Chapter 7 Thinking Ahead

Gabby typed Scibroketry, and in a blink of an eye, a list of links showed  up on her search engine. Cityofhope.org showed up on top of the list. She clicked on the top link, leading her to a research collaboration section of the hospital.

Her browser automatically highlighted the section relevant to Scibroketry. As she scrolled down, she found what she wanted. Contact headmistress Afina Cinca  for direct contact with Scibroketry. She copied down her phone number and office address and picked up her cell phone, dialing quickly.

***

The men approached Ruth’s bedside quickly. One of the men, Dr. Jeong, grabbed a nearby chair, brought it the bedside, tapped the armrest five times and sat down. A silver table with many cabinets started to slide out of the wall. The other man, his attire a black tuxedo, placed his laptop onto the table and flipped it open. Dr. Jeong opened a drawer and pulled out some needles, cloth bandages and green plastic tubes as the other man plugged his laptop to an electric device blinking on the side of the table.

As Ruth lied there, peeking at the men, she was puzzled at what was happening, and a feeling creeped on her, telling what was going to happen was not good.

“Anton, does she need a painkiller dose?” Dr. Jeong asked the other man. Anton eyed Ruth’s flickering lids.

“Yes, just in case. We do not want her screaming out,” Anton replied.

Dr. Jeong prepared a needle and gave Ruth the shot. Ruth squirmed for a second. When she fell still, Jeong skillfully attached tubes on her, one in her mouth, two for her ears, three on each of her arms, one huge one on her stomach, and a dozen more on her legs and feet. He tapped his armrest three times and the table top opened, revealing black tube holes. Then he connected the ends of the tubes to each hole.

“Where should we start?” Dr. Jeong asked Anton.

After pausing and typing a code on the laptop, Anton said,  “Brainstem glioma,” and doubled clicked. Release? appeared on the screen in neon green text, and under it said ok and cancel. Anton clicked ok.

As Anton was clicking away, Dr. Jeong walked over to a nearby wall and tapped it twice. A latch opened, revealing what looked like a light switch. Dr. Jeong flipped it up and and pressed a blue button near the switch. The room started to sway, slowly transforming into a hospital Intensive Care Unit dormitory. A new orange and digital cock surfaced on the wall opposite Ruth’s bed, reading 5:36 PM.

The two men walked out quietly.

***

The old man’s speed was as fast as a cheetah’s, using his cane to hop three feet at a time. Tim’s eyes were breakfast pancakes, seeing the whole scene in front of him. The man climbed up the steep road in less than two minutes, and started to head towards Tim’s hiding place.

“Darn, he must have seen me,” Tim cursed under his breathe. He started to back away, clumsily dodging branches, creating clamorous, clattering commotion, as he stepped on broken twigs on the ground. “Should not have came alone, I stayed too late.”

The man suddenly appeared before Tim and pulled at a small pistol, aiming it at Tim’s chest, eyes hard and unmoving. The old man opened his lips, “Your own stupidity and cacophony lead me to you. What a miserable fellow you are. ” His shot was soundless, a sluggish heavy rock in the air, expanding a moment of possibility of death of  one second to ten. “This is private property you know,” were the last words that reached Tim’s ears.

***

It was empty chamber, a deserted ballet studio Twilight scene, marking a terrible presence. The room was furnished with a long round table, surrounded by high velvet chairs. As the door opened with a wide creak, Dr. Jeong, wearing a green turtleneck, stepped in, followed by two men in suits, one in brown, one in black. Dr. Jeong and the man in brown sat down first. The one in black wore a dark cap and black sunglasses. He took off his hat and sunglasses, revealing brown hair with black streaks and bright auburn eyes. He pulled a chair opposite the other two men and took at a fat tan envelope, dropping it onto the brown smooth table before him. Dr. Jeong, slightly taken aback, cleared his throat.

“Bogdan, what is your business here today?” Dr. Jeong asked.

“Information,” Bogdan, the auburn eyed man, said before pushing the envelope to Dr. Jeong. “I dropped a visit on that FBI agent. He’s one sick man, desperate to not have anything do with us in the public.” Bogdan chuckled.

Dr. Jeong nodded understandingly, then raised an eyebrow.

