Wedding Picture

So I drew a picture from the wedding with us wearing traditional clothes. And in the background, though my head is so big you can't see it, is the waterfall in the hotel. It's not my exact vision, but I can't paint. I have the background posted on my DeviantArt.

Alex and Uyenie Back Story Part 7 (The Proposal Part 4)

So we went down the lower levels, it seems all the cool things are at the underground levels. Into a room, he led me. Gosh, the room was covered in this weird design, like hi-tech and stuff.

“Where are we?” I asked.

“We’re in the virtual reality room,” he said with a smirk. I guess he was real proud of it.

“A what??? How did you get…? And is that even…? How does it even…? What? A virtual reality room?” He just continued to stare at me, smiling.

“Here, let me show you,” he said, wrapping his arm around me. Suddenly, the ground turned into the deep blue water; the sun came blazing out; the sky was blue, and we were stranded in the middle of the ocean.

I couldn’t stop screaming and flailing around. How did we get stuck in the middle of the ocean? Am I going to die? Alex, throughout all of this, was calm, laughed a little even. He still had his arm around me and brought me closer to him, so I would calm down.

“Uyenie! Uyenie! Stay calm,” he hushed me while hugging tighter. I stopped moving. Somehow we were floating. He looked at me, wiped some hair out of my face, and smiled.

“Remember, this is a virtual reality room. We’re not really in the middle of the ocean,” he explained, “Come swim to the bottom with me.” He took my hand and dragged me do the sea floor. I was wiggling around, knowing I can’t breathe! “Uyenie! Uyenie! Breathe! This is a virtual reality room! You can do anything!” he calmed me down. I took a breath, no water! It was like flying!

As we swam by, a school a fish passed us. The water was shimmering on the ground. It was magical! And to top it off, Alex was right in front of me, holding my hand. He looked back at me, a little worried. I gave him a smile to signal I was okay. I guess he’s always worrying about me, which is kind of ironic I guess. Back a long time ago, I used to take care of him, and now he takes care of me. Do I feel any shame in that? No! Dude, man, I have one of the wealthiest, no, THE wealthiest person in this city taking care of me and making me happy. Back then though, I felt like a burden to him.

He turned and asked me, “So where do you want to do now?” He smiled and raised his eyebrows just like he does.

“I don’t know…. You take me somewhere,” I told him.

“I want to do whatever you want to do,” he said staring at me, wanting. I told him that I have no idea what this place can do. So he got us to wash up on the beach.

He set up a fire and we watched the sunset, sitting side by side. When it got dark, he said that he was going to go get more firewood, since the fire was dying. Then suddenly, it began to snow. More wind started blowing in my face. The sea froze into hill of snow, and I was in the middle of a blizzard. Freaked out, I started shouting for Alex. How am I supposed to survive in this weather without him? Where did he go? Is he even alright?

Then I see this lurking figure in the distance. Is that him? The figure started walking closer to me, crunching the snow. I was shivering cold. It was like a bizarre dream! The figure walked into some light. Thank God, it was Alex! He was wearing snow gear and looked down at me sadly.

“Are you cold?” he said quite upset. I stared up at him, sitting on the ground, shivering. He took of his jacket and handed it to me. Oh gosh it was warm. It was like being cuddled with love. He directed me to a little log cabin.

It was so homey in there. There was a fire in the living room, a tiny kitchen, and a bedroom. I didn’t even need the jacket anymore. He showed me to the extra cushiony couch right in front of the fire. I sat there, nesting myself in the couch. He came out, holding two mugs.

“Do you want some hot chocolate? In this room, we can trick our senses,” he started some small talk.

“Trick our senses? What do you mean?” I took the mug.

“Like, we’re not actually drinking hot chocolate, but you can smell it,” he says, holding up his mug. Then it disappears. “You’re not drinking anything at all.” He paused and recreated his mug, staring at it. “I never had hot chocolate. This is the best I can come up with in its place.”

“You’ve NEVER had hot chocolate??? My gosh! We got to get some sometime!” I was shocked! And it became quiet, a little awkward actually.

