《To the Moon and Back》


 SHIFT

    The loud buzzer sounded bringing me to consciousness. It wasn¡¯t a nice sound to wake to but its all I have ever known. I crawled out from under the warm covers. Some of the other girls around me we already dressed. I pulled my beige khakis on with my black shirt and jacket. Black signified what level I am. The younger girls wore yellow and all the children wore red. We had one hour to shower and get ready for breakfast. I sometimes used that time to do a little reading and skipped my shower. All our books had to be approved before we were allowed to read them. Stephan King was my most recent interest. He wrote about people like us, people who could do stuff that normal people can¡¯t. It grew quieter as I was reading and at a quarter to seven I went to the bathroom and then headed down to breakfast. I was hungry. I quickly braided my hair and walked with the other girls on the way to the cafeteria.


    I felt a tap on my shoulders and pivoted. Melodie stood smiling, the water still dripping from her short curls. ¡°Hey girly, skip shower again? If you get caught you¡¯re going to have your privileges removed again.¡± ¡°Hey Mel.¡± I ignored her warning, she was right I didn¡¯t want to lose my privileges. If you don¡¯t follow orders they take away your books and afternoon free time giving you extra chores. I ate my usual oatmeal and orange juice, talking to Melodie about nothing in particular, every day is the same here. There¡¯s not a lot to talk about and I was still waking up a little.


    After breakfast I split from Melodie and went off to my morning classes. Mathematics from 8am till 10am and then language from 10 till 12. I¡¯m learning Spanish, I¡¯ve already completed learning French and after Spanish I will be taught Mandarin. I didn¡¯t enjoy my morning classes much. The afternoon was always better I had physical training with Melodie after lunch. Half the class was spent training in which ever martial art we were practising. This month was tae kwon do and the other half was spent training our abilities.


    I got to mathematics class and sat in my seat next to Brayden. ¡°hey Brayden¡± I began opening my books. This place isn¡¯t like other schools I¡¯ve read about in the real world. We don¡¯t get homework or grades. We are expected to learn the stuff and if we fall behind we¡¯d lose our afternoon free times until we caught up. With only three hours of free time a day I made sure not to fall behind. Even if I hated the classes. At the end of class Brayden stood up, he looked tiredly over to me. ¡°Did you understand any of that?¡± he looked so helpless. Brayden fell behind a lot. He didn¡¯t mean to Mathematics just wasn¡¯t easy for him. ¡°Hey, don¡¯t worry about it. we can go over it again at lunch, I¡¯d like to make sure I completely understand it all anyways.¡± he smiled ¡°thanks Lu!¡± and we walked to our next language class together.


    Only a few people called me Lu. My full name is Luna, like the moon. That¡¯s the only thing I have ever known about my parents. They named me after the moon I don¡¯t know why and I don¡¯t know what happened to them. I spent my early years in foster care moving around a lot. I don¡¯t remember most things from back then, except the foster families were always afraid of me. I did¡¯t know why then but now I realize it must be because I am different. At five the Special Humans Institute for Training or Shift as we call it found me and brought me here. They take care of all of us. They explained that we would never be accepted by society. That we would never have been accepted by a family. People always reject what is different and we are different so people are afraid of us. We are better off here with Shift.


    Spanish went quickly, we read and had to write a response to the chapter and discuss with a partner what we thought was going to happen later in the book. Finally the lunch bell sounded. I went over to Brayden by the door ¡°are you ready for more math?¡± I said sarcastically as I approached him. ¡°yeah¡± he huffed. I walked silently next to him as he told me what he and some guys were planning to do during free time today, play soccer on the outdoor field. I nodded as I listened.


    In the cafeteria we joined Melodie at a table and while I ate I began going over the math for Brayden. Melodie was two years younger, only 17 she hadn¡¯t gotten to this math so I could see her boredom as we talked school and she sat in silence. Suddenly a man approached our table dressed in a blue administration uniform. ¡°Luna Riley, you are being summoned to lead an OSM mission, please report to briefing room 6 at 8pm¡± he handed me the mission slip and walked away. Melodie finally having some entertainment perked up. ¡°You are so lucky Lu, I wish I was an OSM leader, I can¡¯t wait to be 18, you get to be in charge!¡± Melodie went off talking about her last OSM and who her mission leader was. I didn¡¯t like being an OSM leader. OSM stands for object securing mission. Which meant we went in using our abilities and took whatever Shift wanted. I¡¯m 19 that also meant that in less than a year I will become old enough to do retrieval missions. That is when we go out and collect young children who need shifts help because they also have abilities. It is the only way to protect our kind from the dangers of normal people. I still don¡¯t like the idea. Everything about the world seems magical to me. Books, art, love, music. I¡¯ll never get to experience the world like I¡¯ve read. All I can do is imagine, everything we read is censored by Shift for our protection. I¡¯ve never heard music or watched television. They say it encouraged rebellion and violence in youth. I will also never get to be in love our kind can¡¯t love. It¡¯s not how our brains work. But I can¡¯t imagine taking all that away from a child. The chance to live in the world. To have a family, to be loved, even if they can¡¯t return that love.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    ¡°Luna! are you listening, are you okay?¡± Melodie brought my attention back to the cafeteria. ¡°yeah I¡¯m fine, I like missions.¡± and that was true to some degree. It brought me a little closer to the world I longed to be a part of. I get to leave the underground facilities, leave the forest and go to a wonderful sparkling city. I never get to talk to anyone out there. On an OSM it is my job to take an item without being seen and all too soon return to Shift. Me and Melodie walked to the gymnasium together after lunch. We did tae kwon do and sparred for an hour and then I spent a half hour training my abilities. I have the control over electricity so I would go into a training room they had equipped with electricity outlets for me to pull from and I could pull it into my body and then aim and push the electricity back out hitting targets. It was fun. Then the last half hour of physical training I would go into a different lab room because my abilities consisted of two things. I could also read minds. They brought in a man who use to be a student at Shift now he works for them. He will sit at a computer across from me and as an image appears on his screen I will read what it is in his mind and click the matching image on my screen. They timed my response rate. Patrick was the only time I was allowed to read the mind of someone who worked at shift. Usually they wore an electronic metal head band that sent out a frequency that stopped me from hearing them. After training Biology and Chemistry went by in a blur. I kept thinking about what my mission was going to be. My last mission was an Affirmation mission. Usually they leave that up to the youths 10-15 years old due to its safety. We go in and just confirm whether or not a child is special or not. That can take others a couple days to witness a child''s ability. So they use me a lot because I can go in and read the child''s mind if I get close enough and I don¡¯t have to wait around to see the child use their gift.


    At 6pm I quickly ate dinner and started my chores early. We rotate chores every month, this month I am responsible for part of my floors laundry. Someone before me washes them and I take them out of the dryer fold and deliver them back to my floor. I wanted to finish early today so I could freshen up before the briefing session. I get busily to work with the other students in the laundry room folding the clothes. When I finished I wheeled the laundry back to my dorm putting them in their respective spots. There are two ways one can leave chores. One if they finish their given task or two their chore hour is up. I finished with some extra time and went to the washroom.


    After fixing my hair and washing my face I raced down the hall to the briefing section. It is on the opposite end of Shift as the dormitories and I made it just in time. I knocked quietly on the door marked BR6. A petite woman opened the door. ¡°Welcome Ms. Riley. Come in and we will get started¡± I entered and sat down at the round table in the middle of the room. Already here was the women who opened the door an older man in his late fifties with balding grey hair. I recognized him as Mr. O¡¯Connell. He was in charge of Mission Organization. There was also a young guy. He was muscular with dark hair like mine. ¡°Luna it is nice to see you, I trust that you are doing well. This is Ms. Parker, she will lead this briefing session.¡± I shook her hand. she was a very pretty woman with blue eyes and a familiar smile. ¡°Please it¡¯s Mackie.¡± ¡°Mackie¡± I repeated. I wondered what it was short for. ¡°And this is Reese¡± he gestured to the boy. ¡°Hello¡± I looked at him. Nervousness was written all over him.


    ¡°Okay so here is what is going to happen¡± Mackie started. ¡°Tomorrow morning after breakfast you will both meet here, the driver, me. Will head out. It is approximately a 10 hour drive I¡¯d recommend a book for the ride.¡± she smiled. ¡°Once at the museum Luna will wait for the guards to be clear and you will enter at the back door here¡± She pointed to a map of a building. ¡°Disabling the cameras and avoiding security you will make it down this hall turning left here. You will enter the room. In a case there will be this stone.¡± she showed us a picture of a softball sized green translucent stone with rough edges, ¡°Reece you will take the stone from its glass case and you¡¯ll both exit the same door you entered. Any questions?¡± I wanted to know what was so special about the stone, sure it was pretty but why did Shift want it? I couldn¡¯t ask. They treated all questions of authority as an act of misconduct and take away privileges for a full month. ¡°Now go get a good night¡¯s rest, all of your instructors will be notified of your absences.¡± Mackie walked us to the door and let us out. Once in the hall Reese turned to me ¡°I¡¯m excited, my first OSM, raiding a museum. I hope everything goes smoothly.¡± I smiled ¡°Yeah, goodnight Reese.¡± we weren¡¯t supposed to be talking about our mission.


    Back at the dormitory Melodie was perched waiting for me on my bunk. We shared a bunk bed. Me on the bottom her on the top. The dorms consisted of three rows of seven bunk beds on one side of the wall and the same on the other side of the wall for us women all thirteen years and older. There were matching dormitories for all the girls five to twelve, the boys five to twelve and one for the men thirteen and up. The room was always really loud during free time as everyone prepared for lights out at 10pm. ¡°Hey Melodie.¡± ¡°Hey girly when do you leave?¡± I could see what she really wanted to ask was what my mission was but we are forbidden to discuss missions before or after. ¡°Tomorrow after breakfast.¡± I reached into my drawer getting out my book. Melodie knew once I reached for my book I no longer wanted to chat so she got up and went over to talk to a group of girls from her classes.

 Chapter Two - My Last OSM

    Chapter Two - My Last OSM


    The next morning I quickly got out of bed when the siren wailed and headed down to the showers. As I turned the tap to a hot temperature and stepped under the stream of warm water pouring over me I felt my muscles relax. I hadn¡¯t realized how tense I had got during the night. I always become tense before a mission. The excitement of leaving shift, the fear of something going wrong, the responsibility over my charge; Reese in this mission and the stress of taking something that doesn¡¯t belong to me. Back at the bunk I take out my black pants instead of my khakis. These are for missions only, they''re more concealing than light coloured pants. ¡°Excited?¡± Melodie came back to the bunks wearing a towel and started changing into her dailies. ¡°yeah¡± I smiled ¡°it¡¯s a long drive though¡± I say putting my book into my bag. ¡°Wanna head down to breakfast early? I¡¯m hungry¡± I nodded in response and started walking with Melodie to the cafeteria. As we walked I braided my wet hair. My hair was long and thick so a braid was the easiest way to control it. We had the option to have our hair cut every six months, I began to opt out of getting it cut. It was the only decision I could make for myself in here, they have every minute of our day planned, they tell us what to eat when to take our vitamins, when to wake up, when to sleep. Being able to grow my hair long was the only decision I could make, it felt like the only way to remind myself that I was my own person.


    Soon Brayden joined us at a table and began talking with Melodie. I listened to their conversation in silence while thinking about the mission. I had to meet Reese in BR6 at 8 o¡¯clock. Reese seemed like a good mission partner he was excited as all new OSM members are but he also seemed responsible like I could trust him in any situation. I hoped nothing would go wrong, it¡¯s on me to make sure everything goes according to plan. I began worrying what would happen if someone caught us. What if we were arrested? I was too young to take the sacrifice pill. I didn¡¯t want to die; I didn¡¯t want Reese to die.


    At a quarter to eight I made my way down to our meeting room. This time Mackie was there alone, Reese hadn¡¯t arrived yet. As I followed her into the room I noticed she wasn¡¯t wearing her mind band. I don¡¯t hear what everyone thinks all the time that would be pretty overwhelming. I have trained myself to only hear the thoughts of people I choose to listen to. Most often allowing people their privacy. Did she forget my abilities? Did she trust me not to listen? Was this a test? I had never had anyone in charge leave their minds open for me to read. I couldn''t help wanting to know what she was thinking. I know I would get in a lot of trouble if they caught me reading her mind and then I did it. She was thinking about a family, her family I felt there was a woman and a man with two kids. Her thoughts had an edge of sadness and anger to them. I looked up into her eyes; she was staring straight at me. She knew I was reading her mind. I felt guilty and right before I stopped I heard her clearly think ¡°It¡¯s not what they tell you.¡± and then there was a knock at the door she picked up her mind band placed it over her hair and let Reese into the room. What wasn¡¯t what they are telling me? Who are they? What did this family have to do with me? I had so many questions but I couldn''t ask, not in front of Reese, not in here. There are cameras everywhere. I knew she did it this way to keep it a secret.


