• Star Child

    Chapter 1
    Beginnings

    The rain came down around me in big, fat drops. I was on my way to the bus stop when it started pouring. I hadn’t realized how late I had stayed at the library. It was well passed eight o’clock at night.
    In my hand I held two books. One about plants and how to make them grow faster and the other one was a book with old legends and fairy tales. The one about plants was for school and the other one was just my secret pleasure.
    I had to keep my fascination with fairy tales and legends a secret from my family because they didn’t approve of me reading them. They always said it was a waste of time because it didn’t help my grades, in fact it made them worse. My mom said I couldn’t get my head out of the clouds and my dad thought I had and overactive imagination. My younger sister, Pixie, was the only one who knew I still read fairy tales. She said she wouldn’t tell as long as I did some favors for her every once in a while.
    The bus pulled into the station five minutes late, as usual. I stepped up onto the bus, paid my fare, and took the seat closest to the front. As we passed each station more and more people got off the bus. By the time the bus reached my station there was only three passengers let other then myself. I had realized half-way through my trip that one of the men on the bus was starring at me. I avoided eye contact with him until I stepped off the bus. He had gotten off at my station as well. I tried to pretend I didn’t see him and started toward my house. I denied the fact that he could want to hurt me and just pretended that he wasn’t fallowing me, even though he was. As I rounded the corner I started to walk faster hoping to lose him but he soon noticed that I knew he was there. He started running towards me and I was so shocked that I stalled for half a second before I started running myself. The man had longer legs than I did so he caught me easily and dragged me into an ally close-by before I could scream. He covered my mouth with one hand and dragged me toward the end of the ally with the other. There was another man waiting there.
    I felt the adrenaline rush through my veins and I struggled as hard as I could to escape from the mans hands. I managed to slip my mouth out from under his hand and when he tried to cover it again I bit down hard. He yelped and let go of me for a split second and I took my chance and ran. The men yelled for me to stop but, of course, I had no intention of doing that. I heard them chasing after me and I looked back and saw that they would catch me it I didn’t run faster. I willed my legs to go as fast as they ever gone before but the men were gaining on me. I looked around to see if there was a laundry mat or a fast food joint that I would be safe in but I saw none. I heard the men getting close enough to grab me and I feared that this could be the end, when suddenly someone grabbed me. I went flying sideways and lost my balance and fell flat on my butt behind the guy who had pulled me out of the way of the men.
    The two men ran up to the ally opening and said,
    “Hand over the girl and you won’t get hurt.”
    “Why should I hand her over to a worthless human like you,” said the guy in front of me.
    “You really want to get hurt, don’t you kid,” said one of the two men.
    “ No, it just pisses me off to see two grown men chase after a young girl who’s completely helpless,” replied the young man.
    “That’s it punk. We’ll kill you before we take the girl,” said the other of the two men.
    The guy in front of me took a few steps back and whispered “Stay out of the way while I get rid of these guys.”
    I backed up against the ally wall and watched as the fight broke out. The two men tried to get on either side of the young man, but the young man stepped towards one of the two men and took the first swing. He made contact with the guys noise which sent him flying backwards on to their butt. The second man tried to attack the young man from behind but the young man turned on the attacker and punched him in the gut. He fell backwards and landed right next to me. I screamed from surprise and looked up at the young man who was coming toward me. He offered me his hand to help me up when I noticed the first man come up behind him with a wooden board in his hand.
    “Watch out!” I yelled but it was to late. The man swung it toward the young man’s head. As it made contact with his head, the young mans fell forward slightly before the board shattered over his head.
    As pieces of wood rained over me, the young man stood and turned on the attacker. Hitting the man several times before letting him fall to the ground. We stayed like that for several long seconds before he turned back to me.
    “Are you ok?” he asked.
    “Um… yes… I mean… I think so…” I stuttered after a moment.
    He starred at me with wondering green eyes for another moment before responding.
    “I’m glad,” he finally said with a slight smile, “Now, if you wouldn’t mind, I would like to escort you home, or at least part of the way home, to make sure you get there safely.”
    I thought maybe he was trying to trick me into taking him back to my house, but then I thought he can’t be that bad because he did save me. So I said I’d take him up on that offer.

