Chapter 1: A VERY Sucky Day
Anastasia Nicole Henderson sat in French class, her head propped up by her hand.
"Lisa Abert?"
"Here!"
"Jasper Brown?"
"Present."
Anastasia felt her eyes droop at the unchanging drone of the substitute teacher's voice. This day had sucked so bad, she was about to hurl up her two-thousand calorie greasy cafateria pizza lunch. But she just had one more period after this. Perhaps she wouldn't perish.
"Anastasia Henderson?"
"I go by Ana," she announced mechanically, prounouncing it 'aw-nuh'.
"Sure, Anastasia," the subsitute replied absently. "Katrina Lewis?"
Ana let out a deep sigh and dropped her head to the table. One more period? She didn't think she would be able to make it. After all, her mother had promised her they would go jogging in Central Park to see the boats today. Ana couldn't wait. It would be amazing.
Olivia Benson and Elliot Stabler approached the crime scene like it was any other. The house was normal; white with white shutters. But what was inside was far from normal- the entire family inside had been slaughtered like animals.
"Have we got names for the vics?" Elliot asked the CSI.
"Yeah," the CSI replied, looking at his chart. "Raychell and Robert Henderson, the homeowners. The other was their friend Sarah Masters- she was apparently bringing them dinner."
"Were there fluids on the women?" Olivia asked, watching as the body bags were towed away on gurneys.
"No visible fluids," the CSI replied, following her gaze, "but panties were down. We'll run DNA and see what we can find."
"Sounds good," Elliot sighed. "Olivia, why don't you sweep the grounds and I'll do the inside."
"Alright," Olivia replied, already heading toward the backyard.
She was just glad she wouldn't have to see another blood-soaked carpet.
A Half Hour Later...
"We've got a match," Detective Munch shouted, waving the folder around wildly inside the precinct. "To the perp, and we found another Henderson who by a stroke of luck ISN'T dead."
"Who is it?" Olivia asked, looking up at him from her desk. "We'll go pick them up."
"Anastasia Nicole Henderson," Munch replied, reading from the file. "She's thirteen and attends Hudson River Middle."
"A kid?" Elliot piped up. "Oh, she's going to be so devastated. She's just lost all her family..."
"Not true," Munch replied, a serious look coming over his face. "We found another partial match to a distant relative."
"Oh good," Olivia smiled. "How is it?"
Munch stared her dead in the eye.
"You. Congratulations Liv, you have just gotten custody of your thirteen year old second cousin. Shall I pop the champagne?"
Olivia's gaze filled with dark spots. The ground rushed to meet her, and she heard muffled voices but she didn't care what they were saying. The shock had overwhelmed her; family. For the first time in a long time, Olivia Benson had family.