    The drive was really long. Mackie was the one to drive us; we sat in the back of a black car with black tinted windows. I read for a while then started talking with Reese. ¡°So how do you make sure the guards are gone and disable the cameras?¡± he asked. ¡°Electric waves, I can fry the cameras and stop them from recording. I can also pick up the human minds electric wave lengths allowing me to know what they are thinking, for us to avoid them in the halls.¡± I saw Reese¡¯s face, he seemed to relax when I finished explaining what I could do. ¡°You nervous kid?¡± ¡°No!¡± he protested and I gave him a knowing look. ¡°Yeah, okay a little¡± he gave in. ¡°How old are you?¡± ¡°17 how old are you?¡± ¡°19¡± I smiled, he looked more nervous than he was letting on. ¡°Have you ever had anyone catch you before?¡± he asked. There was one time I got caught hiding outside a one year olds room trying to get a read on him. I lied my way out of it and police weren¡¯t called but I didn''t want to tell Reese this. Something about him felt like I had to protect him. I didn¡¯t quite understand. ¡°No, I¡¯m good at what I do, you have nothing to worry about kid.¡±


    We had been driving for six hours at this point and we had just entered a small city. Mackie turned to us; she had been listening to our conversation. ¡°Hungry? Food might help calm the nerves¡± She pulled into a lot that had one building in the centre. ¡°Why are we stopping?¡± I asked. ¡°I thought you guys might like to try some fast food¡± Mackie had a mischievous smile on her lips. I could tell she didn¡¯t like following all of Shifts rules. ¡°We have our packed lunch¡± Reese stated. I looked from Mackie to Reese ¡°I won¡¯t tell if you don¡¯t¡± he smiled back at me. ¡°Okay lets go in¡± Mackie turned off the car. ¡°Wait¡± Reese started again ¡°go in with the rest of the people? What if they know we¡¯re not normal?¡± ¡°They won¡¯t¡± I told him. ¡°They wouldn''t care if they did know? Mackie mumbled under her breath. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Nothing¡± she responded to my question. I tried to read her mind to see what she meant but she was still wearing her mind band and it just hurt my head. Trying was pointless, I gave up.


    We went in, there was so many people everywhere. A lot of kids laughing, everyone¡¯s voices combined into an indistinguishable chaos. We took a long time to figure out what we wanted. The cashier was confused to how we had never had fast food before. In the end Mackie and Reese got a cheese burger and I got nuggets and a chocolate shake. We went back to the car and returned to our journey. Just over another four hours we entered another much larger city. The sun had set a few hours ago, now it was nine. The lights from the city lit everything up. There were still many cars and people on the streets. Mackie parked down an alley, the car had to be hidden. ¡°Alright, here are your walkie talkies.¡± she handed us each a head set and put one of her own on. She then handed us a black capsule each. This was the sacrifice pill. It was poison that would kill us almost immediately if we were to be caught by the police. Shifts secrecy was a top priority in every mission. I took the pill. It felt heavy in my hand. I knew I would take the pill if the time came. Shift had saved me as a child. I owed them everything; I would give the rest of my life to them. I put the capsule into my jacket pocket and got out of the car. Mackie showed us the way to the museums back door on the map ¡°Remember down the hall, turn left and then this door here; good luck, I¡¯ll be waiting here when you¡¯re done.¡± and with that we left.The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    We stepped out into the night. The air was cool and made you feel nostalgic for summer nights. The city made it impossible to see any stars. Quietly heads down we walked to the back of the building avoiding anyone¡¯s gaze. Once at the building I leaned against the door listening for any guards. I could sense someone but they were to far away to know what they were thinking. ¡°It¡¯s clear¡±. Reese put his hand against the lock and concentrated. ¡°What exactly is your power?¡± I asked him. He stopped what he was doing. ¡°I can move matter, but I¡¯m not great, it takes a lot of effort so shh.¡± and he replaced his hand to the lock. After a couple minutes the lock clicked open. I disabled the doors alarm much faster than Reese and again listened for the guards. ¡°Okay, lets go.¡± ¡°Going in¡± I said over the head set so Mackie would know where we were at. I pulled the door open. The hall was very dark and quiet. We turned on our night vision glasses. As we walked I quickly disabled each camera. The room we entered after turning left was very large and thankfully no security guards inside. There were glass cases filled with all different kinds of stones and minerals. It took twenty minutes just to find the right green stone. It was beautiful, more beautiful than the picture. It almost seemed to emit its own light. Underneath the stone was a panel explaining the stone was from Guatemala where the locals believed it had the abilities to hypnotize people. Reese placed his hand against the glass. ¡°I¡¯ll keep watch at the door.¡± I left his side. After another ten minutes I went back. ¡°Are you almost done?¡± his face was red and he was very nervous again. There was a small hole formed in the glass. Just not large enough to pull the stone out yet. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, my nerves are making this harder¡± he looked ashamed. ¡°It¡¯s okay relax you can do this Reese¡± I stopped, I felt the mind of a guard, he was coming this way ¡°On second thought hurry up a guard is on his way here, now¡± I went back to the door. I saw Reese finally put his hand through the glass and grab the stone just as the guard entered the room. ¡°Hey!¡± he yelled ¡°stop right there.¡± he held up his gun pointing it right at Reese, then the guard noticed me to his left. He turned ready to grab me. I hit the side of his temple first. He punched me in the stomach. I lost my breath for a second. I kicked him again. He turned his gun on me just as I sent a small bolt of electricity at him to knock him out. His gun went off and hit me in the leg. I screamed and Reese rushed over to me with the stone in hand. ¡°We need to get out of here now, the other guard will have heard that¡± he picked me up and carried me all the way back to the car. The pain was unbearable; I had never felt anything like it. Back at the car he explained everything to Mackie who bandaged me up and told me the bullet just grazed my thigh. Inside the car I thanked Reese ¡°It¡¯s a good thing you¡¯re so tiny¡± he smiled ¡°I would never have been able to carry another man.¡± I laughed. Mackie gave me some pain killers, everything went black and I slept almost the entire way back to Shift leaning comfortably against Reese.


    When I woke again I was in the infirmary and Mackie was beside me asleep. I looked around. It was pretty quiet, another girl a few beds down from me was reading. ¡°Hey do you know what time it is?¡± ¡°umm they brought lunch about an hour ago so maybe 1:30.¡± she responded in a soft young voice. I pulled the blanket off my leg, it was bandaged so I couldn''t see how bad it looked. I didn¡¯t feel any pain thanks to whatever drug was being administered by IV. ¡°Mackie¡± I reached over and shook her. Has she been here the whole time I wondered? She must be exhausted after driving 20 hours, even with the anti-sleep drugs Shift would have given her. ¡°Luna, you¡¯re awake, how do you feel? I¡¯m so sorry. I should have better prepared you guys for their guns.¡± she looked really upset ¡°yeah, I¡¯m okay, and I¡¯ll be as good as new in no time.¡± I wanted to make her feel better. It wasn¡¯t her fault, after shocking him I should have expected a response from his body. I liked Mackie, she was a good person and she shouldn¡¯t feel guilty.


    This was a fairly small place, I wondered why I had never met Mackie before, and almost everyone crossed paths a least once. ¡°Mackie?¡± I hesitated; I wasn¡¯t sure if asking her questions would get me in trouble. It seemed like she wanted to tell me stuff ¡°yeah?¡± ¡°Are you new here? I¡¯ve never seen you before?¡± I said it quietly still afraid of getting in trouble. She just laughed ¡°yeah I grew up out there, they wanted someone acquainted with society to help them with missions, and they found me.¡± ¡°Wow so you grew up in the real world¡± I was in awe, no one here had spent more than five years out in the world. ¡°Can you tell me about it?¡± ¡°I wish I could¡± she looked at me sadly. She turned her head to so see if anyone was around. I looked around remembering where we were. ¡°It¡¯s wonderful¡± I realized then what drew me to Mackie, she wasn¡¯t like anyone else here. She was rebellious; she thought her own thoughts and not what she was told to think. ¡°I should go¡± she said ¡°I¡¯ll come back later¡± ¡°Okay thanks Mackie¡± and I was alone.


    I realized the girl a couple beds down was gone. There were a couple nurses at the front desk talking. Other than that the room was silent. I grew bored not having anything to do and before I realized what I was doing I had begun listening to the older nurse. She was talking to a young male nurse. ¡°She¡¯s pregnant, only 14, so young.¡± ¡°I know, we must learn why the vitamins didn¡¯t take away her libido. This is the first case I¡¯ve heard of anyone having a sexual attraction to anyone here.¡± ¡°She says she is in love with him¡± I gasped love, was the young girl beside me before who they were discussing? And what did they mean our vitamins didn¡¯t work on her? I thought we didn¡¯t fall in love because of our abilities, because we were special. These vitamins, they¡¯re what stopped us from falling in love. I was in shock. I was angry, how could they do that, how could they take love away from us. Ever since I began reading love was all I¡¯ve wanted to experience. I wanted to know this powerful feeling that people write about, the feeling that people would literally die for. This emotion that made no sense at all to me. It is supposed to be beautiful. My head was spinning. Why would they want to take love away from us? But if they can take it away I realized that means I can take it back. I was pissed. Mackie was right they have been lying to me. I¡¯m done with them, no more vitamins no more Shift. I needed to get out. I hated them for taking love away from me. I knew now that I had to leave, but how?

 Chapter 3

    Running away would be really difficult. I didn¡¯t know geography well but I knew Shift was in the middle of a northern Canadian forest. I¡¯d never make it to a city before they found me. I¡¯d have to wait and when I was sent on a mission I¡¯d leave. I¡¯d run and never look back. So for now I just had to pretend everything is normal. I spent another two weeks in the infirmary recovering from the gunshot would. Reece, Melodie, Brayden and Mackie came to visit a lot. All with different motives. Melodie often came wanting to gossip. She filled me in on everything that was happening around Shift. Brayden often came looking for help with his studies. I didn¡¯t mind though, I was missing so much class; it was helping me keep up. I didn¡¯t know how long I¡¯d have to wait before I could run. Keeping up with my classes was normal. Mackie only came by for short visits checking to see if everything was okay. Her visits always left me wanting to know more. I could sense that there was stuff she wanted to tell me, but she never came with out her mind band so I didn¡¯t know what it was.


    I enjoyed Reese¡¯s visits the most. I liked talking with him. He had such a youthful innocence about him that always cheered me up. Sometimes we talked about school or our pasts. Reese also came from a foster home; most of us did in fact. He didn¡¯t remember anything before the homes either. Other times I helped him with his studies too. He was three years behind me so It was all very easy for me to help with. He just felt so familiar. He was the only person I decided to say anything to about their vitamins. I couldn¡¯t tell him much I just said it was a lie and to stop taking them with breakfast. He trusted me. I hadn¡¯t been able to stop taking them; they had them administered along with the pain killers and fast healing medicines. The second day off the vitamins Reese came to me crying. I had never seen anyone cry before. It was very unnerving, he tried to tell me how he was feeling. He said everything felt stronger that all this time he had been lonely and sad and he was only feeling everything now, feeling everything at once. I held him as he cried. Just me and him alone in my hospital room. I really wanted to take his pain away. I hated seeing him this sad, this broken. ¡°Maybe you should start taking them again¡± I suggested. ¡°No, they are a lie¡± he was adamant.


    After that day he got better, he was smiling a lot and laughing. His black eyes were filled with life. I think for the first time in the twelve years he had been here he was happy. He told me it was the most amazing thing. No matter how much he tried to explain he said I¡¯d never understand till I felt it for myself. ¡°I¡¯ve started to notice people, girls in my classes. I think I like Melodie¡± he told me one day. he laughed nervously. I hugged him ¡°you¡¯re going to feel it, you¡¯re going to know love.¡± I responded, I couldn¡¯t wait till I was out of the infirmary and could feel what he was.


    Once I did get out I immediately stopped taking the vitamins, hiding them in my pocket instead of swallowing them. I went through the same stages as Reese. I cried a lot the first few days all the feelings were just so overwhelming. It¡¯s like we lived in a thick fog and never knew it. We called it joy, sadness, anger but what we felt was just the tip of it. Everything rushed through me I didn¡¯t know how to control it. After time it was easier, I began to better understand my emotions. Then one night I had a dream. It surprised me. Brayden was in it, we were alone and he was touching me and kissing me. I woke up in a sweat, smiling in the dark. I knew then that I would fall in love someday. Not Brayden, I was leaving soon. It couldn¡¯t be Brayden.