We stared into the fire, sitting a pretty normal distance from each other. No one said anything. Fire was moving, cracking, dancing. It burned and grew, flailing its flames around like a tempered child with a yoyo. It was red! It was passionate! The heat! The heat! I couldn’t take it anymore! Turned and looked at him. He was just staring at the fire. His face so nicely formed. You can see his jaw bone. His eyelashes were so long and pretty. He just stared at the fire. Then he noticed I was looking at him. He turned with his questioning face. Oh, he was so cute. I couldn’t help it! I quickly leaned over and kissed him.

What was I doing? He’s only seventeen! Now I’m leading him on! I immediately pushed away.

“I’m sorry. I don’t know what just happened. That was a mistake,” I stared at the ground.

He looked up at me and said, “Hey, I wanted it.” He touched my face and came for another kiss. No! This can’t be happening!

“No! This can’t be happening! I’m sorry! I’m just going to leave.” I started walking out to the door. “Um, how do I get out of this virtual reality room?” He looked sad and then the scenery changed back into the room we first started in, with all the dots. He pointed at the door.

As I walked out, Alex had set up a little grassy cliff overlooking the ocean. He sat there and stared into the deep sea. I was nearing the door, but I couldn’t leave him like that. I walked over to him.

I sat down beside him. I didn’t say anything.

He began talking, “It’s just, when I first saw you about a month ago, I couldn’t believe it, but in some way, I knew. Ever since you left and told me we’d meet each other, I never gave hope. I already lost you once, and I didn’t want to lose you again. You were the only person who was there.” I sat there and listened to him rant about us then I realized something. I love him. Why am I pushing him away? He’s like, no he IS the best thing I’ve ever found.

“Yes,” I said.

He continued, “My parents were never there. You raised me and loved me.”

“Yes,” I said again.

“My life is just so perfect and bland. It’s the same routine, no passion. But you came, and gave me something to live for.”

“Yes!” I said, becoming impatient. Was he deaf?

“You’re always so different, giving flavor and cheers to everything. I don’t want to imagine life without you. I—”

“Yes! I’ll marry you!” I shouted at him with such joy and hugged him. He sat there, shocked, happy. Then he looked at me. I looked back at him, looking the cutest I can. He smiled and reached into his pocket, pulled out the ring, and placed it onto my finger.

Alex and Uyenie Back Story Part 6 (The Proposal Part 3)

The next morning, I woke up. I couldn’t sleep because of last night. Oh! He looked so sad! I had to reject him, you know? He was only seventeen! He was still a minor! Plus his life was so perfect. I was afraid I was going to ruin everything. I wished that I could have just left his life already, but there was no hope for me in the world without him.

So, I felt really bad about what happened. It was for his own good, you know? I got ready and left the room to go down to the lobby. He wasn’t there.

I asked the person at the front desk where he was. They directed me to his office. Why didn’t I look there? I knocked on the door. I hear some papers rustling. “Oh, um, come in!” I heard his voice coming from within. I guess he thought I was a guest complaining. Did he not expect to see me today?

I walked in. He tried to look like he was doing paperwork. Once I walked in he looked up and his eyebrows rose so cutely, just as they do.

“What’s up?” he said, acting as if yesterday never happened. I sat down.

“Um, I’m sorry about last night. I had a great time yesterday though! You were really charming, and any girl’s lucky to have you,” I didn’t want to leave it at last night. I continued to explain why I didn’t want to marry him, or definitely not yet. He nodded, but never looked at me. “But maybe someday, you can convince me. It’s just, right now isn’t a good time. Here, lighten up. Do you want some breakfast?” I offered him a second chance.

“Um, sure. Where are we going?” He was confused that I was in charge this time. I took him back to his own room. Why not have a cheap home-made breakfast? So I led him to the kitchen.

“You have eggs and soy sauce and baguettes and pepper, right? We’re gonna make something my parents used to feed me long ago, back when we were actually happy” I informed him of my plan. Back when I was babysitting him, we used to do this all the time.

About fifteen minutes later, the toaster oven is on fire, there is raw yoke everywhere, and we’re sitting on the floor with one perfect plate of eggs sunny-side up and soy sauce with a side of bread.

