Prologue
"We've gotta keep her safe. She's our daughter."
"What are we supposed to do? Send her to the future?"
"Well, yes, we don't have any other options. And she's unconscious from the guy who owns the time machine, so she'll have a vague memory of us from it, but at least she'll remember something."
"She's only thirteen, what is she going to do in the future? She will wake up and have no clue of what's going on."
"We will leave her a note, telling her what's going on. I'll put it next to her when we hide her in the time machine."
Dear Kaylene, you are in the future. Make a better life for yourself.
He won't be after you anymore.
Love, your mom and dad
xoxoxoxoxoxoxo
I've been in the future for six months now. I got the note and snuck out of the time machine. I didn't make a better life for myself. Not even close. I live on the streets, I sleep where ever I can, and just stay away from the gangs. I don't have any money, which is never a good thing in today-land.
I was making my usual rounds, walking to the old diner at the end of the street. That's where my friend Paul works. Well where his dad works. Paul and I met when I got a few guys from his school to leave him alone. (It's amazing what you can do when you have a pocket knife. Made them run like the pansies they were).
"Hey Paul. What's up?" I asked as I walked into the diner.
"Just cleaned the bathrooms. You can go freshen up. I put your toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, hair brush, and shower stuff in the back next to the employee shower." Paul replied.
" Thanks, Paul. I'll be back in twenty minutes." I replied.
I walked into the back room of the diner, closed the door, and stripped down. I tossed my clothes into the washer and started the load. This was my daily routine. Start my laundry, take a shower, and then get ready for the day.
I turned the slightly rusted knob for the shower and watched the water cascade out of the shower head. I stepped into the shower, throwing the curtain back behind me. I washed my hair and body as fast as I could, I always tried to not waste the water, even though Paul and his father insist it's fine.
I finished in the shower,wrapped a towel around me, and stood in front of the mirror.
My familiar light brown hair framed my face, where my blue eyes sat, a feeling of loneliness hidden within them. I picked up my brush and began to untangle my hair. Then I brushed my teeth, put deodorant on, switched my laundry, and then started to reorganize the shelves while I waited for my clothes to dry. After rearranging shelf after shelf of coca-cola glasses, the dryer buzzed to indicate that my clothes were done. I took them out of the dryer and slipped them on. Walking back into the main section of the diner I gave Paul a small smile and headed for the door.
"Wait! Why are you leaving so soon? Don't you want to hang out?" Paul asked as he slid in front of me, blocking my exit.
"I just have some business to take care of," I replied, attempting to push past Paul.
"Come on, it's Wednesday. Cara is coming by. Why do you always bail when my girlfriend comes around? You used to get along fine."
"Keywords: used to. I was part of a love triangle, don't you remember?" I thought to myself, but instead of telling him about the feelings I had once had, I just said, "Wednesdays are knife fight nights. Remember?"
"But it's morning, Kaylene."
"Preparation?" I said, uncertain it sounded truthful.
"Really, you have to prepare from six in the morning until nine at night?" Paul said, leaning against the door.
"I just...I don't like hanging out with you two,I'm a third wheel. I'd rather throw sharp objects around like they are nothing but snowballs," I said crossing my arms.
"Kaylene, I worry about you hanging out with those people. What if they hit you with a 'snowball' on purpose. They could kill you. I know you hang out with them because they are an easy money making skill. But what if one of them gets mad when you beat them at a knife throwing competition? They get mad easily." Paul said, wrinkling his forehead.
"Paul, I'm fine. I can handle myself. Who ran those guys off when they tried to beat you up? Me. Who got rid of that gang that used to hang out outside? Me. And anyhow, Cara hates me." I said, finally pushing past Paul. I was half way through the door when he grabbed my arm.
"Just be careful. No amount of money is worth you losing your life."
"Okay, mother." I said playfully.
"Hahaha. Now come here and give your best friend a hug," Paul said, opening his arms. I gave him a small squeeze and turned right, towards dagger alley.
No one would be at our competition place. It was just a nice quiet place for me to stay. I turned into the alley and was greeted with Little Marco, the biggest and baddest gang member. He was the leader of the Red Light gang. I slowly started to back up, hoping he hadn't seen me. I managed to back around the corner, only to feel someone else behind me, wrapping there beefy arms around me. Little Marco slugged me in the face, and everything went black.
Meanwhile, at the Robinson's household
Franny was talking to her son, Wilbur Robinson. "So tell me again how those kids stole your shoes."
