School only lasts until lunchtime; then we go home. It was after school when I saw my sister come over to me and give me a hug. I hugged her back tightly, because she was cute. I asked her were Daddy was.

"He was sent on a mission."

"A mission?"

She beckoned for me to turn my ear to her, and she cupped her hands over it to prevent any sound from escaping to unwanted people.

"It was an emergency."

That didn't really thrill me like it did Gobo. He was probably sent to go help some wacko who nearly killed himself with a machine. My dad is a tech expert like the rest of us, so it wouldn't be hard for him to do, but time consuming and annoying.

I rolled my eyes in aggravation, but didn't let Gobo see me do it. She clung to us like the universe depended on it, so we had to set side some things to allow her to believe we both always got along. It wasn't always true and it never needed to be true until a week after Mom died and Daddy told me to. I only agreed because she's my sister.

We walked away from the building. A breeze made Gobo shiver and I looked at her. She had this issue with her tummy. No matter what, she refuses to where more than one layer over her stomach. She was wearing appropriate shoes, good enough pants, and long enough sleeves, but she had a coat on that cut off before it reached her waist leaving a tight cotton shirt poking out to reach to her pant line. I think it's a girl thing because I've seen older girls do this, but they don't look cold or act cold. It must be something acquired.

I took Gobo by the hand and she tightly gripped mine. We walked in a cheering quiet as we trudged home in our boots, Gobo making sure to step into the deepest snow bank to ensure maximum fun. It was then that we passed into the district where the hospital is and Gobo had let go of my hand.

Normally the hospital is a pleasant enough looking place, and today was going pretty normal. I've made it a habit to look at the tallest part of the building where a flag hung out over the side with the hospital's emblem on it. Looking up I could tell the wind must be fiercer up there because the flag was snapping in the air like someone was furiously shaking it, and it was starting to snow again.

I had lost track of how long I'd been staring at it. The next minute I looked around, Gobo wasn't there. I could see her tracks though because she would be the only one who had jumped in the snow alongside the sidewalk, so I didn't worry.

I followed her tracks wondering how long it would take for her to realize how she too had lost track of things. Then I thought that maybe she had been expecting me to keep up and show her the way and when she found out that I hadn't she'd be very mad. Worse yet, the last time I could remember her being forgotten was at the funeral and she'd been left with Mommy in that room all alone.

I hurried along because I really didn't want her to feel scared. She'd stop and find she's around people she never met and not her older brother who protects her and start screaming, but at least this time she would be found by her brother and not the silence who found her and granted her its miserable company until twelve at night.

I rounded a corner and saw no more tracks. She must have jumped out of the snow and started walking like a normal person on the sidewalk. I really wished I'd never told her that she was weird for doing that. Now I'd lost my clues for finding her. I stopped and looked around to see if I could catch a glimpse of her down the long road. She had not gone the right way home; no doubt because there was more snow on this walkway then the other way. Also 

because she didn't know the way home and that's way she was dropped of at the school so her older, smarter brother could help her.

I couldn't see her. That's when I really started to feel bad. I started to walk, but it was halfhearted. I almost cried.

Then I saw a woman. She wasn't my sister, but she came up to me. She was very tall and dressed like a nurse with high heels. She stooped down and looked at me with sympathy.

"You lost?"

She had this clean, bubbly voice. I watched her put a lock of her bright red hair behind her ear with a delicate lace-gloved hand. Then she smiled at me. She seemed nice… and she looked pretty. I told her my problem.

"I lost my sister. She's younger than me and she doesn't know the way home. I need to find her before she cries. My dad told me to look after her while he goes on missions. She went down this road, but now I don't know where she went."

"That's terrible! Aw… you're so cute; I bet your sister's cute too, right?"

She put her hand on my shoulder, and I could smell her perfume. She stood her full height and looked into my eyes.

"I'll tell you what; I'm on break right now. I can help you find your sister, okay sweetie?"

"Really?"

Not many people would be willing to help someone else in this city. I looked at her curiously and tilted my head. She smiled at me.

"Of course, honey; I'd love to. Where do you think we should start now?"

"Um, well my sister went this way."

I pointed to the direction down the street. She looked off down the street and then looked back at me.

"But you're not sure are you?"

"Well… not really sure, but I think she did."

"Maybe she went this way?"

She pointed down a street that leads off this one.

"That's where my house is actually. If we look down that road, we could find her and then have some cookies in my house. Doesn't that sound good?"

It didn't sound good. I was told to never go into a stranger's house without my parent's say-so, even if they're nice. However I was desperate and I could always just talk her out of it. We could find my sister and then we could go home without the lady.

