October!

It's October! And that means it is well and truly autumn. I get up in the mornings and feel the cool air and am glad for my jacket. It makes me feel like knitting.... :D I have been working on a surprise birthday present for a friend who has been bothering me ever since she heard that I knew how to knit to make her a hat, some legwarmers, and some wristwarmers. Well, she's probably not going to get all three, but wristwarmers will have to do. Theyre really soft..... the yarn is bamboo and acrylic, I'd check what it's called, but then I'd have to move. Ugh. But anyway, the first is finished, the second is well on it's way. I'll post pictures on Flickr when they're finished.

Okay, you know that storyfor English I was talking about in the last post?? Well, it turns out, I'm an overachiever. I know, I know, shocking. But I am. It turned out to be about....... um...... 19 pages long? Single spaced? 12 point font? This may not sound like a huge overachievement (at least it's stopped sounding that crazy to me :D) but the longest other short story in my class was 7 pages. Double spaced. I said I was a bit overachieving. And it's 33 pages long double spaced...... 7504 words.....So here it is! I'm probably going to rewrite some of it later, but this is it for now!

The pleasure of your company is requested at a masque on the evening of
October the 31st
At
The White Feather Ballroom
Repondez s’il-vous plait to the White Feather Ballroom,
1267 Dove Lane

That was the invitation that came in the mail. I could already tell what type of invitation it was before I even got to the snooty “repondez s’il-vous plait” at the bottom of the invitation. I bet that if I bothered to check in Emily Post’s Book of Etiquette, this would be an almost exact copy of her letter format. It’s perfect, except for the part where it never said who was “requesting the pleasure of our company”, which I think Emily Post and all of her successors would find extremely bad form. The invitation lay on the entry table, the rest of the mail forgotten for a moment. I took a moment to examine the envelope. The parchment was heavy in my hand, and a soft cream color. The strangest part was that it was addressed to me, Blake Henley, not my family. I popped the scarlet wax crest off the envelope, already guessing at what was inside. “Mother! Where are you?” I called out, waiting for a response. “I’m in the boudoir dear!” I climbed the stairs, my bare feet making soft sounds against the oriental carpet. I swung open the door to the boudoir, and my mother fluttered over, holding two gowns, the first a gauzy silk number in a pale green, and the second being a deep blue dress that looked beautiful just lying across my mother’s arm. “Darling! How was school today?” my mother questioned as she gathered me in an embrace. I inhaled her scent, a mixture of her perfume, and an unidentifiable, yet distinct, smell of mothers. “It was long. It was very long. Dr. Testa told us that we would be failures at life if we took our goggles off during the prelab while he was talking to us. Turns out that it is a good idea, as he tends to spit when he talks,” I said. “Did you want help deciding on one of those gowns? Where are you planning to go?”
“Gowns? Oh right! I was wondering which I should wear to Abbie’s debutante ball! It’s coming up soon.”
“I had completely forgotten! When is it?”
“It’s the 25th of April. I can’t believe I’ve waited this long!”
I paused for a moment, waiting for my brain to make sense of what I had just heard. The 25th of April was the ball, and today was the 23rd of October. In what world is that late? Then I realized the information I was missing was that this was my mother. She had her outfits planned for each day, depending on where she was going so she wouldn’t clash with the décor. “Well, you’ll have even less time for this,” I said, handing over the invitation. She scanned it quickly, saying “How odd. It doesn’t say who’s hosting, or for what reason. And it’s only addressed to you! Hum, I suppose that means you must attend, if only to find out what this is all about. I should call Aimee! She’s a dear, but a bit of a gossip. She’ll probably know.”
“Oh, and is it okay if I go to Lian’s later?”
“Sure! Go right on ahead! Are you sure you don’t want to invite her over here?”
“It’s fine, we’re probably just going to hang out or something,”
“Well, be careful dear, and take your cell phone! Is it charged?” my mother said, furrowing her brow in worry.
“Yes Mom, of course it is!” I responded, slightly indignantly, holding up my cell phone for inspection. “Alright then, have fun Blakely dear!” my mother said, “And tell Lian’s mother hello for me!”

I walked up the path to Lian’s house, glancing around in a way that I hoped did not look furtive. This place always scared me. I knew I could come here anytime I wanted, but I still wasn’t sure if the guards knew that. I hadn’t been shot yet, so I was hopeful. I was almost at the front door, just 15 more feet, I could make it…. But of course I couldn’t make it all the way, just once. “Excuse me, miss, but I’m going to need an I.D.,” a deep voice rumbled from behind me.
