Chapter 2

The curly haired teenager stirred from her sleep as the alarm on her mobile phone kept vibrating on her nightstand. She gave a loud groan as she tried to ignore the phone but soon found it was impossible. Turning over in her bed, she looked at the clock and couldn't believe that it was six o'clock in the morning. Who would be calling at a time like this? Frowning, she reached over to the nightstand to pick up the vibrating device. The young woman lazily brought the phone to her ear and listened. She was not pleased about this.

'Hello?' she said in a drowsy voice.

'Hey sweetie,' her father's voice echoed.

'Dad!' madness set aside, she was now fully awake.

'How's it going?' he said. 'I got your package just now.'

'I can't believe it took a week to get there. Did you open it yet?'

'Doing so right now,' there was some noise in the receiver. 'Hey, wow… where did you get these?'

'I'm not going to say,' she smiled.

'Did you get a good look at the scratches on the lenses? There's some sort of design. They're really amazing. Thanks, sweetie.'

'I know you would like them.'

They spoke for a while before he had to head to a meeting. His business trips were always long and it took a lot out of him. This case was in Los Angeles and he was defending a long term client of his from the wife of all people. It always seemed that fraud cases always landed in his lap but he would gladly take them without a moment's hesitation. He would always get excited about political issues. Not quite an issue that she liked but would listen when he brought it up at the dinner table. He would get vacation after this though and they would most likely go somewhere nice as a family.

'Sorry for waking you up this early. I don't know when I would be able to get time to myself to actually call you.'

'It's fine, Dad.'

'It wouldn't hurt getting an early start,' he joked. 'I'll be home in a few days hopefully.'

'See you then.'

After hanging up the phone, she lied in bed for a while to at least try and get more sleep. But she was already awake so it wasn't going to happen. Pushing aside the blankets, she got up and turned on the television before walking into the bathroom. The sound of morning cartoons echoed throughout her room as she prepared herself for the day ahead. Taking a shower, preparing her clothes and making sure she had everything for the day, she picked up her messenger bag and left the room.

The young woman quietly walked down the stairs and into the kitchen. There would only be one other person up this early in the house and she wouldn't dare wake the twins in fear of them being grumpy for a few days. Though she found her mother sitting at the kitchen table eating and quickly looking through the newspaper. Her head slowly looked up when she saw movement in the kitchen and was greatly surprised to see her daughter. Her head snapped to the clock and then curiously back at the young woman. Meanwhile, her daughter walked over to the cupboard and pulled out the jumbo box of cheerios.

'You're up early?'

'Dad called. He just called to saw thanks for the gift.'

'I'm surprised he had time to even sit.'

'He always tries to make time for me.'

She poured herself a large bowl of cereal and slowly walked over to the table without spilling any of it on the floor. Just as she sat down to start her breakfast, her mother stood up and finished her toast on the way out of the house. Her mother was always distant when her father was away. It was a odd habit of hers but all the children had gotten used to it and usually just ignored it. They had been married for so many years that a week or two apart wasn't enough for them to consider seeing other people. But it was enough for them to act differently. It was something they knew was going to happen when they started to date in college. But they saw passed that and had a family in the end. She admired her parents for it. Not all families stayed together in that situation.

'I'm going now,' she put on her shoes. 'Before you go, a package came in for Thomas. Can you bring it to him?'

'Sure.'

The door was closed before she had time to even say goodbye. Not thinking twice, she went back to her breakfast which she quickly finished and headed towards the front door. Luckily she did wake up a little earlier today because her brother's shop wasn't exactly on the way to school. Reaching into the entrance closet, she pulled out her roller blades and quickly put them on. It wasn't exactly a walk in the part to get to school from the summer home to school. Her parents had wanted to buy her a car but she didn't want one. It was only for a few weeks and then school would be done for the summer. There was no point in having another car. Putting the package in her bag, she opened the door and started her twenty minute trip into town.

The early morning air on her face felt great. The heat hadn't quite kicked in yet and there was hardly any wind to slow her down. She considered heading to school at this time in the future and than quickly changed her mind when she remembered what time she woke up at. As time passed more cars started to occupy the roads and it became busier as she entered town. Turning down one of the main streets, she saw her brother's shop and her brother outside. It was weird for him to be up this early and open for that matter.

His upper body was leaning over an open hood of a car when she rolled up behind him. Hearing the noise from the blades, he turned around and was completely shocked to see his youngest sibling. He checked his watch and gave her a curious look when he realised that it was still before eight o'clock. Taking up a cloth, he whipped down his hand before giving her a bear hug. Early or not, it wasn't common for them not to hug when they saw each other.

'I haven't seen you up this early since Christmas,' he smiled at her when she pulled a face. 'What brings you here?'

'Dad called me really early today,' she reached into her bag and gave him the package. 'You know once I'm awake-'

'You can't go back to sleep,' he teased her. 'Did he like those glasses?'

