"Hey, Alex! It's time to go over to the Crawfords' house!" Sabina said, tying her long dark hair into a pony tail.
"Give me a second," Alex called from the room the Pleasure's had repurposed for him when he had first come to live with them in San Francisco. He quickly put on a fresh shirt and a new pair of jeans. He tried to smooth his hair with a comb in the mirror, giving up when the light brown tufts of hair refused to stay down.
As he set the comb down, a picture caught his eye. The woman in the photo was smiling as she proudly displayed a traditional Japanese dinner. Her red hair seemed to jump out of the picture, drawing his attention to it. He carefully held the picture as if it would disappear if he squeezed it too hard, and a surge of emotions went through him. It always did when anything reminded him of her. Of Jack. Of her smile. Of her laugh. He set the picture down before he could remember anything else, like how she was blown up before his very eyes. All because of him.
"Alex!" Sabina's voice shook him out of his reverie.
"Coming!" Alex shoved he memories into the back of his mind. She was there and gone. He was here and now. He rushed down the stairs, taking two at a time. Sabina smiled when she saw him.
"Why, you sure freshened up, didn't you?" She teased, her blue eyes flashing good-naturedly.
"Hey, we are only going over to the Crawford's. It's not like we are going to a fancy restaurant or anything." Alex protested.
Sabina laughed. "Come on, then. They are probably waiting for us." She winked,taking off, "Race you there!"
Alex called, chasing after her, "Not fair! You have a head start!" As Sabina disappeared from view, Alex thought quickly. The Crawfords' house was two blocks ahead, and one to the right. He calculated that if he cut across here, he'd beat Sabina by thirty seconds. He cut across someone's backyard, over a fence, across the road, through two more backyards, and into the Crawford's backyard.
He eyed the door for a moment, then decided not to use it. He would surprise Sabina in the dining room and probably the Crawfords, too. He got a running start, then leaped onto the fence. From there, he used the wall to leap onto the upstairs windowsill. He pulled himself up to sit on it, then carefully opened the window. Thankfully, it didn't have a screen. He inched backwards into the room, sighing with relief at the feel of solid ground beneath his feet.
"What do you think you're doing?"
Alex started in surprise, barely managing to avoid falling back out of the window, "Sabina? How did you get here?"
"Ha. You think you're the only one who knows a shortcut?" Sabina challenged, her eyebrow raised and her hands on her hips.
"I should have known," Alex laughed.
Sabina smiled pleasantly, "Yes, you should have. Come on. The Crawfords cooked us dinner."
~o~o~o~
In the evening, Mrs. Pleasure returned from her two-day vacation from the stress of running a household. "I'm home!" she called, entering the house.
"Mom!" Sabina raced down the stairs. When she reached Mrs. Pleasure, she gave her a hug. "You're back! How was the trip?"
"Great, honey," she said, squeezing her daughter tightly. After a moment, she asked, "Where's Alex?"
"Here, Mrs. Pleasure." Alex called. He had been watching from the top of the steps. He was still uneasy with the concept of Mrs. Pleasure being his "mother", even after a year of living with her. She had given up on trying to get him to call her Mom.
"Alex, dear, come on down here and give me a hug." Mrs. Pleasure said, gesturing warmly, "You know it makes this old woman happy."
Alex walked down the stairs slowly."Did you have a good time at the beach, Mrs. Pleasure?"
"Yes, dear, did anything happen while I was gone? Edward didn't let you two run wild, did he?" Asked Mrs. Pleasure with a laugh.
"No ma'am," Alex replied. "We usually ate at the Crawfords'." Reaching the bottom of the steps, he was pulled into a warm hug by Mrs. Pleasure. He awkwardly patted her back, appealing to Sabina for help.
She rolled her eyes, "Mom, you're making Alex uncomfortable. He's a guy. You know, not into touchy-feely things." Mrs. Pleasure quickly stepped back, apologized, and gave him a pat on the head. "Mom!" Sabina scolded. Mrs. Pleasure quickly disappeared into the kitchen, already busy making the house glow with a homely feeling. "Sorry, Alex. You okay?"
Alex had gone white, gazing after Mrs. Pleasure. He was remembering a certain other mother figure doing the same thing. Giving him a hug, a pat on the head, then humming to herself while working in the kitchen. "I..I'm going to go for a bike ride." Alex said, fighting to keep his face stoic.