“Hey Brock,” I sighed, pulling out my specially issued “identification badge” that had a wonderfully un-flattering photo of me. “Can’t we skip this part? Just for today? Don’t you think if I was planning to assassinate Lian or her parents I would have done something in the last, I don’t know, eight years?”
“Blakely, rules are rules. Now stop fidgeting, you have to go through the scanner.”
“Brock, please don’t call me Blakely. Only my mother does that. I go by Blake.”
“Well then, Blake, you still need to go through the security check.”
I sighed, knowing that whining would get me nowhere. Lian’s father was an ambassador for the Japanese embassy, so security was tight. If someone came onto the Song property, the head of security, Brock, would know. Brock was like an uncle to me. Well, better than an uncle, because all of my uncles really don’t like me and enjoy giving me some of the itchiest clothing known to mankind. Scratch that, the itchiest clothing known to mankind. In fact, I’m pretty sure it’s illegal in every state but Arkansas, and is counted as a weapon of mass destruction in most countries. Thankfully, airport security was kind enough to take most of it off my hands. Anyway, Brock was like “Uncle Version 6.0” except for the part where he makes you go through about 50 different security tests every time you visit. But he does it in a nice, caring, “I want to make sure you’re not trying to kill anybody” way. “You of all people should know the rules,” he continued, hand on my shoulder as he led me to the gatehouse. After being thoroughly secured, I finally entered through the massive oak doors. I took off my shoes and put them in a rack by the door before stepping onto the expanse of marble tiles. I had barely turned around when Lian gracefully descended the stairs, her feet barely brushing the thick rug that graced their foyer. “Blake! What took you so long? I thought we said 3:30? It’s almost 4!”
“Sorry, fencing ran late, and I decided you would prefer a nice clean friend instead of finding out exactly how much I sweat under all the equipment. And, on top of that, Brock decided I look especially dangerous when I’m clean.” I responded as we walked towards Lian’s room. “What’s so mysterious and important that had you to text me in the middle of fencing? I almost got stabbed by that jumpy new kid when my cell phone started playing the William Tell Overture!”
“Well, something came in the mail,” Lian said, grinning with excitement. She loved a good mystery.
“Don’t say anything, let me guess. It’s an invitation to a ball at the White Feather Ballroom on Halloween, but it doesn’t give an occasion or a host. Am I right?” I said, grinning. I enjoyed surprising Lian by knowing exactly what she was going to say even before she did.
“How did you know?” Lian gasped.
“I know because I got one too. Did you just get yours this afternoon?”
“Yeah! It’s a bit strange how late they sent out the invitations. And mine was addressed to me, not to the Song family! And it’s going to be in 8 days! What shall we wear?”
“Clothing, most likely of the gown variety.”
Lian rolled her eyes at me, and dragged me into her massive closet.
“Lian, are you sure it hasn’t grown since the last time I saw it?” I questioned with a straight face.
She rolled her eyes at me for the second time in as many minutes. “Come on! We have to pick what we’re wearing!”
“You could have just said you wanted to play dress-up when you texted me,” I continued, trailing after her.
“This isn’t just ‘playing dress-up’! We are deciding what to wear to a ball that could change our lives! Each and every social event is an opportunity to impress society or ruin your future! Everything from running into someone at the market to the most formal ball! It can make you or it can break you!”
“Okay, okay, it’s important, I understand,” I said calmly, “Now let’s play a very important game of dress-up.”
Lian finally gave in and started laughing. “You win, you win! But we are going to try on dresses!”
Lian and I had known each other for the past eight years, ever since her family had moved from Japan. They had placed Lian in the private school that I attended. She was almost always the first person to hear any news, but I would often find out about it as it was happening because of all the time I spent in the back of the library, actually reading, while other people used the seating areas and relative privacy to catch up on gossip. Lian ended up choosing a deep red dress that complemented her black hair and medium complexion. She decided that I needed to wear something emerald green, to “bring out my eyes”, so we headed over to my house, Brock chauffeuring, as per the norm. I raced up the stairs to my room, while Lian followed at a more dignified pace. We went to my closet, which was considerably smaller than Lian’s. I ventured towards the back, where all my nice clothing went and also where I almost never visited. Lian sat down on a stool, waiting for the fashion show to begin.
“Uh, Lian?”
“Yes Blake?”
“How would you define ‘emerald green’?”
“Oh, hold on, I’ll show you!”
“Thank you Lian! You know I would never have made it through the past eight years of my life without disgracing my family if you hadn’t arrived.”
“Yes, I know, you can thank me later,” she grinned, knowing she was just as indebted to me as I was to her. “How about this dress?”
