Chapter 1: Make A Wish
Sixteen year old Danny Thompson ran down the stairs of his small apartment. He stopped at the last stair where a seven year old girl sat. He reached down and ruffled her long, straight brown hair. The little girl swatted his hand away with a giggle. Danny bent down and lifted his little sister with ease.
"What do you want to do today Taylor!" Danny asked. Today was Taylor's seventh birthday. Danny carried her towards the living room where their parnets where waiting with a camra, recording the special day.
"I wanna go to the park with you, daddy and mummy!" Taylor squealed. Her brother bounced her and gave her a small kiss on the cheek. Their parents smiled and grabbed the bag with food and supplies. Danny set his little sister on the ground and they made their way to the living room. A loud pounding on their front door made the family jump.
"Open up Thompson! Its the police!" barked a deep voice. Taylor's mother grabbed her shoulder as the little girl walked forward. She pulled her daughter back to her and looked at her husband.
"Keith! What the fuck are we going to do! Their gonna take Taylor!" Taylor's mother cried. Keith put up hand, asking her to hush so he could think.
"No one is taking Tay Tay from us Gwen! I won't let them!" Keith answered. He looked at his son. "Daniel, take your sister and go to the basement! Wait there until the police are gone, even if their after you too, you can stall them! Get to Andrew and give him Taylor, then run!"
Danny nodded at his father and took Taylor from their mom. Taylor looked back at her parents as Danny dragged her away. In the basement, the two children sat in a corner. Danny trained himself not to listen to what was happening and shut it out. But for seven year old Taylor, it was all new. She looked up at the ceiling as thuds sounded. Shattered glass made her jump and she clung to her brothers arm. She closed her eyes tight, leaning against her brother, who'd opened up enough to hold her. Hours later, Taylor was shook from her sleep as someone picked her up. Danny hushed her as she wimpered. He slowly climbed the stairs, one at a time. Coming to the door, he slowly turned the knob and peeked into dark, abandoned house. Seeing that the coast was clear, he ran up stairs. Laying Taylor on her bed, he began to pack bags. Minutes later, he lifted Taylor from her bed, grabbing her teddy too. He wrapped a small blanket around her and walked carefully down the stairs. He reached the back door and looked back, with a heavy sigh, Danny walked outside. He left behind the life he'd grown so attached to. Looking at the little girl in his arms, he vowed to never lose her and stop at nothing to get his parents out of jail.
Days later, Danny reached the house he'd been searching for. Giving two knocks, he stepped back and waited. A man in his mid-thirtes opened the door and looked down at the little girl and young boy.
"Thank god Danny! The cops are looking every where for you! I don't how you managed to get away, but you better get in here!" the man said. He grabbed Danny's shoulder and pulled him into the house, then her turned around and took the little girls hand. He led her into the house, looking around and closed the door. Inside Danny explained everything.
"I've only been traveling by night to lower my chances of being caught!" Danny told his friends Andrew, Tucker and Drake. He took his hat off and sat it beside him before taking off Taylor's hat.
"She hasn't put up any fuss about all of this?" Tucker asked as he looked at Taylor. Danny smiled at his little sister as she played with her barbie dolls.
"Nope. Tay hasn't said a word so far. She's a good kid!" Danny said. Andrew patted Danny on the back, his face becoming serious.
"That's great Dan! And I hate to break it to you, but just traveling at night and wearing hats isn't going to fool the cops for long! You've gotta get new names and new looks for you and Taylor!" Andrew explained. Danny nodded, showing that he understood. Tucker stood from the couch and walked over to Taylor. Andrew went to the kitchen with Danny and Drake.
"But first lets celebrate this babies' birthday!" Danny said. Andrew smiled as he lit seven candles on a store bought cake. Tucker brought Taylor into the kicthen, telling her they had a suprise. He picked her up and sat her on a chair, smiling at the other guys. Taylor gasped with delight at the cake in front of her. Danny put a hand on her shoulder and smiled.
"Close your eyes and make a wish baby!" Danny told her. Taylor smiled up at her big brother. She looked back to the cake and her face fell as she thought about what had happened over the last couple of days. At a loss for what to do, Taylor closed her eyes and blew out the candles.
The little girl sighed as she sat on the couch. She took a few strands of her short blonde hair into her small fingers and looked at it. Sitting up, she looked at her brother and his friends.
"Danny! I don't want to be someone else! I wanna be Taylor!" she cried. Danny flew from the bathroom, throwing a hand over her mouth.
"Sissy, don't call me that! Its not Danny anymore, it Antonio! And you've gotta be Jada-Lynn!" her brother told her. Taylor looked at with hurtful eyes that tore him apart.
" Why Danny? Where's mommy and daddy? I wanna go home!" Taylor replied. Danny sighed and looked down at the floor.
"Uh, dudes! We got problems! The cops are here!" Drake called from the upstairs bedroom. Danny grabbed his little sister off the couch and ran into the kitchen with Andrew. At the back door, Danny turned back to Andrew. "Go man! We'll hold it down in here! Just take her and go!" Andrew said. Danny whispered goodbye and took off just as cops burst through the front door.
