Chapter 1: Under a Moonlit Sky

The last thing I could remember was the inside of a department store. I was there with Kit Snicket, a family friend of ours who was trying her best to take care of me during these difficult times. She was distraught, and pregnant, but still she was working her heart out for VFD. I remember running their mysterious errands with her, waking up in the middle of the night and disguising ourselves before heading out to spy on people, or do research. The assignments were confusing, and she rarely told me any of the details other than what I needed to do, but I trusted her, and she was genuinely interested in helping me find my siblings. I seriously hoped she was alright.

My eyes fluttered open and I looked around. It was night time; I was lying in the middle of the ocean under a moonlit sky. My whole body ached and my arms were covered in bruises and scrape. I was soaked in saltwater; my black hair fell over my eyes. I brushed it away to get a better view of my surroundings. I could see a pier in the distance, and a town built around it. The presence of civilization relieved me more than you could imagine, I didn't want to wake up on abandoned island by myself.

I sat up and started to feel sick, my head was throbbing viciously. I put my hand on my head, feeling a pretty deep cut on my forehead. I started to realize that I was hurt way worse than I first thought, but if I could walk I would be fine for the time being. I stood up and looked down at my jeans which were shredded around the ankles. I wasn't wearing socks; my feet were freezing in my waterlogged shoes. I look down putting one foot in front of the other. My balance was fine after a couple of shaky steps and I headed towards the shore.

The tide lapped at my ankles as I reached the beach. A cold wind blew and I shivered, wishing I had more on than just my black sweater. I could hear the sound of people talking far off, back in the water, but I didn't think much of it, it was probably just the wind. Well maybe not, the wind had died down but the voices were still there, so I turned around and look hard into the distance. I could make out two shadowy figures over by a rock sticking out of the water. They were a ways down the beach so I turned towards them and start walking.

The wind hadn't died down and as I started down towards the beach, I began to question myself. Why was I going back in the water, I should be looking for shelter. After all I had no idea who those people were, for all I knew they could be enemies of VFD, looking to kill me and steal my fortune. That is if Esme Squalor hadn't stolen it already. But, if they were in the ocean with me, they probably came from the same place I had. I wasn't sure whether or not that was a good thing, but I kept going down the beach. The people saw me and stopped moving, and were huddled together. It creeped me out knowing they were watching me. As I came closer to the water my foot landed on flashlight. It caught me off guard, but I was lucky to find it. I picked it up off the dirty beach, as a gust of cold wind howled through the trees in the distance. Raindrops began to fall as I picked up the flashlight; it was heavy and black, with a gold ring around the lens. More importantly though it worked. I shined the flashlight on the mysterious people, but when I saw their faces I froze.

A boy and a girl jumped back as the light hit them. They had black hair and wide eyes, wearing thick waterlogged wool sweaters. They looked a lot alike, no they looked exactly alike, they looked exactly like me. Standing before me were Duncan and Isadora Quagmire, my two long lost siblings, who I had been scared I would never see again.

"Who are you" Duncan stammered.

"Are you a ghost?" Isadora asked, and it took aback. Of course I wasn't a ghost, but they didn't know that. How could I explain to them that I never died, that I've in fact been alive this whole time, wandering the country performing secret errands for an organization I didn't even know anything about? I tell them the truth I guess.

"It's me, Quigley" I said, not sure what I was going to say next. "I know you thought I was dead, but I'm not dead, I'm alive, and I'm not a ghost." I took a few steps forward, and hesitantly, they approached me. I was at a loss for words, not knowing what to say I reached my hand out to them, hoping they wouldn't run away. Isadora took my hand in hers, and looked me straight in the eye for a moment that seems like forever until suddenly, I heard her scream.

"Quigley!" she yelled, throwing her arms around my neck, pulling me tightly into a hug. I squeezed her back, momentarily lifting her up in the air before dropping her back down; welcoming Duncan into our group hug. Overcome with joy, we stood there, hugging, laughing, and feeling like a real family again.

"What happened to us" Duncan says with a small laugh after we can all calm down. They looked bad, really bad, and I could see in my reflection on the water how bad I looked as well.

"I don't know" I said. "What's the last thing you remember?" I asked.

"We were floating in a self-sustaining hot air balloon home." Isadora replied "Surrounded by eagles that were attacking the balloons" she said with a shudder.

"I remember seeing a helicopter approaching in the distance" Duncan continued. "We were afraid that we were going to crash, so I was trying to signal at the helicopter for help, but I don't remember anything past that." A lightning flash in the sky caught our attention, followed by a booming thunder roll that sounded like a cannon blast. As soon as the echo rang out, it began pouring, instantly the water was covered in ripples as we were soaked by the torrential downpour.

"Let's get out of here" Isadora said, brushing her hair out of her eyes, and none of us needed to be told twice. Together, we walked towards shore as a family. Even though we had no money, no place to stay, no idea where we even were, that night was one of the happiest nights of my life. When I looked over at them I could see them smiling too, and it felt like all of our troubles were gone. I thought back to when we were younger, when our parents would tell us that if we ever were separated from them, we had to stick together. We hadn't done that ever since the fire and it always hurt to know that I was letting my parents down by not following through with their best advice. But now things were different. Now things will change.

At least, I can only hope so.

What do you think? Next chapter will be up in a few days.