Chapter 1
Raine Maxwell always thought of herself as normal. She was a senior in high school and lived with her father, sister, and his girlfriend in an apartment about 4 miles away from her school. As a 19 year old student, she was looked upon by others, but only for humor, not grade wise. Her grades were average, but not as good as her sister Faith's. She played soccer at school and was on the team, very talented at sports and computers. She loved video games, tactical games, anime, and manga.
Although these things seemed normal, Raine was hardly normal by definition. She had a secret life that she had no clue about, but that will come into play soon. As far as she knew, Raine's life was completely normal. What was about to come to play was going to turn her life around, making things difficult for her to even accept.
It was a bright and sunny Friday afternoon and Raine was limping to class on crutches. It was her 5th hour on an A day, which meant her next class was going to be a Student Aide position for one of her sister's teachers. Raine had broken her leg in three places, which meant she couldn't have a nice boot to wear; she had to have an actual cast. She hurt herself while playing soccer after another girl tried to beat her up over something.
The teacher had her put things into the grade book on her computer. About 30 minutes had passed, and she didn't even notice. Two people then entered the room, but Raine continued to put things into the grade book. The two people walked over to the teacher, while Raine continued to mind her own business.
"Excuse me, we are from the San Francisco Police Department, and we would wish to speak with a Raine Maxwell, is that possible?" the female detective asked, showing her badge to the teacher. "Why would you need to speak with her, and why are you here in Las Vegas?" the teacher asked the detectives. "We are investigating a kidnapping and we wish to speak with Miss. Maxwell." the male detective replied, gazing at the teacher. "Did she do something wrong?" "No ma'am, this is a private matter."
The teacher came over to Raine, the detectives following behind her. "Raine, there are some police officers here to see you." The teacher said, tapping on Raine's shoulder. Raine used her good leg to turn the chair around, looking at the detectives. "Can I help you with something?" Raine asked, looking at the detectives. "Yes, my name is Detective Miller and this is my partner Detective Moore, we are investigating a kidnapping and we would like to ask you some questions." Detective Miller, the male detective replied.
"Why would you need to speak with me? I don't know anything about a kidnapping…" Raine replied. "It's about your birth mother, she has kidnapped a child and we would like to ask you some questions about her if that is alright." Detective Moore, the female detective replied to Raine. Raine stood up with the help of the detectives and her crutches. She followed them to the Principal's Conference Room where a couple were waiting patiently for them to return.
With their help, Raine sat down again, wondering why they needed to talk about her birth mother. She had closed that chapter of her life long ago, and tried to forget about all the abuse she suffered with them. "This is Melinda Halliwell and Rowan Angelark; they are the couple whose child disappeared about 19 years ago." Detective Moore said to Raine. "I see, what can I do to help?" she asked, somewhat nervous about the whole 19 year thing, but got it out of her mind.
"Well your mother has been arrested for kidnapping, we have proof on this tape, but she is too insane to talk, we need something to help us understand her. What went on when you lived with her?" Detective Moore asked Raine, bringing up old memories for her, memories that she didn't want to relive. "I don't remember much, I was little after all, but she would hit me when I did things that she didn't like, like coughing while she was on the phone. One time, she threw dishes at me when I asked if we could keep the puppies our dog had. When my parents weren't together and she lived with her boyfriend, now husband, she used to have him beat me with a belt, saying I was a bad girl." Raine replied after a while, ashamed of what had happened.
This explanation brought tears Melinda's eyes, knowing full well of Raine and who she was, even if she hadn't met her. "Raine, what if I told you, that you were the girl who was kidnapped 19 years ago. It couldn't be any of your siblings, it has to be you." Detective Moore explained. Raine couldn't believe it. "Ok, I'm out of here, this is enough, you bring back horrible memories about my life that I don't want to relive and then you say that I was kidnapped as a baby. Goodbye." Raine said, taking the crutches and helping herself up. She started out the door. "Wait! Please wait! I have something that could prove that you are my daughter. If this turns out to be true then will you do a DNA test to make it absolutely positive? If I fail at this then you can leave and we won't bother you again." Melinda said in tears. The blonde haired woman looked at Raine in absolute tears, wanting nothing but to get her daughter back.
"Fine, you have one chance, but this is ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous." Raine said, staring at the door. She didn't want to do this, but if it got them off of her case then she would do it to amuse them. "My daughter, she had a small birth defect, very small. When she was born, her left pinky was curved inwards and stuck like that." Melinda explained to Raine. Raine's heart beat faster, knowing of what the woman was talking about. "May I please see your left hand?" Melinda asked, her husband staying silent.
Raine limped back towards Melinda on her crutches, leaning against the table as she took her left hand off of the crutch, showing it to Melinda. Her eyes glistened, the tears in the back of her eyes supporting it. Tears ran down her cheeks and Melinda hugged Raine. "Hey! What are you doing?!" Raine asked. "It's you, after all these years…" Melinda said, ignoring what Raine had to say. "Hey! We still need to do that DNA test, just because your daughter and I have the same birth defect doesn't mean we are the same." Raine said, not wanting to believe this. It had to be a bad dream.