(a/n: for Jed)
"Mom, what's going on?" little Elle asked her mommy who was walking back and forth through the dining room.
"Elle, honey, please be at your room now, okay?" her mom told her. There is an evident worry all over her mom's face and little Elle couldn't understand anything yet.
She obeyed her mom and walked to her room upstairs. She was still wearing her pajamas and her hand was tightly gripping Emily, her favorite doll. She stopped mid stairs and looked for her mom's happy face, but it wasn't there.
"Go on, honey," her mom pushed. "Get some more sleep."
"Where's daddy?" she asked.
"He's talking to your sister."
"Will she sing me to sleep again?"
"She'll follow you upstairs. Daddy needs to talk to her first. Good night, baby." Her mom smiled and little Elle smiled back.
Elle lay down on her comfy bed and the next morning, she couldn't find her sister anymore.
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CHAPTER TWO: STONES
Elle knew she heard gunshots but when she woke up, Faith was already beside her, nudging her awake.
"Faith?" she mumbled, still sleepy. "What are you-?"
"It's a Saturday!" she announced as if Elle didn't know.
"And?"
"I was thinking maybe you can help translate something."
"Translate what?"
Elle got up and Faith moved on to opening her laptop.
"Look," she said. Her laptop shows documents in Japanese characters. "You think you can translate these for me?"
"I'm not that good, you know," Elle complained, fixing her bed. "And by the way, how'd you get in?"
"I'm a hacker, remember?" She winked. "There's nothing I can never open."
"That's invasion of privacy."
"That's being smart. You won't open the door anyway even if I asked you."
"That's because, I was planning on spending my whole Saturday on my bed, watching TV, and eating ice cream."
"Then I made the right decision," Faith urged. She can be really exhausting to talk to at times. "And besides, you were in Japan for three months. You can read these."
"Fine," Elle decided. "Just leave it there."
"Thanks! I'll get going now."
"Where?" asked Elle. "You have more hackings to do?"
"Something like that." She gave Elle a wink and pulled the door shut.
Elle made her daily routine and when she made her way to the kitchen, she cussed silently.
Damn it, she thought. She just remembered what she did last Monday. And she couldn't believe she ran after pouring Trey that hot coffee. That must've been the most idiotic thing she did her entire life.
"He'll be busy," she said to herself. "He would never have time for me."
She stopped. She just realized the line she let out. It sounded more like to a question to her.