“It’s too short. I outgrew it during the last spurt,”
“Then why is it still in your closet?”
“Because I never venture back here unless you’re with me?”
“Blake, I know you won’t like this, but it’s time.”
“Oh no. Please no, I’m begging you!”
“I have no choice. You have nothing suitable for the ball. We have to go shopping.” Lian pronounced, looking triumphant.
I groaned.

“Okay, I’m here. I’m here, in the clothing store, in the section with all the fluffy dresses. What more do you want from me?” I said, knowing full well what came next. Lian often had to drag me shopping for ball gowns, as I rarely went unless forced.
“Well, a good start would be if you stopped staring longingly at the exit, and concentrated on what you are going to wear,” Lian said, already grabbing dresses off the racks at whirlwind speed.
“Fine. But after we’re done here we’re going to Barnes & Noble. I am in desperate need of new books. I’m not even joking, I think I’ve read every single book in the upstairs library, and most of the classics in the downstairs,” I decreed, knowing she would agree to go, if only to get me to look at the dresses.
We went in search of a dressing room, or rather, I carried a massive amount of dresses and tried to see Lian’s feet around them. Finally we got one and I put down my load and heaved a sigh of relief, quickly followed by a gasp of panic. “Oh. My. Gosh. Look. Over. There. It’s Her,” I breathed at Lian, turning my head and looking down.
“Where?” she asked, looking around.
“Over there, berating that poor sales lady for not having a dress in her size,”
“Oh. There. Do you think she’s seen us?”
“Well, have you heard any screams of, ‘what are these filthy people doing occupying the same space as me?’ coming from that direction? If not, I think we have remained undetected,” I said sarcastically, but not untruthfully. “She” was Camilla, a rather vile and loathsome girl who was our arch-nemesis at school.
“Listen to what she’s saying!”
The conversation was mostly one sided and screechy.
“I need this dress right now! How dare you tell me that you don’t have it in my size! You have it in every other size, why not mine? Don’t give me that, somebody already bought it! I’ll have you know, my daddy owns this company, and I’ll be sure to let him know just how things work here apparently! I have to have this dress by the 31st! I have a very important event! I need this dress!” Camilla screeched then stormed out.
“Good riddance to her!” I muttered, glancing at the still swinging door. “Okay, are we going to try on or not? If not, I’m out of here,” I said to Lian, who was still staring at the door.
“No, of course we’re trying on! But did you hear? She said she had a very important event on the 31st!”
“No way. Not possible. There is no way on this planet that she is going to this ball,” I said, my voice low and annoyed.
“I wonder who all got an invitation….” Lian thought aloud.
“If you, me, and Camilla all got one, whoever it was probably invited just about everybody,”
“Maybe we should tell her we’re going. That would probably be a guarantee to keep her away,”
“Yes, but then we’d have to get within shouting distance of her,”
Lian nodded at this. I begin to walk toward the door, and she followed, deep in thought. As I pushed open the door, she grabbed my elbow and said, “Hey, wait a second, where do you think you’re going? We’re getting you a dress!”
After closing down the store, we walked out, a study in contrasts. Lian’s hair was still perfectly smooth and shiny, she looked the epitome of cool and put together. I, on the other hand, looked a bit like a train had hit me. After the second dress, my already curly hair began to frizz out of control, until it looked like the 80’s had chewed on my hair for a while then decided to give it back. There was good news, however. I had bought a dress! Finally, I could go home and sleep off the shopping binge.
“Hey Lian, can we have a rain check on that Barnes & Noble visit? I think my brain fell out my ear at the twelfth dress, and I’m not sure if I can still read,” I groaned in my exhausted state.
“Sure, sure! Go home and relax! You deserve a reward for shopping for a dress for that long. So go home, eat some chocolate, and take a nap!” Lian ordered.
“Ma’am yes ma’am!” I said as we pulled up to the front gate. We hugged and I walked up the path to my door holding the dress. I opened it, went inside and called for my mom. “Mom? Where are you?”
“I’m in the kitchen!” she called out, her voice getting nearer. “Oh sweetheart I see you have a dress! I suppose Lian had to force you to go shopping again? Anyway, you look tired. Good thing I decided to make some soup! Here, have a bowl, and then it’s straight to bed with you!”
I nodded gratefully. Grabbing a spoon from the drawer, I pulled a stool up to the counter as my mom passed over a steaming bowl of vegetable beef soup and a tall glass of milk. “So had Aimee heard anything about the ball next Saturday?”