“You, sir, cannot open eggs. How can you not crack open eggs? Didn’t you learn from like the best cooking schools in France?”

“So….” He puckered his lips in that cute way he does. “You’re the one who had to make food for yourself every day, how did you set the toaster oven on fire?”

“Hey! I don’t know how to use your fancy, overheating tools!” He was staring at me, wanting. I panicked and immediately took a fork full of egg and stuff it in his mouth.

“At least it tastes good,” he said with his boyish smile. We quickly ate the plate of eggs which meant we were just sitting on the floor, shoulders touching.

“Uyenie, you have something on your face.” Before I could try to get it off myself, he held my face in his hand and wiped it off. With his hand still on my face he stared at me, still wanting. He leaned in, shut his eyes, and kissed me.

Oh gosh! My heart was beating so much! No! I can’t do this! I pushed him away.

“I’m sorry,” he said, “I just couldn’t help myself. I’ve wanted to do that for so long.” He looked away. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t want him to be sad.

“It’s okay,” I muttered out, “What do you want to do today?” He looked up at me with hope. I guess after that act, he thought that I would think he was some monster who couldn’t control his urges. It was just a kiss though. Only God knows how many kisses I’ve given to people!

“I have something in mind. Come,” he said in a suspicious way. I was getting a little scared. He held out his hand and waited, looking longingly at me. It’s one of those, do you trust me thing, ripped off from Aladdin. I took his hand.

Monica, Anna, and Nichole

I wish I could draw poses like this without reference pictures.  I also wish I could draw faces and eyes properly ;_;

Building Doodles

Did a couple doodles, they're not necessarily the final design.  

Hyacinth Towers

The Library (that I already forgot the name of)

Short Update

Nobody freak out.  I decided to go back through all the posts and add tags so that stuff will be easier to find.  That is all :P

The Hyacinth Towers Incident Part 1

The beginning of the beginning of the actual F-Team :D

I'll have more done sometime this week.  I'm planning on writing up till the point that the phone rings.  

I'm kinda tired, so don't expect this to make complete sense. XD  

The Hyacinth Towers Incident

                Natalie was extremely bored.  Laura and Jennifer had been living with her for nearly two months now.  She had gotten used to the excitement their random expeditions brought her.  She would do research for them, hacking into computer systems that actually provided her with a challenge.  Sometimes they would even have her mess with a building’s camera system so they could go anywhere without being seen, but with an eye in the sky, so to speak. 

                They had nothing planned at the moment, so the three of them were lounging around the house, staring lazily at the TV.  Natalie pulled out her laptop and set it on her folded legs.  She began drifting through the internet, not really paying attention to what she was doing.  She continued her wanderings for about a half an hour before she stumbled upon something interesting.  It seemed to be some sort of encrypted message. 

                She ran it through one of the decrypting programs she designed.  Eventually, she had her message.  It read: “H.T., 3 p.m. 12, 20 kg, brg csh” Natalie narrowed her eyes.  What could this mean?  H.T.  Was that a person?  A place?  3 p.m. was obviously some sort of meeting time, and 12 was the date.  In that case, H.T. probably WAS a place.  20 kg.  Kg was probably kilograms.  Kilograms of what, exactly?  And the last part of the message.  Brg csh.  That had to be bring cash.  It seemed to Natalie that some sort of important exchange would be taking place at the mysterious H.T. 

                Natalie absentmindedly typed the initials “H.T.” into her favorite search engine.  Tons of people popped up.  She narrowed her search to destinations and locations.  A list of museums, zoos, and other tourist attractions appeared.  Natalie sat back with a sigh.  There were millions of places this could be taking place at.  It may not even be in this country.  She looked back over the message, trying to trace its source.  It seemed to come from a public computer, located in one of the local city libraries.  She grinned; satisfied that it would be a local place. 

                 Out loud, she asked to the room at large, “What would you guys consider a good, common place for an exchange involving money?” 