“Ah yes. I came to tell you that I did your tracking. That girl, Ruth, you’re holding his the daughter of those two patients who disappeared ten years ago. They have been traveling. The last place they took residence in was Romania. Too bad they can’t avoid my detection. I found them, they live in this mansion down at the Valley, near here.” Bogdan related.

Dr. Jeong brought the envelope closer to him. “And this?” He asked.

“More background information on the girl. It will take awhile to go through everything, possibly a month. It took me years to gather them. How are the other patients?” Bogdan replied.

Dr. Jeong straightened up, “Under control. Replications are finalizing.” He pursed his lips. “Ruth is now under insertion. We hope all goes well.” He paused. “And yes, you do not longer have to keep tabs on the parents.” He stopped abruptly, “Do you care for some champagne?”

“Yes, thank you.” Bogdan said stoically as Dr. Jeong pulled out a green remote and and pressed a silver button.

Chapter 6 Deeper into Investigation

Feeling restless, Tim closed his eyes. He started to run down the hill at full force from Valley High School’s main building and crashed into the cherry blossoms a minute later. Petals flew around him. When he opened his eyes, the petals were still on the ground. There was no more wind. His eyes wandered onto the ground and spotted a torn piece of cloth from his black T-shirt.

***

The door creaked open of Mack’s office. A tall figure stepped in, clothed in a black sweat suit. It was a man wearing black sunglasses; he was capped with a black hat, concealing his hair. Mack glanced up from his writing, placing his long silver graphite pen down; he had  just finished erasing a scribble of a circular shape with the graphite vacuum on the other end of his graphite pen. The graphite pen was a new invention last year, ridding the use of the rubber eraser.

“Dr.–,” Mack gasped shortly. The man strode to a wooden chair, and plopped onto it.

“Say no more,” the man said curtly. “Have you cleared all the evidence?”

Mack’s eyes wandered to a nearby drawer, hesitating for a second. “Yes.”

“Good. I should not encounter any problems then.” The man stood up, and placed his hands into one of his pockets, taking out a stash of paper. “This should do it.” The man closed the door quietly as he left Mack’s office. Once he was gone, Mack took the papers into his hands, opened a drawer, and stuffed them on top of a small plastic bag and a sealed gray envelope.

***

Gabby’s hands were shaking when she opened the envelope, as she shut her bedroom door. She took out two filmy cards.

One card was  bar-coded  Kl03, and the other Kl04, in the same exact format.

“Sigh-broke-tree, interesting. Never heard about this before,” Gabby said to herself before opening up her browser on her computer.

***

Tim picked up the cloth and curled it into his fist.

“Maybe, maybe Sally was ambushed here. Some how kidnapped,” Tim whispered uncertainly to himself.  He started to imagine a scene in his head where a pale brunette girl was struggling in the cherry blossoms against a group of people. As she she would be struggling, a piece of her hoodie would tear and her wallet would drop to the ground. “Unlikely.”

He walked passed the cherry blossoms and turned onto a common path where students walked  home on, surrounded by many oak trees. The shade was welcoming, blocking out the hot sun above him. He walked for ten minutes before he noticed a slightly concealed unfamiliar fork of the road with berry bushes  he had never noticed before to his left. He pushed through the converging bushes and ended up in a whole new path. The floor was quite sandy and the surrounding was abnormally quiet. As he kept walking, he felt gentle breezes around him. He stopped abruptly when a huge rock towering over him appeared in his path. When he stepped around it, he saw a steep dirt road before him.

With the sky turning dark and his feeling fatigued from his wandering, Tim sat down at the edge of the the steep path. He looked at his watch. It was five thirty P.M., thirty minutes after Sally left Valley High School and disappeared last month.

“I should be heading back,” Tim grunted as he stood up after five minutes of sitting down. He was about to turn around when something caught his attention. Down the lofty road ahead of him, flashes of light began blinking out of nowhere. A huge translucent bubble materialized, as a man with a cane started to step out from the bubble.

Startled, Tim quickly ran for cover to the trees behind him.

Chapter 5 Quivering in Fear

“Dad,” Ruth murmured.

