Lucifer: More Than My Own Existence

Chapter 8

Mistaken Identity

Finding East Jackson Middle school was a piece of cake. Sara parked the Beast in the parking lot across from the school and ignoring a few of the other parents glaring at her, grabbed her bag and headed into the school. It was nearly empty, only a few stragglers hanging around the halls. She followed the signs to the main office and saw Aly sitting on the bench out front with another girl.

"Aly," she called out.

Aly looked up in surprise and a wide grin spread across her face, "Sara!" Her friend forgotten, she jumped up and ran to Sara, leaping at the last moment, forcing Sara to catch her mid-air. She hugged her tightly and spun her around before setting her firmly on the ground.

That's when Aly noticed the newest addition to Sara's wardrobe and pointed towards the new tattoo behind Sara's right ear. "Has Mrs. Stock seen this."

The tattoo in question was a red neck hummingbird. Sara had saved up for three months to get it. She shook her head and whispered, "No and you're not telling her either." She took her foster sisters' hand and lead her back to where her friend was waiting. She held out her other hand to this girl sitting on the bench. "Hi, I'm Sara."

The girl took the offered hand and stood up, "Trixie." If Sara hadn't known better, she would have sworn Trixie and Aly were sisters. Same dark hair, both done in a single braid down their back, and same wide brown eyes.

"Nice to meet you Trixie, are guys ready to go?" They both nodded excitedly, and it was like seeing twins nod in agreement. "Alright let me just check out with the office." No sooner than the words were out of her mouth then a tall, thin ginger haired man walked out of the office and motioned her forward.

"You girls have a seat," she motioned to the bench, "I'm going to talk with the principal." Both girls sat down while Sara walked into the office.

After checking Sara's ID, the principal offered her a seat. She politely declined. "I'm principal Corbett, the other reason I needed to speak with you is to make sure you are up to date on what is going on with Mr. Browning, Alysyn's father."

"Well, I know he and his wife are going to a special place in hell and that if they come anywhere near Aly, I'll finish what I started last year when they tried to take her from us."

There was a slight upturn of his mouth, "Yes, Mrs. Stock said you were extremely protective of your foster siblings, even though you no longer live with them. But I was referring to him knowing she attends this school."

Sara took a deep breath, "How the hell did that piece of crap find out."

"Yesterday we had a temp secretary, and unknown to us she told him when he called inquiring about his daughter." He took a seat. "Now we have his picture out to all the teachers, and our security officer. We needed to let Mrs. Stock know, we will require her to pick up Alysyn after school from now on."

This elicited another sign. With three other kids going to a different school, coming here every day to pick up Aly would make it difficult for Mrs. Stock. "What about me? Since I am still on the pick-up list, would it be okay if I'm the one to pick her up?"

There was a moment were Sara thought Mr. Corbett was going to say no, but he nodded his head.

She promised to inform Mrs. Stock of this new development and headed out of the office, irritated as hell with Aly's sperm donor. Why couldn't he, and that cow he called a wife, just leave her alone. They both made it quite clear that they didn't want her, but it was like a two-year old with a toy. If they couldn't have Aly, no one would.

Both Aly and Trixie were still sitting on the bench outside the office and seemed to have come up with a game of their own making, which apparently involved switching jackets and bags. "Look Sara, I'm Trixie and she's Aly."

Sara smiled at them. It amazed her how much Aly had come out of her shell. "Well it's a good thing I know my Aly, or I would never be able to tell you apart." She jerked her head towards the doors, "Let's head out girls."

Letting the girls lead the way out to The Beast, Sara pulled out her phone to let Mrs. Stock know she had the girls, they were headed back to Woody Ranch and inform her that Aly's father knew what school she was attending. She had just punched in the number when she noticed the girls were a little farther ahead of her than she wanted, "Girls! Hold up a second!" They both stopped at the curb and waited.