In The Mercer House
Evelyn sat watching tv as the boys fooled around upstairs. Jack walked downstairs and sat ont he couch beside his mother.
"What ya watchin' ma?" Jack asked. Evelyn smiled and put an arm around her ten year old son.
"I'm wathcing the news sweetie! You see, there's another criminal on the loose, only he took his little sister along for the ride. The police are looking for them so they can save her!" Evelyn said. She looked at the TV as a picture of a blonde haired, blue eyed little girl came on the screen.
Danny ran through the gate as Andrew, Drake and Tucker began shooting at the cops. He dragged Taylor behind him. She looked back at the house, wondering what exactly what was going on. Why were the police back at Andrew's? Why was Danny running from them? Where were her mom and dad? Questions flew threw her mind like a train gone off track. Part of her was screaming to let go of her brothers hand and go to the police, the other was telling her the police were bad and to stay with Danny. And then, she let go of Danny's hand. Danny kept running even as Taylor stood there. Feeling air in his hand, Danny turned around. Taylor stood just staring at him. He ran back, throwing out his hand.
"Sissy, what are you doing? We gotta go!" Danny asked. He reached out for her hand as a black van drove towards them. Taylor shook her head and backed away from her older brother. Danny grunted angrily and grabbed her arm. He began running as he picked her up. A police car shoot out into his path, blocking his way to the van. The doors opened and two officers stepped out.
"This is the end of the line Danny! Just let your little sister go and we can talk this out!" the one officer said. Danny backed up, tighting his hold on Taylor.
"Yeah right! We'll talk! Your just going to lock me in jail and put this baby in a foster home! Then you'll tell them to never let me have any contact with her. Go to hell!" Danny said boldly. The officers looked at each other, Danny ran to his right but found a cop. A cop stepped up behind him as another stepped into his left path. With no where to go, Danny let his sister down. He kissed her hair, telling her that he was sorry. Then he put his hands on his head.
Taylor looked up at the big house as the social worker lead her up the sidewalk. They walked up to the door and rang the doorbell. The social worker, a man in his fifties, smiled down at her. The door opened and a young boy with brown hair answered the door. He looked at the social worker and then to the little girl who hid shyly behind his leg. The boy smiled slightly and turned back into the house.
"Ma!" he shouted. No answer came except for the laughter of another boy. "Ma! Its for you!" A kind looking lady came to the door, putting a hand on the boys shoulder.
"Thank you Bobby!" she said. She looked at the social worker and then to the little girl standing behind him.
"Hi Evelyn!" the social worker said. Evelyn smiled kindly at him and kneeled eye level with the little girl. Taylor peeked around and met a pair of blue eyes like her own. She flashed a smile full of innocence.
"Well, you certinly are adorable! Aren't you Taylor!" Evelyn asked. Taylor blushed and hid behind the social workers leg again. Bobby chuckled, that had to be the cutest thing he'd seen in a while.
"She's a little shy! Aren't you sweetie?" The social worker said. Taylor poked her head through the split of his legs and looked around. Bobby bent down eye level and exteneded a hand to her. Taylor looked at his hand and then up to the social worker.
"Its ok Taylor! I'm Bobby. I'm going to be your big brother!" Bobby told her. Taylor laid her hand in Bobby's. He looked down and smiled at the sight of her tiny hand in his big hand. Bobby stood up and began leading Taylor into the house. Taylor turned around and waved goodbye to the social worker. Evelyn and social worker laughed at the sight. Bobby stopped as he came to the living room. Taylor hid behind Bobby's legs at the three boys that were sitting on the couch looked at them. Another white boy, who looked much younger then Bobby, walked over.
"Who's the cutie?" He asked. Taylor buried her face into Bobby's pants and giggled. Bobby chuckled as it sent a tickle sensation through his leg. "Taylor, sweetie! Come out and meet your brother Jackie!" Bobby told her. He pulled her to the front. The other boy put out his hand for her to shake. Taylor looked up at Bobby who nodded. Taylor took his hand and he shook it. Taylor made a face before she flew into his arms. Jack chuckled as they stumbled backwards. Another boy, this one black, walked over to him.
"You know if she had brown eyes, she'd really look like Sofi!" he laughed. Bobby smacked him in the arm.
"Look Angel, don't be comparing that girl to our new sister!" Bobby said. Taylor tilted her head to the side.
"Who the hell is Sofi?" she asked. Jack snorted as he tried not to laugh, Bobby's eyes went wide and Angel just stared her.
"Well that gotta be some kind of record! She's only been in for about ten minutes and she'd talkin' like Bobby! Congrats Bobby, your started a trend!" Said the second black boy. Angel and Jack began laughing.
"Why thank you Jerry! Its not easy being a bad influence!" Bobby joked. The four boys began laughing.
"Wow, I've got a weird family!" Taylor said. The four brother looked at her and all busted out laughing again. Taylor realized what she said and began to giggle. Evelyn smiled as she looked in on her four sons and her new daughter. It looked like the beginning of a beautiful realtionship.
Taylor smiled as she looked at her new family. Her wish had come true. The chase had stopped and now she could live a normal life.