"Mom, I was changing in the locker room and they took them off of the bench I was siting on." Wilbur replied. These guys would steal anything he had. He was just now telling his mom because he was completely out of gym shoes.
"What are there names? Marcus and Johnathan, right?" Franny said, taking notes on a pad of paper so she knew what to tell the gym teacher when she called him.
"Well, they prefer being called Little Marco and Johnny Boy. They are apart of a gang called the Red Light. They hang out down town next to the diner we used to go to." Wilbur replied.
"A GANG?! They have a GANG? I am going down to that diner right now and having a little chat with them!" Franny screamed, outraged.
Franny ran outside before Wilbur had the chance to stop her.
Franny made her way to the diner. She flung open her car door and ran to the cashier, Paul's father.
"What do you know about a gang called the Red Light's? Little Marco? Johnny Boy? Tell me what you know!" Franny shouted.
"Ma'am I'm sorry but my son's friend ran the Red Light's off from my diner months ago. They haven't returned." Paul's father replied.
"Where can I find the boy that ran him off? I need to speak to him." Franny asked.
" Well, first off, you aren't looking for a boy, you're looking for a girl. And I'll call my son up here to tell you where she is. PAUL!" Paul emerged from the kitchen, spatula in hand.
"Yea, dad?" Paul asked.
"Where's Kaylene? This women is looking for her. Something to do with the Red Light's."
"Look lady, I don't know why your associating Kaylene with the Red Light's, but she only gets rid of them, she isn't with them." Paul said looking Franny right in the eyes.
"I'm not associating her with the gang. I want to find her so she can tell me where they are."
"She's at dagger alley." Paul said straightening his apron.
"Does she have an address?" Franny asked, frightened by the thought of venturing to an alley of any kind.
"She's an orphan. No family. No school. No money and when she does, it goes to us. We give her a place to bathe, wash her clothes, and freshen up daily," Paul's father said.
"Oh...so where's this dagger alley?"
"Turn right. Second entrance to your left." Paul said, heading back to the kitchen where his grill and his girlfriend were waiting.
Franny walked to the second entrance to the left and looked into the alley. Two large boys were hovered over something, trying to tie it up.
"Hey! What are you kids doing?" Franny said, walking toward the boys. The two boys turned and ran out of there before Franny had a chance to grab them. So instead, she walked over to the place the boys had been and what she seen would've made the devil sick. A girl, the same age as her son, with light brown hair was covered in bruises and had a black eye. Ropes were around her wrists and ankles, making escape impossible. Franny gasped and fell to her knees. She took the ropes off and picked up the damaged girl, carrying her back to the diner.
Franny ran back into the diner, Kaylene in hand. She pushed open the door, ran to the nearest booth and sat the young girl down.
"Help! We need medical attention! This girl needs help!" Franny screamed, running towards the kitchen. Paul emerged from behind the grill.
"Who's hurt? We don't help gang members. We'll get shot." Paul said matter-of-factually.
"It's a girl! She was at dagger alley! It could be your girlfriend!" Franny said grabbing Paul's shoulders and shaking him back and forth.
"But...you don't know my girlfriend she's in the kitchen...wait...oh no...KAYLENE!" Paul screamed as he dropped his spatula and pushed past Franny to get to the booth Kaylene was laying at. Paul got to the booth and grabbed Kaylene into his arms and sprinted to the back room.
"DAD! You need to help her, she's unconscious!" Paul said laying Kaylene down on an old diner table, next to the shelves with the coca-cola glasses.
"Who's unconscious?" Paul's father asked as he turned around. "Oh! Kaylene! What happened?"
"I went into dagger alley and these to guys were hovered over her, tying her up. They ran off when I walked towards them." Franny said.
"It's the Red Light's work, alright. They've always been after Kaylene. We need to get her some ice and a pillow of some sort." Paul said, running to the ice machine.
"Does she have a place to stay while she recovers?" Franny asked, taking the bag of ice out of Paul's hands and placing it gently on her black eye.
"We wish she could stay here, but now that the Red Lights have started, they won't finish until she's dead. Keeping her here is hazardous to her own health, as well as ours." Paul's father said. "I don't know what she's going to do."
"I can take her home with me. I could take care of her, and when she wakes up, I'll explain everything. Maybe I can help her get rid of these Red Lights," Franny said, looking at the poor girl lying on the old diner table.
Paul and his father looked at each other, a silent agreement being made. "If you would like to take care of her you may, but we would like for you to keep in contact. Just look up Rodney's diner in the phone book."