Mrs. Stock was on the line, "Hello Sara. Any problem picking Aly and her friend up." Sara could hear the choir singing in the background.

"Nope, no problems," she informed her as she dug through her bag looking for the Beasts keys. "The Principal did give me some wonderful news." She found the keys, pulled them out and switched her bag to the other shoulder. "It seems Aly's father found out she goes to this school and now they need someone to pick her up every day." Sara didn't miss the sharp intake of breath from Mrs. Stock. "Don't worry, I've already volunteered as tribute." She glanced up to see both girls still waiting by the curb, they were still further than she would like, but at least they were waiting for her. In fact, at this distance, it was hard to tell them apart. "The principal says this would be fine."

The next few seconds happened quickly.

Still on the phone with Mrs. Stock, Sara watched as a large, windowless white van pull up in front of the girls. A man with jet black hair and green camos jumped out of the front passenger side door grabbing Trixie, as another man in the back, slid open the side door. The black-haired man shoved her into the van. All of this played out slowly for Sara, giving her time to register what was happening.

"ALY!" Sara shouted as she ran towards the van, dropping her bag on the sidewalk, "BROOMSTICKS!" It was the codeword for run. Ever since the first time her parents had tried to take her, Sara and Aly had worked on this word all the time. Any time Aly heard it, she was to stop whatever she was doing, run and hid herself, until the all clear was called. Over the course of two years they had practiced this drill. At the ranch, school, shopping, once in the middle of a carnival. The training paid off.

The man with the jet-black hair was reaching for her when Aly heard broomsticks. Without thinking about what she was doing, working on muscle memory, Aly turned to her left and ran. The man would have given chase but by then Sara had closed the distance and without thinking she tackled him, her forward momentum carrying her into the van as well. She heard a satisfying thunk as the back of his head hit to floor of the van.

It took a little longer for Sara's eyes to adjust to low lighting in the van, but she was able to find Trixie, a man with the blonde hair was trying to get her hands tied but it seemed Trixie had a little training of her own. She was fighting against him, scratching his arms, face anything she could get a hold of. Using her right hand, Sara pushed herself off the man she had tackled and stiff armed the palm of her hand into Blondie's nose, breaking it. He stopped struggling with Trixie, grabbing instead at his nose which was now gushing blood between his fingers. Trixie started to move towards the open door and for a moment Sara thought she would make it out of the van. But that thought was crushed when the van door slammed shut. She tried to turn around to open the door but was met with a fist to her face. A light exploded in front of her and Sara really did see stars.

The last thing she registered were two muffled female voices, one shouting Sara's name and the other shouting Trixie's.

Chloe Decker had just pulled up to her daughter's school, when she saw Trixie standing on the curb with another little girl. "Crap," she said to herself, "that's right." She had completely forgotten Trixie was going to a friend's house after school, so she had no reason to come pick her up. But since she was here. She unbuckled her belt, got out of the car and was reaching for her purse when she heard someone yell.

"ALY!"

The voice was panicked, and the tone alone made Chloe instinctively reach for her side arm. She glanced towards the voice and saw a vaguely familiar dark-haired young woman running towards the curb. Following the trajectory, she saw a white van had pulled up to the curb where Trixie and her friend had been waiting. Trixie's friend was no longer there and the man standing next to the van was reaching for Trixie.

"BROOMSTICKS!"

The moment that word hit Chloe's ears she saw Trixie turn towards her and run. That was when she realized the girl wasn't Trixie. Where is my daughter! Her stomach dropped and fear rushed thought her when she realized the young woman had tackled the man into the van, and the driver had closed the van door.

"TRIXIE!" she yelled as the van speed away from the curb.