                Jennifer answered, without moving her eyes from the TV screen, “depends on what it being exchanged.  A hostage, drugs, whores.  It really depends…” 

                “Alright,” Natalie replied, thinking, “let’s say it’s drugs.  Where would be a good place?”

                Laura took this one, “probably any place that’s abandoned.  An old warehouse.  A parking lot.  Maybe even a hotel.” 

                “A hotel?  Hmm…” Natalie returned her focus to her computer screen. 

                Laura and Jennifer exchanged a look, shrugged, and turned back to the TV. 

                She modified her search again, this time with “hotels” and the city name.  Only a few results popped up this time.  “Hyacinth Towers,” she murmured.  She clicked on a link to the hotel’s website.  It was a high quality hotel, with state-of-the art services and gorgeous rooms.  She looked back at the message.  It said when the exchange was to take place, as well as the basic location, but it didn’t say where exactly in the hotel it would be.  She figured it would be in one of the rooms, but which room?  Perhaps it was a combination of the time and the date?  She felt it was a long shot, but worth a try.  She attempted to book an online room, and entered a special request for the 12^th of that month and room 312.  She was told that the room would be occupied during that day, but would be available the next day.  Next she tried hacking into the hotel’s security system.  Perhaps she could find out which guest would be staying in the room and could use it as a lead. 

                The room was saved for a man named Smith.  It was an obvious cover name, but she knew she needed more information than that.  She looked to see how the reservation had been made.  It seemed to originate from a public computer, similar to the way the encrypted message had been sent.  This public computer seemed to be located at a small cyber bar near the park.  Natalie figured it might be worth something, so she explained everything she had discovered so far to Jennifer and Laura. 

                They seemed intrigued.  “Perhaps we can do a little research,” Jennifer suggested.  “It’s not like we’re making good use of our time, and this sounds like we may be able to get something out of it.” 

                Laura decided to head to library, and Jennifer agreed that she would go to the cyber café.  Natalie said she would stay at her apartment and try to gather more information through the hotel’s website. 

~~~~~~~

                Laura approached the brick face of the run-down little library.  Its faded sign read “Jason Kindling Library” and underneath it said, “To Educate Those That Will It.”  She climbed the steps and pushed the door open.  It distinctly smelled of old books and dust.  The floor was of a dark wood and there were lamps with green shades upon a few rickety tables.  A frail old woman sat behind the front desk. 

                Laura approached her slowly, and asked quietly, “where would I go to use a computer in this library?” 

                The lady looked up from the book she had been reading, and pointed with a wispy hand towards a desk behind her.  Laura nodded her thanks and continued to the desk.  She brought up the internet, and went to recent history.  Natalie had told her that the email would have been sent three days ago.  She began sifting through URLs.  Eventually she came upon an email provider site.  She flipped open her cell phone and texted to Natalie, “I think I may have found it.”  She then copied the URL into the text and sent it.  Her task complete, she stood up and turned off the computer.  After thanking the librarian, she continued out through the door, down the steps, and back towards Natalie’s apartment.    

