I'd been waiting in the hospital for hours. Every time I made eye contact with one of the nurses, they turned away. Their expressions told me nothing.
Where was my sister?
Suddenly the automatic doors flew open and an ocean of rain poured in. Looking around the corner, I searched for my father's face.
He said he'd be here soon. Is he hurt? Is he with the little kids? Where's Violet?
The man who walked in wasn't my father. No, he had long hair that my mother would have attacked with the kitchen scissors upon first glance. It must have been brown at some point, but the hurricane whirling just outside had turned it a sinister shade of tar. He was holding a woman clumsily in his over-sized red hands. The woman appeared to be asleep, and she was very beautiful. Her sugar-spun hair was the color of Dad's corn on the cob and it curled in every direction. Her face was dotted with freckles which accentuated her ski-slope nose and full lips. Her lashes were like a fairy tale princess's and her eyes were shut tight so I was left to wonder the pigment of her irises.
The man abruptly shook the woman. "She needs help! Somebody help her!!" The receptionist, D'Ann, placed a comforting chocolate hand on his shoulder in a genuine attempt to comfort and calm him but the lunatic shrugged her off. "Don't help me! It's my wife!" D'Ann signaled for several doctors equipped with a stretcher to help the woman to a room.
As they wheeled her away, the man tried to follow and D'Ann stopped him. "I'm sorry, you're going to have to wait out here." She gestured over to the area where I sat and they both looked past me as if I was invisible.
After years of wishing to be invisible, THIS is when my wish is granted?
Mystery Man, quieter now that his companion was in professional care, slumped into a blue sofa across from me. I couldn't help it, I stared.
"What are you lookin' at, kid?"
"I'm not a kid," was my genius response.
He seemed to crack a smirk at that. "Oh yeah? How old are you now? Seven? Eight?"
"I'm thirteen," I answered seriously.
"Oh," he seemed embarrassed. Good; did I really look seven or eight as a nervous wreck?
Awkward silence.
"I'm gonna go..." I started towards the bathroom uneasily.
In one swift motion he'd hoisted me over his right shoulder while his left hand brandished a gun. I heard all commotion in the hospital cease.
"Now nobody's gonna move or talk until I'm gone, you hear?" He jerked from side to side looking each individual in the eye with a threatening look while I struggled in vain to squirm away. He frowned, "Good. That's more like it."
We exited through the automatic doors and out into the pouring rain. He stood me up on the rough sidewalk. Keeping a tight grip on my wrist, I silently regretted turning down Violet's offer for a free self-defense class.
"What's your name, kid?"
I'm no sucker. 'Taylor."
"Good, now I'm Ryan," I couldn't tell if he was lying too, he matched my acting abilities, "and you and I are going to get into that car over there and pretend like none of this ever happened."
I looked over to where he'd pointed. Sure enough there was a new green Camaro parked up against the curb. I couldn't help but think how much that car would've impressed my brother.
Would I ever see Tristan again? What about Dad? Or Violet, Xylina, Joy, Jade, Christopher, and Kainen?
Where was Violet?
Then I noticed the woman leaning against the Camaro. She had sleek, straight blond hair that was chest-length and dazzling blue eyes hidden beneath sharp green eyeglasses. Her brown leather jacket protected her folded arms from the rain, and I was VERY impressed by the name brand of her jeans. And considering my current situation, she had a relatively calm expression. As a matter of fact, I could've sworn I saw a smile played at the corners of her lipstick-smeared mouth.
Uh-oh.
This guy had a partner in crime.
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