Chapter 1
In a fancy house at the end of the street in Cumberland Foreside, Maine, everything in the house was still and silent. Besides the small echoes of footsteps sneaking downstairs.
I was messing with the family's security system. The code was changed a week ago and I still haven't been able to guess it. A jacket loosely hanging by my arm while my brain thought of a code.
I have snuck out of the house hundreds of times to the point I'm a master. Well, almost. My parents decided only a month ago to install a security system. Their thought process: “Keep Lucille from damaging our reputation.”
“Damn,” I whispered.
My parents got smart. They found a new number system that has never been used before. The only way I have been able to get out unscathed is by knowing all those codes.
Looking around the entryway, I tried to figure out if there was a different way out without tripping the alarm. The windows have a sensor. The door has a sensor. If any of them get open, even the slightest bit, they will sound.
Then I remembered. My parents haven’t had time to set up the sensors on the basement windows. Yes, the way out will be difficult, but it’ll be worth it when I'm cruising down the street with my friends.
Walking downstairs, I walked to the window, slowly opening it to climb through the makeshift exit. I stare at the open window, trying to decide whether to leave it opened or closed. Why not both? I gently close it, not fully. After all, I’m going to need to be able to get back inside after my nightly adventures.
When the coast was clear, no alarms or strangers watching, I took off down the street.
Anabelle’s car was waiting for me at the end of the street. The headlights dim enough not to shine through anyone’s windows, yet bright enough to light my way. A small smile appears on my lips as I see how willing they all were to pick me up for the night.
The backseat door opens and I slide in. Anabelle was in the driver seat, Scott in the passenger's seat. James sat in the middle while Kevin sat behind Anabelle.
"Took you long enough," Scott said.
"Piss off, Scott," I said, rolling my eyes.
Scott shook his head as Anabelle sped down the street. I turned towards James.
“Switch me places?” I asked him.
“Why?” he asks.
“I like the middle seat. You should know that.” James just stared into my almost gray eyes. “Please.”
“Fine.”
James and I try to maneuver around each other. The movement of the car makes things more difficult than they need to be.
"Where are we going tonight?" Kevin asks. Clearly trying to ignore the complicated movement going on next to him.
"Wanna see if we can hit 120?" Anabelle says, a glimmer in her eyes.
"That's boring," Scott says, "we've already done that."
“James,” I snap. “Slide over!”
“But I like the view,” he answers.
Rolling my eyes once again, which was too often when James speaks, I sat down in his lap. An annoyed smile on my lips as I turn towards him.
“Wanna say that again?” I ask.
James shakes his head and makes more of an effort to slide over. Finally, the middle seat was open and I sat. I put my seatbelt on, ignoring the annoyed look from James.
“I have the greatest plan,” Scott suggests. “Egg houses.”
"Cause that worked out so well last time," Anabelle snaps.
"Not everyone is a speed demon, Ana," Scott scoffs.
"Well. Learn."
A thick silence poisoned the car as the three people in the backseat stared between Scott and Anabelle. Everyone but Scott and Anabelle knew the two secretly like each other, but they won’t admit it.
James and Kevin have a bet between one another. James says they will get together by the end of the year while Kevin says by the end of the month. I wanted nothing to do with the bet, not wanting to be murdered once the two found out about it.
"How about we go to my place," Kevin chimes in. "My folks are gone till Tuesday. I have some weed stashed away."
"Of course you do, pothead," James says.
“What ideas have you come up with?” I ask.
“I have some ideas,” James said.
I rolled my eyes. “What? Like throwing loose change at passing cars?”
“Hey, it was a great idea last time.”
“We almost got arrested,” Kevin chimes in.
“At least two of us are sensible.”
“Who’s the second?” Scott asks.
I smack Scott on the arm. He cringes away, rubbing his arm to stop the sharp pain shooting up his body.
Scott mumbled to himself while the others kept speaking about what they were planning to do. It doesn't last long as red and blue lights turn on behind the group. My heart starts to race.
