Straight to the reviewers! Thank you...
To LadyKayoss: Um, best pal Jordan's the one who's obsessed...but the reaction's gonna be strong. Trust me.
To K9: What's plot-syrup? And I'm just winging it (unlike my two Austin stories, which were written before I joined) but I'll try not to screw it up.
Well, the plot's been kinda plodding along, but it builds up in this chapter. Stay tuned, and don't forget to read and review!
Chapter 5: Kidnapped by Men in Black
"Something's going on, Jordan," said Octavia. "All this weird stuff's happening to me. I pointed out my birthmark to Mom and she nearly went apoplectic. And she still won't tell me who my biological parents are! What's the deal?"
Jordan was stirring her mystery meat stew while reading her comic book. "I know—maybe your biological father is some kind of a criminal or supervillian. Your trench coat, your brown eyes hid by sunglasses, your passion for science, your jokes about taking over the world…"
"For Chrissakes!" Octavia exclaimed. "I swear you have Doc Ock on the brain! How am I going to get my autobiography done!"
"Calm down. I'm just kidding. We both know Doc Ock's a made up comic book character. But maybe it's true that your mom and dad might feel embarrassed about who your biological parents are and that's why they won't tell you about them. But you'd better get cracking. The assignment's due in, like, two weeks."
Octavia went to Ms. Weller's classroom.
"Ms. Weller?"
The teacher looked up from her paperwork. "Yes, Octavia?"
"I'm having a problem with my autobiography."
"What kind of problem?"
"Um…I don't really know anything about myself."
Ms. Weller's brow puckered. "I don't understand, Octavia. What do you mean?"
"Well, I was adopted, and my parents won't tell me anything about my biological parents! I can't even find out where I was born!"
"That shouldn't be too hard to learn. It would be on your birth certificate."
"Where can I get one?" Octavia asked. She began scratching again; the itching sensation had spread from the nape of her neck down her spine to her crack.
"There's a copy of it in your student folder. Why don't you ask Mrs. Carroll for it? I'll help you; there's still a few minutes of lunch left."
Octavia went with her. She knew she'd be in big trouble if Ms. Weller knew she sneaked into her folder.
The main office of the school was as busy and noisy as usual; teachers checking the contents of their mailboxes and chatting; unruly troublemakers waiting for the principal to deal with them; students dropping off excuse notes and stuff. And Mr. Carlyle was just standing outside the door of the assistant principal's office, just staring.
Ms. Weller rapped on the secretary's desk. "Mrs. Carroll, I need a copy of Octavia Jones' file."
The secretary dug in the file cabinet and pulled out a folder just as fat as everyone else's. "Let's see…Jones, Octavia M, here we go."
"Are you sure that's mine?" Octavia asked.
"Of course," said Ms. Weller. "It's got your name on it. I see you got perfect 5's on all your AP science tests…well, here's your certificate! Mrs. Carroll, make a photocopy of this."
Octavia looked at the copy. It looked authentic; there was the official seal of the state of New York, and a lot of signatures and numbers. There was her full name, date of birth, time of birth. But something was very wrong.
There was no name after the space for her mother. No father's name either. The certificate listed Joseph and Jane Jones as adoptive mother and father. That was it.
"It's downright creepy," Octavia said after school. "It doesn't even have the names of my birth parents! What's the deal! And if you say a comic book supervillian is my father, I'll throttle you."
"This is getting too weird even for me," Jordan said.
"And remember when Carlyle caught us in the files? He said, 'Be careful. You may not want to know where you came from.' What's up with that?"
For once, neither one had any answers.
Until a black sedan pulled up to the curb. A man wearing a black suit that neither girl recognized rolled down the window. "I'm here for Miss Octavia Jones," he said.
"What do you want?" asked Octavia.
"Your mother was in an accident. She is in the hospital and I was sent to take you there."
"If her mom's in the hospital, I'm going with her," said Jordan. "I'm her best friend."
"I'm afraid that isn't possible, Miss Jordan Nicholas."
Octavia turned away and began to run. Whatever this man was up to, it couldn't be any good.
She barely made it back to the main office. The man pulled out a rifle and fired one shot. A tranquilizer dart lodged itself into Octavia's neck, and she fell to the ground senseless.
"What the hell did you do!" Jordan yelled. "You shot her!" Ignoring her own safety, she rushed towards her friend—and her kidnapper.
The man in the black suit pushed Jordan away. "I wouldn't interfere in things you don't know about and understand even less." He picked up Octavia and dragged her to the back seat of the car.
The black sedan sped off.