    I kept thinking about my dream that day. I couldn¡¯t look at him. I kept thinking about where he had touched me. I wanted him to really kiss me like that. He tapped my arm at lunch ¡°Lu, are you okay? You¡¯re acting funny¡± his touch was warm. It made me happy but also terrified me so much, everything was so new. I want Brayden to feel the same way. I wanted him to want me back. I thought about telling him to stop taking the vitamins but changed my mind. Maybe someday when I have fully escaped Shift I could come back and help everyone else. For now I needed to keep a low profile telling Brayden then whoever he told, to many people would be awake. They would notice and I would lose my chance to escape. I had to leave him blissfully in the dark.


    My chance did come up three weeks after I got out of the infirmary. It was a simple affirmation mission. A two year old girl in a city only three hours from Shift. I thought maybe it was to close but decided it was now or never. I might not get another mission for the next few months. I couldn¡¯t wait that long. This would be a solo mission there was no way I would be able to take Reese with me. That really upset me I had been wishing for a way we could both be free. He was my best friend I hated the idea of leaving him behind to these people. Would he be okay all alone? I worried about Reese all night dreaming of him being alone in a room of zombies drowning in lifeless bodies. That¡¯s what it felt like since awakening, like we were the only ones alive. I talked to Reese about it. He told me to go, that he would be alright and that on his next mission he too would run away and that he would search for me. I told him I loved him that even though we had only known each other for five weeks he was the best friend I had ever had. ¡°I¡¯ll never forget you¡± I said. ¡°Thank you Luna, if I had never met you I¡¯d still be one of them. You saved me, I¡¯ll find you. I promise.¡± I still hated having to leave Reese behind. I wouldn¡¯t be able to watch out for him anymore. We wouldn¡¯t be able to find each other out there without making our location vulnerable to Shift to find us. But he will get out and he will be okay and that¡¯s what really mattered after all. We had to get out, to be free.


    This mission I left Shift at four and was driven by a man named Mr. Clarke. I had worked with him many times before he was very obedient, following every rule set by Shift. I had to make sure he didn¡¯t suspect anything different until I was able to escape. I went over the plan in my head again and again as he drove to the location. I pretended to read my book as usual. First Mr. Clarke would drive past the house pointing it out to me. He would then drop me off a block over. I would lurk back to the house and instead of listening outside the child¡¯s bedroom for 2 hours I was going to run. Run as fast as I could. The car slowed and I realized we were passing the house. Mr. Clarke pointed to a small yellow house in a quiet neighborhood. There was a grey cat sitting on the front steps and pink flowers in front of the windows. A swing hung from the maple tree in the front yard and a child¡¯s tricycle was left out in the drive way. Lights flickered from the living room window. They wanted me to help them take a child away from all this. I felt anger burn in my chest as the car drove a couple minutes more before pulling over to the curb. Mr. Clarke looked back at me. I grabbed my bag. I didn¡¯t have much in it. I snuck a bottle of water and some cookies from lunch time. I confirmed the time on my watch to him and agreed to be back in exactly two hours. I then stepped out into the crisp air. It was Autumn in Canada, the air was cool and the trees full of colour. I walked calmly in the direction Mr. Clarke expected keeping my cold hands shoved into my black jacket and kept my head down not to attract the attention of any civilians.


    As I rounded the corner of Tesla St. I saw the child¡¯s house. I ran now that Mr. Clarke couldn¡¯t see me. I ran right past the little yellow house and kept running. My lungs heaving. I had two hours to get as far away as possible before anyone realized I was gone. As I ran I started disconnecting the head set and the watch. I dropped everything on the side walk. I didn¡¯t want any electronics they might use to follow me. I turned down a busier street and slowed to a fast walk. I kept walking for a long time. It was still only around eight and the town was still awake. I wasn¡¯t sure what I was going to do. I had no money and I didn¡¯t know who I could trust. I had to get away from this city, away from where Shift would look for me. I need to find somewhere to hide for the night. Once the streets emptied I will be easier to find. Then they¡¯ll start looking in the obvious places. I kept walking the city had a few bars on this street. All the store fronts were closed up now. There was a man on the sidewalk begging for money. He looked so cold I sat down beside him hoping to rest where no one will pay any attention to me. My throat is dry from running. ¡°Hello ma¡¯am¡± the homeless man looks to me, I jump. I¡¯m clearly more afraid than I realized. ¡°woah it¡¯s okay miss. I won¡¯t hurt you.¡± he says. ¡°Hello¡± I respond. I pull out my cookies and offer him one. Sheepishly he took one with a quick thank you. I nibble on mine contemplating my next move. I can¡¯t stay here long. ¡°Hey, I¡¯m trying to get away from. Ah. A boyfriend do you know anywhere I can hide. I mean go? I don''t have any money.¡± I figured if someone knows this city it¡¯ll be this man. ¡°There¡¯s a woman¡¯s shelter on 5th. They''re good miss, they¡¯ll help you.¡± He pointed down the street ¡°it¡¯s two blocks that way on the left.¡± ¡°Thanks¡± I get up and start walking in the direction he pointed. I wrapped my arms around myself. It¡¯s cold and it started to rain. The streets have already began to empty. I need to get to the shelter fast. He¡¯s going to realize any time now I¡¯m not where I am supposed to be. By the time I get to the corner of 5th avenue the rain is coming down hard dripping form my hair down my back. There is a small sign there on the corner house that reads Northern Lights Women¡¯s Shelter. I walk up the steps and see another small sign that says please ring bell. I push the button and wait. A sliding window on the door opens and a young woman peers out ¡°Hello?¡±If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    ¡°Yes, Hello, I was told you might be able to help me?¡± my voice shook from the chill. She closed the window and unlocked the door. Moving to the side she let me in. She had big brown eyes and black curly hair put up in a messy bun. She smiled a warm smile as I stepped in from the rain. She locked the front door behind me. ¡°It¡¯s for our safety¡± she said looking to the lock. ¡°Hi I¡¯m Emily how can we help you tonight?¡± she lead me to the front room which has two desks with chairs on both sides. One desk was empty the other one had another woman, older in her late sixties perhaps. She looked up from her desk where she was reading some papers. ¡°Good evening¡± she smiled at me. I noticed a name plate sitting on her desk that read Tracey. The other desk had a name plate for Emily. Emily sat down behind her desk motioning for me to have a seat as well.


    ¡°Hi, my name is..¡± I probably shouldn¡¯t tell them my real name Shift had a lot of connections. ¡°Laura¡± I chose a name from an old book I had read a few times. ¡°I¡¯m hiding from my boyfriend, he won¡¯t let me leave. If he finds me he might kill me.¡± I tried to act as emotional as possible getting the lie to be believed. It wasn¡¯t that much of a lie. I didn¡¯t know what Shift would do if they found me. Emily nodded and gave me a small smile etching dimples into her soft brown cheeks. ¡°We do have one bed available; can you tell us his name?¡± I hesitated trying to think up another name ¡°Shawn Henry, I need to get out of the city.¡± she was very serious now. ¡°It¡¯s okay Laura, you¡¯re safe here, no one is allowed in. No one will know you are here.¡± This did comfort me a little at least tonight I had a place to sleep. ¡°Can you help me get out of the city?¡± Emily looked over to the other woman. ¡°It¡¯s not really in our funding¡± she was frowning. ¡°Please you don¡¯t understand I have to get to any other city.¡± I begged ¡°He knows I¡¯m here and he won¡¯t stop looking for me, he will hurt anyone to get to me he¡¯s psycho.¡± I was beginning to panic. I know they will have started looking for me already.


    ¡°Look¡± Emily said ¡°It¡¯s okay. Stay here tonight, tomorrow is Friday, I¡¯m going back to my folks place for the weekend. It¡¯s about three hours south of here I¡¯ll take you with me and get you set up in a shelter there.¡± I was so relieved I started to cry. Damn all these emotions were still hard to control sometimes. ¡°Thank you¡± ¡°Now, now, it¡¯s going to be okay, Tracey will take you upstairs to your bed, she¡¯ll give you a dry pair of pajamas and help get you sorted. I¡¯m going to call a few shelters and see if any beds are available for tomorrow night¡± I stood up thanking her again and followed Tracey up the old wooden stair case. The hallway was dark, this was an old house turned into a small shelter. She stopped at a closet and removed a towel and some pyjamas. ¡°How would you like to take a nice warm bath?¡± she asked me. ¡°That sounds great¡±. She led me to another door, knocked and then opened the door. There were 2 bunk beds, a painted picture of a sunflower on the wall and white curtains on the window. There was a young woman with her child on the first bottom bunk. She was reading to him as he sucked his thumb. Another woman above them was sitting with her legs hanging off the bunk bed chatting to the two children on the top bunk on the other side of the room. The fourth bed, the bottom bunk had its bedding folded up on the end of the bed. This reminded me of Shift and made me think of Reese. He would be getting ready for bed now. ¡°Hello ladies¡± Tracey said in a deep husky voice. ¡°This is Laura she is going to be your roommate tonight, Laura this bunk here is yours¡± she gestured to the empty one. ¡°You can hang up your clothes above the heater to dry, if you need anything me and Emily will be down at the front desk all night. The shower is at the end of the hall there¡¯s new tooth brushes and razors in there if you need one.¡± She smiled and then left the room.


    I felt my cheeks get hot as the women and children looked at me. I dropped my bag to the ground by my bed and headed toward the bathroom. It felt nice to peel the cold wet clothes off of me. I don¡¯t remember the last time I was in a bath. Shift¡¯s is a large room where all the girls shower together. I filled the tub with hot water. My cold skin burned from the touch of the water. I laid my head back against the tub and closed my eyes. My stomach growled. I hadn¡¯t eaten since lunch in order to leave for this mission and now I was very hungry. I rested for another ten minutes before I washed and returned to my room. I hung up my wet clothes. I read my book until I was able to fall asleep. It wasn¡¯t a sound sleep however, I was listening for any sound that meant I would be caught.


    For the first time in fourteen years I didn¡¯t wake up to the 6am buzzer. I woke up to children giggling as they played with toy cars on the floor between the bunks. They saw me wake up. The boy, the older one spoke first ¡°Hi I¡¯m Matthew I¡¯m six¡± ¡°Hi Matthew I¡¯m Lun.. Laura¡± ¡°this is my sister Sarah she¡¯s four¡± ¡°hi Sarah¡± I said smiling at her. ¡°Matthew, Sarah leave the poor girl alone, she just woke up!¡± their mom said from the open doorway. They jumped ¡°come on down kids Karen has breakfast ready in the kitchen.¡± they giggled and went to their mother¡¯s side. ¡°Excuse me; do you know what time it is?¡± I asked her. ¡°Yeah¡± she looked at her phone ¡°It¡¯s 9:30, Karen only has breakfast out until 10:30 so you should get down there as well, she''s a great cook.¡± The woman smiled. She had long black hair like mine; she looked like me, the darker skin and black eyes, straight black hair. I didn¡¯t see many girls at Shift who looked like me. ¡°Thanks¡± I said back.


    I quickly went down stairs, I was starving I could smell breakfast coming from the kitchen. At the back of the house I found a big open kitchen filled with around five women and a dining room off the kitchen with more women and children. ¡°Good morning¡± a jolly looking red headed woman waved to me. ¡°I¡¯m Karen, you must be Laura, Tracey and Emily are gone home for the day, Emily said she would be back for you this afternoon. go in and join the rest at the table for breakfast¡± I just nodded and walked into the dining room. This room was filled with chatting. I sat next to a woman. I could see her face was badly bruised and her wrist was in a cast. ¡°Good morning¡± I said to her, she just grunted got up and left. I filled my plate with pancakes, scrambled eggs and bacon and poured myself a cup of orange juice and dug in.


    I helped clean up after breakfast before going downstairs into the basement where everyone was convened. I noticed all the windows were blocked with curtains. I played with the children, even read a story to them. It was easier than trying to talk with the adults. I didn¡¯t have to make up lies about my life before this place. I started to get impatient waiting for Emily. I wanted to put as much distance between me and Shift as possible. I didn¡¯t know how long they would look for me. Finally after one Emily came down stairs and asked if I was ready to go. I ran upstairs grabbed my back pack and met her at the car. It was an old green car but she had the heat on and I was excited to go.

 Chapter Four - Emily

    Small talk with Emily was easy; she did most of the talking. She told me she was born in the Caribbean¡¯s and moved to Canada when she was ten. She moved up to North Wells for school five years ago but her family remained in Barnesville. She was going home for her father¡¯s fiftieth birthday party. I wanted to tell Emily the truth about me she seemed genuine and I hate lying to her. I opted for silence over lying but every time she called me Laura I felt sick. I don¡¯t know who I am outside of Shift but I know my parents gave me Luna and that was all I had right now. After an hour of driving we stopped to eat at a drive thru. She insisted on buying me something to eat. Once on the road again I looked as she stared out the front window one hand on the wheel the other popping a fry in her mouth. ¡°Hey, Emily?¡± I spoke up. ¡°Yeah¡± ¡°My name. It isn¡¯t really Laura.¡± ¡°I sensed that, you¡¯re always slow to respond to it. It¡¯s not uncommon for scared women to give us a fake name. Do you want to tell me your real name?¡± ¡°Yeah but It would be dangerous for me if you told anyone.¡± ¡°In my job I meet a lot of women who need protecting you¡¯re not alone. I know it may seem that way and I wish it weren''t true but abusive boyfriends happen more than you think. I¡¯ve helped a lot of people and I have never told any of their secrets. You can trust me.¡± ¡°It¡¯s Luna, Luna Riley¡± ¡°That¡¯s a pretty name.¡± I turned my head back to the window and fell silent.