"Do you want me to come?" Sabina asked, worried.
"No, I... want some alone time, if that's alright with you." Without waiting for an answer, Alex practically ran out the door. He grabbed his bike from the shed and quickly pedaled away, desperate to get away from the suffocating memories. Hearing Sabina calling after him, he pedaled faster. He rode until the storm inside him had calmed, and he felt that he could face his adoptive family again without falling into the hole Jack's death had left.
When he reached the house, the sun had long since sunk into the horizon and the air had chilled. He leaned his bike against the wall of the house and stepped inside.
"Sabina? Mrs. Pleasure?" Alex called into the dark house, "I'm back. I'm sorry I ran out like that. It won't happen again." Hearing no reply, he turned the light on.
He found Mrs. Pleasure asleep on the couch, snoring gently. He pulled unfolded a blanket around her, tucking it around her shoulders gently. "Thank you," he said to her quietly, then crept up to his room. Crawling into bed, he decided to make breakfast in the morning to atone for his abrupt disappearance. He slipped into a dark, dreamless sleep.
~o~o~o~
"Alex, have you seen Sabina?"
Alex grunted, then opened his eyes. The clock read 8:00. So much for waking up early to make breakfast. "What?" he called sleepily, rubbing his sandy eyes.
"Have you seen Sabina? She's not in her room." Mrs. Pleasure called, peeking her head into his room. Worry creased her face.
"She's probably just going for a walk or something." Alex reassured, "I'll go look for her, if you'd like."
"Yes, please," she said, the lines of worry on her face already disappearing. "When you find her, tell her to get home before my heart explodes with worry."
Alex quickly dressed and brushed his teeth. He ran down the stairs, feeling refreshed, the events of the day before already forgotten. He grabbed his bike, still leaning where he had left it the night before. When he had searched all the places she hung out in regularly, he began to worry. It wasn't like her to disappear for this long without telling someone. Where could she be? He shook his head. She was at home, of course. She had gone home while he was off searching for her. He wheeled his bike around, pedaling quickly back home.
He opened the door to the sound of sobbing. "Mrs. Pleasure?" he called carefully, on full alert.
"Alex?" Mrs. Pleasure called. "It's Sabina..." She broke off, "Yes, there is a note. It is addressed to me. Yes. It says to leave the money in London, at the foot of Big Ben."
Alex, assured that there was no present threat, ran into Mrs. Pleasure's room. She was on the edge of her bed, a piece of paper clutched in one hand and the phone in the other. "Mrs. Pleasure? What happened?" he asked, his stomach dropping.
Mrs. Pleasure looked at him, her eyes red and hopeless from crying, "Oh, Alex. Sabina has been kidnapped." She gave a hiccuped sob, then spoke angrily into the phone, "Of course she doesn't have any enemies who would do this! She's my baby..." her voice trailed off, replaced by wracking sobs.
"Where is the note?" Alex asked, his voice surprisingly calm.
Mrs. Pleasure wordlessly held the piece of paper to him, her hand shaking.
Alex gently took the note from her hand. His hand was steady as he read:
Dear Mrs. Pleasure,
Your daughter has been chosen to participate in a very rewarding program, called A.I.T. If you have not heard of us, we have done our job. Here, we teach our pupils to survive in the cruel world we call home. If the pupil does not have what it takes to survive, he - or she, of course - will regretfully be expelled. No one has survived the process of being expelled. However, if the student - your daughter - has what it takes, she will be forever changed. Whether the change is for the better or the worse is entirely up to you. You need only to bring 600,000 pounds in cash to the Big Ben when it strikes at twelve noon to ensure your daughter return the healthy girl you remember her to be plus a little more. We will await your answer every day for three months. If you should miss the deadline, contact the police, or speak of this to anyone other than the people in your house, you can say goodbye to ever seeing the daughter you love again.
Sincerely, A.I.T
Alex finished the letter, and a slow, burning anger began to fill him, replacing the emptiness he had felt since Jack's death. A.I.T would pay for the pain they have caused this family. He knew because he would make them. He was done letting the people he cared about get hurt. It was time to strike back. He smiled a wolf's smile. He would save Sabina. He would get his revenge.