    Chapter 2
    The Walk Home

    He helped me up and walked me out of the ally. He let me lead since we were headed to my house. It took me a minute to find out where I was exactly. I found out that I had ran two and a half blocks the wrong way so I headed back down the way I had came from.
    The entire time I was figuring out which way to go the young man who saved me waited patiently. When we started walking I decided I should thank him properly.
    “Thanks for saving me back there. I would have been in big trouble if you hadn’t come along.”
    “Don’t worry about it. It’s what any good person would have done.” he said with a smile on his face.
    “Is there any way I can repay you for your kindness. Not just anybody is willing to step in to something like that, but you did anyway. You ended up getting hit on your head pretty hard didn’t you?”
    He looked at me questionably like he didn’t know what I was talking about, but then realized I meant the board the man had hit him in the back of his head with.
    “No, my head feels fine and you don’t have to repay me. Just seeing you safely home is reward enough,” he said after a minute or two.
    It took a few minutes for what he said to sink in. No one has ever talked to me like that before. I was kind of embarrassed by it. I wasn’t sure how to respond to what he had said.
    “I don’t believe I caught your name, miss,” he said when he realized I couldn’t think of something to say.
    “um… you have to promise not to laugh.” I told him as my face turned a light pink.
    “ I will not laugh at your name. I promise,” he said while gazing at me.
    “My name is Mocha. Mocha Lightmoon, and may I know yours, kind stranger,” I said after a moment of silence.
    “Your name suites you, miss. You should not be ashamed of it and my name is Ray Press. I’m sorry for not mentioning it earlier,” he said.
    “Oh I’ve always hated my name. The kids at school make fun of me for it, but your name is nice. It sounds like someone famous or something. Oh, I’m sorry, I’m just gabbing. It’s something I do when I’m nervous.”
    “That’s cute. It’s good that you know your weak points, so you can improve them. My weak point is getting into fights to defend pretty girls,” he said with a big smile of his face.
    My face turned bright red because of his comment. I went silent after that.
    He looked nervous after I hadn’t talked for over five minutes.
    “Did I offend you, Mocha. If I have, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean too,” he said with a worried look in his face.
    “No, no you didn’t offend me. It’s just that no one has ever called me pretty before so I got embarrassed,” I said quickly so I didn’t hurt his feelings.
    “Oh, well that’s a relief. I don’t know what I would have done if I had offended you right after I met you,” he said.
    “No, you could never offend me. I mean, you saved me after all. I would do anything to pay you back for your kindness. My house is up here on the left, by the way,” I replied.
    “You would do anything to pay me back?” he asked with curious eyes.
    “Well, anything within reason,” I replied.
    “Would you be willing to get together with me and show me around town. I’m new,” he asked.
    “Sure, we could get together again soon. When do you want to meet?”
    “Well, I’ll be busy all day tomorrow but what about the day after that?” he asked.
    “It would depend on the time. I would be able to meet you between two and five that day. Does that work for you?” I said.
    “How about we meet at two-thirty,” he replied.
    “ok. Here, I’ll give you my number in case something comes up.”
    I took out a piece of paper and jotted my number on it with my name and address.
    When I handed him the paper he handed me one back with his name, number, and address on it as well I took it and noticed he lived relatively close to me.
    “Thanks,” I said. We were in front of my house now and I turned to say good night.
    Before I could say anything he bent his head and kissed my forehead. I turned bright red as he did so. He stood up strait and began to walk away.
    “I’ll see you in a few days, Mocha. I’ll meet you at that library of yours,” he said.
    I stared after him wondering how he knew I had been at the library, ad then I looked down at the two library books still clutched to my chest. I ran into my house as soon as he was out of sight. When I was inside I leaned against the wall and slide to the floor, my face still burning red.