"Thank you, ma'am. Thank you for protecting my best friend." Paul said. "I'll take her to your car." Paul scooped Kaylene up and carried her to Franny's car, placing her in the front seat and putting the seat belt around her bruised body.
"When she wakes up she'll be defensive. She'll be confused too. Just give her the phone, tell her to call the diner, and I'll explain everything." Paul's father said, shutting the car door. Franny began to drive back to her place, thinking about how to explain to her son why she came back with a girl, instead of shoes.
Franny pulled up to her home, unlocked the garage, and parked the car. She was greeted by Carl, an invention by her husband Cornelius. Carl's purpose was to help around the house. He also had a human like nature to him. "Hello, . Is there any groceries you need assistance with?" Carl asked as Franny opened her car door.
"No groceries this time, Carl. But could you be a dear and take this young girl and lay her on the couch for me? Be gentle, she's been through a lot." Franny said, gesturing towards the passenger door.
"A girl? You brought a girl? Does she happen to be family?" Carl asked as he opened the car door and unbuckled the seat belt from around Kaylene.
"No, she is not. I'll explain later, but her name is Kaylene." Franny said as she walked towards the pipe that leads to other parts of the house. The pipe sucked her up with a loud WHOOSH.
"Okay, so now we bring random girls into the house, who happen to be sleeping." Carl said as he scooped Kaylene up and carried her to the nearest entrance to the living room. It would be difficult to use the pipes with the girl, so it was just easier to use the door.
Carl entered the living room and approached the red and white leather couch. Carl bent down and placed Kaylene on the leather couch.
"Is that..." Carl gasped as he turned Kaylene's head to reveal the black eye. Carl began to look at the girls arms and legs, full of bruises and dried blood.
"She lived on the streets. She's an orphan. I went down to the old diner we used to go to to confront these two boys that have been stealing Wilbur's gym shoes. Turns out they were in a gang. I went to find this girl so she could tell me where they were, but when I did find her...well two of the guys from the same gang were beating her up. She was unconscious, she still is. I took her back to the diner where her friend worked and he told me she would only be safe out of the gang's territory. They won't stop hunting her till she's dead." Franny said to Carl a she walked over to the couch and placed a blanket over Kaylene. "I couldn't just leave her to die and she wasn't apart of the gang, just a victim."
"Oh. Well I'm sure Wilbur will be okay with our new guest. They'll have to share a bathroom, but he'll be fine." Carl said, clapping his mechanical hands together. "She will be living here, correct?"
"That's up to her when she wakes up, and how she interacts with us. I can't have a wild child. But I will make sure she stays at least a week so we can tell if she'll fit in here, but from what I've been told, she's a great friend and role model." Franny replied, walking out of the living room. Carl followed her to the kitchen.
"Where, exactly, did you get that information?" Carl asked quizzically.
"The boy and his father. They were the ones who worked at the diner,"Franny said as she began to fill the sink with sudsy water.
"Well, I guess we will have to take their word for it," Carl mumbled as he walked back to the garage to wait for Wilbur's arrival. "At least she's pretty" Carl thought to himself. "I'll have to tell Wilbur about her. He tends to get star struck around girls like her."
Wilbur walked into the garage and was greeted by Carl.
"Hey, champ, how was school?" Carl asked as Wilbur walked past him.
"It was okay, I guess," Wilbur sighed, turning to face Carl. "Little Marco and Johnny Boy were bragging about this girl they beat the crap out of, they said I could end up like her. They were probably just bluffing, they probably didn't hurt anyone."
"Well...er...actually...that girl, she did get hurt..." Carl said, fidgeting his hands together.
"What, was it on the local news? Carl, are you keeping something from me?" Wilbur said walking towards Carl.
"Well, when your mom went to confront the gang she was told to find this girl," Carl replied .
"Was the girl apart of the Red Light gang?" Wilbur asked.
"No. She apparently had made them stop hanging out in front of the old diner. Your mom went to the place the cashier in the diner told her the girl would be and these two guys were beating up this girl. She was unconscious, she still is. And you know how your mom is, she helps anyone who needs it." Carl replied.
"Are you saying that the girl is here?" Wilbur asked, straightening his hair. "Who knows, she might be nice" Wilbur thought to himself.
"Well,yes. She's on the couch, unconscious, and I'm going to warn you, she's not exactly ugly," Carl announced.
"Well I don't care if she's a super model. She needs to have a good personality, something that isn't very common anymore." Wilbur said, strutting into the living room.