~~~~~~~~

                Meanwhile, Jennifer was just reaching the cyber café.  It was completely devoid of people.  Thanks to Natalie, she knew exactly which computer to sit down at.  She continued to do exactly what Laura had.  She searched through the URLs until she found an email provider that had been accessed three days prior.  After sending the address to Natalie, she too continued back to the apartment. 

~~~~~~~~

Anna/Nichole/Monica Doodle

Their initial dealings at the Hyacinth Towers. Ignore the suckiness.

Bar Fight

From Monica's/Anna's/Nichole's story thingy XD

How Monica and Nichole Met Part 1

So this part I imagine happening a few months after Nichole's incident

The F-Team

Mission: How Nichole and Monica Met

            The party was stupid and boring and nobody was within ten years of her age. It was all old, rich, snobby people and their incredibly young and annoying grandchildren, not that she would have been much more enthusiastic about the situation if there were people her age around. Monica strode out to the front yard by herself; away from the fancy party her parents had forced her to attend with them. Yes, she knew it was the dead of night and incredibly cold outside but it was her only alternative to being around people.

           The wind whipped at the hem of the black cocktail dress her mother had forced her to wear and her hair blew into her eyes, getting caught in her glasses, as she stepped out the front door. She was a little dismayed by what surrounded her. There was a beautiful garden, filled with breathtaking fountains and exotic flowers of every kind and color that only increased in beauty in the moonlight, but that was not what caught her off guard. There were streetlights and other houses and civilization in general. Growing up in a rural part of the area had made her sensitive to these things, as they were such a rarity near her home.

          Monica walked down to the curb and glanced up and down the street amazed by the proximity of the other houses. While she was adjusting to the seemingly bizarre situation, she noticed a small figure suddenly appear under a streetlamp down the block. Initially, she thought the person just appeared small because of distance but as the figure approached it became clear that this was a rather small person. A young girls face peeked out from underneath the hood on the approaching figure. Though the girl was young she wasn’t much younger than Monica, who was only fifteen at the time.

          The girl looked up as she approached and glared at Monica who stood directly in her path. She slowed to a stop as she approached and neither girl said a word for several very long, tense moments as each girl stared into the others eyes hoping to catch a glimpse of motive or reasoning. As it became clear to Monica that the girl would not speak without provocation, she tried to think of something to say in the way of a greeting.

           “Why are you standing out here in the cold by yourself just staring at nothing?” the girl said in a polite but edgy and somewhat demanding voice. The question frightened her, mostly because she did not expect the girl to speak.

           “I-I umm, well, I don’t know really.” Monica’s voice could barely be heard above the wind but the girl understood her no problem. “What about you?’ Monica spat back in a failed attempt at wit and originality, but at least with more conviction than before.

           “It doesn’t matter,” the girl growled softy as she shifted her jacket o reveal the handle of a gun sticking from the waistband of her jeans. Instead of being frightened by the gesture as the girl had intended, a twisted sort of grin began to erupt from Monica’s face. She took a step back and a full-blown smile appeared.

          “Wanna see something really cool?” Monica inquired already knowing she wouldn’t take ‘no’ for an answer. “Can I see a single bullet?” she added, again not prepared to accept a negative answer.  The girl pulled the gun from her waistband reluctantly but with some subtle signs of excitement bubbling around her eyes.

             Monica took the bullet as the girl proffered it and knelt down on the ground, dumping a collection of seemingly useless crap from the small handbag she was carrying onto the cement sidewalk. The girl knelt down as well trying to get a better look at what was being done but Monica was bend over her hands working intently for a few moments before sitting back up and returning most of the assortment of junk of the ground to her purse, except for a few paper gum wrappers, a box of matches, the now empty bullet casing and a strange dark paste the had appeared on the ground suddenly.

            “Stand back and watch this.” Monica grinned maniacally as she struck a match and lit the gum wrappers stuck in the black goo. The display of pyrotechnics was amazing for only a few short moments of work. Red and orange sparks shot four feet into the air, sizzling and popping for several minutes before finally petering out in a multicolored final fizzle. “That was louder than I expected” Monica said with a sense of anti-climax.

            “Can you show me how to do that?” The girl asked with a bit of a nervous edge to her voice. Before Monica could respond though, she noticed the girl jerk stiffly and suddenly. Monica glanced over her shoulder and saw a cop car rolling slowly down the street. Without a word, Monica began to walk back toward the mansion-esque house from whence she had come. The girl took the hint and began to continue on her path as well but before either girl made it more than a few feet Monica jumped back around ad asked hesitantly, “Do you have a name?”

            The girl smiled softly and responded, with a glimmer of mischief in her eyes, “Nichole.”

Monica, Anna and Nichole Backstory...

Here we go: here's how anna, Monica and I met! Eventually Either myself or someone else will write how Johnny, laura, jennifer and Natalie meet us three :)