    Chapter 3
    Phone Call

    I spent the next day in my room. I read the two books I had and finished my report on plants, which was due on Monday. I tried not to think about what I would wear tomorrow, but it was no use. I started going through my closet, hoping to find something decent to wear. After going through all my cloths I had four different outfits laying on my bed. I had my favorite shorts with the “Surfs up” tank top to go it. I had out the only sundress I owned. It was light blue with some white on it. Then I had out my comfy pair of jeans with my pirates of the Caribbean T-shirt to go with it. The last outfit was the long purple skirt and the tie-die shirt my hippie aunt gave me last Christmas.
    I decided against the sundress. I hadn’t seen anyone wear them lately. I also put back the shorts and tank top thinking that would show off too much skin. Then I had to choose between the jeans and the skirt.
    I couldn’t decide which to wear so I decided to put it away for the time being. Now it was late in the afternoon so I decided to go make some lunch.
    I went downstairs and started to make myself a sandwich. I only had to make food for myself because my parents were almost never home. My dad worked over seas and my mom worked at night and sometimes into the day so she would just stay at work to sleep. They sent home money if they couldn’t find the time to come home for a day. I did the grocery shopping for my sister and I. We rarely ate together, anyway. My sister had left a note saying she would be at Clara’s house until Sunday, so I didn’t have to worry about feeding her today or tomorrow.
    I sat in silence as I ate my lunch. When I was finished I washed my plate and my glass and put them away.
    I went back up to my room and picked up the fairy tale book again. I flipped to my favorite fairy tale and started to re-read it. The story was about a vampire who was looking for the person that could save his kind from destruction. The vampire was surprised when he found out the person that could save them was a human. In the end the vampire and the human end up falling in love with each other but the law demands that they be separated. They never saw each other again.
    The story had made me cry the first time I read it and now I was tearing up again. When I finished the story for the second time, I closed the book, set it on my nightstand, and went to get a tissue. I wiped my tears away and blow my nose.
    I went to throw my tissue away when my phone rang. I grabbed it off my bed and hit the talk button.
    “Hello,” I said.
    “Hey, what’s up?” the person on the end of the line said.
    It took me a minute to realize it was Ray.
    “Nothing much. I finished my report today, but that’s about it,” I said. “What are you up to?” I asked.
    “Oh, some family business. You know, boring stuff,” he replied.
    “Oh, ok. Well why did you call? Do you have to cancel our plans for tomorrow,” I asked while walking around nervously.
    “I called to make sure you were ok with still meeting me tomorrow after what I did last night,” he answered.
    I remembered that he had kissed me on the forehead before leaving. I could feel my face turning red again from remembering how he was so smooth about the whole thing.
    “Mocha?” I heard him say on the other line. I realized I hadn’t spoken for several minutes, “Are you there, Mocha?”
    “Yeah… I’m still here. Sorry. Um… we can still meet up. I didn’t mind the k… k…”
    “The kiss. Yeah… I am sorry about that. I don’t know what came over me. You were just so cute last night.”
    There was a long silence.
    “So I’ll see you tomorrow than?” he finally asked.
    “Yeah. I’ll meet you in the fiction section?” I asked.
    “Yeah, the fiction section is fine. I’ll see you then,” he said.
    “Ok, bye,” I replied.
    “Bye,” he said.
    I heard the click of the receiver on the end of the line, but I still held the phone to my ear until I heard the message go off asking me to please hang up and dial again. I hung up the phone and sat on my bed in a daze.