'Of course he did,' she crossed her arms. 'Did you notice the scratches on them?'

His head snapped around but not at what his sister said but at the sound of screeching rubber on the pavement. She followed his gaze and saw at the intersection a large black truck nearly take our three cars. The drivers in those cars were angry and they made sure the driver of the truck knew it. The vehicle quickly moved out of the way and drove down the street. Must have been someone from out of town. All the crazy, risky drivers were always from out of town.

'Drivers these days,' she turned back around and thought for a moment. 'Yeah, he loved them a lot. He was raving about some tiny designs on the lenses.'

'Only he would notice something like that,' he laughed.

'Anyway, I should get going. I have a few exams to study for.'

'Hey,' he called after her. 'You should come by later today. Maybe you can help me with a few repairs.'

'I'll text you.'

The young woman waved and turned around to head down the street. It wasn't that far to her school and the study hall only started in a few hours. She rolled up to the grand steps of the main hall on one of the campuses and started to take off her roller blades. The college was so different during exam period. At the same time during the regular semester, the same steps had at least thirty people on them waiting for class to start. Looking around for a bit, she noticed that there was only one vehicle in the reserved parking lot and it happened to be a black truck. Did someone pass her because she swore it wasn't there when she got here. Slipping on her shoes, she threw her blades over her shoulder and entered the very quiet building without giving it another thought.

The halls were quite empty except for a few people who lived in residence. Seems they were coming from breakfast at the cafeteria. The curly haired girl had gone to her locker to pick up a few things and drop off her roller blades. After, she ventured to the study hall room to wait for the class to begin. As it came closer to time, more people slowly entered the room and sat around playing on their smart phones or actually looking over the materials. Leila stayed at her desk and did her own business on her laptop.

'Good morning, sunshine bear,' came a soft voice.

'Hey, Andy,' she looked up as her friend sat down beside her.

'You seem full of energy today,' he said sarcastically.

'Woke up before I had to.'

Andy nodded in understanding. For those who didn't know the young woman, waking up before necessary meant a very grumpy day for her. They had been friends since childhood pretty much. They were neighbours for the longest time until her parents decided to upgrade and then purchase a second house. That didn't matter though, they still hung out. He was a very handsome young man but his looks were always hidden behind shaggy blonde hair and a pair of thick rimmed glasses. They shared the common interest of technology and wanted to create the world's best technology to help mankind. That is why they were taking the same degree. Before the class started, he leaned in.

'Hey, so when are you going to pay me for the eBay item?' he moved his eyebrows up and down. 'I might not allow you to use my account next time if-'

'I'll give you your money after class. Don't worry. I feel worse for making you wait this long. I've been so busy with studying.'

'I'm joking,' he flashed her a rare smile. 'So what exactly did you get?'

'Some really old glasses from an arctic expedition I think,' she closed her laptop. 'It was for my dad's birthday.'

'Very cool. So, the other day I was browsing the internet and guess what I found?'

Excitement shown in his brown eyes as he talked about this exclusive DVD collection of a few shows they used to watch as children. His moment of geeking out was cut off when the professor entered the room. In any other study session they would have kept talking but this particular teacher didn't quite like small talk. It was all about the material and learning and knowing what it meant. It all came down to this professor being crazy. All the students in the room opened the material and started to review for the final.

The four hours passed and the professor had given the word for them to be free of the educational prison they were locked in. The two friends stood and stretched for a bit before contently leaving the room. They hung around the college compass for a bit to settle a few things before heading outside. The sun was shinning and now the grounds were a little bit more full with people, some students and some just enjoying the beautiful campus.

'So what do you say about hanging out?' Andy turned to his friend. She was putting on her roller blades.

'I promised my brother I would see him after study hall. Unless you want to join me?'

'The twins?' he looked at her with wide eyes.

'Heavens no,' she laughed. 'The one that owns the dealership.'

'Cars are pretty cool. Do we get to take one apart?'

'I think he only allowed me to do that once and only because it was for school.'

'Why is he like that?'

'He really like cars and vehicles. It's always been his calling.'

'Hehe,' her friend giggled. 'What did he call it when you took apart the engine?'

'He called his murder.'

The two laughed for a bit as they made their way down the street. Leila would let the wind push her to keep up with the blonde's walking. The chatter between the two didn't stop until they arrived at the intersection right in front of her brother's place. The noise of traffic didn't stop them from talking. They just spoke over the amount of noise. The young woman looked around and noticed a black truck parked in the dealership. it was a curious thing. Why would her brother take on more work when he had enough with the cars there that morning?

'So the DVDs should be coming in later this week,' Andy's voice trailed off. 'When they come in do you want to do a marathon?'