"I can't go to your house, but I suppose we could look down that street. There is a lot of snow there; my sister likes to jump in snow."

"Okay, let's go."

So we went. When we got to the place we turn to get onto the street, the lady took hold of my hand. After we crossed, I noticed that there were more snow prints. I tugged on her coat with the hand she wasn't holding to get her attention.

"Look! She must have been here; these are her footprints."

"That's good."

She was looking ahead. I guessed if Gobo was here the lady could see Gobo better than I could because of her height so I kept an eye on the tracks in the snow. The wind kicked up and more flurries came down. I started thinking on what I could do to make it up for my sister once we found her. I could make her ice-cream or we play house together like Mommy used to do with her. I looked up at the sky as the snow grew heavier. She was probably cold. I turned my head to look at the lady. She was staring straight ahead still. Then she looked down and smiled at me. She was a very pretty woman.



I noticed we were still hold hands, but her grip had grown tighter so I couldn't just casually let go. I dismissed the problem because she was nice and her hand was warm. There was a long while where we just walked in a silence too busy looking to talk with one another. Then she broke it.

"Well I don't see her yet, we should probably stop by my room to get warmed up and then we can look some more."

"What? We're looking for my sister! She could be in trouble-

"Do you want me to help you or not!"

I tripped on my sentence. She looked down staring angrily at me, but when she did she turn back to face in front of her.

"Honey, I'm cold. I know you're cold too, so we should go inside my apartment and get warmed."

"My sister's cold."

I choked on my words and I didn't want to say anymore in case she hit me or yelled again. I became aware of her grip now squeezing my hand. Then her expression changed and her hand eased up her death-hold and she looked down at me.

"Look, it will just be for a minute okay? I need to get a heavier coat on, and maybe I could find a good coat for you and your sister."

I looked ahead of me as I thought. I was cold, but my sister needed help. On the other hand, it would be nice if I could give her a warmer coat so she wouldn't freeze all the way home.

"Okay, just for a minute."

"Good, sweetie, just a minute then"

She abruptly stopped and we turned to enter into a building. She led me to the elevator and we went inside. This place was already warming my hands and legs, and it must have been the same for her too because she undid her coat and a few buttons of her nurse uniform. Then she turned to me and ruffled my hair sweeping her hand behind my ear and under my chin until it picked my face up and she held it there with her long fingernails digging into my upper neck. She let my head drop and I winced feeling under my chin.

The elevator stopped and we got out in silence. It was dark in this place in the hallway and one of the lights was blinking on and off like the electricity wasn't flowing through properly.

"I could fix the light for you."

"No, that's not necessary."

She spoke quickly and tritely. I shivered. The lady opened the door to her apartment with a key and nearly shoved me inside. Previously, I had mentally made a picture in my mind what a nice place her home would look like. I knew it wouldn't look exactly alike, but I wasn't expecting this.

After only a brief look around, I noticed her apartment was dark and small. All things accounted: it had a firm low couch on a bare floor, a small refrigerator, a dark wooden table and a clean counter space connected to a worn stove; all of it looked foreboding in a way. I noticed there was a door that might lead to a bedroom and when I turned around I saw a simple coat rack: there were no extra coats; there were no cookies. There was her.

This place was creepy. My mind started screaming to get out of here, but I tried to be rational. After all, she might have coats in her bedroom closet, or maybe she just forgot about her not having any coats. She was tossing her hair and looking in a small mirror hung up on the wall.

"Do- do you really live here?"

She started to unbutton herself more and when she turned my eyes went to her bra peeking out from her shirt. When she spoke, her voice a tad too raspy, but for some reason I could now tell that this was her real voice.

"Not really, this is my boyfriend's place to hang, but he won't mind one little bit, honey."



Her boyfriend wouldn't have a coat for my sister. My heart rate sped, but I couldn't think what to do. She walked over to the fridge and took a bottle out. I recognized it from when my dad drinks this. Only my dad doesn't drink this directly from the bottle; he drinks it in a cup with his dinner. He also never chugged it like me and Gobo chug milk. She did.

The bottle had been half full, but was now looking more than half empty when she took it from her lips and turned to face me. As she set the bottle down on the counter, I looked behind me again to examine the door. Without a seconds hesitation I grabbed the handle, twisted and yanked on the door with all my strength. I didn't realize she'd previously padlocked it two feet above the handle where a latch was screwed in.

Then she slammed her body sideways against the door facing me with all her buttons undone. I started to tear as she put her hand on my shoulder, then her other hand, and moved them up to my neck and down my back sliding off my coat as she did.

"Welcome to Hell, sweetie. Let's have some fun"