Why not?” Grace asks her.  Sara points at a man tied up on the floor. “Well because he is a killer. He is on the FBI’s most wanted list. So, I don’t think untying him would be such a smart idea,” Sara says. I start to think about this. Sara makes fake IDs and she knew the man on the floor had asthma, maybe everyone here is somehow related to each other in a way. “Wait!” I say. “Wait for what?” Grace asks me. I lean into Grace’s ear. “Something isn’t right here. How does she know the guy is on the FBI list thing or that the other guy has asthma and why are all these tied up people so calm? I mean half aren’t even awake yet and the ones that are, well they are just looking at us. Something doesn’t feel right.”
                I can see Grace’s wheels turning. “Sara how do you know the guy on the floor?” Grace asks her. Sara looks around. “Which one?” She replies. “Do you know more than one person tied up here?”  Grace changes her line of questioning. “Yes of course, most of us have worked together before.”  Sara says. “Worked together?” Grace and I ask at the same time. “Yes, if he needs to disappear or a new look. I did the IDs and passports but not full back grounds. Larry does birth certificates and school records. So, a lot of times we team up on jobs.” Sara says like she isn’t talking about breaking laws. “So, everyone tied up here is a criminal?” I ask. “No, she is a hair dresser. I think she changes his look for him when he moves.” Sara points at a girl who hasn’t woken up yet. “I know we are all trying to figure out why we are here. But can someone please untie me?”  Larry says as he is wiggling around.
                We can’t just start untying people. “Untie him.” Grace says. “Wait what?” I ask her. She walks close to me and whispers in my ear. “If worse comes to worse we can turn them on each other.” Grace says with a smile.  I am not sure that is the best idea. She walks over to Larry and starts to untie him. Slowly more people start to wake up. “Where are we?” A lady says who she clearly works with her hands. She has blisters all over her fingers. “We are in a warehouse a man brought you here. You might have worked for him. What is it that you do?” I ask her. “I am a house cleaner,” the women says. So, we have criminals, a hair dresser and a house keeper. Everyone that has ever seen his face maybe. I wonder if he is trying to make us learn more about him still. Maybe he was really good to his house keeper and wants us to see he is a good person. “Did you ever work for a man, who... well…. he was on his own. A bachelor types,” the lady looks at me like I was crazy. “I can name 10 of my clients that fit that bill” she says. I shrug. “This one would have stood out. He had you there, but his home was impeccable. Almost as if he had you clean his house for no reason.” Grace says. “Yeah I know exactly who you’re talking about,” the lady says. “Tell us about him.” Grace asks.  “He was younger than most that lived in his building. I cleaned his place once every two weeks. He didn’t talk much or like ever. His place was always perfect. He just had me stream clean the rugs really.” She looks as confused as we do. “Was anyone ever there when you cleaned?” I ask maybe there is more to her story, that she doesn’t even realize.  She stands there and thinks about it. “I always thought it was strange but yes. He would always have meetings when I was there. He would apologize that he had no other time to take the meeting with whomever he was having the meetings with and he would say that he was just so busy and he didn’t know what he would do without me. He would say the house would be a disaster without me.”  Just as I thought. Her cleaning was all a show. She doesn’t have the key. She is just here as a show. I think maybe that is the point figuring out who here really knew him. It is just another game.