Memories that Never Fade

Chapter 1

There was a knock on the door…something that rarely happened. When it did, Joshua always rushed to the door before Lucia could see anyone. This time, though, the man was asleep in his bed. Lucia hesitated and glanced towards Josh’s room. She knew she took a great risk if she were to open the door. Instead, she made the correct choice and descended to his room.

“There’s someone at the door,” Lucia said, crawling into bed with the man. When he only stirred, Lucia shook him a bit, hoping he wouldn’t get too upset.

“Don’t open it,” Josh mumbled at her, “and leave me alone!” He turned over with a grunt. Lucia frowned; she was disappointed, let along curious, but knowing what would happen, she obeyed.

With a long sigh, Lucia crawled out of Josh’s bed. Oddly, the knocks continued. “Open the door, Joshua!”

Lucia thought that maybe she should just tell them to come back later. So that was what she decided to do.  For the first time in her life, she turned the knob on the large, wooden door, her hand shaking.

There, on the other side was the woman she’d seen earlier that day. With her were two men in blue uniforms that had matching blue hats. Lucia knew that they were police officers – Joshua let her watch television; “Cops” was one of her favorite shows.

The brunette woman had been gesturing towards a picture which she held up in her hand. A gasp escaped Lucia’s lips – it was only then when the three noticed her. She was too distracted with the picture. The girl looked just like Lucia; her eyes were the same baby blue she’d always owned. The hair on the girl was her midnight black as well. The only difference was the fact that the girl in the picture was animated.

“Hello,” said one of the men in the uniform. He was dark, African American. He had black eyes, almost as dark as his hair. Lucia tilted her head.

“It’s her, can’t you see!?” The woman yelled. Lucia took a few steps back, slightly frightened.

“J-Joshua is asleep, b-but you can come back later,” she said in nothing more or less than a whisper.

“Keep it down, Luce!” Joshua’s voice came. Lucia took another step back.

“Lucia Patton?” The Caucasian officer asked.

“What do you want from us?” Tears came to the girl’s eyes. Now, she was overly frightened.

“L-what the hell are you doing!?” Josh yelled, walking out of his room. Lucia ran to him, burying her face in his chest. She was use to the yelling, but not the strange people.

“Stay back, you’re not taking her from me,” Joshua blurted out nervously. He held Lucia protectively for once in her life. Through the bruises on her body, Lucia still loved Josh; more than anything, though there wasn’t much else to really love.

“Joshua Kenneth, you’re under arrest for the kidnapping and holding of Lucia Patton.” Lucia didn’t understand. What did they mean, and why were they going to arrest Josh? He hadn’t kidnapped her! He’d taken her in like a gentleman. Josh wouldn’t lie to her…would he?

“Fuck you! She’s not going anywhere!” Lucia shivered as she felt the cold metal touch her back. He didn’t have to tell her what it was. She knew by the tender tip as it slid up to her forehead.

“Put the gun down!” The darker police officer yelled, grabbing for his own gun. Lucia could feel Joshua’s cool breath crawling up her neck once again.

“I’ll kill her if you don’t leave!”

Lucia felt the tears come to her eyes. She wanted to scream, to run, but for some reason her mouth didn’t allow anything to come out. The brunette woman stood in horror as she watched the scene.

Joshua’s finger slid over the trigger as the woman took a few steps closer. “You don’t want to do that, son. You love her, huh? Been had her for ten years. Don’t hurt her.”

This seemed to calm Joshua down. He dropped the gun from Lucia’s hand and pulled the trigger as it aimed at the woman.

No shot went off.

“Joshua!” Lucia screamed, reaching for him. The two men had tackled him and bound him in cuffs. Tears ran down her pale cheeks. “Leave him alone!” she cried, “he didn’t do anything wrong! Please!”

“Yes, love,” the brunette woman said, placing his arm around her. “He has. He’s done so much wrong. You have a mother and father who love you so much that they never stopped looking for you,” she claimed.

Lucia pulled away, frightened by her touched. “W-what? You’re crazy, my parents are dead…Josh saved me.” She wrapped her arms around herself, watching out the door as Joshua was pushed into the squad car.

“This is all your fault, Lucy! If you’d only done what I said, you little-“

And then the door shut for good. “Please, no,” she whispered. She wanted to run after him, but as Lucia glanced outside, she found herself even more afraid. She’d seen nothing but the outside of the little window. Joshua told her it was bad to go outside and that someone could take her in the process, so she stayed inside instead.

“It’s okay, Lucia,” the brunette told her, leaning down a bit so she was to her eye level.

“How does everyone know my name?” She whispered, not understanding.

The woman held up the picture of the animated Lucia. At the bottom it said “Have you seen this girl?” and a bunch of contact information.

Tears came to Lucia’s eyes. Joshua had lied to her, but what was that? It was just another thing. She looked down and held herself tightly. “What happens now?”

“We’re going to take you home, sweet pea.”

“But, where’s home?” Lucia wondered.

“Chicago, Illinois.”