    Thinking of Reese again I didn¡¯t know how he was going to escape or when. He had to wait for a solo mission like I did. Would they be more observant now that I ran away, would he get his chance? ¡°How about some music?¡± Emily cut into my thoughts. ¡°What kind of music do you like?¡± she asked. I didn¡¯t want to tell her I¡¯d never heard music before, that would bring up to many questions so I searched her thoughts. ¡°Rock, rock is good with me.¡± I didn''t even know what rock was. ¡°Great!¡± she said and pressed the cassette tape into the car. A brilliant loud sound filled the car. I could feel the beat in my chest. I had read about music and felt it in peoples minds but this was way stronger than I ever expected. Then a man¡¯s voice came singing about love. I listened as his deep voice went along with the music. Emily was singing along in a high sweet voice and I felt happy.


    Finally we pulled off the highway into Burnsville, the sun was low in the sky but it was warmer than yesterday. ¡°I found you a shelter that is going to put you up in a hotel for a week. They have the reservation booked, I¡¯ll drop you off. They want you to come by tomorrow afternoon. They can help you find a job, if you want or whatever you need¡± ¡°Okay, where¡¯s their office?¡± ¡°It¡¯s on Main street, I can come get you tomorrow if you¡¯d like?¡± ¡°That¡¯s okay, you¡¯ve done so much already, enjoy your weekend home¡± she had stopped now outside a rundown hotel. ¡°Your name inside is going to be Laura Brown, they¡¯ll give you a key no questions asked. Here¡¯s my number if you need anything just call.¡± she handed me a business card with a cell number written on the back. ¡°Thank you Emily.¡± I said getting out. ¡°Good luck Luna.¡± she waved good bye.


    The hotel was just as she said, they let me in and I went up to a single bedroom with a desk, a television and a small bathroom. After reading for a while I got bored and decided it would probably be safe for me to go for a walk. I walked around for twenty minutes and went back to the hotel. I went to bed early that night thinking about how to leave a message for Reese without Shift seeing and finding me.


    The next morning I woke up at seven and after a small continental breakfast I decided to ask the front desk for directions to the public library. I wanted to do some research. Look up who my parents were before they died. Once at the library I sat at an open computer with a guest code to log on. I was nervous about what I might find. I pulled up the internet browser. I couldn''t remember my life before foster care, not even my parents¡¯ names so I typed my name into the search bar to see what came up. There was some article advertising hair products, but the third read ¡°Where are Luna and Reese Riley?¡± It read, at seventeen Mackenzie Blaine lost her big sister and brother in law in a car accident. Too young to adopt her three year old niece and one year old nephew they were placed in foster care. At nineteen Mackenzie old enough to adopt searched for them but the Vancouver foster agency had no record of the children. She is now reaching out to the public hoping anyone has any information on the children. Now five and three years old. ¡°I love Luna and Reese, they¡¯re special. My sister would want them with family.¡± Blaine told reporters. Below was a picture of a young version of me and Reese. I sat in shock. Reese is my brother, now I know I have to find him. Why didn¡¯t they tell us this? And I have an Aunt who wanted me and looked for me. Where is she now? I typed Mackenzie Blaine into a new search bar. It brought up the same article as before but also brought up a wedding announcement from July fifth 2010. Michael Woods Professor of Archaeology at Jamestown University Marries Mackenzie Blaine. It showed a picture of Mackie with an attractive man. Holy Fuck! Mackie is my Aunt. I remembered the memory she had shown me back at Shift. Me and Reese we were the kids in the family, she was showing me my family, my parents.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    I had to find her out here she would help me. She would be able to answer so many questions. I didn¡¯t know how I was going to find her but I figured I start with Michael he worked at a university. I hoped he''d be able to give me her number. I typed in Michael Woods this time. It brought up a few research articles and a few school articles. I searched for his phone number on the Jamestown University site and wrote it down. For now I had to go to the shelters office. They were paying my hotel bill after all. The meeting at their office was short, she told me of a few places hiring and that I could use their computers to work on a resume if I needed. I had no idea how to do that but for today I would focus on talking to Michael Woods. I walked back to the hotel. Going up to my room and dialed in the number. It rang but went to voicemail. Hello you¡¯ve reached Michael I¡¯m in class leave your name and number and I¡¯ll call you back. Damn Okay I¡¯ll try again after lunch.


    Calling again after lunch I was even more nervous. What would I say if he answered, how much had Mackie even told him? Shit ¡°Hello?¡± ¡°Um hi, Is this Michael Woods?¡± ¡°Yes Hello who is this?¡± ¡°Hi my name is Luna Riley¡± ¡°Luna! Macks was hoping you¡¯d call¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°She emailed me today saying you¡¯d escaped. She hoped you''d go online and figure out who she is. It didn¡¯t take you long. She said you were smart.¡± ¡°She¡¯s my Aunt.¡± ¡°Yes and she¡¯s been looking for you for a very long time, she never gave up¡± ¡°Can I talk to her?¡± ¡°No I¡¯m sorry, she lives at that place. She¡¯s been there for two months now. I haven¡¯t even seen her. But she planned for this.¡± ¡°How?¡± ¡°You can¡¯t tell me where you are Luna, the phones aren¡¯t safe, they could find you or come for me, but tell me an address I can mail you some money, take that money and get out of that city. I will give you my email privately with that money. I change my email every month to be safe. You can reach me there. I will explain more in the letter. Call me back today with an address okay?¡± ¡°Okay thanks¡± I said confused and hung up. That wasn¡¯t what I was expecting to happen. I thought about what address I was going to give him. He told me not to use my current location. I called Emily ¡°Hi Emily, It¡¯s me Luna Riley¡± ¡°Hey Luna, everything okay?¡± ¡°Yeah, I need to ask a favour. Can my Uncle mail some stuff for me to your parents place and I¡¯ll come get it?¡± ¡°Uh yeah sure, I guess that¡¯s okay.¡± and she told me the address. ¡°Thanks Emily, someday I¡¯ll find you and explain everything.¡± I hung up and called Michael back. I promised I would use the money to get out of the city.


    The next day I got a call from Emily saying a package had already arrived for me. She said she was going to bring it over. As I waited I turned the television on for the first time. I didn¡¯t know what was good so I left it on a cartoon. After twenty minutes I got a call telling me Emily was at the front desk. I ran down and brought her back up to my room. The box was bigger than I expected. ¡°What is going on Luna? This is more than an abusive boyfriend isn¡¯t it?¡± she asked when I opened the box and it was filled with cash, a cell phone and a letter.


    Dear Luna


    By now you know I am your aunt, your parents died when


    you were 3 they said your mom, my sister had been


    drinking and driving. Don''t believe them Sarah didn''t drink


    and neither did your father. They were out to a work


    Christmas party that night. I was babysitting you and Reese


    yes I knew of your powers they¡¯re from Daniel, your father


    his family was special I tried to protect you and I¡¯m so sorry


    I couldn¡¯t. You¡¯re away now I''ve saved money for you. You


    need to get out of this province they will be looking for you.


    inside this box is an untraceable cell phone you can use it


    to call Michael you can trust him. When I get Reese out I


    will call and send him to you. I love you Luna you are


    strong and brave and we will be together again some day


    Michaels email is [email protected]</a> also in the box


    is some fake ID for you and Reese. Good luck


    Aunt Mack xoxo


    Ps. you gave me that nickname sweetheart


    I felt some tears run down my cheek, I had help. Reese had help. She never gave up on us. ¡°Luna?!¡± I forgot Emily was still in the room. ¡°Okay, I can¡¯t tell you much, there are very dangerous people after me. But there are also people helping me. I¡¯m leaving the province tonight. You need to pretend you never met me.¡± ¡°What the hell, you need to go to the police, you can¡¯t keep running.¡± ¡°They killed my parents I think¡± ¡°I¡¯m calling the cops Luna¡± ¡°No! You admit you know me and you will bring them to your door. Please it¡¯s safer if you don''t know me, I¡¯ll be okay.¡± Emily seemed to sense the reality of the situation in my voice. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll drive you to the bus station where do you want to go?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know where in Canada are people unlikely to go?¡± ¡°Go to Nova Scotia, no one would think to look there.¡± I thanked and even gave her a hug good bye at the station. I went and bought a ticket to Halifax.

 Chapter Five -

    I bordered the bus keeping my head down. I still didn¡¯t want anyone to notice me. The bus was going from Burnsville to Toronto before continuing East. I was alone for the first part of the trip. In Toronto a young woman sat beside me. She was pretty. She had long brown hair which she covered with a grey hat. She smiled at me and I couldn¡¯t help smiling back. ¡°Hi want some chocolate?¡± she asked extending a purple wrapped brown bar, it didn''t look appetizing so I declined. ¡°I¡¯m Sophia¡± It looks like she is going to want me to talk to her. ¡°Annie Bluwaters¡± I respond with the name on my fake ID from Aunt Mackie. ¡°Cool name, you¡¯re native right? You look native. I have an uncle who is native, Ojibway¡± I wasn¡¯t sure what she was talking about so I just smiled and nodded. ¡°Where you headed?¡± ¡°Nova Scotia¡± I responded then realized I shouldn¡¯t have said that. ¡°Me too! Do you have family there?¡± ¡°No I¡¯m moving there for a new life.¡± I didn''t know what else to say. ¡°Wow that¡¯s so brave, I¡¯m moving there with my grandparents for a while, My Nana is sick.¡± We continued talking she was sweet and funny. I laughed every time she laughed. I was glad she sat down beside me. She made the time pass a lot faster. I learned a lot about her. She¡¯s 22 and had recently broken up with her girlfriend who cheated on her. She was moving back to Nova Scotia where she grew up. She had quit her job as a police officer hoping to work as one when she got to her home town. She kept looking at me with her beautiful brown eyes. She made me jealous she was so pretty. I barely slept while on the bus. I did wake up just as the sun was coming up. Sophia¡¯s head was resting against me. I didn¡¯t want to move. She looked so peaceful in the dim orange glow coming in the window.


    Once Sophia did wake up she was ready to chat again. This time she wanted to know more about me. She was shocked I had never had a job before. I told her the same lies, it was getting easier. I was running from a boyfriend and I wasn¡¯t sure where exactly I was going. I also told her about Reese, how I hoped I would see him soon; that we grew up in separate foster homes. It wasn''t a lie exactly. She told me to come to her town New Glasgow she called it. ¡°We¡¯ll look for jobs together¡± before I really thought about it I was agreeing to it. She made me excited to see the town she grew up in. ¡°My poppa is picking me up in Halifax; he¡¯ll drive you with us I''m sure.¡± ¡°Thanks¡± I laughed again I¡¯m moving to New Glasgow I thought to myself. I¡¯ve made a new friend. Maybe everything would be okay after all.


    When I got off the bus her Poppa wasn''t there yet. I took a second and called Michael in private. ¡°Hello?¡± ¡°Hey it¡¯s Luna¡± ¡°Luna sweetheart. So glad you called, have you found a place? Just answer yes or no.¡± ¡°Yes, have you heard from Aunt Mackie? Is Reese okay?¡± ¡°Yes but I can¡¯t say anything now, I¡¯ll call you back on another phone in fifteen minutes and explain things and you can tell me where you are.¡± I agreed and then joined back up with Sophia. It took another ten minutes before her Poppa came. She introduced him as George and we got into his truck. Sophia and George talked so I was able to look out the window. This place was beautiful. My phone started ringing. ¡°Michael?¡± ¡°Hey Luna, Mackie was able to request Reese for a mission and get him away. He¡¯s hiding in a hotel now. We¡¯re going to put him on a bus to you. Where are you?¡± I¡¯m in Nova Scotia. Tell Reese I¡¯ll meet him in Halifax. Tell him to give me and ETA as soon as he knows.¡± I will, talk later good luck.¡± he hung up. I realized Sophia was looking at me. She poked me in the side. ¡°Who¡¯s Michael?¡± I laughed; he''s my uncle he¡¯s helping Reese move out here. ¡°Oh, well hey! You get to see your brother soon¡± she looked genuinely happy for me.