The light turned green and they crossed the street. Entering the parking area, they looked around to see if they could find the eldest sibling but he was no where to be found. It was odd for him not to come out a greet them or any of his workers. She looked inside and noticed right away that is was closed. Weird. It wasn't like her brother to close to early during the week. There was a vibrating in her bag and she quickly reached in to get her phone.

'Thomas!' she was a little annoyed. 'Where are you?'

'Sorry, Leila,' his voice was barely audible. 'I had to close up early today.'

'You could have e-mail or texted me.'

'Duty called pretty fast.'

'So what about the black truck?'

'What black truck?'

She was waiting for her brother to answer the question but it never came. Pulling away her phone the screen was black. The call had been dropped. She really needed a new phone. Her friend turned to her and shrugged his shoulders. She felt bad for dragging him here but Thomas wasn't known for doing this so it was a rare moment. Andy made the suggestion that they head to his house for a while since she was in town. Next time they would see each other would be exam day the following week. The couple did a full turn around and headed down the boulevard.

The two were enjoying themselves and were about to head into his driveway when Leila happened to look over her shoulder to see a truck park not so far away on the other side of the street. She frowned as her mind wondered from the conversation. It wasn't like her to be paranoid about stuff but she swore that was the truck parked at her brother's place. Andy opened the front door and she quickly walked in. She thought she was being stealthy about looking out the windows to get a check at the vehicle that was now inching itself more up the street. But her friend caught this odd behaviour and looked at her.

'What are you looking at?' he walked right up to the window.

'It's nothing. Just my imagination wondering again.'

'It can't be nothing because it drove her attention away from video games,' he was really determined to get it out of her. How typical of him.

'Fine,' she slipped right next to him. 'You see that black truck. Does it look familiar to you?'

'Looks like an ordinary truck to me,' he shrugged his shoulders and looked at her.

She looked at him with those hazel eyes and he simply looked back with a blank expression on his face. He didn't seem concerned so she blamed her sudden panic on her active imagination and tried to turn her attention to something else. Seeing she was back to normal, he suggested some food and maybes some gaming or a film. So the night went as sat in his living room playing video games and of course eating junk food. It was another regular night for the two friends but it did have to come to an end.

'Good raid,' he stretched. 'Want to do another one?'

'I should head home,' she said checking her phone. 'I do have work in the morning.'

'Ah, I didn't know. Doing anything on the weekend?'

'I don't know yet,' she finished putting on her roller blade. 'I might have to work but who knows.'

'Do you want me to drive you home? It's a long roller blade ride home.'

'I enjoy the exercise. Rugby season is over and-'

'You need to keep in shape,' he mocked her. 'I admire your craziness.'

'I'm not crazy,' she laughed at him. 'It's called passion.'

'A rose by any other name is still a rose.'

She pulled a face and playfully punch him in the arm. Growing up with three older brothers did a number on his friend but he slowly learnt that she had a good heart. When they first met she was a violent child and kept getting in trouble at school. But that quickly passed when she moved and spent the summer with family up north. Now and again, her childhood self would emerge but thankfully it was never towards him. He never wanted to see her like that again.

'Safe ride home,' he waved as she made it to the street.

'Take care!'

Putting on her headphones she started down the street and into the cool of the night air. It was just before midnight, she rolled onto her street and lazily let herself go down the hill. She was about to open the short gate to her property when a vehicle turned onto her street. The set of lights were slowly getting bigger and then passed. It wasn't like her neighbours to be out so late at night especially on a Tuesday. But then she heard the engine die and turned to look at the same black truck that had been appearing all afternoon. Trying to stay casual, she walked into the house and ran to the phone. Dialling a number to waited for someone to answer.

'Mission City watch,' came a man's voice. 'How may I help you?'

'Just curious if there are any warnings out for stalkers or child kidnappings near and around the city recently?'

'Not that has been reported. Do you have a lead?'

'I may have,' she looked out the window to check to see if it was still there. 'A black pick up truck.'

'Company and model?'

'That's a good one,' she had never seen this model before nor was there a company brand any where. 'I didn't see any.'

There was a sigh on the other end and it was clear she was wasting the man's time. He continued with getting her information. She was just about to confirm when suddenly the engine started and the truck drove away. She didn't see anyone get it or out of it. This whole situation was making her nervous but she had to let it go before going to bed if she wanted to go to bed. Hanging up the phone, she headed up into her room.

Routinely she turned on the television and prepared for bed. She was browsing through the channels to see if she could catch something interesting before calling it a night. A breaking news segment caught her eye. It was from a few nights ago but it was still something worth talking about. The meteor shower was a lot more than a meteor shower. The witnesses were saying that the meteors stood up and ran from the landing site. What were people smoking? She was about to turn off the television when rough video was being played. It was from a handheld and there was a lot of noise and the group of teens were yelling. It suddenly stopped when they arrived at the crash site. Leila's eyes grew wide as she saw in the background, a large being move from the shadows and run.