Ever since I was a little girl, my dream was to become a dancer. I always wanted to glide, flip, and spin the way the professionals did. Unfortunately, my hopes were destroyed the minute I met Tony.
There I stood, in front of my favorite place in the world. Music blared from the speakers and we clapped to the music. My surroundings were spinning around me and I knew that this was my life.
My parents abandoned me when I was 15 and I had no other family; so I found it in the alleyways behind the local Japanese store. Every day, new people would whiz by and ignore me. I was completely negligible to the people in town. So one day I meandered into Purple Tanaka and observed the store. There were oriental fans hanging all over the walls as if they were wallpaper design. Candles were lit so the room smelled like a rainforest, and the electric fans blew my dreary, brown hair wild.
"Hello?" I called at the empty desk. "Is anyone here?"
I slowly made my way to the counter when the music grew louder and more distinct from behind the curtain that made the room complete. So I peered through the opening and experienced the greatest form of art. When the word "art" is mentioned, most people think of paintings and drawings. But this was something extraordinarily amazing. There were 2 girls and one guy that moved in circles and swayed back and forth. The first girl had straight red hair with smooth facial features and wore dark jeans and a bright, flowy, shirt. The other girl was Japanese herself: typical long, silky, black hair, and a flattened face with wide eyes. She wore a flawless dress that lifted up every time she spun in a circle. The guy was simply adorable. He was tall, had his dark brown hair spiked with gel, but stylish. His smile lit up the room, and his jeans were nearly painted on. He had a tight, matching, fiery, shirt to go with it, too. I must have been standing there for a while, because the oriental girl waved at me.
"Hello. Can I help you?" she grinned widely. Her smile felt so warm and friendly, I had no idea why there weren't more customers in her shop.
"Um," I stuttered and looked at my feet, embarrassed. "I didn't mean to disturb your party or anything, but I was just wondering what kind of store this was?" I mumbled loud enough so she could hear.
"We sell paper fans, candles, plants-which we are currently out of at the moment, some unique window pane, or whatever else you had in mind we can find a way to get it to you!" she explained.
"Yeah, whatever ya want, girl, you'll get it!" the guy energetically chimed in.
"Hey, I think I've seen you around," the red haired girl pointed at me. Oh, great. She knows I'm lonely and live in an alley.
"Me too!" the owner bounced. "I'm Tanaka, by the way." gave me a little bow.
"Roxy," I held out my hand, trying to be polite. "I'm sorry to interrupt your party."
"No, no, don't be sorry!" the guy flicked his wrist and took a step forward. "You are welcome here any time! My name is Justin, but ya can call me J-Bird!" With that one-of-a-kind nickname, I had to let out a slight giggle as he hugged me.
"And I'm Emily," the other girl smiled.
"Sorry, I don't have any money to buy anything. I'll just let you get back to your party." I looked at my feet again and turned away.
"Where you goin'?" Justin stopped me. "You think you can come in here and then just leave without havin' fun?"
"Um…" I stuttered helplessly.
"Just kidding!" he laughed.
"Yeah, c'mon, Roxy! Join the dance!" Tanaka grabbed my arm and pulled me behind the curtain where the music blared.
"So, what's the occasion?" I asked as I sat down and sipped the tea she offered me.
"Occasion? We dance around all the time!" Emily gave a little twirl. "Wanna learn the steps?" She yanked me off the floor and brought me to me feet. She lined me up next to her and I watched as she spun and twirled like one of the fans on the wall. She nodded at me, indicating that I mimic her moves. I shook my head, but there was no stopping her. She snapped at Justin who walked over to me. He placed his hands on my waist and swung my hips inline with his. After a while, I finally got the hang of their style and fell in love with it. Now, there was no stopping me! Time must have faded away because before I knew it, it was dark out.
"Don't you guys ever go home?" I asked my new friends.
"Honey, this is our home!" Justin explained. There are beds in the back that we sleep on. We've known each other since we were kids."
"My parents moved here when I was a little kid and turned it into a store with a bedroom in the back. But then they died a few years ago, leaving me a huge fortune and this shop. And with some miracle, the 3 of us met and moved in together here! We are inseparable!" Tanaka explained.
"Oh, I'm so sorry about your parents," I said.