    Chapter 4
    Meeting

    I woke up early the next morning. I stood up a little too fast and had to sit back down on my bed to stop the dizzy feeling in my head. I looked at my alarm clock and saw that it was only four-thirty.
    “Why a I up this early?” I asked myself out loud, “I don’t even remember going to bed.”
    The I realized I was still in the cloths I wore yesterday. I must have fallen asleep after Ray’s phone call.
    “Just great. Now my sleeping schedule is all out of wack,” I said to myself.
    I decided to go done stairs and watch some late night T.V.. I flipped through the channels and the only thing on that wasn’t cartoons, old movies, or something I’ve already seen was the game channel, which had a Wheel of Fortune re-run on, and a movie called “Spirited Away”. I decided to watch the movie because I’d never seen nor heard of it before. It was about a girl who’s parents got turned into pigs and she was fighting to get them back from the witch.
    By the time the movie was over it was a little after six thirty. I decided to eat breakfast. I had my usual, cereal, and then washed the dishes I had used. I went back up stairs and took out the two outfits I still had to choose between. I fought back and forth with myself about what outfit to wear for over half an hour.
    I finally choose the jeans with the pirates of the Caribbean shirt. I thought it would at least make me seem normal.
    I put the other outfit away and decided to do a little house cleaning. I started with the living room. I picked everything up off the floor. I through my sisters toys in her room and put my stuff in my room. Then I dusted and vacuumed the rug.
    I didn’t have to do the kitchen because I kept it clean. I wasn’t allowed into my parents room and my sister would kill me if I touched anything in her room, so I vacuumed the hallway and dusted all he pictures on the wall. Then I vacuumed my room. When I had finished all of that it was eight twenty. I turned on the T.V. and flipped through the channels. I watched the last ten minutes of the movie “Stick It” and then started watching a Ghost Whisperer marathon.
    Ghost Whisperer had started at the beginning of last summer. It was my favorite show. They were playing all the episodes from the first season, before the second season started next week.
    I made lunch around twelve thirty. Cleaned up, put away, and took out the trash after lunch. I went up stairs and changed my cloths after that. By then it was one thirty.
    I decided to head to the library early so I could return my two books and look for some new ones before Ray got there at two thirty.
    I grabbed the books off my nightstand, went down stairs and scooped up my jacket of the back of the kitchen chair and snatched my keys off the hook. Locking the door before slipping my jacket on and checking to make sure I had my library card before I started walking down the street. Ten minutes passed as I walked to the bus stop. Luckily, the bus had just arrived when I got there. I paid the bus fare and took a seat. I got off four stops later. Then, I walked the last block to the library. I dropped the two books in the return slot and walked into the library.
    The librarian waved at me and I waved back. All the librarians knew me here. I had been coming to this library for over ten years. I started coming here when I was six. First I had to wait for my parents to take me, but as they slowly stopped coming home, I started walking there on my own. When my parents found out I was going to the library on my own, they stopped coming home all together. I was lucky if I saw my parents once a month now. With my dad over sea, he didn’t even need to come home because everything he owned was were he worked and the only reason my mom