“I’m right here sweetheart, don’t worry,” Dr. Jeong whispered softly. Ruth was in her own room, snuggled warmly in her own pomegranate colored bed. Dr. Jeong grimaced, holding a camera tightly in his hands.

“Why…,” he whispered fiercely to himself.

***

Gabby turned the keys on the knob of her front door.

“Mom, I’m home,” Gabby called out as she turned a corner into her bedroom. It was a plain white room, furnished with a simple blue bed and a computer table with a cushion chair. Her bare feet glided across her wooden floor and stopped at the computer chair. She sat down and turned on her computer.

She opened up her browser and typed fbi.gov onto the address bar. The website loaded quickly, instantly filling up the whole screen with an American flag banner on the top, the top story in the middle, and the breaking news to the right. She paused for a moment studying the FBI logo, secretly smiling to her self, enjoying the irony of the motto. On the middle of the logo, it said Fidelity, Bravery, Integrity under a picture of a balanced scale. She scrolled down to the bottom. where one of the three link categories said What We Investigate, and clicked on it.

She spent two hours looking through the countless articles of terrorism. There was nothing on Sally Teux, if that was her name. She stood up and went out of her bedroom.

“So what’s for dinner mom?”

***

Tim was sitting at his desk in his own bedroom at home, holding a photocopy of a photograph.

“Why does this girl look so strange,” he murmured to himself, examining the little girl in the picture of Sally’s family.

***

I am running, carelessly down a blur of green. The wind blows, pink butterflies circle me.

“Get me the 452 ovum transmission. Quickly now,” Dr. Jeong ordered a nurse next him. The nurse sprinted out of the room. Ruth was shaking the bed violently, speaking in gibberish at the same time.

“Ahhhhhh,” Ruth screeched aloud, before opening her eyes. “Where am I?” Dr. Jeong quickly grabbed the needle off the tray the nurse, who just came in, was holding, and gave Ruth the shot. The effect was immediate, for Ruth’s eyes started close, as drowsiness overtook her.

***

Holding the piece of paper, with Sally Teux’s address on it, Gabby rang the doorbell of a haunted-looking two story house. Her cell phone started to ring. Tim Smith appeared on the screen of  her cell phone.

“Hey Tim, what’s up,” she answered.

“I’m going to check out the crime scene again.”

“Oh, the cherry blossoms?”

“Yea.”

“Good luck.”

“You too.”

Gabby snapped her cell phone off, her heart tingled with a little worry for Tim and herself, as the front door opened. What was she getting into? Blackmailing the FBI again?

She dismissed the feeling as  a short woman  in her late forties, who had long black hair tied up in a bun, pale skin, and bright auburn colored eyes appeared before her.

“Yes?” The woman, with a woebegone manner, asked. Gabby noted a slight mechanical tone in her voice.

“Is this the Tuex Residence,” Gabby asked.

The woman nodded her head slowly. “And you are?”

Gabby stretched out her right hand, “I’m Gabby Fore, from The Valley Jargon staff of Valley High School. Are you Mrs. Tuex?”

The woman’s eyes widened in shock, expressing nervousness, as she shook hands with Gabby. “Why yes, what do you want?”

“I am here to help you find your daughter.”

Mrs. Tuex stood there unmoving for awhile, gazing into Gabby’s eyes, as someone came up behind Mrs. Tuex.

“Roon, who do we have here?” A deep voice of a man asked. Mrs. Teux immediately jumped and turned around, facing her husband, placing her head on his chest.

“Tribeau! This girl said she will help us find M-Saally,” Roon whispered into Tribeau’s ear. The man’s arms went on the woman’s shoulders, turning her back to face Gabby as he cleared his throat.

“Please come in,” he said with an empty heart, opening the door wider and moving to the side.

***

Gabby wrote:

Year 2225  Month May Day 25th

Sally Teux Report

Evidence                Explanation

in her notebook, as she sat down on a velvet loveseat in the Teux’s living room. Everywhere she glanced was a teal blue color. The couple sat opposite of her in two separate rocking chairs, their eyes blinking quickly before her. Gabby took out her recorder and turned it on.

“When and where did you guys discover your daughter was missing,” Gabby interrogated immediately.