    George and Sophia dropped me off at a small hotel. We agreed for Sophia to come by tomorrow we would look for jobs together. I also needed to find an apartment. Something for me and Reese. I hadn¡¯t eaten in a while and Sophia reminded me I needed to write a resume to apply for jobs so I would go get food and go use the libraries computers. I walked to the library stopping at a small cafe for a sandwich before continuing onto the library. The internet helped me figure out how to do a resume. Apparently being trilingual would be good for my resume. I also lied about saying I had finished high school. I printed off 10 copies; I wasn¡¯t sure how many I was going to need or where I wanted to work. A bookstore maybe. I walked back to the hotel. I missed Brayden and Melodie. I knew because of the drugs they didn''t really feel the same but I wondered what they knew. Do they think of me at least? I fell asleep thinking about Shift. Dreamed that they had found me. They used a dart gun to put me asleep and I woke up chained to a bed behind bars. They were going to keep me locked up forever. Someone was banging on the cell beside me. Was it Reese?This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.


    I woke up afraid realizing the knock was my hotel door. I got up and walked to the door to peek out. It was Sophia. I opened the door and she hugged me. Then backed up looking at my bare legs. She gasped a little looking at the gunshot wound on my leg. ¡°Sorry¡± I quickly said embarrassed and rushed to put on my pants. ¡°Hey Annie, don¡¯t take offence, I know you¡¯re running from someone but do you have any other clothes?¡± I looked at myself, my black shirt and pants were dirty. I had been wearing them for days now. ¡°No¡± I admitted. ¡°That¡¯s okay we can go shopping or you can borrow an outfit from me.¡± Once again her smile was infectious. ¡°Shopping sounds great.¡±


    After a couple hours of shopping with Sophia she had helped me pick out a pair of jeans and some warm tops for Nova Scotian Autumn weather. I changed and then we headed over to the police department first for Sophia. She came out looking pleased. ¡°They¡¯re going to call my captain and if everything checks out I start Monday. Turns out the captain here is an old family friend. I grew up with his daughter.¡± I congratulated her then asked if she could take a look at my resume. I was nervous it wasn''t good enough. ¡°Wait you speak English, French and Spanish!¡± she was impressed ¡°Oui¡± ¡°that¡¯s so cool¡± ¡°yeah¡± I agreed ¡°but is my resume any good? I¡¯ve never made one before.¡± ¡°Yeah it¡¯s fine no one will care once they see you¡¯re a trilingual genius¡± she joked. It took me a little longer to find a job. We had handed out half the resumes when we walked into a diner that had a help wanted sign on the window.


    I walked up to the counter where a middle aged man with a managers name tag with the name Ryan on it stood. ¡°Hello, my name is Annie, I saw your help wanted sign.¡± ¡°Yes, do you have any experience?¡± he asked ¡°um, no well I''ve volunteered in kitchen and serving I lied. I had chore shifts in the kitchen at Shift. I figured that was good enough. ¡°Oh I also speak French and Spanish.¡± I added. He smiled ¡°how many hours you looking for Annie?¡± ¡°Oh as many as you can give sir¡± ¡°well I¡¯m sure we can work something out. We can do a trial run tomorrow at four. sound good?¡± ¡°that¡¯s great thank you so much.¡± I was so happy I got a job. My luck couldn¡¯t be better. I walked back over to Sophia. ¡°I start Friday, I can¡¯t believe it was that easy.¡± ¡°I can, you¡¯re pretty. He was looking at your chest the whole time. He looks like such a perve.¡± ¡°What?¡± I was embarrassed and not use to people looking at me sexually. I didn''t know how to tell. But I liked that Sophia thought I was pretty.


    Now that we both had jobs we decided to go get some food. During supper I got a phone call from Reese He was leaving the hotel this evening and would be in Halifax Saturday at 6pm. I told him I would be there to meet him. ¡°You¡¯re going to Halifax to get Reese on Saturday?¡± ¡°Yeah I want to meet him there.¡± ¡°Ooh want me to drive you? I can borrow my Poppa¡¯s truck?¡± ¡°Would you? That would be amazing, you are literally the best.¡± ¡°No problem I¡¯ll come by at 3:30 to get you.¡± We finished supper and I walked back to my hotel.


    Work the next day went okay. Sophia was right Ryan was a little creepy but he was willing to offer me five, eight hour shifts a week. Besides I was in a perpetual good mood because tomorrow I would be seeing Reese for the first time since knowing he is my brother.

 Chapter six - Reunited

    Me and Sophia waited inside her truck for Reese¡¯s bus. We were a little early and the weather was damp and cold. Inside the truck was warm and she told me of her favourite places to go when she was growing up here. We made plans to go to a museum next weekend. I had been to a few museums in the past with Shift but I have never gone as a normal person just to learn history, look at art and enjoy myself. It was never about me. This time would be and I was extremely excited.


    I¡¯m not usually interested in reading people¡¯s minds because in Shift everyone had the same boring thoughts. No one felt anything, but with Sophia I felt myself wanting to know what she was thinking. Her eyes would twinkle as she laughed beside me and I wanted to feel the joy inside her mind. She always seemed so light and happy. I couldn¡¯t though it wouldn''t be fair to her. She deserved her privacy. ¡°What are you thinking?¡± she asked me interrupting my own thoughts. I blushed. I didn''t want to tell her I was thinking about her, I felt funny with her looking at me. I changed the subject ¡°I¡¯m happy I came here with you.¡± I looked down at my hands. When did I become this shy?


    A bus pulled into the lot. I jumped out of the truck ¡°I¡¯ll be right back¡± I walked through the rain toward the bus looking for Reese. He stepped off the bus clearly looking for me too. When I saw him I ran and gave him a big hug. I backed up ¡°Sorry, not use to all the emotions yet. I¡¯m happy to see you.¡± ¡°You look great Luna.¡± ¡°It¡¯s Annie here, and you¡¯re John Bluwaters.¡± I handed him his new ID ¡°It says I¡¯m 18, I guess Aunt Mackie thought it would be easier if I were and adult¡± I grabbed his arm. ¡°Come on, I want you to meet my friend.¡± Reese jumped into the back ¡°Sophia this is John¡± the name sounded strange for him. ¡°John this is my friend Sophia.¡± ¡°John? I thought you said his name was Reese?¡± Shit I had never even realized what I had done. Reese laughed ¡°I use to eat a lot of Reese peanut butter chocolate, it¡¯s a nickname, please just call me John.¡± I was shocked, he was quick, a good liar. I didn''t even know what that chocolate was. ¡°Have you ever heard rock music?¡± I turned to Reese ¡°its amazing you feel it in every part of you, I love it.¡± Sophia took that as a cue to turn on the radio and look for a local rock station. Just as I had the first time I felt the music. Sophia kept looking at me and Reese. She started singing to the song. By the third chorus I was able to join in. As the rain continued to wash over the windshield we drove home listening to the music.


    Sophia dropped us off at the hotel, we were finally alone. I told him that we would go shopping for his clothes tomorrow and I would help him make a resume. We talked about our parents ¡°Aunt Mackie said Shift killed them, she thinks they killed them so they could take us.¡± Reese told me ¡°she showed me pictures he pulled some photographs out of his bag. The first was of a couple. The man was dark skinned and dark haired. He looked Like Reese. ¡°That¡¯s dad¡± he pointed to him. ¡°Mackie said he was native American, Mi¡¯kmaq. And that¡¯s mom.¡± I looked to the woman; she was paler with light brown hair and red lips. The next picture was of the same woman holding a baby smiling. The baby was wearing a pink sleeper. ¡°That¡¯s you Luna.¡± I put the pictures down. I didn¡¯t want to look at them. They just made me sad. I didn''t want to think of the past. It didn¡¯t matter anymore they were dead. ¡°Lets go out for food.¡± I said walking to the door.


    The week went smoothly. I even began enjoying my job despite the manager. I got along nicely with one coworker really well he was funny and went out of his way to teach me how to do everything. He also didn¡¯t ask a lot of questions about my past which I liked. I found out that he had work for Ryan for four years and was saving money to move to Toronto. he wanted to become a singer. On Thursday Reese came back telling me he had found a job working on a farm at the edge of town. This was great because we had begun looking at apartments in town and had found a great two bedroom apartment downtown. Now the rent wouldn''t be all my responsibility. We were expecting to move in on Friday. The landlord was an older lady who lived in the upstairs apartment while we lived in the basement. I took the day off work and Sophia was coming to help pick out some stuff for the apartment.


    Friday morning we met Sophia at the mall and began picking out curtains, my favourite were white ones with sunflowers on it. They made me happy. We split our money from Aunt Mackie to buy some kitchen supplies and furniture. It was all very expensive but we bought a cheap futon for the living room, a small television and a table set. We also bought some mattresses for our rooms agreeing to wait to buy bed frames and save the rest of our money. I was glad that we didn¡¯t get bed frames as well what we did have barely fit in the back of Sophia¡¯s truck and took us a couple trips to bring it all inside. It was a tiring day. To thank Sophia for helping us and letting us use her Poppa¡¯s truck I offered to cook her some supper when we got back to the apartment. We went grocery shopping but because I didn¡¯t have that much experience cooking so it ended up her teaching me how to make lasagna. She is a great cook, the food turned out amazing. We spent our first night in that apartment playing card games and laughing a lot. It felt good to be making my own life away from Shift. I was getting everything I had ever dreamed of, I had a family and I had a home. I couldn¡¯t wait for tomorrow to go to the museum with Sophia.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.


    I had invited Reese but he said that is when he started work on the farm. So I wished him good luck on his first day. Sophia met me at my place around noon and we walked to the museum together, we spent the whole afternoon there as she explained what the different things we saw were, she was incredibly smart. Sophia got really excited when we looked at the old animal and dinosaur bones. She told me how she loved dinosaurs since she was small. Her dad use to bring her here to the museum all the time so she could look at the bones. Sophia grew solemn talking about her father as she leaned against the rail looking away from me. I put my hand on her arm ¡°Sophia?¡± she turned back to me ¡°Sorry, my dad he died when I was 15, this place just reminds me of him a lot.¡± I squeezed her arm. I wasn¡¯t sure what to do. I had never lost someone I loved. I didn¡¯t even have a father. She smile ¡°come on lets go, I think you¡¯re going to like the next exhibit.¡± She brought me to the rocks and minerals. She was right I did like this, they were all so beautiful. We pointed out which ones were the prettiest and giggles over the ones that looked the strangest. We had spent over an hour just looking at the different stones. ¡°This is the best day of my life¡± I said as she pointed out another rock. She stopped walking and looked at me. I couldn''t read the look on her face. I looked into her mind for just a second without even meaning to. She was thinking about pushing me against the glass wall, her hands in my hair her lips on mine, kissing me slow and deep. In her head I was kissing her back wrapping my arms around her waist. My mouth fell open and I gasped shocked but she grabbed my hand bringing me back to the moment and pulled me after her walking into the next room filled with new things. I could no longer pay attention to what we were looking at. Her hand was warm on mine and I replayed her thoughts in mine. My heart was beating through my chest. ¡°Are you okay? Why are you so quiet now?¡± she stopped walking, letting go of my hand. I didn''t want her to let go. ¡°Nothing, want to go get something to eat now?¡± I asked pushing what I had seen out of my head.


    We agreed to go back to my place where should would teach me how to make Greek chicken. The weather was cold as we walked back, as we walked our hands kept brushing up against one another. I wondered how it would feel to hold Sophia¡¯s hand in mine. She was telling me about a trip to the beach when she was little. I loved hearing her stories of growing up, seeing the world through her memories. I think she saw the world with a little bit of magic in it.


    We stopped at a grocery store to pick up what we needed for supper. As we walked down the isles an upbeat song came on the radio. Sophia squealed ¡°I love this song¡± she started dancing right there in the middle of the grocery store. She was beautiful as her brown curls danced with her. I couldn''t help but laugh as she grabbed my hand leading me to dance with her. She didn''t let go of my hand as we stopped dancing and continued shopping. I didn''t let go either, the warmth of her fingers entwined in mine made me feel a warmth inside that I couldn¡¯t explain. I was so happy here with her in that moment. She finally let go when we got to the cash and I quickly began to wonder when I would get to touch her again.


    Once back at my apartment I turned on an old radio as we began supper. She told me how her father loved to cool and he was the one to teach her this recipe. ¡°Hey, Annie? Do you know what happened to your parents?¡± she asked knowing I had been in foster care. ¡°Yeah, they died in a car accident when I was three. I don''t remember them at all.¡± ¡°So you don''t remember ever having a family?¡± she looked sad thinking about me in foster care. I smiled ¡°no, not really¡± I looked around the kitchen filled with happy music and the smell of chicken and garlic. She was making me happier than I could ever remember being. ¡°But when I pictured what it would be like to have a family, I pictured it would feel like this.¡± I said looking back at Sophia. She was smiling again. ¡°Me and John, we are your family, you never have to be without family again¡± she hugged me for a second an went back to cooking as she sang along to the radio.