“Not much, but she said her daughter, you know, Alissa, from your History class? She received an invitation too, just this afternoon. This is rather late, for a formal ball invitation, isn’t it?”
I nodded, pondering. “Oh, and guess who we ran into at the store! Camilla. Thankfully, she didn’t see us, or our ear drums might’ve burst. She was talking about how she needed a dress for next Saturday, so I’m guessing whoever it was invited just about everybody,”
“Oh well dear, you can find out more tomorrow. Now you need some sleep!”
I trudged up the stairs, walked down the hallway, entered my room and plopped down on my bed. I loved my room. Decorated in shades of blue and green, it was perfectly relaxing. I groaned as I sat up, took out my contacts, got ready for bed, and curled up with my iPod, already half asleep.

The next morning, I woke up to Lian peering at my face, as if wondering whether to wake me up or not. I groaned, saying, “It’s Saturday morning. Do you ever sleep in?” as I glanced at my watch, which told me it was seven o’clock.
“I did sleep in!” she explained as I stumbled out of bed, grabbing the first pair of jeans to come to my fingers and the first shirt that looked reasonable with them. “Usually, I would come by at six! Remember when I did that?”
“Yes, unfortunately, though I’ve tried to block the memories. Six o’clock on a Saturday morning? I thought you knew me better than that,” I said, grinning as I decided what color of Converse I wanted to wear today. “Okay, so what’s on the agenda for today?” I held up the blue plaid pair and the black and red plaid pair, and decided on blue.
“Well, since you seemed so disappointed about not going to Barnes & Noble last night, I decided you could use some quality time with books and coffee! I came right over so we can get an early start!”
“Lian, Barnes & Noble doesn’t open until 9,” I said, jotting down a note to my mom that Lian and I were going out and not to worry.
“Who said we were going to Barnes & Noble?” she said, smiling mischievously.
“My curiosity is piqued! Where are we going?”
“It’s a surprise! Now put this on!”
I groaned and blindfolded myself.

“Here we are!” Lian announced excitedly.
“Where is here?”
“Oh, just take off your blindfold!”
I carefully unknotted the fabric strip around my eyes. We had been in the car for an eternity, or about 30 minutes. I stepped out of the car, my knees popping loudly after the long ride, and looked around.
“Lian, you are the best friend in the entire world. Just to let you know,” I said, staring in amazement at my favorite book store, Bats in the Belfry. As the name suggests, this isn’t your average bookstore. First of all, it has an amazing selection, and not one book by Nora Roberts or Danielle Steel. Second, it was a tree house. It was beautiful, sophisticated, weatherproofed, but a tree house nonetheless. A tree house that just happened to sell some of the most amazing coffee and muffins I had ever tasted.
“Lian, once more, you are the best friend a girl could have,”
“Come on, don’t just stand there gawking! We have breakfast to eat, books to read!” Lian said, pulling me through the arbor towards the winding staircase that took you up to the first level, where the coffee shop was.
“Sheba! What are you doing here?” I exclaimed, running over to hug my other friend.
“Blake! It’s so good to see you! Hey Lian!” she said, carefully putting down her latte before jumping up to greet us. “What brings you here so early on this fine morning?”
“Lian woke me up and dragged me here. Well, she didn’t drag me, but she blindfolded me,” I said, laughing. “By the way, how did you get in?”
“You’re mom let me in,” she explained. “I told her that I was kidnapping you and taking you to a bookstore as a reward for all that shopping that you did,”
“Lian made me buy a dress yesterday. Unfortunately, it took several hours,” I explained to Sheba.
“What’s the occasion for dress buying?” Sheba asked.
“Well, we both got these mysterious invitations in the mail that asked us to attend a ball at the-”
“At the White Feather Ballroom, right?” Sheba said, finishing Lian’s sentence.
“Don’t tell me you got one too!” I exclaimed. “It would be easier to find out who isn’t invited! Who do you think they’re from?”
“Well, you should probably keep this on the down low, but you know that boy’s academy down the street?”
We all took a moment to recall how much the scenery improved since they opened.
“Well, I’ve heard they’re hosting it as an opportunity for ‘young gentlemen and ladies of breeding’ to meet and greet!” Sheba said excitedly.
“Oh please say it’s not so!” I groaned. “I don’t know if I can stand another evening of guys ogling at you and Lian, then cozying up to me, not even asking my name, and telling me to introduce them,” I said, recounting what had happened at every ball Lian, Sheba, and I had attended together.
“Hey, be fair to yourself, Blake! That one guy who spilled the punch all over you last time seemed pretty in to you!” Lian said.