“It was on a Wednesday, when she had to take piano lessons after her registration. When she didn’t come home, we thought she made a , a, a new friend along the way. We waited for two nights, but she did not come home. She was always a responsible girl. She knows her curfew. We had to report to the police on Friday,” Mrs. Teux burst into tears. Mr. Teux eyes stared into Gabby’s eyes for two seconds before reaching over and held Roon’s hand tightly, with a blank expression.

“Where’s the bathroom,” Gabby asked quietly, discomforted with the awkward scene before her, as she pressed off on her recorder, tucking it back into her bag.

“Just go down that hall, pass the first door. Can’t miss it,” Tribeau’s eyes followed her until Gabby closed the bathroom door behind her. Gabby turned on the faucet, letting the water run. She placed her hands in the water and brought it up to her face. Refreshing. Just one question and it’s already giving me the willies. This is so not me. Gabby realized. She looked into the mirror, straightened out her hair, rotated her neck, and pulled on her collar of a red striped blouse she was wearing. She took a deep breath and opened the door. When she stepped out, she noticed the door across from her was opened. She looked to her left and right, making sure Mr. Teux was not around. He wasn’t. She tip-toed closer to the door and peered in. Piles of card board boxes were stacked in a mess, filling up every corner of the room. At the corner of her left eye, she spotted a small envelope, crudely sealed with bright red tape on top of an opened box near the entrance. She reached for it, taking it into her hands and stuffing it into her pocket. A perfect fit. She then started to hear footsteps. She quickly took steps back  into the bathroom’s door, just in time as Mr. Teux came into view.

“You okay,” he asked.

“Yea,” Gabby spoke nervously.

“My wife is not feeling too well, I am going to take her to her psychiatrist. You need to leave now. Come back another day,” he said stoically, not emphasizng much on his last sentence .

“Sure, Sure, not a problem at all,” Gabby said, as Mr.Teux led her back into the living room and out of the house, shutting it silently behind her. Gabby walked steadily to her red Honda Civic, opened it and slid into the driver’s seat. Closing the door and starting the engine, Gabby headed towards the 905 freeway at forty miles an hour.

***

Ruth opened her eyes, immediately noticing the camera left on an empty chair beside her bed. The room was empty, except for the constant beeping of a gray machine hanging from the ceiling. She tried to sit up, but failed. Gathering up her strength again, she managed to get off her bed and slowly walked to the door. She was about to turn the knob when she noticed a little screen above the knob. She pressed a few random buttons on it before the screen flashed into a scene. It was room with white walls, filled with people wearing red and green. The women were in red; the men were in green. The screen zoomed in closer. All the men had the same buzz hair cut, and all the women had the same puffy hairstyle at shoulder length. Just as she focused on the people’s faces, the knob began to turn. Ruth quickly ran back to her bed and drew her covers in and closed her eyes.

The door closed as the heavy footsteps of two men approached, one carrying a black labtop.

Chapter 4 Trapped and Confused

Ruth continued, “I don’t remember a single thing of how I got here in the first place.” Dr. Jeong pursed his lips,

“You have been in a car accident,” he started to inch away from her room. “Rest, don’t think too much about it. It doesn’t matter, you’re okay now.” When the door closed shut, Ruth slumped down on her bed and explored her room with her eyes. It looked familiar. The walls were a pale milky white color with pink plastic stars hanging from the black ceiling. The bed was a pomegranate color, a queen size set. She moved her hand over its soft surface. There was a small yellow dresser on the side, a tall antique lamp, a small purple hand weaved rug, and a medium sized brown table with a chair by a pentagon-shaped window, covered with a forest green silk curtain, patterned with pointy white flowers. Then she noticed something, a camera and a charger partly concealed by a slightly ajar flap from the ground in a partly opened blue sliding closet.

***

Gabby and Tim marched to the glass elevator in the center of the lobby. After pressing the orange triangle pointing upwards, the door slid opened and the two stepped in. The outside view was a blur because the elevator shaft was going up forty miles an hour. Ten seconds later, a bell rung. Stepping out and turning to their left, Gabby and Tim headed to the door with a falling name sign. The hallway was dimly lit with many green closed doors lining up in straight lines.

