Paris headed home. She nearly fell asleep on the journey, WHILE walking, but she managed it.
She really missed her twin brother. Perry had left five years ago, and it still hurt to this day. As did the loss of Pinky and Tess.
Speaking of which…
Paris took a short detour as she neared her house, into the cemetery. She had a torch, so she was able to look at the graves in the dark. A sharp sting of pain stabbed her heart as she gazed down at Pinky's and Tess's graves.
The fifth anniversary of their deaths had been excruciatingly painful for everyone, especially Victor and Christina. But the worst part had been when Victor had a long, emotional rant about how Perry should be there, and how he abandoned them. Thinking about that moment still brought tears to Paris's eyes.
Leaving the cemetery, she happened to pass Naomi's house. Sighing, she forced herself to not look at it. It was painful, watching her girls grow up with a different mother; more painful than she had expected. Every time she thought about telling them who their real mother was, she forced herself not to. After all, SHE had been the one to give her egg up. She couldn't complain NOW. It wasn't fair on Naomi or the kids. But she was still as involved in the triplets' lives as possible.
Oh, Perry…I wish you were here. I feel all alone. Victor has Christina; Naomi has Zelda, Tegan, and Astrid; and Melinda has her siblings. I have nobody. I understand why you felt you had to leave, but…I-I wish you hadn't. You always knew how to make everything better.
She got home fairly quickly after that. As she took out her key, she suddenly heard screaming. Spinning round, she spotted a dark shape dragging a lighter shape along. As they travelled under the light of the street lamp, Paris saw that the lighter shape was a familiar pink platypus.
"Naomi?!" Paris gasped. "HEY!"
The darker shape froze. It seemed to be a male white rabbit. It looked like it had been caught in headlights; it was staring over at her, frozen. Paris took a step towards them. "What are you doing with Naomi?!" she yelled.
Paris began running towards the rabbit, who immediately took off running again, pulling the unconscious Naomi behind him. Paris sprinted after them, her heart pounding. Why would someone abduct Naomi? Did it have something to do with her past? Was it something to do with the fact that she used to be Perry the Platypus's mate? If it was the latter, the kidnapper was out of luck. Naomi didn't remember loving Perry, so she was useless on that front. But if it was the former…Paris knew that there must be a way to reactivate her programming. What if the assailant wanted to do that and make her attack people?
Paris continued to sprint, realising that they were coming up to Melinda's house. She put on a burst of speed and caught up to the rabbit just past the cat's house. But before she could stop him running, she spotted another dark shape on the roof. It was a black rabbit, who had what looked like a bow and arrow. Before she could dodge, the arrow had been fired.
Paris screamed as she felt the arrow pierce her shoulder, sending her down on her side. Through the pain, she managed to assert where the arrow was. It was just in the peak of the arc of her shoulder. It was a deep wound, but it was arguably just a flesh wound. As soon as the arrow was removed, it would heal. It wasn't life-threatening.
But even as she was inspecting this, she realised that sharp pain was spreading throughout her entire body. This was more than an ordinary arrow.
She grasped it weakly, ready to pull it out, but her strength failed her, and she sank into unconsciousness.