"It's alright," she smiled back. "So what's your story?" And I suddenly became an open book and everything came pouring out. The next thing I knew, my eyes were pink and puffy, and Justin was laying me down on an empty bed and Tanaka said something about the 4 of us. And for the first time in my life I felt like I had a family and a home, even though I only knew them for less than a full day. My eyelids drooped and closed tight, just after Justin kissed my forehead. We all said good night and peacefully fell asleep.
The next morning, sun came leaking through the windows and spread on my face into my eyes. I let out a little grunt as I sat up, forgetting where I was or what happened.
"Hey, sleepy-head!" Justin called from the other room. I stood up cautiously and everything came rushing back.
"Hey, Justin," I whispered. "Listen, thanks for letting me stay here."
"You're welcome," Tanaka said from behind the counter as she handed someone their change.
"I should be leaving. I'm sorry I ruined your night…" I headed for the door.
"No! Nonsense, you made our night better!" Tanaka hugged me tight. "You stay here, with us. Justin, Emily, and I were just talking and decided that you belong here." Wow, that's a huge offer.
"Oh, I really appreciate it, but I don't have any mon-" I started.
"Don't worry about financial stuff! I got it all covered with my parents fortune!" Tanaka said.
"Yeah, girl! C'mon, we'll close shop today and go get you some clothes!" Justin bounced around.
"Plus, you have an amazing dancing talent!" Emily called from the bathroom. "We want you to be with us!" Well, I guess if they wanted me to stay it would be rude if I declined. So the only thing I could do was laugh hysterically and hug each one of my family to the point of suffocation. After the heartwarming moment, Tanaka locked up and gestured me to follow her, Justin, and Emily to the mall.
"Thank you so much," I said once more as we hopped in the car.
When we got back home that night, tired and full of bags, we ran for the back room and blasted the music. For a while we danced around and didn't even notice when someone must have left a note on the counter.
"Hey, Roxy! You've got mail!" Emily called. That was weird, because the 3 of them were the only people I knew. But it was still mail, and who doesn't love getting mail? So I shrugged and vigorously tore it open.
"Wait," Tanaka said. "There's no stamp. This person was here!" I ignored her and read the note. It wasn't really a note though; it was a list. The paper had everything about me on it: what I did that day, the day before, what I wore, and even how I wore my hair. It was obvious someone was stalking me. But that didn't freak me out as much as what I read at the bottom of the page in red, hand written letters. "P.S. I WILL KILL YOU"
"Holy, shit," I gasped.
"What?" Emily said. "What's wrong?" But I couldn't let them know, because if I was in danger in any way, so were they. We were together, now. So I let out a nervous giggle and held it up.
"C'mon, guys. Really?" I made it seem so funny. "Good one, when did you write this? When I was sleeping?" Justin came running over and grabbed the note out of my hand.
"What the frick???" he screamed. And then there was chaos. I had to stop it. I didn't know what to do, so I just kept doing what I was doing.
"Guys, c'mon. This doesn't freak me out, if that's what you are trying to do."
"Roxy, we didn't write this shit! We have a problem!" Tanaka grabbed the letter. "We have to go to the police!"
"Justin, no," I said flatly. "If it happens again, maybe. But not now."
But it did happen again, but worse. The next morning, I got the same note. It had things I said on it, indicating that my stalker and killer was close by. But who would want to kill me?
"Now, we go to the cops!" Emily ran out the door. Justin and Tanaka grabbed my arm and dragged me out the door as I was still staring at the red words on the bottom. When we got to the police station, all they did was call some guy and told us to wait. We sat in the lobby for over an hour in silence.
"I don't understand what's going on," I whispered to Emily.
"They called in someone from the FBI to help," she explained. "If he's smart, he should bring some type of forensics with him!" And then he waltzed through the door bickering with someone.
"Bones, just because it's not a murder-" they guy said.
"Yet-" interrupted his partner.
"Doesn't mean we can't help!" He finished. The two of them walked over to us and introduced themselves. The man had a crisp, new, suit on and a contrasting belt buckle that read "Cocky" on it. His soft, brown, eyes looked at his partner. She wore a dark red skirt and a black, low, cut top to go with it. Her clunky necklace was beginning to annoy me. He was Agent Seeley Booth, and she was Dr. Temperance Brennan. Tanaka showed them the letter and they took it from her. Dr. Brennan, or "Bones", rolled her eyes as she took it.
"We will investigate on this matter," she forcefully groaned. And then as if they were in a rush, they shoved the 4 of us out the door and kept on bickering.
"I feel secure," I said sarcastically as we walked away.