Gabby walked up to the door and rapped it three times. Tim cleared his throat a few times. The door opened slowly, creaking every second.

“Come in,” Mack croaked. The door swung opened widely, releasing an old shoe polish smell. Mack walked back to his desk, his shoes squeaking every inch he took.

Gabby straightened her red hair, smoothing out any hair sticking out, and stepped into Mack’s office. Tim held his breath, stepped in after Gabby, and closed the door behind him.

“You two only have fifteen minutes and then I have to attend to some business,” Mack drummed his fingers on his desk, while motioning to Gabby and Tim to sit on two rigid wooden chairs in front of him. Gabby took out a plastic bag from her purse, while Tim took a seat and brought out a black briefcase, opening it and taking papers out.

“Good, that’s all we need,” Gabby went straight to business. “Last month, a transfer student was reported missing after two days of leaving Valley High School’s office. Last week, Tim and I encountered some evidence the police missed.” She pointed to the articles in the plastic bag she placed on the table’s surface. Tim began to clear his throat as Mack examined the plastic bag.

As his fingers went over the wallet and lavender cloth on the outside, Mack’s eyes widened and his hands started to shake. Pull yourself together, Mack  thought to himself and closed his eyes. Then he started sweating.

“Something wrong,” Tim asked as he shuffled the papers in his hands. Mack opened his eyes and looked up; his fingers stopped moving around the plastic bag.

“No, nothing is the matter, nn-nothiing,” Mack stuttered. He wiped the sweat off his forehead with his hands, his nails filled with dirt. He cleared his throat. “Where did you collect these evidences?”

“By the cherry blossom trees at our school,” Gabby replied.

“Hmmm… I happen to know this family,” Mack said.

“Really? Did you know all of her files were missing from the school,” Gabby interrogated.

“Ah, no,” Mack whispered.

“You are really uninformed,” Gabby said sarcastically.

“That’s because we took them,” Mack blurted.

“You? The FBI? Why–,” Gabby started to say.

“Legal reasons, we did not want the school to be involved…”

Suddenly, Gabby grabbed the plastic bag out of Mack’s hands.

“Hey, what are you–,” Mack protested, trying to reach for the bag, but he was stopped by Tim’s long arms.

“Calm down, we’re here on business. You give us Teux’s address and other necessary information that will help us find Sally, and we will hand over the evidence,” Tim said.

“Why, you–.” Mack stood up and thumped the table with his hands. “That’s out of the question. We work for the government, we have the right to what you are holding right there, kids.”

“No compromise? We leave,” Gabby glared into Mack’s eyes. Mack clenched his fists, took a deep breathe, and sat down on his chair, swerving a few times.

“Very well, but on one condition. If I find your evidences to be faux, I will send both of you to the juvenile center,” Mack agreed coldly.

“We have one condition also. You must sign this contract,” Gabby spoke back in the same coldness. Tim placed the papers he was holding down onto the table.

Mack’s eyes bulged when he finished reading and signing the contract. Tim took the contract into his hands and photocopied it in his briefcase, making several for Gabby’s reference and one for Mack, while Mack tucked the evidence into his drawer, locking it with a combination.

***

Ruth walked over to the camera and picked it up. When she turned it on, she browsed through the images. She took out the green device Dr. Jeong gave her and wondered if she should press it.  After a few moments, she looked at the images on the camera again and went cold all over. She pressed the button.  Suddenly, her head started to hurt, closing her eyes as her vision blured. The image of cherry blossoms bloomed in her head before she blacked out.

Chapter 3 Struck in Wonder

The girl stopped shaking. This does not make sense, she thought to herself. As her eyes pierced into the man’s eyes, the man chuckled and grabbed her hand, entwining it with his.

“I am so glad I found you dear, at last, father and daughter together,” the man said. The girl tried to pull away but failed. The man’s eyes widened.

“You don’t recognize me? Your own father,” he asked urgently. The girl shook her head slowly as a question formed in her head.

“What is my name,” she asked. The man appeared startled when he heard this. He coughed a few times. Just then a knock came from the door.

“Come in,” the man said sharply. A nurse in a pink dress came in, handing the man a clipboard. The man’s mouth curved into a smile.

