Astralis

Episode Five

As the van careened down the road, Amelia wiggled out of the man's grasp and he let her go. She hunched her way into the furthest corner of the van and kept her eyes trained on both of the people in the back with her. After a few minutes of driving, they took off the masks to reveal a normal looking man and a woman, and another man in the driver's seat.

The man and woman looked at her and smiled. "Hello again, Amelia. Do you remember us?" the woman asked.

Amelia shook her head, eyes wide.

"Well, maybe you will soon. We're going to take care of you and everything will be alright. You don't have to be afraid."

"I'm not afraid," she said. "I guess I should be, but I'm not."

They looked at each other with a smile, then looked back at her. "Good," the man said, "you have no reason to be. We're the good guys."

"That's right," the woman chimed in, "you might not remember what happened before, but we do. And we're going to make sure it doesn't happen again. How does that sound?"

"You remember what happened to me before? Will you tell me? Where are you taking me? Can't I just go home to Rebecca and Todd?" Amelia asked. Her head tilted to one side as she contemplated why she had said that. Did she really even want to go back to Rebecca and Todd? She wasn't sure, but she knew she had at least felt safe with them. This was all new and she didn't quite know if she liked it.

"Yes, we can tell you what happened before but it's not safe for you there anymore Amelia, with Rebecca and Todd," the woman said and shook her head. "It was safe for a while, but..." She didn't finish, shaking her head instead, and looked at the man.

"Did you find my real parents?" she asked, voice raising with a surge of hope.

The man and woman looked at each other again, not smiling this time.

"No Amelia, we haven't found your real parents..." the man answered, trailing off into silence. He turned to stare out the side window of the van, a distant expression on his face.

"So where are you taking me?" Amelia pushed.

"Somewhere safe, Amelia. Somewhere safe," the woman said.