Mama's new red car was unlocked when Alexander slid into it. "Don't," I whispered harshly. "Do you want to be in more trouble?"

"Look, Kathy, you can either stay home like a good girl or you can shut up and get in the car."

I knew we would both be in trouble if I got in. "You are such a pain in my ass!" I yelled as I got in the back. Before I was even buckled in Alex took off down the street.

"But you love me," he grinned.

"Oh please," I rolled my eyes.

Alexander had the most beautiful eyes I had ever seen. They weren't blue but they weren't devoid of color. In fact, it reminded me of a cloudy day before the rain and his hair was black like the night sky during a new moon. I wanted so desperately to ask him who his mother was but I knew better than to ask. Of course he didn't know. Mama said that her sister disappeared with her husband but that someone from Russia found out that Alexander was her nephew. It didn't make any sense. Now that we were older we both found many holes in the story.

The summers in California were cool. The forests of skyscrapers surrounded every city except for the suburban areas we lived in but we could clearly see the smog and the glowing buildings that reached the heavens. They glowed against the sunrise and sunset and I could see them perfectly from our little neighborhood.

The car stopped at a bus stop and another boy got in the car. "Really? Did you have to bring Princess Whine?" This boy was tanned and was blond with the tips of his spikey hair in an ombrè orange and red. It was made to look like fire.

"Excuse me?" I raised an eyebrow.

"She insisted on coming along." Alexander once again sped away. It jerked me and made me slam my head against the back of the sea. "Just deal with it, Jeremy."

I kicked the back of Jeremy's seat like a child. "Princess Whine my ass." I mumbled afterward.

"Hey now, no kicking the seat!" Alexander snapped.

"Whatever," I looked out the window. Thankfully, we came to a very slow halt. We were somewhere between city and rural landscaping. I could see the curving and twining bridges of the freeway. The streets were mostly deserted except for two cars that came on either side of us. They were both sports cars with racing stripes. One was white and orange and the other was red and black. One of them revved the engine and Alexander answered by revving his.

"Don't you dare," I warned but it was too late. The glint in his stormy eyes told me he'd already made up his mind.

"Better hold on tight, Princess." I could hear Jeremy's grin.

"Don't make me kick you, Jeremy! This is your fault!" The light turned green and the three cars took off at high speeds. "You are a bad influence on such a soft headed person! He's gonna…like, murder someone because of you!"

"Whatever," Jeremy was totally relaxed.

We turned a sharp corner and I held onto the door. I was going to jump out before I died today! The red car came up on the side of us. With the way the sun was shining I should've been able to make out a silhouette of a person but I couldn't. It wasn't because the windows were too tinted either.

"Something's wrong…" I didn't mean to say it aloud.

"Like what?" Jeremy snorted and grinned. It quickly disappeared with the magical sight of flashing red and blue lights and the sound that makes every driver say what Alexander said in that moment.

"Ah shit!" He pulled over carefully. We were nearly on the freeway.

As soon as he was at a stop I got out. "Ma'am, please get back in the car," the officer was female, and being cautious.

"Can I just walk that way," I pointed in the direction home was.

"Not until I'm done."

I rolled my eyes and got back in the car.

"Busted," Jeremy whispered.

We didn't know, nor did we care about whom he was talking to. "Shut up," we told him in unison.

"Do you know how fast you were going?" The female officer nearly shouted. "I should have your license revoked and I should arrest you!"

"Sorry, it's just that my cousin is really, really late for harp lessons and it's all the way downtown."

I folded my arms and sank in my seat.

The officer sighed and took the license and registration. After a long few minutes she came back. "Your license is suspended until you take a drivers safety course. The only place you may go is home."

"Oh well," I said as she walked away. I waited until she drove away to get out.

"Where are you going?" Alexander called.

"Anywhere but here!" I shouted as I walked across the street. I didn't stop. Alexander didn't try to get me back in the car. He also didn't make a U turn. He safely got onto the freeway. "Some big brother you are!" I shouted at nothing. Sunset was coming and I wasn't in the city, I wasn't even in a suburban area. It was rural and completely barren. I haven't been so far out of the city before. I wanted to walk away from the side of the road. It was sunset and as long as I came back to the edge I should be fine.

No, something told me. Don't go out there. My foot pushed back into the city lines and heading in the direction of home. What was out there? Who was my auntie?

I patted myself for my phone at a gas station. I must have left it at home. The payphone I tried was dead too. I sighed and kicked the phone. "Just my luck," I muttered and rubbed my eyes and walked inside.

"…Someone defacing monuments?" I heard someone say as I was in line to ask the cashier to borrow their phone.

"Yeah. But it's like this…"

I turned and saw an older man talking to what I could only assume was an FBI agent. The older man would have been grandfather's age on my mothers side if he was still alive.

