Hello People of Fanfiction!! I'm so excited to be working in my story again! I would like to thank 6464MiniDiceofRandomness, paranoidbychoice, headintheclouds565, and supernerdy for reviewing. I can't think of anything else to say, so here's Chapter 4.
Caroline and Wally looked behind them to see a man coming toward them. "Should we run?" Caroline whispered.
"I'm not sure…" Wally answered. "Let's just start walking away. Maybe he doesn't mean us."
As they turned away, the man called out, "Wait! I'm just trying to help you." He pulled out a badge, explaining, "I'm FBI agent Paul Ballard. I just want to make sure you're not lost. You don't look like you're with your parents."
The FBI? Wally thought. What if the FBI are looking for us?
"We don't have parents." Caroline stated dramatically. "At least I don't. He's adopted, and we're trying to find his parents. It's a tragic story. His mom disappeared when he was three, and his dad was-"
"Caroline! Cut it out!" Wally interjected. "Stop being so dramatic all the time!"
Ballard pulled a card from his pocket, and gave it to Wally. "Here's my card. If you ever need anything, call me." And with that, he walked away.
"I wasn't being that dramatic." Caroline complained.
"Yes, you were. Anyway, we should probably start looking for apartments." He pulled out a map, and they started walking. They spent the entire day showing Josh's drawing to different apartments, with no luck.
Wally sat down on the curb, and Caroline joined him. "We're never going to find her." He said hopelessly. "Not like this. We need a better plan."
Caroline thought for a moment. "What about that FBI guy we saw today? I mean, maybe he could help. Besides, maybe he could get us a place to stay. Otherwise, we're homeless." She pointed out.
Wally pulled out Ballard's card, contemplating it for a minute. He looked at Caroline's hopeful face, and told her, "Okay, we can call him." Caroline hugged him "But," he continued, " It won't help to get ourselves sent back to West Virginia, or get ourselves in danger. So, the first sign that we can't trust this guy, we're out of there, okay?" Caroline nodded. "Then let's find a payphone."
Five minutes later, Ballard stepped out of a car, and walked toward the children. "We don't have anywhere to go." Explained Caroline. "And we've been walking almost all day, and we don't have money for a hotel."
"It's okay," Ballard responded. "I'm glad you called."
"And," Wally spoke up, "We were hoping you could help us look for my mom. Our method isn't exactly working."
"Sure, I'll help. My apartment isn't really set up for kids, but you can stay there for now."
Wally and Caroline exchanged glances. "Which apartment do you live in?" Caroline asked, pulling out Wally's list.
"The Californian, up on-"
"The corner of Rose and Main," finished Caroline. "Haven't been to that one yet." She told Wally. When Agent Ballard looked confused, Caroline explained, "We have a list."
The three drove for about five minutes before arriving in front of a very plain looking building. Wally and Caroline immediately went to the manager's office with their sketch. Again, the woman was foreign to the staff.
They then followed Ballard to his apartment, to find a woman, holding an unopened bottle of wine.
"Cute kids." She said, looking at Wally and Caroline. "Are they yours?"
"No… Why are you here, Mellie?"
Mellie looked disappointed. "I saw you leave, and thought I'd surprise you. You've been working so hard, and I just thought… Never mind. I'll come back some other time." She started to walk out the door.
"Wait. While you're here… Kids, this is Mellie, my neighbor. Mellie, these are…"
Caroline smiled. "I'm Caroline, and this is Wally." She pointed to her left, where Wally was no longer standing. "Wally?"
Wally was looking around the small living room, at all the pictures covering the table, on the wall, and scattered around. He had a confused, almost worried expression on his face. "Who is she?" he requested, holding up a picture of the woman in his dream.
Now it was Ballard's turn to be confused. "Her name's Caroline. I-"
"Caroline?" The 10-year-old interrupted. "That's my name!" She looked at the photo, then the drawing her and Wally had been carrying all day. "This is her! This is who we're looking for!" She jumped up and down, then hugged Wally. "Oh Wally! You look just like her. Her eyes, her smile…"
Wally shrugged Caroline off. "You were saying?" He looked into Ballard's eyes.
Mellie spoke up. "I'd better go, before the dollhouse talk starts. Bye Caroline, bye Wally. It was nice meeting you. Bye, Paul. I'll see you later, I guess." With that, she walked out the door.
Ballard watched her go, before saying, "I've been looking for her. I believe there's an organization, called the Dollhouse, that takes 'volunteers' and somehow makes them forget who they are… I'm not sure how it works, or where they are, but I think that if we find the Dollhouse, we'll find Caroline."
I think I'll end the chapter here. Please review, and I'll update as soon as possible. Note: Maximum Ride might come in next chapter!! Thank you for reading, and I hope you'll keep reading my story, as well as my other fanfics.