“If by “in to me”, you mean his nose was “in to” my cleavage, then yes, he was in to me. He didn’t glance above my chin the entire time. I knew I shouldn’t have let you talk me into that dress,” I said, shuddering at the recollection.
“Okay, well what about Blake?” said Sheba.
“Admittedly, he was hot, but I think he was just fascinated at the thought of a girl having his name,”
“Fine then, what about Kelly?”
“Sheba, darling, he was gay. He told me my dress was fabulous, and that Kate was a cute little munchkin,”
“The point is, guys do come over and talk to you, and not just because you’re gorgeous,” Lian said reassuringly.
I had a sudden coughing fit that sounded a lot like “cleavage guy”.
“Anyway, I don’t think that it’s them. Remember, they had that ball room annex built on, and so they would probably use that instead of The White Feather,” I continued, musing over the subject of the ball.
“Good point. I’ve seen it, the room was really nice,” Sheba said.
“Maybe it’s not the school itself that’s throwing it, but the families,” Lian continued.
“But why not say who’s hosting it? If people don’t know, they might not want their daughters to go to a ball alone,” I said, bemused.
“Oh well, plenty of time to ponder later! Right now we need some muffins and coffee!” Lian said, heading towards the counter. “Do you want a cinnamon apple or banana nut muffin, Blake?”
“Surprise me!”
We spent a pleasant morning at the book store, sitting in the coffee shop, nibbling on muffins and scones, and chatting. At 10, Sheba bid us adieu as she left for a dress fitting. Lian and I ascended the stairs to the next level where all of our favorite books were kept. Lian looked through vintage fashion magazines from the 50’s as I curled up with a new Agatha Christie mystery. I threw down my book, growling as I did so. “Ugh! This is bugging me so much! Who is hosting this ball? I won’t be able to concentrate until I know something!”
“Well then, buy your book! We don’t have to spend the entire day here if you don’t want to!” Lian said, smiling. “I knew you wouldn’t last long with such a mystery hanging above your head. Why don’t we stop by the White Feather Ballroom?”
“Lian, you’re a genius,” I said as I skipped down the stairs.
After another half hour in the car, this time minus the blindfold, we had arrived. “Finally finally finally!” I sang as I skipped up to the door.
I stood by the door, bouncing up and down on the balls of my feet. “Hurry up!” I growled at Lian as she walked calmly up the path.
“I’m coming, be patient!”
Lian finally made it to the door, and I rushed in. The door was open, but all the lights were off. I went through the hallway and walked down the grand staircase which led to the main dancing floor. It was completely empty. I descended the stairs quickly, and began waltzing with myself while humming “The Blue Danube” and twirling around. As Lian came to the foot of the stairs, I bowed to her, and said, grinning, “May I have this dance?” She curtsied in response, and we began to waltz all over the room. After a few bars, we fell to the floor, laughing. We stood, and then walked over to what looked like a sample table. It had silver charger plates and cream colored napkins, and several different sets of silverware, as if someone was trying to decide which one to use. We examined them all, and decided to cast our votes in favor of choice number two, which had birds engraved on the handles. We picked up a note on the table, which was handwritten in hurried but elegant script. It read,
“The silverware and place settings have to be done by Thursday; I would like to look it over before Saturday night. Use the bird silverware,”
“Ohmigosh,” Lian breathed suddenly.
“What is it?”
“I know that handwriting,” she said, her face pale.
Suddenly a strong hand grabbed me from behind and placed a cloth over my face. I struggled, but it was no use. I could see that Lian was already fading into unconsciousness beside me. I needed to ask her, whose handwriting was it? Who wrote that note? Who? The question spun around and around as everything faded to black.

I slowly regained consciousness, my head still spinning. I had a feeling of urgency. I needed to ask somebody something before it was too late. What was the question? Who did I need to ask? And what would happen if I didn’t? I drifted off to sleep with the steady sound of the engine comforting me.
I awoke. Where was I? Why was I tied up? Where was Lian? I struggled to remember, and suddenly it came to me. We were in the ball room, Lian was telling me about the handwriting on a note we had find. Where was Lian? And then we blacked out. I remembered seeing Lian struggling. Who had kidnapped us? Where was I? Where was Lian? And where were we going? I tried to move, but it made me dizzy. Oh no, here we go again I thought as I drifted away.