    Just as we finished making supper Reese walked through the door. ¡°What smells so amazing¡± he came into the kitchen. ¡°oh, hello Sophia, I should have known it wasn''t Annie¡¯s cooking that smelled so wonderful¡± he teased. We sat down and ate as Reese told us of his day on the farm. ¡°Thanks for supper Sophia, I''m gonna go for a shower and then to bed, I¡¯m beat.¡± Reese got up and put his dishes away.


    Sophia got up as well ¡°Good night John, I should probably head out as well¡± she hesitated. I didn''t want her to leave yet; the day had been so good I didn''t want it to end. ¡°You could stay and watch a movie with me?¡± I asked hopeful. ¡°That sounds perfect." We went over to the couch. We huddled under a blanket and chose a movie to watch. She was shocked about me not having seen a movie before and was getting me to watch her favorite, Mulan. We sat closer than we needed on the futon. I could feel her every move beside me. It got really late watching movies and talking. I started to yawn so much, I had to finally admit defeat and go to bed. Sophia slept on the futon as it was too late for her to walk home.


    After that day I wanted to tell Sophia the truth more than anything. I wanted her to call me by my real name. I wanted her to know the truth about my powers. I was afraid to though. What if she was afraid of me like Shift said she would be. She would probably hate me for lying and never talk to me again. I really didn¡¯t want to lose her now and it wasn¡¯t fair to her. She was getting to know a lie she wasn¡¯t getting to know me. I didn¡¯t even know who me was. Luna, Laura, Annie I was tired I had to come clean to her. Every time I thought I was ready and I got ready to tell her I would look at her smile and I couldn''t bare to lose that, I would put it off till tomorrow and that was how it remained.

 Chapter 7 - MISSING CHILD, ABIGAIL WHITTLER: AGED 6

    Weeks passed with me working at the diner, Reese working on the farm and Sophia working at the police station. We had a pattern forming. I spent every weekend with Sophia she came over a lot we''d watch television and talk till it was really late. She often slept over on the futon. I was careful not to look into her mind again and she was careful not to touch me for to long. She was scared of something I could tell. I was beginning to think she sensed my lies.


    It was almost Christmas when I heard a knock at the front door. Reese was in the kitchen making dinner and I was reading. I opened the door to two police officers. ¡°Hello?¡± ¡°Hello ma¡¯am Does John Bluwaters live here?¡± ¡°Yeah, why? John!¡± I called him over ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± Reese came to the door. ¡°Hello John, have you seen Abigail Whittler?¡± ¡°Not since Saturday at work, why?¡± ¡°Her mom had her at the park this morning and she went missing can we please ask you to come down to the station to answer some more questions.¡± ¡°Sure, I don¡¯t know anything though.¡± After he left I called Sophia to see if she knew what was going on. ¡°She¡¯s the daughter of the man who John works for. She went missing from a park this morning. I can¡¯t really tell you anything more but John is their prime suspect.¡± ¡°What that¡¯s impossible I know he wouldn¡¯t do that!? ¡°I know¡± she stopped. There was something she wanted to say but wasn¡¯t. ¡°I¡¯m sorry Annie, I have to go. I¡¯ll call you later.¡± Not even five minutes after we hung up Reese called me from the police station. ¡°Hey, Lu they¡¯re arresting me. They have a witness, I didn¡¯t do it Lu. I swear.¡± I was shocked this was all happening to fast. I wasn''t prepared for this. ¡°It¡¯s going to be okay Reese. I¡¯m going to figure this out, I promise.¡± I hung up and called Michael. ¡°Hello, Uncle Michael. Reese has been arrested for kidnap. I don¡¯t know what to do.¡± Michael stayed calm ¡°Luna you can help him. You can find out who really did it and prove to the police that Reese is innocent.¡± Okay, okay I will.¡±


    I had to figure out where to start. I went down to the police station. Sophia was there she was talking with someone. I went to the front desk. ¡°I¡¯m John Bluwaters sister. I want to know what is going on. You can¡¯t just arrest my brother.¡± The man who was talking to Sophia came over. ¡°Miss Bluwaters I¡¯m detective Waller please come sit down.¡± he lead me over to a desk. I looked over to Sophia and listened to what she was thinking. She was thinking about Reese going over the times they had talked. She was looking to see if he could have done this. She was thinking about the times me and Reese acted a little strange. I switched my attention to Detective Waller. ¡°He didn¡¯t do this I was with him all morning.¡± ¡°Well Ms. Bluwaters we have another witness placing him at the park the same time Abigail Whittler disappeared.¡± ¡°No¡± ¡°Did he go out at all around eleven this morning?¡± ¡°No¡± I said again. ¡°Do you know anywhere he could be keeping the child? If we find her alive the charge will be kidnapping.¡± ¡°no he lives with me, he only moved here a month ago.¡± ¡°We need to search your apartment we can get a warrant but it would be better for John if you cooperated by letting us in.¡± ¡°She¡¯s not in there, you can come look, who saw him at the park?¡± ¡°Officer Chang saw him talking to the child.¡± Detective Waller drove me to my house and searched for the girl. After they left I thought about what I needed to do next. If I could get close to Officer Chang I would be able to read his mind to see who he really saw at the park.


    I went into Reese¡¯s room, he had the photographs from Aunt Mackie pinned to his wall. I hadn''t continued looking at them yet but they meant a lot to Reese. I sat on his mattress and looked at them now. There was one of me holding Reese when he was just a baby. And another of the four of us outside at a beach. The man had me on his shoulders. The man, my father. The woman my mother. I had spent so many years thinking I didn¡¯t have a family. That my parents never wanted me because of who I was. They loved me and Reese and we were smiling in every picture. They really were my family, Reese is to. He is the only family left and I was not going to lose him.


    A knock came from the front door so I got up to get it shutting Reese¡¯s door on my way. Sophia was at the door, she was done working for the day. ¡°Can I come in¡± She had brought a pizza with extra bacon my favourite. She was trying to cheer me up. We had a couple beers and watched the television. ¡°I want to talk to Detective Chang¡± ¡°Why Annie, that¡¯s not a good idea.¡± ¡°Because he didn''t see Reese, He was with me all morning.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I know how much you love your brother¡± she put her arms around me. ¡°I¡¯m gonna find out who did this, I need to talk to that officer¡± ¡°what do you plan to do? He told Waller what he saw, what he saw was John.¡± ¡°It wasn¡¯t, you don¡¯t believe me¡± I leaned away from her hurt. ¡°Do you think Reese did this?¡± I asked her point blank and then listened to her mind again. She was again thinking of Reese ¡°No I Don¡¯t, I don¡¯t know, I believe you when you¡¯re saying he was here with you.¡± she was telling me the truth. ¡°thank you¡± I leaned back against her and went back to watching television.


    I wasn¡¯t sure how to find the girl in order to clear Reese¡¯s name. I went to the park the next evening after work. I sat on a bench for a long while watching people come and go. No one was thinking of little Abigail and it was starting to get dark. There was snow falling covering the grass in a white glittery blanket. I walked back through the park when I noticed him. A young boy wrapped in a blanket under a tree. I walked over and crouched down just as I had that night in the big city when I ran away. It felt like years ago another life. The boy under the tree was really young. ¡°Hey, I¡¯m Annie¡± ¡°Hey¡± his voice was softer than I expected. I pulled out a bottle of water from my bag and offered it to him. ¡°Thanks¡± I realized this young person wasn''t a boy but a girl. ¡°I have some questions to ask you if you don¡¯t mind.¡± ¡°You a cop?¡± I laughed ¡°no, you heard about the missing girl, they¡¯re blaming my brother. He¡¯s all I got. It happened yesterday were you here?¡± she nodded ¡°you see anyone unusual in the park?¡± ¡°No¡± I pulled out a picture of me and Reese Sophia had given me a week earlier. ¡°You see this boy here yesterday?¡± ¡°no, not him¡± I had nothing else to ask but I didn¡¯t want to leave her out here alone It was cold. ¡°why you out here?¡± I looked into her mind. She was thinking about a fight with her parents. They were screaming at her saying she was a girl and she had to act like it. She told them she didn¡¯t want to be a girl, asking them to call them Lee. Lee¡¯s memories were painful. They shrugged ¡°family don¡¯t want me¡± It was starting to rain. I shivered. ¡°Well Reese is locked up for now, you should come sleep in his bed. I could sure use the company.¡± Lee was shy but I could see they liked the idea of a bed. I got up and we walked home.


    As we got in my phone began to ring. ¡°Hello¡± ¡°Hey it¡¯s Sophia¡± I spoke away from the phone to Lee, ¡°would you like a drink, some tea?¡± ¡°Some tea please¡± Lee responded. ¡°Oh you have company, sorry¡± ¡°no it¡¯s fine, It¡¯s a kid Lee, They were sleeping in the park, I¡¯m lending them Reese¡¯s bed¡± ¡°Oh, Lee, yeah she refuses to go to the woman shelter and it¡¯s not safe for her in the men¡¯s. She''s very angry and violent; it¡¯s not safe for you to have her there. She could steal your stuff, your money.¡± ¡°I think Lee with be fine they¡± I emphasized the pronoun ¡°just want somewhere warm to sleep.¡± ¡°I¡¯m coming over; it¡¯ll be safer with the two of us.¡± I knew I didn''t know anything about Lee and Sophia was right they could try to steal my stuff. I also knew I was specially equipped and trained to handle myself but I wanted to see her. ¡°Okay, fine. If you insist¡± I joked and hung up. A friend of mine is coming over I shouted looking for Lee. I liked that Sophia wanted to protect me. Lee was awkwardly sitting on the couch. ¡°You must be cold from the rain; can I get you some pajamas to wear?¡± Lee smiled ¡°thanks.¡±


    We were watching television when Sophia arrived, she let herself in. ¡°who wants pizza?¡± Me and Lee grinned at each other and went to the kitchen. We ate and I introduced Sophia. She put her arm around my waist. It seemed so casual but she¡¯d never done that before and I wondered why she did it now in front of Lee. I thought about listening to what she was thinking but decided against it. Instead I grabbed her hand and pulled her to the living room with ¡°lets finish the movie Lee.¡¯ At the end of the movie Lee said goodnight and went to Reese¡¯s room. ¡°They seem nice.¡± Sophia said. I smiled they do. We were alone again another movie started. Sophia picked up my hand and played with my fingers. ¡°Thanks for coming over tonight, and the pizza.¡± she was looking at me the same way she did at the museum. I wanted to lean in and press my lips to hers. I couldn¡¯t look away from her red lips. I realized she was saying something and I tried harder to focus. She was talking about Lee. I interrupted ¡°I¡¯m sleepy, lets go to bed, I pulled her up.¡± she looked down at the couch. ¡°If you have an extra blanket I¡¯ll just crash here again¡± she pointed down to the couch. I smiled. ¡°I have a big bed, I can share. If you¡¯d like?¡± She followed me into my room. I left my pants on the floor and crawled under the covers. Sophia crawled in beside me. She put her arm over my tummy and her head in my chest and we fell asleep entwined. The best night sleep I had ever had.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!


    I woke the next morning with my head on her chest now. Legs tangled together. I laid still, not wanting to wake her not wanting this closeness to end. I felt her brush a long my forehead moving my hair out of my face. ¡°Good morning¡± her voice was sweet and sleepy. I rolled off her. ¡°Good morning.¡± I grabbed some clothes and went to change in the bathroom. My heart was beating too fast. I needed a moment to be alone. I had today off so I was going to do more searching for answers. Breakfast first though; I started making blueberry pancakes and bacon for everyone. Sophia came out and set the table. ¡°I work in a couple hours, and then I have to take Nana to Halifax hospital for some tests.¡± ¡°Oh is Nana okay?¡± ¡°I think so; she¡¯s been sleeping a lot lately¡± ¡°do you want me to come with you?¡± ¡°No she should only be there for an hour thank you though.¡± I nodded and went to wake up Lee. We ate breakfast together. ¡°I¡¯ll taker to you later Sophia said as she left for work. ¡°Goodbye Lee.¡±


    I started the dishes and Lee jumped up to help. ¡°Thanks for breakfast¡± ¡°yeah no problem¡± ¡°so is Sophia your girlfriend?¡± ¡°No¡± I blushed. I didn¡¯t know what she was. My feelings were more than that of friends but nothing has been said either. It was so complicated. I had never done this before. ¡°You¡¯re blushing¡± Lee laughed ¡°you want her to be your girlfriend¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, I¡¯ve never had a girlfriend.¡± ¡°Oh I¡¯m sure it¡¯s not that much different than a boyfriend, if you like each other that¡¯s what matters right?¡± ¡°Right¡± but I¡¯ve never had a boyfriend either I thought. ¡°You can stay here again tonight. I have to go somewhere though, I¡¯m going to look around Abigail¡¯s house. Maybe there¡¯s something there to help find her, help clear my brother¡¯s name.¡± ¡°Can I come? I can help, be a look out or something?¡± I could use the company so I agreed and we changed our clothes and headed out.


