Chapter 8: RealityA Chapter by turtlegirlluverThe reality of their situation kicks in
I walked over to the couch and clicked on the TV. I flipped through channels, not really paying attention to what was on. After going through all the channels twice Ryan walked back over to me. “Hey, um, I have two tickets to see this one play. My friend was going to go with me, but something else came up. Since you wanted to get out of the house, do you want to go with me? It’s tomorrow night.” He was even cute when he stumbled over words. “Sure,” I replied a smile slowly spreading across my lips. He filled me in on the rest of the details, but my excitement blocked it all out. We were going to a show, just the two of us! * * * The next morning breakfast I saw the newspaper lying on the counter. I remembered my old tradition of reading the comics while eating my cereal. “What section are the comics in in your paper?” I asked. “Um, I’m not sure, but the paper’s over there,” Mrs. Altman replied. I got up and started walked over to the counter, but before I got there Mrs. Altman ran over and grabbed the paper. “Wait,” she said, taking the front page and shoving it in her pocket, “here.” I took the stack and just stood there confused. What was she trying to hide from me? I finished eating and went up to our room to read. After a while there was a knock on the door frame. “Hey, can I come in?” I looked up to find Danielle at my door peeking in. “Yeah,” I said scooting over on the bed to make room for her. Instead of sitting she stood in front of me, a worried look on here face. “I know I haven’t really talked to you that much since you came. Well, I don’t really know why. I want us to become friends and not have secrets from each other, so you might want to see this.” She handed me the crumpled first page of the paper. I flattened it, not sure if I wanted to find out what the problem was. How bad could it be? I looked at the paper, ready to find out. A recent picture of my family was centered staring back at me. I read the headline as my heart shattered into a million pieces. Local House Burned Down by Mafia Group Another picture split up the article. This one of our burned down house. The windows and garage were boarded up and the roof was caved in. One support of the roof remained. Everything left standing was blackened and dirty. The only house I had ever know was gone. I realized how fragile everything in our lives were, and how much we took for granted. Unwillingly I returned to the article. The local house of the Conway family was burned down last night by the mafia group The Black Eagle. The police believe the fire was caused by a small explosive and torches. The Black Eagle is a group that targets families, the goal- to cause the most misery and pain. The members get paid for the people they kill and move up in rank. Only a few members have every been caught, even then swearing their allegiance to the group. The group is trained to leave no trace of their presence behind, making them difficult to catch. For a month, the Conway family has been a target by this group, leading to the conclusion that the fire was caused by The Black Eagle. The family was forced into hiding earlier this week. As a result their two kids, Mia and Chris, were separated from their parents. The Conway’s will stay in hiding until the threats stop. The fire was reported to the fire department at 5 a.m. “I woke up after a loud bang, and looked outside to see the Conway’s house in flames,” claims a neighbor, “It was a huge fire ball. I’ve only seen fires like that on TV. Thank goodness it didn’t spread farther. No verdict had been reached on what to do with the house. At the moment it will stay standing until a further decision has been released. I stared blankly at the paper, too overwhelmed for my feelings to react. Even with this new information, on thing stood out above all else. We had barely escaped and they were coming for us. * * * That evening I slowly got ready for my night out. Last nights excitement was replaced by the recent news of my house. Ryan said it wasn’t formal, but I still wanted to look nice. I threw on a pair of capris, a white tank top, and a V-Neck blue T-Shirt. I put on a silver heart necklace with an ‘M’ on it. The chain was small, but it seemed to tie together the outfit. I decided to leave my hair down, letting my natural curls flow around my face. Before opening the door I looked in the mirror. My reflection stared back, my pale face filled with a mixture of worry, fear, and nerves. The paleness of my face startled me enough to put on a thing layer of makeup. My face seemed to look a little more natural, and I tried on a smile. “Mia, we have to go. You ready?” Ryan called from the other side of the door. My stomach lurched, I really wasn’t in the mood for this tonight. I could just say I didn’t feel well. Could I still back out now? The thought of Ryan and how he wanted to go to this. If I backed out now how would he feel? “Um, yeah, hold on,” I said committing to the play. I slipped on some flip flops and opened the door. “Oh, wow…you look, nice,” Ryan replied. He was wearing jeans, and a red and blue shirt from American Eagle. “I like your outfit too,” I said. My voice was not as excited as it usually was, but I did like his style. “You okay?” he asked. “Yeah,” I lied. I was the farthest thing from ‘okay’. I was a target, I didn’t know where my parents were, and my house just burned down. The car was quiet as Ryan drove to the theater. Both of our minds were lost in thought. I had never heard of the play, but it was still entertaining. The characters had problems, and by the end they were solved. If only mine could be solved that easily too. Before we left, I went into the bathroom. I started walking toward the stalls when another lady bumped into me. “Oh, I’m sorry,” the lady replied. After studying my face, she continued. “You’re Mia, aren’t you?” “Um, yeah,” I said quietly. The second the words left my mouth, I knew it was a mistake to reply. “Look,” she whispered as she grabbed my arm and led me to the corner. “If you tell me where you live now, or draw a picture, I can help you out. Just tell me. I can help you solve all your problems.” ‘Uh, no thanks,” I said, shaking off her grip and backing away. “You can trust me,” she called. I turned around and ran out. Someone had recognized me. My mind struggled to find out how. Suddenly the last piece of the puzzle fit together, the newspaper this morning. Now people know who I am. I wasn’t safe anymore. What if I had to change my hair, or even my name to stay hidden. What if I had to go somewhere else? By the time I got back to Ryan I had worked myself up so much that I felt sick. “What’s wrong?” he asked as we got into the car. “Someone recognized me.” “What?” “When I was in the bathroom a lady wanted me to tell her where I was hiding. She wanted to help me escape.” I summed the story up, still shaken. “If the newspaper hadn’t had your name and picture in it, people would still be oblivious,” he said sounding annoyed. “What am I going to do now?” I asked. “I don’t know.”
© 2008 turtlegirlluverReviews
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2 Reviews Added on October 4, 2008 Last Updated on December 30, 2008 AuthorturtlegirlluverAboutI love to perform, write, and read. I love sea turtles and want to save them. I am obsessed with music and listen to it any chance I get. I feel that writing is one of the best ways that I can express.. more..Writing
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