A sudden stop jerked me from my half sleeping and half drugged state. We had stopped. That meant that we were there, wherever there was. I had finally worked the drugs through my system enough to think clearly again. I took a moment to take in my surroundings. I was in the trunk of a car, but the back row was folded down, so I was half in the trunk and half in the seat. I was facing the wall mostly, so I rolled over, only to find that I was alone. Where was Lian? Did they take her in another car? My thoughts whirled around. I stretched my neck, trying to make out a driver or other occupant of the car. I was alone. I could hear a conversation outside the car. I strained to quiet my breathing so I could hear.
“You idiot, what happened to the plan for Saturday night, at the ball?”
“But she was right there! She saw the note! She said she recognized the handwriting!”
“Alright then, but why did you take both girls?”
“We couldn’t let her friend sound the alarm before we had a chance to get away!”
“You bloody imbecile! The friend would have slowed them down! Eventually, Brock would’ve gone in to investigate instead of immediately sending a team to tail us when he saw you race out of the parking lot! If you had just drugged them both, put the Song girl in your truck and driven off at a reasonable speed, it would’ve taken them forever to figure out what happened!” I let out a silent cheer that Brock knew what was happening, and was probably already figuring out a way to get us out of here.
“Alright, alright, I’m sorry!”
“Sorry doesn’t cut it! Now since the other girl is here, we might as well keep her in the safe room,”
“Okay boss” said my kidnapper as he opened the trunk. I closed my eyes and let my body go limp as he slung me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. “Ugh!” he grunted. “This one needs to lose a few pounds!” My eyes popped open, and from what I could see, my kidnapper had no room to talk. It was all I could do to not let out an involuntary “humph!” of annoyance. I took this opportunity to look around. We were in the middle of nowhere, except for what looked like an old abandoned diner, and I was taken to a back room and tossed on the floor. I lay still after the key clicked in the lock until the footsteps faded away completely, then sat up, and looked around the room. There was Lian! I scrambled over as quickly as I could, and rolled her over. “Lian!” I whispered. “Lian! Are you alright?” She groaned and sat up. “Where are we?” she muttered. “And how did we get here?”
“Well, we’re in a back room in the middle of nowhere, and we were kidnapped at the White Feather Ball Room,” I summarized. Lian rubbed her eyes, trying to remember, or trying to believe what her memory was telling her. “The note!” she exclaimed suddenly. “The handwriting, I recognized it…” her voice trailed off.
“Whose was it?” I exclaimed.
“It was… it was the handwriting of my father’s secretary. But that doesn’t make any sense,”
We stayed still for a moment, thinking.
“Hey, wasn’t there a deal last year about his sister being arrested for something or other? You couldn’t get to school on time because the press was stalking you!”
“Yes, his sister was arrested for arson. She set several government buildings on fire, and there was a scandal about her brother working very closely with the U.S. ambassador. You think it’s for that? He always said he was so ashamed of what his sister did, and he basically disowned her. So why is he doing this? Is it really him behind this? Just because it was his writing….” Lian’s voice faded as she tried to find a way around this.
“So, what happens next?”
My question hung in the air as we sat together in the dark, waiting to find out. We sat and waited, not saying a word. Suddenly, Lian broke the silence. “Blake, I am so sorry. All of this is my fault,”
“No it’s not. It’s not like you asked to be kidnapped. It’s not like you wanted this to happen,” I responded quickly.
“I’m glad you’re here. I mean, I wish you were safe, but I’m glad I’m not alone,”
“Me too, Lian. Me too.” I muttered, half to myself.

I jerked awake at the sound of a gunshot. Lian sat next to me, her eyes wide and frightened. There was nothing we could do. We couldn’t move, we couldn’t speak. Another shot rang out. Then another, and another. We huddled together in the corner, sitting, waiting, wishing as our tears dripped onto the floor.
We sat there for I don’t know how long, not daring to move, not daring to think, barely able to breathe. What had happened? Where were our kidnappers? Where were our rescuers? How long would we stay here, in the dark?
A sliver of light pierced through the darkness, stabbing our eyes. We shrank back, away from the light under the door.
“Hey, I think I found something!” A male voice called out. Another pair of boots walked up to the door, and the light grew stronger. Were we going to be rescued? I reached for Lian’s hand and squeezed it for reassurance. Someone tried the door and realized it was locked. “It’s a simple enough lock, Captain. I can get it open once I grab my kit,” The Captain grunted, not waiting for a kit and gave the door a kick. We both jumped at the sound, even though we knew this was a rescue mission. Another kick and the door was swinging open, a section of the frame lying on the floor. Two flashlights began a methodical sweeping of the large store room. They began to head in our direction. A beam swept right up to our feet, and the next pass uncovered us from the darkness. “Here we are” he muttered to himself. I guessed it was the Captain. “Lieutenant! Get over here!” he barked. “Hello, my name’s Captain White. It’s alright; your kidnappers are under arrest. We’re here to take you back home,” he said in a calming, gravelly voice. “It’s alright. We’re taking you back home,”
We had never heard such beautiful words.