“Dr. Jeong, here is what you requested,” she said nervously, glancing at the girl and then back at the man.

“Ah yes. You may leave us,” Dr. Jeong dismissed the nurse, with eyes glued to the clipboard in front of him.

“Your name, you asked? Hmmm,” the man paused, flipping a few pages on the clipboard. “Your name is…Ruth.”

***

Opening up the cracked shades, covered by torn curtains, of the the front window, FBI agent Mack Chavez spotted two teenagers hopping out a blue convertible. His office was dark and gloomy before shades of sunlight shone through the window. His desk was messy, piled with coffee-stained files. Cabinets were half way  closed. The coat hangers were falling off. Overall, his work area was a disaster, with peeling brown paint on his walls and ceiling and a dusty grandfather’s clock off to the side. Mack smacked his head and sighed.

“It’s those kids again, I wonder what they want now,” Mack groaned and put his head on his desk.

Tim strode to the FBI building and reached the entrance door quickly, a few steps ahead of Gabby. Federal Bureau of Investigation glimmered in the sun on top of the building.The black building was ten stories high, with tinted windows lined up outside of every story. Gabby knew which one she had to visit. Tim opened the door and stood aside.

“Ladies first,” he smirked as he swiped off his red cap. Blushing at first and then recovering with an eye-roll, Gabby walked passed Tim confidently. As they entered the main lobby, twenty eyes turned toward them. Ignoring the stares, Gabby approached the front desk and cleared her throat in front of a woman, whose gray eyes glared at the two newcomers.

“Yes? How may I help you,” she spoke crisply.

“Madame Gomer, we’re here to talk to Agent Chavez,” Gabby answered simply. After hearing her answer, Gomer picked up a nearby phone roughly.

“Mack, you have visitors,” Gomer paused. “Alright.” She then replaced the phone and turned her attention to Gabby and Tim.

“You know where to go.”

***

Dr. Jeong unstrapped Ruth off the bed and walked her to the door, supporting her arms with his hands. They exited the hospital ten minutes later and drove away in a Mercedes Benz. Glancing outside, though she could not open her car window, she saw tall gray steel buildings with circular windows. When the car stopped, Dr. Jeong stepped out and opened her door, grabbing her hand and leading her to a silver door of a similar gray building, which opened with a click of a red button in his hand. Ruth was lead into a door in front of her.

“This will be your sleeping quarters, if you need anything just…” Dr. Jeong dug into his pockets and took out a green device, placing it onto Ruth’s hand, “press this button.” As he started to walk out of her new bedroom, Ruth stopped him.

“D-ddaad,” her voice cracked, “how did you find me?”

Chapter 2 Struggling and Discovering

Gabby Fore was the most valued reporter on Valley High School newspaper staff. She dug up dirty secrets that California’s government hid: political scandals, murders, anything.

Valley High School was built on an one  hundred feet high hill, surrounded by vast greenery, open space, and cherry blossom trees. The newspaper headquarters was located on a separated tall tower, ten yards away from the main school building. Up in the highest window of the tower, Gabby was pacing back and forth from her office desk. She was working on her latest article for the Valley Jargon. A young girl disappeared a month ago. It was said she was leaving Valley High School on the twenty-seventh of April at five in the evening. Two days later, she was reported missing. The girl was a transfer student. Suspicions arose when all her files went missing. No one remembered her name. With a Canon Camera strapped to her left hand, and a pencil and a notebook to her other, Gabby was ready to crack this case.

***

“Tim,” Gabby spoke in the phone and held her breath. She was locking up the news tower and heading downhill. On the other line, Tim Smith, a close friend to Gabby who often accompanied her on her investigations, picked up.

“Gabby,” Tim replied.

“You know about that missing transfer girl? I’m going to find her…” Gabby paused, lightly distracted by the way and sound Tim said her name. “I need your help.”

“I am on my way,” Tim pressed end on his  cellphone. “Another great scoop,” Tim said to himself.

When Tim arrived, she found Gabby examining cherry blossoms. It was quite windy. Tim put on his hat, covering up his short jet black hair. Gabby’s brown eyes widened, as her red hair swirled in the wind. She picked up a piece of hair and a tattered piece of lavender cloth.