The bar was filled with young, desperate men. Anna, though tough (and indifferent) wasn't used to this crowd. She had lived a life of discipline; Both her parents had been involded in the armed forces, though her mother's airforce background had influenced Anna the most. She looked around the filthy bar, trying to comprehend what she imagined the rest of her life to look like. She hadn't meant to punch the lieutenant for his remark, but at the same time, her pride wouldn't have let her walk away from the discrimmination, the sexism, without making a stand. Suddenly, a hand grabbed her shoulder and yanked hard. Anna twirled around, more surprised than anything. A young man, maybe in his mid 20's, stared drunkenly at her. It was impossible to mistake the intent in his eyes... He could barely keep his eyes on her smooth face. Anna felt the usual anger build up, but she surpressed it. It was a miracle she hadn't been jailed for the incident at the naval ship, and she didn't want her life to sink to a brand new low just hours after her dishonorable discharge. Just as she turned back towards the bar, Anna saw a fist launch into the man's face, and heard a drunken yelp. Standing above the man was a woman, wearing boots and a striped shirt, glaring angrily at the now unconscious face. Anna was shocked: Who was this girl, and what possessed her to punch this, annoying but potentially harmeless man?

The mysterious girl saved Anna the awkwardness of asking those questions. "Can you believe that jerk? Sorry, but he was making a move for you... And it didn't look like you wanted to get involved. Oh, I'm Nichole. Who are you?"

"oh, umm, I'm Anna."

"Anna? Oh, ok. Hey, let me introduce you to my friend Monica. Hey, Monica!"
With that, a tall, bookish lady walked over from accross the room. She seemed timid to Anna, yet she possesed a calm, sure quality about herself. No one could mess with her. She sat on the other side of Nichole, and barely mumbled a 'hello' at Anna.
"So, how are you? That guy'll be fine... He'll wake up in an hour maybe, but he'll have a huge headache."

Anna carefully considered her answer. She had no idea who these people were, and the one called Nichole seemed kinda violent. "Well, I just lost my... Uh, job."

"Oh, that's not good."

"Yea, I know."

Anna searched her brain for something to say. Turning to Monica, she asked, "So, do you fight too?" As soon as she said it, Anna knew it was a stupid thing to say. The shock on both of their faces temporarily impeded their abilities to speak. Finally, Monica mumbled, "No... No, I work with explosives..."

Anna wasn't sure if she was joking, but the surprise and anger that crossed Nichole's face implied that Monica spoke the truth. "What?!!? Why on earth did you tell her that? Oh God..."

"What? Explosives? Why is that bad? I like explosives... I think."

Monica took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "Well, umm.. Well, I kinda, I kinda..."

Nichole, with a much more controlled tone, slowly muttered "Ok, Anna, don't panic. Walk with us, we're going outside."


***

An hour later, Anna stared at her companions through the screen that separeted the front seats from the back seats in their ford van. Everything they had told her was, well, surprising and illegal, to say the least. Nichole and Monica were rogue soldiers of fortune. They traveled from motel to hotel, searching out any scum that the cops had missed. "It certaintly explained why Nichole punched that drunk guy." Anna thought. They had asked her to join their outfit, to become a warrior in the fight against social injustice. Anna might have said no.. She knew she would have walked away, except that she had no job, no means of supporting herself. Nichole and Monica, on the other hand, were filthy rich. Once Anna had told them her real story, including the airforce incident, they begged her to be their pilot. "What the hell? Its a paying job, right?" she thought.


***


As the car slowly rolled to a stop, Anna saw a filthy hotel light flicker. Nichole opened her door, and frowned slightly. "I know this isn't a 5 star resort, but places like these are full of jerks that the cops are too stupid to catch. This is where we find most of our targets."

"I see..."

Monica spoke up for the first time in over an hour. "You better get some sleep. We're going to hit up a nice resort tomorrow-this guy two rooms over said he's going to unload a bunch of drugs in room 217 of some resort... I think its owned by the millionare they call 'Alex'."

Anna nodded. She knew she had made a dramatic choice earlier. Never again would she fly in the air force.. Now, she was working with two dangerous women who, in fact, detested the military, or at least the American military system. She supposed she could get used to it, this new life she picked up in a bar. She would have to, she couldn't back out now. She sighed, took one last look at the ford van, and walked into her hotel room. "A drug bust at Alex's hotel? What did I get myself into?" She thought. "Well, it doesn't matter... Get a good night's sleep, don't think about it..." Little did she know, one little drug bust would change the course of her entire life.


I severely apologize for all the errors... Its like 11:46 or something & I'm super tired :p

Picture!

It's me! Uyenie!

Laura/Jennifer/Johnny/Natalie Part who even knows anymore XD

                “I have to make an appointment!?”  Natalie growled at the Bloomsburg secretary, “I used to work here!” 

                “I’m sorry ma’am, I can’t allow just anyone to see Mr. Riddle,” the secretary replied matter-of-factly. 

                “But I’m not just anyone!  Have you already forgotten who I am?” 

                “Please make an appointment and Mr. Riddle will get in touch with you as soon as he can.  Now, I’m going to have to ask you to leave,” the secretary motioned towards the door.   

                “Well,” Laura muttered as she and Natalie exited the building, “that went well.  Not to sound redundant or anything.” 

                “Sorry, I didn’t expect them to completely ignore the fact that I worked for them for so long.  Although it probably doesn’t help that I stormed out of here after I got fired.” 

                “It’s fine; I got what I needed anyway.  We’ll just have to do this a slightly different way than I had planned.”  She held up a small business card with a list of employees on it. 

                “Johnny’s name isn’t even on it,” Natalie observed, pulling the card close to her face so she could read it better.    

                “It doesn’t matter, I’m assuming that you can figure out which of these is him,” Laura smiled at her. 

                Natalie sighed, “I’m sure I can…”