would come home would be to do laundry. I hadn’t seen my mom in over two months and my dad in over a year and half. I was used to being alone. I only had a few friends at school. Other than that, I was always alone, so I turned to books when I was feeling lonely. The library had become like a second home to me. The librarians liked me and would give me treats sometimes. They would let me know if any new books had come in and let me have first dibs on them. I had read almost every book in the children’s section and now I was working on the books in the teen section or the fiction section.
    I headed over to the fiction section first and started scanning the books. By the time it was two twenty I had picked out a book about fairies, another about the wizards, and another about the wonderful fairytale water creatures.
    I found a table and sat down. I opened the water creatures book and started reading.
    The book was very good. It listed all kinds of water creatures that people can only imagine. I began to lose track of time and the next thing I knew, it was three ten. I bolt strait up in my seat when I noticed someone was sitting in the seat across from me. I was even more surprised when I realized it was Ray.
    “How long have you been sitting there?” I asked him.
    “I got here at two thirty, like we planed. I saw you sitting her and thought you looked so peaceful, I didn’t want to bother you,” he answered with an amused smile on his face.
    I could feel the blush creep over my face.
    “You should have said something. Now I feel bad about making you sit here,” I complained.
    “Don’t worry about that. Worry about where you want to go. We can go to dinner a little later, if you want, but I think it’s too early for that,” he said with wondering eyes.
    “I… I saw a poster for a street fair down the street. That might be fun,” I said after thinking for a minute.
    “Perfect. Are you ready to leave?” he asked.
    “I just have to check these books out real quick,” I said while standing up. He followed suite and stood up as well.
    I walked over to the check out counter and handed the books to B.B., the receptionist behind the counter.
    “How are you today, Mocha?” she asked when she realized it was me.
    “I’m good. How are you? Finally got over that nasty cold, I see,” I answered.
    “Yes, yes I’m better now, but I’m afraid I passed it to my son. Now he’s home, in bed with the cold,” she said while handing the books back to me.
    “Oh, no. well, I hope he gets better soon,” I said while taking the books and putting them in my bag.
    “I’ll tell him you send your regards,” she said.
    “Yes, thank you, B.B.,” I responded while heading towards the door.
    I waved to the other librarian as I left the library with Ray close behind me.
    “Do all of the librarians know you here?” Ray asked as we started walking down the street.
    “Yeah. I’ve been going to that library since I was six. They’re like a second family to me,” I told him.
    “Is that why your always there?” he asked.
    “Yeah, I… how did you know I was always at the library?” I asked him after a moment.
    “I just… You seem like the type of girl to be in a library all the time. That’s all,” he said a little nervously.
    I thought about it for a minute and then let it slide. He hadn’t shown any signs of being bad and I didn’t feel any bad signals coming from him now.
    I saw the street fair coming up and started to get excited. I always knew that this street fair was held every year but I had never actually gone to one. It’s no fun unless you have someone to go with.
    “Where do you want to go first?” I asked him.
    “Where ever you want to go first,” he said with a smile on his face.
    I smiled back at him as we headed toward the shops.