    The snow from last night had melted, the sun was shining but the wind whipped at our faces. The Whittlers farm was on the edge of town. We took a bus as close as we could get then walked ten minutes. We looked around the barn finding nothing. Then we crept outside the house. We could hear shouting. They were arguing. Mr. Whittler blames Mrs. Whittler for not watching Abigail close enough. She cried and talked about Reese. She hoped Reese would tell them where he was keeping her. I felt bad that their daughter was missing. That they were going through this. They wanted their daughter back but they didn¡¯t know anything. They believed what the police had told them. I turned and walked away. I was freezing and getting nowhere I had to go to the source. I had to talk to the officer who saw Reese take her. I went to the police station but Detective Chang wasn¡¯t there today. I asked for an update on my brother¡¯s case. I was told he would appear before the courts in a week and I was welcome to go. I had a week to figure out who that Detective saw take Abigail instead of Reese.


    After work the next day I went back to the police station looking for Detective Chang. I introduced myself. ¡°You saw my brother talking to Abigail Whittler¡± I stopped there and listened, I expected him to picture another boy, not Reese talking to her in the park. Instead I saw a little blond girl with curly hair talking to Detective Chang. Then I saw her in a dark place with concrete walls. She was crying for her mommy. ¡°Miss, I can¡¯t discuss an ongoing case with you. I know you don¡¯t believe your brother could do this, most people don¡¯t.¡± ¡°You took her¡± I blurted out. ¡°Goodbye Ms. Bluwaters.¡± He was using my brother. He lied; he was the one who had Abigail all this time. I was livid no one was going to believe me. I called Sophia again inviting her over to my place when she got back to town. I had to tell her everything now, Maybe she could help me. We had to help Reese and that poor little girl. Lee was gone when I got back to the apartment. I didn''t know where they were but I was glad to be alone when I had to talk to Sophia. I knew Sophia wasn¡¯t going to be here till late, I paced around. Cleaning doing anything to occupy myself while I waited. Finally she came in. She could tell instantly that I was upset. I brought her over to the table. ¡°I need to tell you something¡± I stopped and waited for her to sit down. I started pacing the floor again.


    I guess it would be best to start at the beginning. ¡°Annie, you¡¯re scaring me¡± ¡°Okay I¡¯ll start with my name isn¡¯t really Annie, but you can¡¯t tell anyone that. There¡¯s a lot you don¡¯t know about me. Can I trust you?¡± ¡°What are you saying? or course you can trust me. What is going on? Who are you really?¡± ¡°My name is Luna Riley, when I was three years old my parents were killed in a car accident. I was put into foster care until I was five. I forget most of that time. I didn¡¯t even know I had a brother. After moving around a lot of foster homes an organization called Special Humans Institute for Training took me. They erased my identity from society.¡± ¡°Wait what, why would they do that?¡± ¡°Because I¡¯m different I can do things that normal people can¡¯t.¡± ¡°This isn¡¯t funny, you¡¯re joking right? This is a joke?¡± She was ghost white; I was going to scare her away. I knew shift was going to be right about her. ¡°I can read minds and control electricity¡± I stopped and searched her face again. She wasn¡¯t sure whether to believe me or not. I had to prove it, but without scaring her more. ¡°Do you want me to show you?¡± ¡°Oh um I guess.¡± I pulled electricity from the light transferring it back and forth between my finger tips on each hand. The light was warm but it didn¡¯t hurt. I released it back into my body where it died out. She sat shocked. ¡°Can John do that to?¡± ¡°Umm so his name is really Reese, the chocolate bit is made up. I¡¯m so sorry.¡± ¡°Oh, you¡¯ve known everything I¡¯ve been thinking this whole time?¡± she was hurt and embarrassed. ¡°No, I can control it, I don¡¯t usually invade people¡¯s privacy, I did at the police station, I¡¯m sorry¡± I apologized again. ¡°I was trying to figure out what was happening with Reese. And again when I asked you if you thought he¡¯d done it.¡± I looked down at the floor. I could feel myself losing her as the seconds passed. I thought about telling her about the time in the museum but I burned red just thinking about it. That would embarrass us both. ¡°Oh, okay.¡± she did look better. ¡°Reese can¡¯t do the same. He can move matter.¡± ¡°He can what? you know what never mind. Why are you guys hiding here?¡± ¡°Well that organization we call it Shift. They trained us to use our powers and in fighting. They used us to steal things. They used us to take more children. They drugged us to block us from feeling any emotions at all. They were lying to us. I found out by accident and I ran away. I found my Aunt and she helped Reese get out too. She gave us the money to move here. She¡¯s been searching for us the whole time we were at Shift.¡± ¡°Wow I don''t even know what to say, I can¡¯t even imagine.¡± She was holding my hand now. She wasn¡¯t afraid anymore that made me happy. ¡°So why are you telling me now?¡± ¡°Because Reese didn¡¯t take that girl. I know who did and I know where she is. I think she¡¯s still alive. ¡°Where is she¡± Sophia was loud, she stood up. ¡°Detective Chang has her, in a basement I think.¡±


    Sophia didn''t say anything. She sat back down. I wanted to know what she was thinking but I didn¡¯t dare listen. ¡°Sophia?¡± I wanted her to say something. Anything. ¡°He¡¯s new; I think he lives on Fourth Avenue. I¡¯m not sure.¡± she was quiet again. ¡°You believe me?¡± ¡°I don''t know, I mean yes. Annie¡­Luna I believe you, I trust you, but why would he take her and why would he blame Reese?¡± I was startled by how wonderful it was to hear her call me by my real name for the first time. ¡°I- I don¡¯t know that part¡± I said honestly. I hadn¡¯t been able to figure that out either.


    We talked about how we could prove that Detective Chang was the one to really take Abigail Whittler. We knew that we would have to find some kind of proof before anyone would listen to us blaming a fellow officer. I knew if we could figure out where he was keeping Abigail I could get in and rake pictures or get the girl out. She would be able to tell everyone that Reese never took her, if she was still alive that is. ¡°When does her work next?¡± I asked. ¡°I can follow him home from work and then the next time he goes out I can look around for Abigail.¡± Sophia looked worried. ¡°I don''t know, you could get hurt or get yourself in trouble or worse.¡± ¡°Please Sophia, I have to help Reese, he¡¯s at risk of being caught by SHIFT in jail, they have people everywhere.¡± ¡°Okay, okay, I¡¯ll go in and find out when he works next and I¡¯ll text you.¡± she got up. ¡°We¡¯ll fix this, Reese will be okay, everything will be okay, I promise.¡± she hugged me, I already loved her hugs so much and in her arms I really did feel like everything was going to be okay.

 Chapter 8 – Changes

    Chapter 8 ¨C Changes


    It was only two days before Reese was set to go to court for sentencing when I finally got a chance to search detective Chang¡¯s house. He lived in an old brick house with tiny windows. Sophia was back in Halifax with Nana for more doctors¡¯ appointments; she was still sleeping a lot and not eating. Sophia was worried about her all the time. She made me promise to bring Lee as back up and because I didn¡¯t want to worry her more I agreed. Lee had continued staying in Reese¡¯s bed, I liked having them around. They were quiet and understanding, I felt comfortable talking to Lee. We talked about my feelings for Sophia and how I¡¯d never been in a relationship before. Lee told me about their troubles growing up not feeling like a girl and having a family that didn¡¯t understand. I had never really thought about being a girl and didn¡¯t really know what they were going through but Lee confiding in me was nice. They trusted me and I felt they would accept me for being different because they knew what it was like to be different. Having people who weren¡¯t afraid of my abilities proved to me again that SHIFT had lied to me about the real world. I never questioned for a second if I had made the right decision running from SHIFT to be free.


    It was dark out and snowing hard when Lee and I got to Detective Chang¡¯s back door. I had watched him come home a couple nights ago. He had an alarm system just inside the kitchen. Luckily I remembered the code he used to disarm it. As soon as we picked the backdoor lock I ran to the alarm and hit 74438. The house was dark and we used flashlights to look around. ¡°If he has her here, she is probably in the basement.¡± I told Lee. They went looking for the basement while I looked around the kitchen. I wanted to understand why Detective Chang blamed Reese. What did he have against Reese?


    There wasn¡¯t much in the kitchen. You could tell Chang hadn¡¯t lived here long. There were a few letters beside a computer on the table. I turned on the computer while I flipped through the letters. I thought they must have to do with a case Chang was working on as they mentioned targets and undercover positions. I heard Lee should they had found the basement and heard the stairs creek as they descended. The computer came on with a ding and that is when I knew we had to get out of the house immediately. There in the centre of the log in screen was the silver medallion with a wolfs head pointing up as if ready to howl with the letters S.H.I.F.T that matched the medallion on all my old SHIFT uniforms.


    I couldn¡¯t breathe; Detective Chang was working with SHIFT. He must have known who we were all along. I had to get Reese and get out of this city, this province right away. I ran to find lee. They were down the stairs which opened up into a creepy basement that had old wooden shelves on the walls. ¡°Lee?¡± ¡°Yeah back here, I found her.¡± I heard from a door at the back of the basement. Lee was in there working at untying a little blond girl covered in dirt. I recognized her from the little girl in Chang¡¯s mind. She had tears running down her cheeks. I went over to help. ¡°It¡¯s okay sweetie we¡¯re going to take you back to your mommy and daddy.¡± She wiped her eyes. ¡°Lee, were in a lot of trouble, we have to hurry.¡± I said as calmly as I could trying not to scare Abigail. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Lee asked. I couldn¡¯t think of a lie to tell Lee, and I didn¡¯t want to lie to Lee. I was panicking and started to ramble everything out. ¡°Me and Reese belonged to an organization since we were five. A couple of months ago we learned they had killed our parents and were lying to us. We escaped and were hiding here. I saw on Detective Chang¡¯s computer that he works for that organization. I need to get Reese, I mean John, his real name is Reese and my real name is Luna and we need to run.¡±


    I picked up Abigail and started for the stairs with Lee right behind me. I wasn¡¯t sure what to do. If we brought Abigail to the police station Chang would know we were in his house. It


    would put our escape at a higher risk but how else would we get Reese out of jail? We had to get Abigail home and back to her parents anyway. I took off my winter jacket to wrap around her as we exited the back door. I thought about calling the police to come get us but I didn¡¯t want to risk Chang showing up. It would be safer to do this as public as possible. I called Sophia, she was at her Nana¡¯s just getting back from Halifax. I asked her if she could come pick us up explaining how we found Abigail and what I saw on Chang¡¯s computer. She showed up ten minutes later in her truck. ¡°I need to get Reese and take the first bus out of here.¡± I said as soon as we got in the truck. She hugged me tight. ¡°I was so worried¡± she said ¡°Okay first things first lets go get Reese released.¡± I nodded.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    At the police station people were shocked to see Abigail. Everything was taking a long time. We had to wait for her parents and child counsellors to question her about what happened. Me and Lee lied saying we were passing by when we heard her screaming. Chang was nowhere to be seen but they agreed that after Abigail confirmed that Reese had not been the one to take her that they had no reason to hold him any longer.