“Look,” Gabby lifted the articles up to Tim’s eye level. “I heard the transfer girl was wearing a lavender hoodie that day…and this could be her hair.”

“Quite possible. Good catch. I think–,” Tim started to say before  a small black object three feet away from him covered in dirt caught his eye.

Gabby, confused as Tim started to walk away from her, asked, “Yes? Continue?”

“Hold on, I think, this is her wallet,” Tim said softly as he picked up the black object. He opened the wallet as Gabby walked over. There was a picture of three people, an older woman, a man, and a young girl. There was also some China currency.

“I think these are her parents, and that’s her, the little girl,” Tim said.

“Nothing else? No Identification card?”

“Wait,” Tim said as he browsed deeper into other pockets of the wallet. “Here, this card.” Tim handed the card to Gabby. It was a plain white card with only a tiny print in the middle.

“Hmm…wonder how the FBI can miss this eh, Tim?” Gabby took the wallet and placed the name card in. Then she placed the rest of the evidence into a plastic bag and started to head back to the school. Tim sighed reflectively for a few seconds, and  then followed.

***

Everyone backed away. The girl was shaking violently, trying to free herself as she kept screaming.

“Everyone out,” the man ordered. The room soon became empty except the two. The man grabbed her hand. The girl quickly balled it into a fist, but the man managed to pry it open. He took a white wax paper from his overcoat’s pocket and slammed it onto the girl’s palm. When he peeled it off, he took out a metal object. A red lazer beam shot out and scanned the wax. Three beeps sounded off from the scanner.

“DNA scan complete,” a mechanic male voice spoke from the metal. The man looked at the detailed report screening from an angle of the object. He began to grin. He smothered the girl’s scream with his hand.

“Shhh…Daddy’s here.”

Chapter 1 Confined in the Shadows

Time was the enemy. As they said, silence was golden; duct tape was silver. Life was but a dream, shattered in a few seconds when reality slipped out of hand. Reliving painful memories, the horrors, found their way into a mind of consciousness. Secrets withheld, by a fist of fury, which cannot be diminished. Sweet, very sweet.

The hospital patient room was small, surrounded with gray empty walls, with only one window,  allowing the brilliant sun outside to shine in. The room was grim, however. It was barred. Huntington Memorial Hospital was engraved by a wall opposite the bed.

Everyone in the room was shifting nervously, feigning a sneeze or a cough every few minutes. The brunette girl on the bed was lying there motionlessly, face clothed in a deathly pale color. There was a slight bruise on her left eye, lightly concealed. Her facial features were close to a hybrid of different races. A mysterious background. At the moment,  she seemed relaxed.

“Who is she,” a man whispered to a woman.

“I have no idea,” the woman replied.

“What are we doing here,” an elderly man whispered.

The door flew open and a tall young man, with chestnut colored hair, clothed in a white overcoat, stepped in. The whispers died and everyone straightened up. The newcomer cleared his throat and walked to the lying patient. He stretched out his hand and placed it on the girl’s forehead. The girl began to stir, her breathing picking up pace. Soft gasps spread throughout the group around her.

Her bright auburn eyes flashed open immediately. She eyed everyone nervously, slowly at first. Finally her eyes settled on her arms and legs, strapped tightly to the bed. The tall man lifted his hand and began stroking her hair.

“It’s going to be okay…,” he crooned at her. Eye contact was exchanged between the girl and the man briefly. Without a warning, she let out a blood-curdling scream.

Prologue

Even if your hope is gone
Move along
Move along
Just to make it through

As the music played in the background of her hotel room, the girl held her camera charger in hand, heading to the electric plug. I feel so strange. So scared. She thought to herself. Her hands with the charger created contact with the plug. Electricity sparked. Shock overcame her as she fell nimbly to the floor.
***
She woke up in a hospital bed. Everywhere was dark, as her eyes wandered around. There were other patients sound asleep. Everything felt so quiet and calm–except one thing. She could not remember who she was.

I’ve become so numb I can’t feel you there
Become so tired so much more aware
I’m becoming this all I want to do
Is be more like me and be less like you