I jerked awake when the door closed. The room was dim now, with traces of light coming from the other room. I looked around the room and noticed the lack of Rex. He was still on Ranger's kitchen counter, unfed and uncared for. And probably asleep. My heart beat got faster. What if he was dead?

Ranger stirred next to me. "Whats wrong Babe?"

"Nothing. I just forgot to feed Rex and..."

"I had Tank do it. He's fine." Ranger boosted himself up and scooted off the bed.

I did the same and smoothed out the wrinkles on my shirt. Ranger opened the door and the light flooded into our dark, little room. He trompled down the stairs, and I took my time and noticed my hair in the hallway mirror. Not half bad. I looked at my watch. Go figure, I was asleep for a measly thirty minutes.

The table was neatly decorated. There were old, worn place mats under expensive-looking black plates. The silverware was a glitening platinum. The whole tableset itself cost more than my usual car. In the middle was a steamy pot of rice with every vegetable known to mankind mixed in. There seemed to be an unhealthy amount of butter and spices mixed in as well. To top it off, as if that weren't enough, there were little chunks of chicken.

Just like sitting down to dinner with my parents, Ranger's dad helped himself first. He passed the spoon on to Robbie, which hastily served himself and his daughters. The spoon was passed across the table, moving from family member to family member until it hit me. I took a good helping and set the ladle next to the pot. No one had eaten untill I set the spoon down.

Dinner went pretty well. There was the usual silence by Ranger, but everyone else was cheery and talkative. I learned that his father's name was Samuel, and that I was to call him that or Sam, not Mr. Manoso.. His mother's name was Anita. Ann for short. Grandma Manoso had actually met my grandmother on several occations. Ranger's motions stilled when that sentence popped out of her mouth.

"I heard from the beauty parlor that you blew up a Porshe Boxter! Is it true?" She had the same enthusiasim as Grandma Mazur.

"Yes, I did blow up a porshe." I nodded. "It was Ranger's"

Everyone looked at him, and he shrugged and shoveled another forkfull of rice into his mouth.

"Everyone heard it from that crazy Ellen Mazur lady, so you never knew if it was true or not. I just had to check. She's a nice lady, but she talks about aliens and studmuffins alot."

Ranger stopped chewing and looked at me. I started laughing and he was working on keeping a straight face and not spitting veggies across the table.

"She's...my...grandmother..." I managed to spit out.

"What a surprise! How's she doing? I haven't seen her at Stiva's in ages. Can't find someone to take me that far anymore." Her face lit up like a kid in a candy store.

Ranger was still frozen, like someone had just kicked him between the knees. His fork wavered in the air, which he had a death grip on. I couldn't blame him. His grandmother was so much like mine it wasn't funny

"She's doing fine." I said calmly.

"Good to hear. Tell her I said hi!" And dinner resumed.

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After dinner, we all sat in the living room. There was a huge black sectional. Rob brought out The Secret Window, still in its packaging. The girls were sent to bed, and Grandma watched the first few minutes just to see Johnny Depp's "cute" butt and then wandered in the direction of the stairs.

I fell asleep twenty minuted before the movie ended. I had heard Lula talk about it, so I already knew every detail. I vaguely remember being carried up the stairs and gently placed on my back on the bed. Being on that couch all night, the little bed was heaven. The bed diped beside me and Ranger came up behind me. He brushed hair off my forehead and behind my ears. The back of his hand followed that trail, even though all the hair had been brushed away already.

I don't know what made me do it, but I wriggled on my side untill my back was against his chest. He let his hand fall and I layed my head over it, pressing it against my cheek and shoulder. "G' night Babe." He said and I felt his muscles relax.

"Night." I said and flew into a world of magic and wonder.

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For the second time today, I was awakened by a loud noise. The green LCD light of the alarm clock said it was a little past 4. Sooner than I had wanted to get up. The noise was the sliding of a old window. Ranger's back was to the window and all I could see was the shadow of the intruder.

Average build, I guessed about 5' 9" or 5' 10". The shadows hand rose with something, it was too hard to tell, and then in one quick motion, stabbed. Ranger let out a howl of pain and his body held me tighter that he'd ever done before. Then his muscles relaxed and I was scooped from his arms and tossed out the window.

I braced myself for a quick death. I prayed in my head that I was dreaming. Someone caught me. Bigger than the first man, and defenatly taller. More bulky too. I caught a glimpse of a hood before a blindfold was slipped over my eyes.

OHMIGOD! I'm going to die! I knew the kidnapper, at least one of them, was Junkman.

"I found you. You're all mine now Stephaine." He stated.

I kicked and screamed, none of it doing me much good. The voice verified that it was Norman Carver. I was pushed into the trunk of a small car. The door slamed shut on my and locked. The car started and I felt around. My hand grasped something sharp and metal. I found a flashlight too, and switched it on. The batteries were intact, and I could see the thing in my hand. A Trenton Police badge, the name Joeseph Morelli etched into it.

I felt ill. My stomach hurt, my head hurt, all my limbs ached, and my heart stopped. Morelli was working with Carver. I did a list of logical ideas. No way on God's wonderful green earth was I going to die that easily. I tossed the badge aside. I made my was through the trunk carpeting, tearing and pulling everything in sight. I remember watching a documentary on it long ago. There were wired on the inside to disengage the trunk hatch. I pulled and tugged. Nothing.

I proded the gap where the trunk closed. I kicked at the top but nothing good happened.

"If only I had gone running," I cried, kicking the top once again, "I'd be able to get out of here."

With another sharp kick, the hatch poped open.