Taken

Chapter 9

It feels like time freezes around me as I stare at that sentence.

            A sense of eternity passes before I muster up the courage to crumple the paper in my hands. I blink my eyes a few times, trying to get rid of that image that has imbedded itself in my brain. The words swim before my eyes, taunting me.

            I throw the wadded up paper into my trash bin, shaking my head as I try to get my thoughts together.

            What is wrong with this family? It feels like I'm in some parallel universe. Everything was perfectly fine until Nina went missing. Why is all of this happening now, anyway?And why am I the only one stuck finding all of this out?

            These questions and many more swim through my head as I make my way down the stairs to dinner, each question unanswered and leading to even more unrequited questions.

            Father isn't at dinner again, yet, this is typical in the Grace household along with the simple dinner we have. I wish that we could go out for pizza or go to the movies or do something normal  for once. Too bad none of these things will ever happen again in this messed up family whom I'm supposed to say are related to me.

            After another silent meal, I trudge up the stairs to my room and fall onto my bed face first, trying to get my thoughts in order.

            Okay Aria, you have to take this one step at a time. You've been running around and finding new questions instead of answering your first one. Now, what was your first question? What originally started this wild goose chase you are forced to participate in?

            Oh, that's right.

            Nina.

            I need to figure out what happened to her. And to find that out, I have to go back to where it all started. Nina's room.

            I check my clock, finding that I have about five or six hours until I know that Mother will be asleep. I haul myself up into a sitting position and glance at the trash bin. I can't let words stop me. Besides, if that threat is real, something would have happened by now, right?

                                             .                            .                            .

At twelve-o-one on the dot I step out of my room with a flashlight in hand. I leave my door open a crack and tip-toe down the hall, stopping at Nina's door before pulling out the key.

            I glance at Mother's room, the door closed. I don't hear any movement so I insert the key into the lock and turn the doorknob. Once again there are no voices. No vision. No music. There's only the satisfying click of the door opening and the smell of cinnamon that is overpowering yet reassuring at the same time as it wafts over me. I step inside and lock the door behind me.

            I survey Nina's room which looks as if she never left, the only difference being that her bed is unmade and there's an inch of dust covering everything. I don't waste a second as I quickly cross the room and step in front of my sister's closet.

            A gasp escapes me as soon as my fingers touch the cool glass of the doorknob. Another vision engulfs me and this time I find myself in Nina's room, but my older sister is in her bed fast asleep.

            Nina, someone whispers, but I can't tell who it is or where they're coming from since it's more than one voice.

            Nina, they repeat. I notice Nina struggle in her bed before lying still.