It was night outside. Other than that, I don’t remember much of the ride back. We got into a silver sedan of some sort, and Captain White was driving. “It’s going to be fine. We’re taking you home,” he kept repeating. Neither Lian nor I could summon up a response, so we just sat there, still gripping each other as if our lives depended on it.
We arrived at the police station half an hour later. Captain White parked the car, then came around to open the door for us. It was as much a reminder to get out of the car as a polite gesture. We got out, mechanically following Captain White. We walked up the steps, went through the double doors, and followed him to an office. “You girls wait here. I’ll get some food. You must be hungry by now,” Captain White said, pulling chairs up to a table for us. We nodded our thanks, but remained standing. He soon came back with two sandwiches. He handed them over, saying, “I hope you like turkey and rye with lots of mustard. That’s the one failing of the sandwiches here, always too much mustard,” he continued, seeming totally at ease with this one sided conversation. We unwrapped the sandwiches and began eating automatically. “Your families will be here soon,” he said casually, watching our expressions carefully. We both immediately looked up from our sandwiches, our faces hopeful. “They should be here by the time you’re done eating,” We resumed munching on the sandwiches, this time with a little more attention to what we were eating. Captain White was right. The sandwiches were slathered thickly with mustard, but I liked them that way. When we finished, we threw away the wrappers and looked expectantly at Captain White. He chuckled. “Come on. Your families just arrived,” he said as he led the way out. We walked along, slightly tentatively, still huddling together. We emerged in a waiting room, our families sitting there looking anxious. Most of my memory from then is a blur, but I remember that my mother was sitting in a corner, quietly crying, Lian’s mother sitting next to her, the tears falling fast and thick. My father sat in a chair by Lian’s father, the occasional tear dripping from their eyes too. My brother Kaleb paced the floor, and was the first to see us. He seemed to leap across the space between us and gathered me and Lian up in a hug. There was much crying and hugging, among both families. Afterwards we went into the parking lot. I checked my watch. It was 10:30. The families separated, each going to their respective houses. After saying good night to my family, I went up into my room. The calm blues and greens welcomed me back. I sat down on my bed, knowing I wasn’t going to be doing much sleeping tonight. I took a deep breath and flopped backwards. I grabbed my iPod and started listening. I lay there in my bed with the lights on, trying to escape my dreams.


I woke up at noon on Monday, still wearing the clothing I had put on Saturday morning. I stretched, yawning, and shambled towards the door. I began walking down the stairs when I remembered. I stopped dead in my tracks, swaying for a moment. I resumed walking down the stairs, feeling very tired despite all the sleep. I got a bowl of cereal when my mom came down the stairs. “Oh, good morning! I didn’t think you would be awake yet!” she said, looking a little anxiously at me. I finished my cereal wordlessly, then wandered off to the library, my favorite room in the house. I spent the entire day just sitting around, not really doing anything. I knew that all my friends from school would be worried, but I couldn’t truly bring myself to talk to anybody yet. The phone was ringing off the wall from family friends and school friends, but I didn’t want to hear the awkward pauses and awkward questions from my anxious friends. I turned my cell phone off and sat in the library nook, listening to music. I felt like I should be doing something, but I knew there wasn’t anything else I could do. I tried to read, but found I could only read the books that I already knew by heart. I picked up Black Beauty and opened the worn cover again. I stayed in the library, preferring the light and warmth and the smell of old books to going back to my room, where I would have no choice but to remember.
The next morning I woke up, my pillow wet with tears. Kaleb must have carried me to my room. I had dreamt of being locked in the store room, except Captain White never came. We were stuck there, forever. I went into the bathroom, wiping the sleep from my eyes, wondering how long this would haunt me. I shook my head, hoping my thoughts would fall back into their normal position. I glanced at my blurry reflection in the mirror and washed my face. The water woke me up and the rough surface of the towel brought me back o earth. I walked down the stairs with my head held high, to find my mother in the kitchen, watching me anxiously. She gave me a bowl of cereal, and I began munching.
“Blakely, it’s perfectly fine if you aren’t ready, but the police want to ask you some questions if you feel up to it,”
I nodded, swallowed my bite of cereal, and responded, “Sure. Just let me change clothes, and we can go.”
My mother nodded her eyes misty. She hugged me tightly again. “You’re brother is upstairs. You can wake him up; he wants to see you,”
“Wow, you mean he won’t bite my head off if I wake him up?”
