Taken

Chapter 7

            My eyelids feel heavy as I rub my fingers along the key, holding it up in the moonlight to exam it. It's not anything fancy, just an old house key with rust covering some places and the top having a simple design.

            A yawn escapes me as I slip the key under my pillow and the locket under my nightgown, the silver cool against my chest. I turn on my side, facing the wall as I let my eyes close and drift asleep.

.                      .                     .

I'm surprised that neither Mother nor Father mention anything about last night at breakfast, which makes me wonder if they were the ones coming into the study, or somebody else. I don't try to stick around to find out, instead I quickly eat my breakfast and then hop onto my bike, heading towards the town's library. I decide to do something useful with my Saturday and figure that I can do research on my family and this locket. If I'm lucky, the archives will have some information, maybe even a blue print of the house.

            The locket bounces against my chest from where I tucked it under my shirt, the key resting in my bag since I don't want Mother or Father finding and confiscating it. I planned on looping it through the chain that the locket is on, but when I went to do so this morning, I found that the chain has nowhere to break off. It's as if it's not supposed to be broken off. So now the key is in the pocket of my purse until I can find a safer place for it.

            I wave at the librarian upon my entry, giving the old woman a small smile before striding past her and to the elevator. I press my thumb against the button to the basement as I tap my foot impatiently, waiting for the painfully old and slow elevator to come to a stop. Upbeat music plays in the background.

            When the ancient metal doors screech open, they reveal the normally unused town archives. I hike my bag farther up my shoulder as I walk swiftly into the room which consists of a few mismatched tables, bookcases, and filing cabinets filled with documents of all of the buildings, houses, and families in town.

            I roll my eyes when I look at the back of the room, finding that the only other occupant is a boy at the far table. He wears his baseball cap low on his head, his chin resting on his chest, fast asleep. There aren't even any documents on the table in front of him; it's as if he made the long trip down here just to catch up on his sleep. I shake my head in disapproval as I make my way deeper into the room. My eyes scan the filing cabinets until I find the G's.

            I rummage through the cabinet first, tucking my hair behind my ear as I search through the files until I find my family's name. It's a thick manila folder filled with documents of all shapes and sizes, the writing small enough to give even me a headache.

            I pull out the different documents and set them in neat stacks on the round table. I then tug one of the stacks closer to me and begin rifling through them, surprised by how many there are.

            When my eyes land on a blueprint, I pull it out, unfolding the large paper and studying the ink drawing. The layout of the house appears to be the same as the actual house, the only difference is that the hidden tunnels aren't marked out.

            I scold myself; of course they wouldn't be marked in the public records. My family's too reserved and wouldn't want anyone else to know that there are tunnels under our house. I start folding the blueprint back up in disappointment and stuff the documents back into the file, feeling as if my entire trip here was a waste when a document catches my eye.

            I pull the piece of paper out, glancing up when I hear a snort coming from the boy. He rubs his nose, his head tilting forward as  long breath escapes him. I roll my eyes and ignore him as I hold up the document, my eyes scanning the page.

            This can't be right.

            The paper has the names and birthdates of all of the members of my family, but that isn't what brought the page to my attention.

            It's the fact that Nina's name is nowhere on this document.