A total of maybe fifteen seconds had passed since Chloe got out of the car. Without thinking and relying on her training, Chloe grabbed for her car radio. "This is Detective Decker. We have a 207 at East Jackson Middle School. Suspects are driving a white Ford van, California plates, plate number six, Foxtrot, November eight, nine, one Whiskey. Heading south on Vermont Ave. They have a ten-year-old girl, dark hair pulled back in a braid, wearing a white, long sleeved t-shirt with pink flowers on the front, dark blue jeans with purple flowers down the leg, and black flat shoes." Chloe was amazed she could recall in detail what Trixie had left the house with. "Another female was taken as well, age unknown. Dark hair, wearing a red shirt with a blue stripped pull over and jeans."

She waited for what seemed like forever but could have only been a few seconds. "Copy that. Sending units to East Jackson Middle School for a 207. Detective, the lieutenant is asking you to switch to channel 6, he needs to confirm some information."

Chloe didn't need to be psychic to know what Pierce wanted to confirm and she took a deep breath before switching channels. "Decker here."

"Chloe, is Trixie okay?"

She ignored his question and asked one of her own, "Is Dan there with you?"

There was a slight scuffle before she heard her ex's voice, "Yea, I'm here."

"Someone took her, Dan." she leaned against the door jam, fighting against the panic that was trying so hard to bubble up out of her. "Someone took Trixie."

That was when she noticed the little girl she had mistaken for Trixie. She was hiding behind the back bumper of her car, with her knees to her chest, and hands over her eyes. "Hold on," she ignored both Pierce and Dan's protest as she set the hand-held radio on the passenger seat. "Hey," she called to the frightened girl. "I'm Trixie's mom. It's okay." The girl peeked at her through her fingers, but Chloe could still see the tears in her eyes. She smiled, and held out her hand to the girl, "Do you have a name?"

"Aly. Aly Browning." she took Chloe's hand. "Where's Sara?" There was a catch in the girls' voice.

That must be the name of the young woman they took. "I'm not sure Aly," she told her as she led her to the passenger side of her car. She picked up the receiver and motioned for Aly to have a set. "Do you know Sara's last name?"

Aly nodded as she took a seat, "Sara Fenn, she's my foster sister."

At that name, it clicked why Chloe thought she recognized the young woman. Two years ago, the double murder at The Coffee Shop. Chloe had been led detective on Sara's mother's murder.

"Guys," she spoke into the receiver, "I have a name of the second…" she stuttered on the word victim, "person taken. Sara Fenn." She turned her back to Aly, "What's the ETA on additional units?"

There was a moment where neither man spoke.

"Chloe, a unit was able to find the suspects van," Dan paused for a moment. It sounded like he was trying to control his voice. "It was abandoned three blocks from the school." Again, that pause.

"Chloe," it was Pierce this time, "they switched vehicles."

Chloe couldn't breathe. If the kidnappers switched vehicles for all they knew they were driving a horse drawn carriage. This was not good.

Happily, it was at the moment that other units arrived on scene. Chloe told them everything she could remember about the kidnapping, including updating them on the van being found. They escorted Aly to a woman waiting behind yellow tape that she didn't even notice they had put up. Now that she knew it was Sara who had been taken along with her daughter, Chloe recognized the woman as Mrs. Stock. There were three kids gathered around her, all of whom seemed relieved to see Aly, but they did not immediately move off. They stayed there as Mrs. Stock spoke with the officer.

Chloe paid no attention to this. Her mind was on her missing daughter. She tried to think of who would want to take Trixie, but nothing came to her. Mostly because every time she tried to think her mind would turn to how scared Trixie had to be, or maybe she was hurt, or a billion other unpleasant thoughts. There was no way for them to track the kidnappers now that they had abandoned the first vehicle. But she was sure that wouldn't stop her forensic scientist from trying. Ella Lopes would do anything for Trixie, she loved her as much as Chloe. In fact, Maze would probably be the only other person who loved Trixie more.

"Maze!" If there was anyone who could track and find Trixie, it would be her.

"CHLOE!" Her name being called in two distinct voices interrupted her thoughts. She looked up in time to see Dan ducking under the yellow tape. And right on his heels was her partner, Lucifer Morningstar. Relief flooded her and she pushed herself off the car. Lucifer reached her first.