    Chapter 5
    The Street Fair

    Ray and I walked along the shops and glanced over everything there was to see. The first thing we decided to do was get our faces painted. I choose the butterfly mask. The face painter choose red, blue, green, orange, and yellow to paint the butterfly wings coming out of the sides o my eyes. Ray choose the bat wings. The face painter used gray and a little red for Ray’s.
    We also saw people selling pet rocks, incense, stained glass, book scraping items, and miscellaneous greasy food products. As we reached the end of the second street we saw someone selling portraits of people he drew. We looked at the price and saw that it was $13 for a single person and $20 for two people. I only had $15 left for my own spending money so I started to walk away, but Ray grabbed my hand and pulled me back.
    “Let’s get our portrait drawn. I’ll pay.”
    “Really, are you sure?” I asked him.
    “Yeah, I’ve never had one of these done before. It might be cool, if you were in it too,” he answered.
    “Oh, ok. As long as you want to,” I said as my face turned slightly pink.
    We stepped into the line that was formed by the booth and waited our turn. The artist was drawing twin girls when we stepped in line. Behind them was a couple who were having a hard time keeping their hands off each other. Then there was a mother and daughter who looked like clones of one another. We were behind them. The sign said each picture took about ten minutes so we had a half hour to wait.
    “So…, what’s your favorite color,” I asked.
    “What?” Ray said looking kind of surprised.
    “Well, we have a half hour wait. I just thought we could learn a little about each other. So, my favorite color is purple. What’s yours?” I responded.
    “… It’s red,” he answered after a moment, “what kind of music do you listen to?”
    “I like soft rock and some hip hop. My favorite singer is Pink. What about you,” I said.
    “I like older music,” he said.
    “You mean like eighties music? that’s cool.”
    “Yeah, kinda,” he answered quickly, “What else do you like to do other than hang out at the library and go to street fairs?”
    “Well, to be perfectly honest, I don’t really go anywhere else. I have school and taking care of my sister to worry about, so I don’t get out much. That’s why I’m so pale. I’m never out in the sun long enough. I get jealous of all the girls at school who have time to get tans and manicures and pedicures but, then of course, I don’t know who would go with me even if I had the time to go,” I told Ray.
    “Why do you have to take care f your sister and don’t you have friends?” he asked with curious eyes.
    “I do have one friend, but she’s not really into the whole going out in public thing. She prefers to stay indoors, playing video games or reading manga. The reason I take care of my sister is because my parents are always working. My dad works over sea’s in England and my mom only comes home to do laundry, so I almost never see them,” I answered with a sad look on my face.
    “I’m sorry. You didn’t have to tell me if you didn’t want to. It must be lonely for you living like that,” he responded looking as sad as I felt.
    “Well, yes, it does get lonely sometimes, but that’s when I turn to my books. Any kind of adventure you can imagine at the tip of your fingers. It gives me such a rush. I love reading,” I gushed.
    “I can see that. It’s good that you love reading. I don’t read nearly as enough as I should. Anyway, sorry I dragged up a sad subject for you. I didn’t mean to pry,” he said.
    “Oh, no. it’s ok. You didn’t know about my family, so it’s my fault I got sad. Don’t worry about it. What about your family?” I said hoping to change the subject from my life to his.
    “Oh… you know… just a normal family with a mom, a dad, a younger brother, and our grandpa is living with us right now so, the house is kind of crowded. Other than that my family is normal,” he answered.
    “Well, do you have friends from school you hang out with?” I asked.
    “I’m home schooled, so I actually don’t know a lot of people my age. You’re the first teenager I’ve meet in this town other than relatives. It’s kind of refreshing to be hanging out with someone who isn’t in the family. I hardly ever make friends,” he said.
    “Well, I’m glad you like hanging out with me. I just thought you might have been being nice,” I said shyly.
    “No, you kind of got me out of more family business today so, I’m thankful,” he said with a grin on his face.
    “You can ask me out anytime you feel like escaping your family. I can guarantee, I won’t have plans,” I said with a little sarcasm.
    We stood for a moment grinning at each other before the artist called us up for our turn.
    We stepped up to the bench that was set up and sat down. Ray placed his arm around my shoulders lightly. The artist told me to fold my hands in my lap or to hold hands with Ray.
    I looked up at him with a blush across my face before I felt him grab my left hand and lace his fingers through mine. He smiled down at me with his piercing green eyes before turning back to the artist.
    I looked forward in a daze while the artist started drawing. I didn’t realize that I had had a big, goofy grin on my face until the artist had handed the picture to Ray. Ray handed me the picture while he reached for his wallet and pulled out a twenty and handed it to the man. Then he glanced down at his watch.
    “It’s almost six. Did you want to go to dinner?” he asked while looking over at me.
    “Yeah, sure,” I said with the same goofy smile on my face.
    Ray came to my side and took my hand for the second time that night and lead me away, through the crowd.

