Untold Stories On An Alternate Earth

Part 2

Midtown is the most impressive school that I have ever been to, and I've been to a lot of schools. The full trophy case was the first thing that I noticed when Wanda and I walked through the doors. There were trophies for football, soccer, acting, singing, and scholastic decathlons to name a few. I noticed the banners next with their blue and gold color scheme.

When we reached the cafeteria, we finally found Principal Morita waiting for us, drinking a cup of coffee. He saw us, waved, and said, "Hi. You must be Kaitlyn. I'm very glad that you two could meet with me today," he shook hands with Wanda and motioned for us to sit down as he continued. "I understand that you are Kaitlyn's legal guardian?" he asked her.

"Yes. I took her in about a month ago, after we got back." she responded.

"Kaitlyn, why did Wanda take you in?" he asked me.

The moment he asked me that I got so angry that I could've thrown the table out the window, but I answered, "A helicopter crashed into the building that my parents worked in because the pilots were dusted." I paused in an attempt to swallow my anger but failed. "And another thing. Could you, I don't know, ask me questions that you couldn't find in my file?"

"Kaitlyn!" Wanda hissed, her eyes glowing a dark red, too faint for someone who hadn't seen it before to notice.

"I'm sorry! But I – I'm not here to talk about my parents." Tears welled in my eyes. "It was hard enough to find out that it had been five years. I'm just not ready to talk about them!" I yelled. In my hands I could feel my knives close to coming out. "I – I'm going for a walk. I just need to clear my head. Continue without me," I said, storming out.

The next hour after that is kind of a blur. I remember leaving the cafeteria and walking around the school, but somehow, ended up outside. The sun was glaring, and the grass and trees were so green that it was hard to believe that I was in New York. There I was minding my own business, walking around downtown Queens, when, "Hey. What are you doing on our street, huh?" a guy asked. He was about seventeen, wearing baggy jeans, a hoodie, and old sneakers. His friends were wearing similar clothes. Two out of the five of them were girls and all of them were about my age. The boy that had talked to me was the tallest and biggest of them all and obviously the leader of this gang. At least two of them had knives.

Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't have dignified a statement like that with a response, but, honestly, I was itching for a fight. "Your street? Since when is this your street?"

"For about five years. Most of the people that lived here got dusted. Except for the people that lived in this house," he stated as he pointed to the house that we were standing next to. "They got killed, if you can believe our luck. Meant we didn't have to leave when everyone came back."

It took me a moment to realize where we were. It appeared that my mind automatically brought me to a familiar place. It was my old house, and he was talking about my parents. My fists clenched, my fingernails digging into my palms. Through gritted teeth I asked, "What did you just say?"

"You heard me. The people that lived here got killed by a helicopter. Well, anyway, it's ours now. So what are you going to do about it?" he asked. I didn't answer.

"I bet she knew them," laughed one of the girls.

"Yeah," the other girl remarked in agreement. "What do you want to bet that she's their kid? What do you think, Caleb?"

"She has to be, Kayla," the leader of the group, that must have been Caleb, said. "Who else would be hanging around this house? It's been empty for five years."

"Wait a second," I stated. "You're Caleb and Kayla Morgan aren't you?"

As soon as I said their names, a look of shock and irritation flashed across their faces. "How did you know that?" Kayla asked.