"What happened?" There was a cutting edge to his voice. For all his huffing about Trixie, calling her offspring and small human, Chloe knew he liked her and would punish anyone who tried to hurt her daughter. This time he might get his chance to prove that.

"I forgot Trixie was going to stay at a friend's house, so I came to pick her up. When I got out of the car, I heard Sara yelling and looked up to see Aly running away and Sara tackling a guy into a van and Trixie was nowhere to be seen, but she had been standing on the curb just moments before. The van sped off with Trixie and Sara inside, I couldn't get there in time." Chloe knew she was babbling, and Lucifer probable had no clue who she was talking about other than Trixie.

In a very un-Lucifer move, he made no joke, just pulled her into a tight embrace. "It'll be alright Detective. We will find her, and she will be just fine."

All Chloe could do was nod, but she could feel tears falling from her eyes. She needed her daughter back in her arms, to know she was safe and alright.

Sara wasn't sure which brought her around first, the pain on the side of her face where she had been struck, or the small sobs beside her. She decided it was the sobs.

Her eyes fluttered open and the second thing she noticed was that it was cold, even though it had been a nice eighty degrees earlier. A groan escaped her lips when she pushed her head up and the room started to spin.

"Are you alright?" Trixie whispered

She tried to smile, "Yea, I'll be fine." She wasn't sure why they were whispering but she would take her que from Trixie. "I just need a moment to get my head to quit spinning. Please tell me my head isn't spinning around."

Trixie shook her head. "No. It's sitting there." She helped her sit and Trixie looked scared. "I don't know where we are. I couldn't see out of the van."

She glanced around the room, the windows were framed in wood, high and small, even Trixie wouldn't be able to get through those. They were also the only source of light and there was hardly any daylight coming through, but Sara could tell the sun was still up. Which meant they were facing away from the setting sun but here were no other buildings to block the sun completely. It also meant not a lot of time had passed since they were kidnapped. Since she could see the ground through the small windows it let her know they were currently sitting a basement.

Sara nodded as the spinning stopped but her left cheek still felt like it was on fire. She stood up hoping the dizziness would not return. "How long were we traveling," she asked as she made a circuit around the room, running her hand against the rough walls, realizing they were wooden logs mixed with dirt, as was the floor.

Now that Trixie had something to focus on, she didn't seem as frightened, "Five minutes in the first van, but they switched us from a white van to a black van. We were in that one for about an hour?"

"How could you tell?" Since she could see the ground through the small windows, it let her know they were currently sitting a basement. The walls were compact dirt and there were some old pieces of wood in the far-right corner that Sara nearly tripped on. The door was the only thing made of metal and double latched with a pull handle, which of course Sara pulled on to confirm it was locked.

Trixie pushed up the sleeve on her right arm to reveal a watch, "I kept track."

"Smart kid. Have you been kidnapped before?"

Sara meant it as a joke, but Trixie nodded. "A man took me out of school a while back. But my mom and Lucifer came and got me."

This made Sara come to a complete halt and look over her shoulder at her. "Lucifer?" she asked, there couldn't be that many people named after the devil. "As in Lucifer Morningstar?" Trixie smiled and nodded. "That would make your mom Detective Decker?" Again, Trixie nodded. "I know them." She decided not to elaborate on the how. She remembered Detective Decker from her mom's murder case. She had liked her from the get-go. Her civilian consultant had taken a little longer to warm up to, and even than it was a luke-warm welcome at best.

"What do they want," Trixie asked, worry lacing her voice.

Sara completed her tour of their prison, "If I'm not mistaken, they wanted Aly and grabbed you by mistake." She sat back down next to Trixie wrapping her arm around the girl's shoulders, realizing she was quiet cold. "Don't worry kid-o. We'll get out of here," she rubbed Trixie's shoulder, trying to warm up her arm, "promise."