    Chapter 6
    Dinner

    Ray took me to the pizzaria two blocks away from the street fair. It turns out that both of us like plain, cheese pizza. We ordered a medium cheese with bread sticks as a side.
    “Have you ever been here before, Mocha?” Ray asked me.
    “Yeah, a few times. Kimmy likes the pizza here, so whenever we’re close by we stop by here. Of course, she likes everything on her pizza, so we end up ordering half cheese, half everything and we take the leftovers home. We’re best friends, but total opposites,” I said.
    “So, Kimmy’s your friend from school, right?” Ray asked.
    “Yeah. She doesn’t get out much, but that’s one thing we have in common. We met at school three years ago and have been best friends ever since. She started this whole Goth thing a year and a half ago, so she’s even more of an outcast now, than she was then. I’m the only person ho stayed friends with her after that. The other kids in school thinks she’s crazy. She keeps saying she knows a vampire. I know, my friend sounds crazy but she’s a good friend so, don’t think badly of her,” I told Ray.
    “I won’t. Maybe I can meet her sometime,” Ray said.
    “Yeah, sure,” I said happily.
    I was glad that Ray wanted to meet my friend even though I had made her sound crazy. It was really nice of him to be interested in my friends and family even though we weren’t dating yet.
    I stopped myself right there. What made me think that Ray would want to date me. So, he thought I was cute. Guys don’t date girls just because they thought the girl was cute. They had to be more than cute. They had to be “hot” and have a personality that dazzled people and had to have normal friends. Ray would want someone like that, not plain, boring me.
    I grabbed for a second slice of pizza to stop myself from crying.
    He would never want me that way. Never.
    Ray’s point of view
    She was thinking of something unpleasant. I could tell by the look on her face, she was about to cry, but she stopped herself by eating more pizza.
    “Are you ok. Did I do something wrong?” I asked her.
    “No, no it wasn’t you. Just me and my silly imagination, is all,” she answered with a sad look in her eyes.
    “Your imagination is perfect, just the way it is,” I told her with a light smile on my face.
    She looked surprised at first but soon a smile spread across her face.
    “You always say the right thing to cheer me up,” she said with a light blush crossing her cheeks.
    “Well, I wouldn’t want you to be unhappy. Especially when your with me,” I told her.
    The blush on her cheeks grew darker. I loved it when she blushed. It was so easy to embarrass her. She seemed so helpless sometimes that I felt like I wanted to protect her. Of course, that was my job.
    I can’t believe she was the one. The person who was going to save us. I don’t see how she could be the chosen one. She was so helpless.
    Then of course, that’s probably why they sent me to protect her. I though it was a pain at first. Fallowing her around everywhere she went and the watching her house at night. But after I met her, she didn’t seem so bad. She actually seemed nice. Of course, she didn’t know what I was, yet, so she thought I was normal, like her. She would have to find out eventually though.
    I realized that Mocha was starring at me with concern in her eyes. Then, I noticed that I had been spacing out for a few minutes and had missed something she said.
    “I’m sorry. What did you say,” I asked her with a sorry look on my face.
    “I said, that we should…”
    She repeated what she said before, but I didn’t hear the second part because over her shoulder, I saw them.
    Mocha’s point of view
    What was he staring at. He had been spacing out just two seconds ago and now he was doing it again. Did he see a prettier girl behind me or just somebody he knew. I couldn’t tell because the look on his face was mixed between a look of wonder and a look of fear. That’s when I realized something was wrong.
    “What’s wrong? Are you ok?” I asked getting a little scared.
    “We need to leave. Now,” he said while standing up. He pulled out his wallet and through some cash on the table.
    I stood too, after I realized he was serious.
    “What’s wrong?” I asked again. He grabbed my hand and started leading me to the entrance.
    “Ray, what’s wrong?” I asked again, a little louder this time.
    “I’ll explain later. Just trust me, for now, please,” he said as we reached the door and stepped out into the cool air.
    I turned around and saw that every one in the restaurant had been starring at us. Everyone, except the person in the corner booth. They weren’t looking at us at all. The weren’t with anyone but they didn’t seem to be paying any attention to us. There was a grin across their face, though, as if something were funny.
    I turned back to Ray, as he hurried me down the street. I tripped a few times, but Ray caught me and helped me up each time.
    Before I knew it, we were in front of my house. Ray turned to me and grabbed my shoulders; looked me in the eyes with a very serious look on his face.
    “I need you to go in and pack a bag. If your sister is home tell her to go back to her friends house until you come and get her. Now go,” he said while pushing me toward the house.
    “Where are you going to take me?” I asked with a very concerned look on my face.
    “Someplace where they can’t get you.”

    Chapter 7
    Confusion

    I did what Ray asked me. He looked so serious that I was afraid to ask what was going on. I unlocked the door, with shaking hands, and stumbled into the house. I ran up the stairs and into my room. Grabbing my duffle bag and opening my dresser drawer at the same time. I tossed four shirts in the bag and then three pairs of jean. I closed the drawer and went to my closet. I got out my scarf and a good pair of tennis shoes. I through them in the bag and zipped it up. Heading towards the door, I caught sight of my music box, where I hid my cash. I walked over to it and opened the top. I pulled out all the cash I had. It was about 72 dollars, I think.
    I headed down the stairs after stuffing the cash into the side pocket of the duffle bag.
    I decided to leave a note for my sister. She was supposed to be home later tonight and I knew she’d listen to my note, if it sounded serious. I quickly wrote:
    Pixie,
    I know your going to be home later tonight, but a big emergency came up. When you get this note I need you to go back over to a friends house until I come and pick you up. Leave a note for me telling me where you are in our secret place. the one mom and dad don’t even know about.
    I’ll see you soon
    Love M.