Mama told me that they died when she was a little girl and her sister was about to turn sixteen. The fire was determined an electrical problem later but she claimed it was no accident. Her sister grabbed her from her room and grandma told them to stay outside while she went back in for grandfather. The house collapsed just as they stepped outside.

"Um…miss?" The cashier was getting impatient. He was a middle-aged man and he looked like he just age a few greasy burgers.

I approached the counter with caution. "Oh, sorry, can I borrow your phone? The line outside is cut and-"

"No, sorry. The phone line close by was cut completely. Don't have no cell phone either. Sorry."

"Oh…okay, fine, I can walk home."

"Out in this darkness?" The old man must've heard me. I turned to him slowly. "No sir, I'm not going to let a pretty young lady walk home by herself."

"I really don't need a ride," all red flags went up immediately.

"Well then, my grandson here can give you a ride. He's apart of the military so he's pretty trustworthy."

I looked at the younger man who seemed uncomfortable with the sudden spotlight. He ran his hand through his sandy blond hair. "Where do you live?"

I gave him the address.

"Come on," he said and I followed him out to a pretty clean purple semi-truck.

"What's a military member doing with a semi?" I asked as I got in.

"He's more reliable than the other one."

"He? Oh god, you're like Alexander, aren't you? Naming your cars and giving them genders." I shook my head and buckled in.

The truck started. "So what's your name?"

"Kathy. Kathy Aragon. You?"

"Whitwicky," he answered simply. "That's all you need to know."

"Okay. Why are you dressed like an FBI agent?"

"My father forgets that I'm no longer military. I really am FBI. He has a hard time remembering anything new."

"Oh…Oh I'm sorry." I looked out the window for a moment watching the last rays of sunlight disappear. "Oh, wait FBI! Then you can tell me who my aunt is!"

Whitwicky gave me a questioning look.

"Well," I went on, "my mama's sister disappeared years before I was born and she keeps telling me that some Russian guy found my cousin, Alexander, and found out his relatives but there are tons of flaws. Like, I wasn't born and there are lots of stories of children found in Russia when their relatives are in the US but they're put into orphanages or adopted unless somehow the child is put into an international Missing and Exploited Children database, which I looked up and he never was. I wanna find my auntie because it'll help Alexander. He's been so depressed and getting into so much idiotic trouble. He's a good boy and extremely smart but…"

Whitwicky stopped me. "What's her name, Kathy?"

"I think its Elsa Fischer. That was the last name the US recorded before she went off the grid."

"How do you know that?"

"Oh…I may have hacked a few databases." I said carefully. He opened his mouth but I yelled, "I plead the fifth!"

The man laughed. "Fine, fine. Elsa Fischer. Why does that name sound so familiar?" He pulled over near the house. Mama looked angry for some reason.

"Optimus Prime!" She yelled out. I got out of the truck. "We had a deal!"

I turned to see Whitwicky getting out. "Alisha, don't get too angry."

The sound was a type of beeping before metal fixing against metal. I wanted to scream but the sound was lost in my chest. Prime got down on his hands and knees carefully to better speak with her. I couldn't move.

"We had a deal, Optimus Prime! You would leave us alone if-"

"I kept my word, Alisha Fischer."

"It isn't Fischer," the voice was taken from my own throat. "It's Aragon now."

Prime nodded and turned his attention toward mama. "I did not approach your daughter, rather, she approached me."

She had a shocked look. "Is this true?"

"I can explain. Alexander and a buddy of his went off and-"

"Alexander took my car?!" She screamed at me now.

"Yes and I got out but I-"

"Why didn't you call me?"

"I didn't have my cell phone."

"Go, to your room now!"

"Why? What did I do?"

"You snuck out without my permission!"

I huffed. "No, I didn't do anything and I'm going to go find Alexander!"

"Kathy!" mama scolded.

"I'm sixteen, mama. I'll be fine. Alexander, on the other hand, has the mentality of an eight year old. I'm going to go find him even if I have to sneak out."

"With what car?" Mama folded her arms.

She got me there. With both cars gone from the driveway I was stranded. I looked at Optimus but he gave me no indication that he would get between us. With a huff I stomped inside, up the stairs, and in my room and I locked the door.

Who was my aunt? Who was my mother?

I could still hear them outside. "I would never break my promise, Alisha."

There was a long pause. "I know, Optimus. But I still expected you to do everything you could to stay away from us."

"This was my idea," it was Mr. Whitwicky. "If you hadn't said anything, Miss Alisha, then we wouldn't be in this mess."

"You two stay away from us!"

I looked out the window and I watched our neighbor's house. Who was my aunt? Who was my mother? I got on the computer and worked my magic.