The Forgotten

It's a Third World

Brace says, "You really are a cocky little thing, aren't you?"

"That's what they tell me," I reply. Still aiming the gun at him, I tell Lance, "We're leaving, now, while we've got the advantage." He nods and aims his gun at Brace too. Our entire improvised plan of escape is based on the Forgotten being unwilling to lose their boss. Either way, they'd lose their job.

We slowly back down the hallway. The Forgotten are watching us with beady eyes, waiting for a slip up.

There isn't one.

We decide to go to the Bristills. Since they already know who I really am, it'll be easier to explain the showdown at school.

When we arrive, I see the driver is gone. As I rode to school with Shain and back with Lance, I didn't need the car. Where did he go? Bathroom break?

I suddenly remember the Forgotten's plan. They kill their parents' adopted child, then their parents. Whoever killed Raven is probably after them.

"Hurry," I whisper. Judging by the green sick look on Lance's face, he's figured out what I have. The Bristills might not be here anymore.

We run to the door and find it ajar. My heart leaps. There is blood on the floor. No maid or servant is in sight.

I hold my breath as I make my way around the downstairs. No one is found. No body, nothing.

"That's a good sign," I mutter. Then I hear a voice, my voice upstairs. It's Raven's recording...the one that was stolen. I confer this to Lance.

"We should investigate," he says. He has a different look on his face than the sick appearance. Does he know something I don't? Well, many things. Not many relevant to this situation though.

"Is this about Raven's killer?" I ask him, following him upstairs. "Tell me, is her killer after their parents?"

"No," he says tensely, "your sister's killer isn't after the Bristills." The way he said it makes me believe he's lying to me. Why would he lie though? Unless Shain was right about him. Why hasn't  he betrayed me then?

The recording turns out to be coming from Raven's room. The door is shut and locked.

"Can you kick it down?" I ask.

"Who am I, Thor?" he asks in an irritated tone. I sigh.

"Fine," I snap. I run into it with all the force I can muster. The door doesn't fall to the ground with a thud, but I see I broke the lock. The door swings up.

Lance and I gasp in unison. Blood is in thick globs on the floor. Mrs. Bristill would be furious her precious carpet was tainted.

Then I see Mrs. Bristill. She is lying propped up against the nightstand. Her eyes are unseeing. A kitchen knife is protruding from her chest.

I scream, drowning out Raven's recording. I kneel down beside the woman I thought I despised. Hatred is not one of the many emotions flooding through me at the moment.

I stay there for who knows how long. I didn't love Mrs. Bristill, but she was the only mother I ever had.

I turn around to look up at Lance.

"Who did this?" I ask. He looks away, avoiding my eyes. "You know! You know!" He looks at me and I stare pleadingly at him with the most innocent expression I can think of. Not that it would do me much good.

"I'll give you answers, Eris," a voice says. It's a voice I thought I knew. It's the one York was speaking to in the school hallway.

Then, out of the closet, steps Cardinal Bristill, dragging her father.

"No," I say. "Cardinal, what is this?"

"My mother," she replies, "dead."

"But...but you're not..." I can't finish the thought, too shocked to think straight. I need to correct this before the fight breaks out. And trust me, there will be a fight.

"Their child?" she asks. She looks down at Mr. Bristill. He is unconscious, but not bloody. He isn't dead. Why?

"See, I'm not Cardinal," she says. "After Will urged us not to kill her, we Forgotten came up with an ingenious idea. I would become Cardinal to appease you and Will. So, before I killed her, our doctors used facial surgery to make my face look like hers and vice versa. Today, I placed her body amongst those in the school. Then I came here, to kill the mother who rejected me. But I saved Daddy for my brother...." She pauses, probably to soak in my horror.

She turns to Lance. "And here he is."