My mother laughed, smiling a little sadly. “You’re so brave Blakely. You know it’s alright. You don’t always have to be cheerful,”
“I know Mom. It’s just…I don’t want them to win by making us afraid. What they did was to scare us, and I don’t want them to succeed. If I can do that by laughing and smiling, then so be it.”
She smiled fondly. “You have such fight in you. I’m glad Lian had you.”
I smiled as I went upstairs to wake my brother. “Kaleb!” I called as I bounced onto his bed. “It’s morning, the sun is shining!”
“Ugh, go back to bed, you goofball. You’re supposed to be quiet and timid after a traumatic experience.”
“Yes, but since when have I followed the norm, dear brother?”
“Good point. I wouldn’t have it any other way. Well, maybe an hour more sleep.”
“Come on! Are you going to come with me or not?” I said, bouncing up and down.
“Fine, I’m coming, I’m coming.”
“Yay!” I said and skipped out. I went to my room and put on my favorite pair of jeans and a hoodie, and grabbed my converse with the Sudoku pattern. I walked out the door, and almost collided with my brother. I was about to back up when he hugged me and said, “I’m glad you’re not quiet and timid. That would just be weird. And I’m very glad you’re still my goofy little sister.”
“Me too. And I’m glad you came. How did you get off duty so fast?” My brother worked for the coast guard and it always took forever for him to get off duty and rearrange the schedules.
“Well, I told my commanding officer that I was going home because my baby sister got kidnapped, and he could either give me leave or not, but either way I was going. He decided to give me some leave, and he told me to tell you to plan your kidnappings in advance,”
“Well, I try, but you know how I am with schedules,” we laughed as we descended the stairs. We met Mom there and went over to the police station. “Hello Captain White!” I called out, seeing him scaling the steps in front of us. “I see you’re a bit chattier this time!” he said with a twinkle in his eye. “Yes, I am. I hear you had some questions?”
“Yes, we just want you to tell us a bit about what happened when you were kidnapped. It won’t take long.”
“Am I allowed to ask questions?”
“Well, depends. What’s the question?”
“I heard the kidnappers talking about the original plan for Saturday night. What were they planning?” By this time, we had reached the interview room, so I walked in.
“Your family can come in or stay outside, your choice,” Captain White answered to my unspoken question.
“We’ll wait out here for you, okay?” my mother said quickly, giving me squeeze around the shoulders.
“Don’t mess this up, goofball!”
I walked in and sat down at the table. He asked a lot of questions about the kidnapping and when I woke up, and about whether I could identify the man in the car with me. I said I thought I could, so we went into another room where there was a lineup. “Him. That’s him. Number 7.”
“Thank you very much, Blakely! You’ve been a great help. Now to explain what’s going on. Well, the secretary’s original plan with the ball was to wait until everybody was inside, kidnap Lian, and burn the place to the ground, similar to what his sister did,”
“So it was the secretary?”
“Yes, he said it was vengeance for his sister. But now Blakely, you need to go home and rest. You’ve been very brave about this, and you’re doing very well, but you can’t avoid the effects forever.”
I nodded as we went back to the room with my family. “We can leave now! Oh, and Captain White! Is Lian coming in for questioning today too?”
“Yes, she’s coming in later,”
“Okay. Thank you!”
I spent the rest of the day not doing much of anything. I tried to read, but even my favorite books held no interest for me today. I tried to watch TV, but there wasn’t anything on that I wanted to watch. I ended up just listening to music and waiting for nightfall.
The night came, and I got ready for bed, as usual. I sat down on my bed and turned off my lamp. I sat there for a moment in the dark. I quickly reached out and turned on my lamp. I couldn’t turn out my lights. When I was young, I was scared of the dark, and most nights I would end up going into my brother’s room, and he would tell me stories. Sometimes he would read from a book, and other times he would make them up. He often would take on the father role because Dad was away so often. He would tell me story after story until I finally fell asleep, then he would carry me back to my bed and tuck me in. I ghosted along the hallway, trying to walk quietly. Kaleb was already sitting there with a book. I smiled. Kaleb whispered, “Okay, one change. I don’t think I can carry you back to bed anymore.” I laughed, and sat down on the edge of his bed. He started the story. “Okay, once upon a time, there was a girl. Her name was Blakely…”
If you're reading this, you have a great deal of patience. Thank you for reading my story! And please, don't steal it and say it's yours. It's mine, I wrote it, I thought it up, I typed it, go make your own story. Thank you!!!!