~~~~

                Jennifer and Laura stood behind Natalie as she scrolled through her computer.  Her fingers were a blur on the keyboard, and then she pulled up a picture of Johnny.  It was a current one too.  “He’s under the name Daniel Riddle.  As Mr. Riddle’s adoptive son…interesting.”

                “What’s interesting?”  Laura leaned closer to the screen, trying to read the information that flashed across the screen. 

                “It never said this before…but now his files are saying that he was adopted from an orphanage when he was ten years old.  It’s saying he’s been living with Mr. Riddle for eight years!” Natalie looked outraged, “somebody has tampered with these files.  They’re trying to cover something up.  But here’s what we’re looking for.”

                Laura looked at her eagerly, “what is it?” 

                “His home address.” 

~~~~

                Jennifer slipped past house after house, looking up at addresses.  Her dark clothes allowed her to blend in perfectly with the murky night.  Few street lamps lined this block of the neighborhood, but instead of making her nervous, this fact had a calming effect on her.  She squinted her eyes in an attempt to see further down the street.  Gasping quietly, she ducked between two of the houses, and just in time. 

                A tall man strode past the place she had just been standing, casting his eyes around in all directions, searching for her.  A large bulge in his jacket pocket screamed that this was no pedestrian on a nighttime stroll.  She crouched in the shadows between the two houses, trying to calm herself.  It had been a very close call and she was not accustomed to being surprised like that. 

                As soon as she was sure that the guard had moved on, she slipped her phone out of her pocket and flipped it open, shielding the light with her hand from prying eyes.  She sent a quick message to Laura: “Single guard confirmed.  Possibly more.  Be careful.” 

                  Jennifer watched from her hiding spot as a dark shape slipped from behind a car at the end of the block.  It snuck down the street, ducking behind trees and parked cars as it made its way towards Jennifer’s position.  As soon as it was about two feet away from her, she slipped out of the gap between the houses, and pulled the dark figure back into the deeper shadows. 

                “Okay, so how are we doing this?”  Laura whispered, barely making a sound.  “Our original plan wasn’t counting on guards.” 

                “Continue with the plan, I’ll take care of the guards,” Jennifer slipped a silencer out of her pocket and attached it to her handgun. 

                Laura nodded and continued back out into the open, keeping close to the car-lined street.  Jennifer held her position until she could hear the guard’s footsteps returning.  She quickly lunged out, squeezed the trigger, and then crept back into her original position.  She watched as Laura emerged from behind a battered truck and caught the body before it hit the ground.  She dragged it out into the street and pushed it under a rusted old van. 

                Jennifer sent her another message: “Okay, go now.  I’ll keep an eye out for anything suspicious.”