    Sophia drove us all back to the apartment. Me and Reese started packing what we could take with us. I went into my room and Sophia followed. ¡°Luna, slow down.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t. I¡¯m Sorry, we have to take the next bus, he could kill us.¡± I was frantic, she grabbed my hand and for the first time I realized she was crying. ¡°I don¡¯t want to lose you¡± she whispered. I stopped what I was doing. ¡°I know I am still figuring out who I am away from SHIFT but it means everything to me to have people who trust and accept me. I can¡¯t thank you enough for being my friend Sophia.¡± Friend. That didn¡¯t sound right. Not even in my mouth. I didn¡¯t want Sophia to be my friend, well not just a friend. With my heart racing and my palms sweaty I closed the gap between us pressing my lips to hers. I was kissing her and she was kissing me back. It was more intense than when I had imagined kissing her. We both knew this was goodbye and I could feel it in the desperation of the kiss. I didn¡¯t want to be saying goodbye to Sophia. Not yet, not today. ¡°Come with me?¡± I heard myself ask. She was looking deep into my eyes as I stared back into her light brown eyes. They reminded me of sand on a beach, hot under the summer sun. She whispered in my ear ¡°I will follow you anywhere¡± then she kissed me again and started helping me pack my things. ¡°It¡¯s going to be dangerous¡± I warned her. ¡°I know¡± she squeezed my hand. ¡°I want to be there for you.¡± ¡°I¡¯m ready¡± Reese said coming into my room. ¡°Great, Sophia is coming with is, we need to go get her stuff and then we will take the next bus to Halifax and whatever bus from there.¡± ¡°We should call Uncle Michael¡± Reese reminded me. ¡°You¡¯re right¡± I tossed him my phone and carried my backpack into the living room. Lee was sitting on the couch. They appeared deep in thought. ¡°Will they come after you?¡± they asked. ¡°Yes, I think Chang followed me or Reese here, maybe the plan was to get us both arrested so he could take us back to SHIFT without anyone knowing.¡± ¡°Why do they care so much, you¡¯re just teenagers?¡± Lee could tell there was something they were missing. ¡°We¡¯re not just teenagers, we can do stuff, we¡¯re special. I control electricity and Reese can move matter.¡± Lee looked at me skeptical wondering if I was messing with them. Again I knew I would have to prove it, so I did. The surprise on their face was pretty amusing. Lee wasn¡¯t afraid at all. ¡°Woah, that¡¯s so cool.¡± I laughed; Lee was so pure and sweet. ¡°Where are you guys going to go?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± I said honestly. ¡°I don¡¯t really have any family, none that want me anyway; can I come with you guys?¡± Lee was so nervous asking to come that I didn¡¯t want to say no and tell them we didn¡¯t want them either. I cared about Lee, I felt like a big sister to them. ¡°It could be really dangerous Lee¡­¡± ¡°oh okay.¡± ¡°I already think of you as family Lee, I¡¯d be happy to have you come, but I¡¯m not sure if it will be safe, if I can


    protect you.¡± Reese had finished on the phone and joined our conversation. ¡°Oh Luna, we can protect Lee, the more people the harder for SHIFT to take us unnoticed anyway.¡± I nodded ¡°alright its settled were not splitting up this family.¡± We all smiled. Michael had to Reese to head west to Toronto where he and Mackie would join us. From there we would figure out our next move. Find a safe place to go.


    I held Sophia¡¯s hand as she drove us to her Nana¡¯s and Poppy¡¯s. She was nervous. She had planned to tell them her friend had an emergency and needed to go back to Ontario and that she was going to go with her. Sophia¡¯s house wasn¡¯t far from the bus station, she had already dropped Lee and Reese off and after she packed some stuff we¡¯d walk over and meet them. I was waiting outside so she could say goodbye to her Nanna and Poppy, who knew when she would be back to see them again. She came out smiling and held up a pair of car keys. ¡°Nanna gave me her car, said with how she¡¯s been feeling lately she wouldn¡¯t be using it anyway.¡± ¡°that¡¯s amazing of her.¡± We hopped into her Nanna¡¯s silver honda and Sophia leaned over and kissed me. This kiss was different. No desperate edge, it was sweet and safe. ¡°Ready babe?¡± she said starting the engine. ¡°Let the road trip begin¡± I joked. I knew what was coming up for us was going to be dangerous, but I had never felt safer than this moment here in this warm car as the snow fell silently around us.

 Chapter 9 – On the Road

    Making the trip back to Ontario to meet Mackie and Michael was a lot more comfortable in the car than the bus. It was cold at night so we had to get hotel rooms when Sophia became to tired to drive. To be honest it was quite fun travelling with everyone; Lee had the smallest bladder, wanting to stop every few hours to pee. We began to tease them about it, but we didn¡¯t really mind. It was nice to get out and stretch our legs. We had been driving for nearly eight hours on the second day when Reese started asking to stop somewhere for supper. ¡°We¡¯re just about in Ottawa¡± Sophia told us. ¡°Lets stop for the night and we will finish the drive to Toronto tomorrow.¡± We all agreed.


    Sophia was the only one who had been to Ottawa before. It was a beautiful city, it looked familiar and me and Reese wondered if this was where they brought us for our last OSM together. I told them how getting shot in the museum was what led to the discovery of the vitamins and wanting to be free if SHIFT. Sophia put her hand on my thigh where she knew my scar was. We drove for another ten minute when we pulled up to a small but nice looking hotel. We asked for two rooms, one for me and Sophia and a second for Reese and Lee to share. We didn¡¯t stay in our rooms long because we were all pretty hungry. Christmas was only a week away and Ottawa was cold. We walked fifteen minutes to a restaurant recommended by the lady at the hotel front desk.


    The food was really good and they had a piano playing in the back corner. We got a table right by a fireplace. It was very cozy. We ordered a bottle of wine to share, the alcohol made my face flush and warm. I could feel Sophia staring at me. It was making me nervous and giddy to have her look at me like that, so intense. She leaned in and whispered in my ear so the other two couldn¡¯t hear ¡°you look beautiful tonight Luna, I love when your eyes sparkle like this, I can¡¯t wait to get you alone.¡± I felt my bottom lip fall for a second and my face burn hot red before I was able to swallow hard and smile; that made Sophia laugh.


    Reese was the first one to bring up Christmas suggesting we all go shopping after supper because it was our first Christmas as a family and he wanted to celebrate. We all agreed and got excited. Lee and Sophia told us about their family traditions, me and Reese not remembering a family Christmas or if Sarah and Daniel even celebrated the holiday listened learning all about the best parts of Christmas. Lee told us about their older brother and how one Christmas when Lee was fifteen they had just told their family about not being a girl. That Christmas was particularly bad for them because all their gifts were pointedly feminine, except one. Lee¡¯s younger brother bought them a silver chain. Lee still wore it around their neck three years later. Sophia told us how every year her two older brothers and her mom would fly home to Nova Scotia to have Christmas with Nanna. Nanna made the best lemon meringue pie. They would decorate a Christmas tree in the backyard and go tobogganing with all the kids in the family. She laughed thinking about a memory she didn¡¯t share with us.


    I couldn¡¯t wait to spend my first Christmas with everyone, especially Sophia. I had only known Sophia for two months but she already meant so much to me. I wanted to get her a present that could show her how I felt. I had never bought a present before though so I had no idea what to get her. We decided that for shopping me and Lee would go together and Reese and Sophia would go together. I thought Lee might be better at knowing what to get someone you cared this much about for Christmas. Lee told me I should get her a necklace. That jewelry was a customary present for someone you¡¯re dating. We went to a jewelry store that was downtown. It was a small store and the shop keeper was an old tiny lady. She greeted us when we walked in, it didn¡¯t take me long to find the perfect necklace, I thought it would look beautiful on Sophia. It was a little silver heart with a second heart of clear jewels. It was simple and lovely. I paid for the necklace and thanked the lady. Happy that I had found something for Sophia I turned my attention on what to get for Reese and Lee.


    Reese was easy, I swiped one of the pictures he had from Aunt Mackie, the one with Sarah, Daniel me and Reese at the beach. He had left them in Sophia¡¯s car so all we had to do was walk back to the hotel and grab it. I took it into a digital store where they scanned the photograph, blew it up and reprinted it for me. I also picked out a delicate white and beige frame that had sea shells decorating it to hold the photo. I didn¡¯t like looking at the photo much. I felt no connection to these people, to this past, but it meant a lot to Reese and I hoped he would like this photo and frame.


    It had already been a couple of hours since we split up from the others. I was really cold and wanted to head back to the hotel. I wanted to get something special for Lee but it was hard when we were shopping together, I watched different things Lee paid attention to hoping to get some ideas. I noticed they stopped and looked at books whenever we passed some. When we were in a second hand store and I found my favorite Stephan King novel I knew it was perfect. It was a special book to me and to share that with Lee I hoped would be special to them too.


    I patiently waited by the door for Lee to finish shopping then we walked back to the hotel together. Sophia was already in our room when I got back. I hung up my jacket and put the presents in the drawer making her promise she wouldn¡¯t peak. She came over and kissed me on the lips and said ¡°I promise¡±. She kissed me again longer this time. My head was spinning, she was intoxicating. She pulled me over and pushed me down onto the bed. ¡°I couldn¡¯t stop thinking about you.¡± She said in a deep voice. ¡°I missed you.¡± I responded lamely. She got on the bed putting one leg on each side of me as she pulled off her shirt. My hands instinctually went up to her waist. She was so beautiful in her grey bra. I leaned up as she came down kissing me, slipping her tongue into my mouth. Kissing her tasted like honey and she smelled like lilac.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    If I thought holding her hand was magic that night with he was a whole new world. I could never have imagined being with another person to feel so perfect. The next morning I woke up she was snoring softly beside me lying on her stomach. The muscles in her bare back moved slightly as she breathed. I traced my fingers on her arm, just wanted to be touching her every second I could. She woke up and rolled over, I smiled ¡°Good morning my beautiful girl.¡± I gave her a kiss. She smiled and yawned, ¡°Good morning babe¡±. She got up and went for a shower. I called Reese and Lee¡¯s room telling them we were heading down for breakfast in about an hour. They agreed to meet us. I took a quick shower after Sophia; we got ready and headed to the hotels breakfast room.


    Toronto was only another five hours from Ottawa, there we would meet up with Uncle Michael and Aunt Mackie and plan our next steps. Reese was really excited to meet Michael and see Mackie again. He told Lee how Mackie had helped us escape by working for SHIFT and getting us both out. Mackie continued working for SHIFT thinking it was safer if she could warn us if she heard anything from the inside.


    There were a few accidents on the way to Toronto, the roads were very icy and Sophia had to drive slow. After three days of being cooped up in a car we were all getting a little antsy. We were about an hour out of Toronto when Lee and Reese began arguing. First it was about Lee having to pee and Reese wanting to wait till we were in Toronto to stop. Then they started arguing over the radio station. Sophia was getting really stressed listening to them and trying to drive through the slush on the road. I hit the radio power to turn it off and told Lee and Reese to shut up. Sophia smiled at me to say thank you and reached for my hand to hold.


    Just getting into Toronto Lee began whining to pee again and Reese teased them a little meaner than usual. Sophia pulled off the highway at a gas station. Lee was going to the bathroom. Reese decided to go grab some food and I was going in to grab drinks for me and Sophia and pay for gas while she filled up. ¡°Hey Lu, should we get some food for Lee?¡± Reese asked me, ¡°Yeah probably and stop being a jerk to them¡± I said half-heartedly.¡± ¡°Yeah I guess im just hangry¡± Reese joked and took a bite of a snack he just bought. I laughed and went and paid for gas. Lee ran into the store ¡°Reese! Luna! Someone is taking Sophia! Help!¡± we ran out of the store and the store attendant followed. I saw Sophia get pushed into a black van. She looked at me with absolute terror in her eyes. The door shut and the van drove off. I ran after it but knew I¡¯d never catch up, I screamed Sophia¡¯s name. It was a SHIFT van, I was sure of it. They took Sophia. Why? To get to me and Reese? ¡°Did you see the plate number? I¡¯m calling the police,¡± the store attendant said behind me. ¡°no¡± I choked, the police would do no good. This was my fault. I put Sophia in danger. This never would have happened if she wasn¡¯t with me. My chest hurt what were they going to do to her? They had killed Sarah and Daniel to get to us as children. What would they do now?


    Lee came up and held my hand. I was shaking so bad in the cold ¡°come on, let¡¯s go into the store and wait for the police.¡± They said. I nodded, none of us were able to drive so it was our only option. Reese turned off the car and grabbed the keys and we went back inside. I sat down on the floor my legs too weak to stand any longer. How could I do this to her, I made her a target. I knew it was dangerous, I knew what SHIFT was capable of and I let her come. I was selfish and didn¡¯t want to say goodbye and now they had her. Oh god what were they going to do with her.


    The police showed up asking us what Sophia looked like, what she was wearing, her parents information which I didn¡¯t even know, except that her mom lived in Toronto. They asked if we saw the men who took her and got us to describe the vehicle. It was all a waste of time I knew. We need to call Mackie and make a plan. We had to save her, we had to act fast. Reese sat down beside me on the floor, ¡°I talked to Uncle Michael, him and Aunt Mackie are on their way here.¡± That was good, I didn¡¯t know if she could help but at least Mackie had an in with SHIFT still.


    We explained to the store attendant that our aunt and uncle were coming to get us and the car as we couldn¡¯t drive. The police had left with the stores video surveillance and were going to try and contact Sophia¡¯s mother. They said they would call my cell phone with any information. I didn¡¯t expect much from them. This was my fault and I would be the one to get her free. I had to make sure she would go home to her mom someday. When Mackie and Michael did get there we explained what happened and drove to a hotel. Mackie drove Sophia¡¯s car and we all checked in. Our plans to go west were on hold until we found Sophia. SHIFT was apparently only three hours north of Toronto. Mackie was expected to be there tomorrow morning. She said she would go in and try and figure out where they took Sophia. She would try to get her out if she could do so safely or she would try to get me and Reese in so we could get her out. I didn¡¯t care how safe it was for me, if they got me, as long as Reese and Sophia got away.


    I didn¡¯t sleep at all that night, Anytime I closed my eyes I pictured them torturing Sophia. I pictured her beautiful brown eyes filled with tears, begging me to come save her. I toss and turned all night grabbing at the sheets searching for her. Morning could not come fast enough.