The next few days passed by me as I memorized the threatening letters. Neither me, Justin, Tanaka, nor Emily could sleep. We tossed and turned all night. No one spoke of the letters. But then it happened. Emily was taken.
It was the middle of the day and business was slow, so we went to the back and danced our hearts out. Before we knew it, the glass of the front window was smashed and 5 masked guys came barging in. One of the guys came after me, another went after Tanaka, and another after Justin. Emily was no where to be found. The guy had the choke hold on me, but with my street experience I punched him in the face, being sure it would leave a mark. I ran over to Justin's attacker and kneed him in his "special place", sending him sinking to the ground.
"Nice!" Justin slapped me five,
"No time for this!" I gasped and ran for Tanaka's attacker. "Justin, go hide!" I pointed him in the direction of the back room and began to work on this guy. When I tried to punch him, he ducked far down and let Tanaka go.
"Go with Justin! I got this one!" I yelled. I guess I shouldn't have been talking because something hard whacked me on the head.
"Ouch! That hurt, you stupid fuck!" I snatched the bat from is hands. I pulled back my arm and swung fast. I hit him in the jaw and he went flying across the room. There was glass spread all over the store and 3 masked men on the ground by the door. The other 2 were already in their truck, holding a knocked-out Emily. The 3 men charged out of the store and sped away. I wiped my sweaty hands on my jeans and headed for the back room. Tanaka was lying in Justin's lap, and he had his hands grazing her forehead.
"Hey, is everything okay? Where's Emily? We can't find her," Tanaka stood up.
"I'm so sorry," I sighed and shook my head with deepest sympathy. "They got her."
"Oh, no they din't!" Justin jumped up. "Those jerks think they can get away with tryin' to kill us, then take a member of our family? They have it comin' hard!"
"We have to find them and get her back!" Tanaka started to put her coat on.
"Guys," I began. "We can't just go out there and blindly search. Especially without support."
"You're right," Justin said. "We should tell the hot FBI guy and his partner what happened."
"No," I said robotically. "I meant without physical support. Let's face it, we're not that strong."
"Roxy, you kicked those guys' asses! With you're street skills, we'll get her back for sure," Tanaka got close to me. "That was amazing, what you did up there!"
"Thanks, but imagine that skill, ten times harsher. We each need to pick something that can be used as a weapon. Even if it's the end of one of those fans," I explained.
"I'll use I lighter," Justin grabbed or one.
"And I can use the candlestick," Tanaka rummaged through the mess to find the heaviest one. All I could do was sigh, because after a few days of having a family for the first time in years, I let them down.
"Guys, I'm really-" I started.
"Foxy-Roxy, it's not your fault," Jason hugged me. "Like that? Foxy-Roxy?" And the 3 of us burst into laughter because we knew we would get Emily back, even if things went totally wrong. We then began our search to reclaim our family.
The first day of search was useless. We decided not to tell Agent Booth and Dr. Brennan what was going on, because they didn't help the first time we went to them. All we did was meander around town asking strangers if they saw a group of 5 masked men with a red-haired girl. Some people said no, but most just ignored us.
"We are goin' nowhere," Justin sighed from the side of the road trying to get cars' attention.
"Maybe we need to extend our parameters," I suggested.
"What do you mean?" Tanaka asked. I rolled my eyes and signaled for her and Justin to follow me. I lead them into a small wooded area that branched off to a spot that grazed the ocean and starry sky.
"Wow," Tanaka gasped. "This is beautiful! Where did you find this?"
"A few years ago, I wandered here and felt… happy. Like I was safe from the horrors of the world, like this." I looked over at Justin who whipped off his shirt and jogged into the ocean. He threw his head back and let the water wash away his fears for just a moment.
"C'mon! Join me, won't you?" He floated and waved his arms around. Me and Tanaka looked at each other and shrugged. After all, we were searching all day. So we kicked off our shoes and skipped into the ocean. The second I stuck my foot in, I sat down and let the water splash up to the bottom of my shirt and then I laid back and let out a deep yawn. For a moment, I think we all forgot about Emily and why we were her in the first place.
"Hey, I think I'm going to go to sleep over there by that rock. Today's been really rough. Is that alright?" Tanaka said told me after a while.
"Sure," I smiled and gave her a hug good night.
"'Night Naka. Love ya!" Justin walked over to us and sat down next to me. We watched as Tanaka curled up by the rock and slowly closed her eyes. It was just me and Justin, alone, laying back and gazing at the stars in the sky.