My hand was shaking with excited anticipation as I opened the door, after I said goodbye and thanked Matt for everything. The house was strangely quiet. I figured that my disappearance must've taken quite a devastating toll on everyone in my family.

It was a Saturday evening. My family should've been all in the living room watching TV if I remember correctly. Yeah, Saturday night was movie night in the Johnson household. It's just too bad I missed going to synagogue with the family this morning. (Yes, all of us were raised to be my faith; we're all Jewish)

I went through the hallway, making sure to look at everything as I went by, just to see if anything had changed since I'd disappeared. It was exactly how I'd remembered it. It even smelled the same. Oh, words just can't describe how happy I was to be back in my own safe, comforting home. Finally, I came to the living room and slowly turned the corner to find—

"Crystal!"

I groaned slightly as one of my younger siblings slammed into me. "Lil! Hey Sweetheart!" We gave each other a big hug and then I took her little black hand in my white one and we walked over to the rest of the family, who were all just sitting there with their eyes wide in surprise. (Lil is short for Lily, just so you guys know. she's 7 years old.)

Oh, did I forget to mention? Out of all the kids in my family, my twin sister Rachel (Rach, 14 yrs. just like me) and I are the only two biological children of my parents. All of my other brothers and sisters were adopted. Oh, and one other thing. ...There're twelve of us; well, fourteen of us if you include our parents and fifteen if you include my grandmother, Grandma Zelda (Grandma Z), who also lives here with us.

I know, it seems like a lot, but hey, we all like having a big family. As my father, Terrence (Terri), always said, "The more the merrier." It's just a good thing that our house is big enough. Well, sure, pretty much no one but my grandmother has their own room in this house but...ya know...

After about a second of everyone just staring in shock, everyone suddenly reacted and surrounded me in a huge hug. Of course, my mother, Amelia (Lia), was the first person to get to me though.

"Oh my goodness," she gasped as she held me tightly, the tears rolling down her cheeks freely in a cascade of emotion. "My little girl! My little angel! You've come back to us! I've missed you so much!" (Oy vey! Well, I guess that's what you get from being the younger twin, ain't it?)

"It feels so good to be back! I've missed you all, too!" was all I could find in my mind to say in reply, while at the same time trying my hardest not to show any pain. Well, I mean, my mother had been gripping me a bit too tight and was pressing on my back a little too hard. My back still hurt from the other day.

"Crys? What happened to you?" my brother Jordan (Jo—black) asked as he noticed my reaction. (Crys is my nickname.) I looked at him, only to find a look of concern in his eyes. It's no surprise that he was this concerned about me; he's the oldest of the twelve of us at 17 years old and thinks of it as his responsibility to care for his younger siblings.

It was only then that everyone else noted the bruises, cuts, and such that could be seen at various spots on my body, especially my arms. And it was also then that my sister Fiona (Fi, 11 yrs.—Native American) gasped in horror as she took a look inside the collar of my blouse and saw the scars on my back.

I didn't know what to tell them. I couldn't just tell them what really happened. I couldn't tell them about the Digital World, about Ken, about my stupidity at going with him. Besides, you don't really think they'd believe me, do you? ...No, I didn't think so.

My mind raced to find something to tell them...anything. I sat down on the couch and chose my words carefully.

"I was kidnapped, Jo. I...I don't know the man who did it; never caught his name. And he always wore a mask near me, so I don't even know what he looks like. He grabbed me on my way home from school; took me to some place I didn't recognize. He did this to me...

"Last night, he got drunk and passed out in the room next to the one I was in. I cut through my ropes and that's when I got away. I left him tied up, so I don't think he followed me. And I called the police from a payphone to get him."

I sat there and hoped they'd bought that. They were all just staring at me, they're mouths agape. There was a long pause. "Whoa," my sister, Gypsy (Gyp, 10 yrs.—Hawaiian), finally sighed, breaking through the silence. I heard barking suddenly and before I knew it Kiki, our little reddish cocker spaniel puppy, had jumped into my lap and was now licking at my face.

So, after this whole cheery family reunion, we sat down and finished watching the movie. Boy how I'd missed this. A calm night, surrounded by the ones you love most. It felt like Heaven after being trapped with Ken for so long. And didn't I show up one the right night? We were watching home movies that night.

Oh, I remember the one we were watching! It was the night we went out for a big celebration dinner after my sister Hannah (Hani, 13 yrs.—Middle Eastern American) got a standing ovation in her first-ever ballet recital. That night, the second oldest of the twelve of us, my brother Nathaniel (Nat, 15 yrs.--Chinese American), got us kicked out of the restaurant, along with his brother, Dylan (Dyl, same as Nat), for totally cleaning out the all-you-can-eat buffet.

I remember that Shaina (Shai, same as her brothers), their sister and the youngest of the triplets, started laughing so hard at the situation that milk came out of her nose. It was hilarious!

I sighed with delight, the youngest child out of all of us, my little brother William (Billy, 3 yrs.—Hispanic American), nestled up close to me, fast asleep. And the second youngest, his older brother Evan (Ev, 5 yrs.—Same as his brother) nestled up to me on the other side. Yeah, I was just happy that everything finally seemed to be back to normal.

By the time the movie ended, it was 10:30 at night. So, Mom and Dad told us all to go to bed. After saying goodnight to everyone, we all went to our rooms. As I closed the door to the room I shared with Rachel, Fiona and Hannah, I stopped for a second to take in the familiar setting that I hadn't seen in so long.

I stood there and looked around for a second and smiled. Then, I climbed into the top bunk, the one right over Fi's bed, and went to sleep. Finally, after so long, I got to sleep in my own soft, warm and comforting bed.

A/N: Well, there it is; chpt. 9. As always, if you liked it, then review, if you didn't, then SCREW YOU! I will get my revenge on you! Mwa ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!! ...Ahem... anyway...

Digimon Emperor: 0o...

What?

Digimon Emperor: 0o...

Okay --...Anyway, sorry if this chapter wasn't too interesting. It's been really hectic around here so, I've been having a pretty rough week.

Digimon Emperor: Excuses, excuses.

(Death glare)

Digimon Emperor: 0o (again)...

Ah, you just mad because, guess what! (Singsong voice) I finally got away from you! I finally got away from you! Hahaha!!!

Digimon Emperor: Ah, shut up, Baka!

(Stops dancing; death glare returns) What did you call me?!

Digimon Emperor: Uh-oh......Excuse me while I go run for my life now. (Makes a run for it.)

Bye everyone! (Runs after him) I'm gonna get you, Cape-Boy! Mwa ha ha ha ha ha!!! (Man, did I sound like Zoycite just then or what? ...Hey, wait a second! The name "Cape-Boy works for both the Digimon Emperor from "Digimon" and Tuxedo Mask from "Sailor Moon"! They both wear capes! I figured it out, yay for me!)

Digimon Emperor: --...

(Running after Ken) Bye!