    I put the note in the fridge by her favorite juice. I knew, that would be the first thing she’d get when she got home, because none of her friends drank it. I set up a prayer that all would be well and started towards the door.
    Suddenly, there was a loud bang and I screamed. I looked over at the window where the noise had come from and saw that the person from the corner both at the restaurant, was now, standing in my kitchen, with the same crazy grin of their face.
    The instant I had screamed, Ray was at my side. I didn’t have time to think how he had gotten there so fast, because as soon as Ray arrived the person came towards us. Ray stepped in front of me and took a battle stance. Then the person jumped high and went for Ray’s chest, knocking him to the ground. I screamed again out of fear for Ray. Ray proceeded to punch the person in the face, knocking them on their side. When the person tried to get up, Ray punched them again, this time making the hood fall of the person’s head.
    Then all time stood still. Ray looked up at the person with shock in his eyes. I was looking into a mirror.
    This person looked just like me, but completely different. She had the same hair and the same deep blue eyes, but her eyes had so much more knowledge in them that it made me feel like a child. There was also a lot of hatred in them. It was like my evil twin.
    While I gawked, Ray had regained his ground, stood up, and put his arm around my waist.
    “You guys stay away from her. We’ll never let you harm her,” Ray said with anger in his voice.
    “You know we will do anything to get ride of her, Ray. You once wanted her gone too. What happened? Did you go soft. To think I actually saw something in you once.”
    With that, the second me turned and jumped back out the window she had broken.
    I stood there, breathing hard, for what seemed like a life time even though I knew it had only been a few seconds.
    “Mocha, are you ok?” I heard Ray ask.
    I didn’t answer. I just stared at the broken window where the other me had disappeared. And then, I did something I had never done before. Faint.
    Ray’s point of view
    “Mocha! Mocha! Get up. Please, wake up.”
    Mocha had fainted right after Pi Berry had disappeared into the night. I needed to get Mocha to the mansion and I needed to do it now. I draped Mocha on my back and grabbed the duffle bag she had dropped when the window broke. Then headed for the door.
    I had left it open when I ran into the house. Now, there was a young girl standing in the doorway, with a bag over her shoulder, and a curious look on her face. When she saw me the curiosity changed to fear and then to anger.
    “What are you doing with my sister!?” she yelled at me. Then she did something I had not expected. She through down her bag and charged right at me.
    “Give her to me! What did you do?! Did you drug her? Get out!” she grabbed Mocha off my back before I could think of a reason for her to be there. I turned to the girl and watched her lay Mocha on the floor. Then she preceded to shaking her.
    “Mocha. Mocha. Get up you stupid, sister. How could you let a boy in the house while mom and dad are gone. Your supposed to be watching me, not getting date rapped. Wake up!” Then the girl turned back to me and gave me the most powerful glare I had ever received.
    “What are you still doing here, you pervert?! I told you to get out. If your not out of this house in ten seconds, I’m calling the police and I’ll tell them you where going to kidnap my sister. Get out.”
    “I’m sorry. I’m not the one who hurt your sister. I was trying to protect her. She was going to get taken by…”
    “Liar! Your lying. There was no one else in the house and you had Mocha on your back while heading towards the door. How do you explain that?” she asked with a furious voice.
    “I… I can’t really, but I promise, I would never hut your sister. We’re friends. We were out earlier tonight and I brought her home. As I was leaving I herd a scream from inside the house, so I ran back to make sure she was ok. I found her on the floor, with the window broken in, and someone standing over her. I couldn’t see their face; they had a hood on. Please, you have to believe me,” I told her with honesty in my eyes. The last thing I needed to be doing tonight was getting arrested.
    “Fine. Prove it. What’s Mocha’s favorite color?” she asked suddenly.
    “Her favorite color is purple,” I answered immediately. I felt bad, having to use the information from Mocha’s file, but desperate times call for desperate measures.
    “What color are her eyes?” she asked again.
    “Blue,” I answered.
    “Hmm. Where do our parents work?” she asked with a grin on her face.
    What should I do. Tell her what Mocha told me or let her know that I knew what her parents did for a living.
    “Your dad runs a big company called “Fountain” an you mom is a F.B.I. agent, here, in Fluter.
    I looked over at her and noticed she still had the same grin on her face.
    “Wrong answer,” she said, “Mocha’s never told anyone what our parents actually do. She tells them dad works over seas and that moms just never home. So how do you know what our parents actually do. Are you stoking us. You crazy people make me sick. Get out. I’m calling the police right now.”
    She stepped toward the kitchen to get the phone.
    “No, wait,” I said and reached out to stop her.
    She slapped my hand away and glared at me.
    “That’s it!” she yelled and ran towards me. She started hitting me, hard, in any place she could reach. What was I supposed to do. Stop her, push her away, or just let her tire herself out. I didn’t know.
    I didn’t know.