Anabelle pulls the car off to the side of the road as Scott tries to get the cigarette smell out of the car, which in no means was working. I watch Scott and James quickly put their seatbelts on.
The cop taps on the window, signaling for it to be lowered. Anabelle obliges.
"License and registration," the cop says.
Anabelle nods and reaches over to the glove compartment. She pulls out her registration and hands it to the cop before reaching for her license when she automatically stops.
"Ana?" I whispered to her.
"I don't have my license," she whispers back to me.
"What?" The urgency in my voice grabbed the police officer's attention.
"Is there a problem?" he asks.
Anabelle slowly turns to the window. The anxiety in her eyes was clear to see. Her license was already suspended for two months, now her license is completely gone. There's a great chance she will get arrested.
"I seem to have lost my license," Anabelle says. The cop looks in the back at me and the others.
"Step out of the car, miss." The cop backs up just enough to let the driver's door open.
Anabelle listened to the cop. Slowly, she steps out of the car. I look around in hopelessness. There was nothing I could do to help, at least nothing I could think of in such a short manner of time.
I started to internally panic. What's going to happen to us when Anabelle gets arrested? I can't get in trouble with the police, my parents would send me to a halfway house. A house for troubled teens as they state more times than necessary.
My gaze falls to the floor, hoping if I don't look everything will be fine, when they land on something barley sticking through the seat by the floor. Without thinking twice, I gently grab it.
"Officer," I said, leaning forward a little. Anabelle’s face was written in panic. "We found her license. It fell down the cracks of the seat."
Slowly, the officer walked to the window, grabbing the license from my hand and looked it over. He whispered something to Ana before disappearing to his car. The air was thick with unknowns.
It wasn't long until the officer came back with the documents and handed them to Anabelle. A stern look on his face.
"Take them home," he said. "You're in the system. If your license plate is caught still driving around at 2 you lose the license and the car. That's in 30 minutes."
Anabelle hurries into the car, tossing the papers to Scott before putting her seatbelt on. The faster she puts a barrier between her and the cop, the better. Putting the car into drive, she slowly leads us into the neighborhood ahead.
The first one to be dropped off was Kevin, since we were closest to his place. Then James and Scott, who live right next to each other. I was the last one dropped off. The car was parked in the same place where I first got in.
"Thanks for saving me back there, Lucy," Anabelle said.
"It wasn’t just me," she answered. "Everyone was just as nervous."
“But you were the only one who found it.”
We sat in silence for a moment, not knowing what else to say. Anabelle had a scare and I wasn't exactly good at calming people's nerves.
"You should probably go," I said. "You only have ten minutes to get home."
"My parents are going to kill me."
"Probably."
I get out of the car, leaving my good friend to her own thoughts. Anabelle’s car took off down the road as I walked toward my house. The window should still be open.
It was colder now. The adrenaline from the night finally started to wear off.
I stood at the end of the driveway; looking up at the house. The place where I felt the most miserable. A stranger in my own home where my parents don't care about me. The two are always on business trips, forgetting about family days, birthdays, and Christmas's. Yet, it was the only thing I knew.
The lights were off, which was a good sign. My parents didn't know I had snuck out of the house. Reluctantly, I made my way up to the house.
"Calypso?" a woman’s voice calls.
Something deep inside me sparked in realization, making me stop in my tracks. I've never heard that name before, but it's like my soul had. My heart soared with the name as something deep inside wanted me to remember.
Turning towards the source of the voice, there was a woman at the end of the driveway. The blonde of her hair reflected the moonlight.
"It really is you," she said in a whisper. "Lucius, Draco."
She waves to someone. Two new people came into view. Both had blond hair that reflected the moonlight just like the woman's. One was slightly taller than the other.
"We found her, Narcissa," the tall blond says.
I take a small step backwards, hoping to put some space between these strange people and me.
"Who are you guys?" I say.
"We’re your family," Narcissa says.