Chapter one
Welcome to our family Lia.
Where are you now?
are you lost?
will I find you again?
Are you alone?
Are you afraid?
Are you searching for me?
"Mama come play with me!" 11 year old Lia called as she played in the tiny waves crashing on the shallow end of the shore.
"Here I come baby!" Letty responded as she rushed into the small waves as they rocked and shook Lia.
Letty dove into the water then swooped Lia up into the air. Lia erupted in giggles as flew into the salty air and plopped down into the water below her. From that she started a slash fight with her mother as they sprinted and splashed each other across the shallow water.
Tripping, falling, getting knocked down and laughing along the way.
They exited the waters and searched the shore line for shells. They had a tradition to find three purple and white shells that hadn't broken. When they find the shells they give each other one to keep, make a wish on the other and toss it in the water, and keep the last one.
Both Letty and Lia hold the shell to their heart and close their eyes. It was quiet and only the sound of the waves crashing onto the sand could be heard.
"Did you make your wish?" Lia spoke breaking the silence.
"Yeah, you?"
"Yep."
"3. 2. 1. Toss!" Letty counted before tossing her shell in the water, Lia tossed her's right after.
After their wishes and shell hunt the two soaked in the sun and in the warm sand, while enjoying the snacks Letty packed. The sun was setting and the sky was painted a beautiful orange and pink.
"Hey mama?" Lia questioned.
Letty hummed in response and turned her head to face her child.
"How does a yellow sun set to make pink and orange?" Lia stared at the gorgeous sight with a puzzled look on her face.
Letty lied silent for a second before turning her whole body towards Lia and leaning her body on her side with her head resting on her hand.
"Think of it like this. The sun sets into the night, the moon reflects a light, as a tribute to sun before every night." Letty spoke in an almost story tale rhythm.
"What does it mean?"
"It mean that a sunset is a last goodbye to the sun before we go to bed. My mom used to say it to me every night because we would watch the sun set then watch stars come in." Letty grinned as the sun's beams grew darker.
"Do you really believe that? It's a little bit like a fairy tale or a nursery rhyme."
"I believe in the stars and the power the sky has. They are very special."
"Didn't you and dad used to watch the stars?"
"We did, your dad took me here on our first date. We used to come to the secret beach and count them. Gave each one a name and we even played in the water. One night I decided to go surfing at night and I fell off the wave so bad that I got a scar on my knee." Letty laughed as Lia listened in amusement. Lia's face lit up and her eyes widened as she now look at the sky in delight.
"Wow! Can we watch the stars tonight?" Lia almost begged in the cutest voice she could possibly use.
"Nice try Lia-bug but you outgrew your baby voice at 8. Maybe another day sweetie, you have to get some sleep for your big karate tournament. Help me pack up." Letty spoke as she stood up dusting the sand off of her and began to clean up.
"I outgrew my baby voice but not the nickname Lia-bug?"
"Lia.." Letty spoke in a stern voice.
Lia sighed loudly then got up.
They folded the blankets and packed everything back into bags and baskets. Lia happily picked up whatever trash was lying around and threw it away.
"Okay remember Lia, this beach is a secret so you can't tell your friends at school or the tournament." Letty reminded her pre-teen twin
"I know I know." Lia feigned annoyance.
They hopped in the car and began to drive back home. Letty decided to take a longer scenic route to avoid the night traffic of LA.
On their way back some reckless driver was swerving in and out of the lanes almost hitting them twice. Then he stopped unexpectedly in front of them. Fortunately Letty stopped before any damage was done to either one of them.
"Is this man crazy?!"Letty exclaimed angrily.
Before Letty had time to move her car back, a giant truck collided with them hitting the passenger side. Hitting Lia's side in the back.
Letty couldn't see anything but darkness, she could feel people touching her and could hear voices.
"She should wake up soon." A male voice spoke.
"When?" Another deeper voice responded.
Who were these voices?
"Letty wake please, I need you." That voice spoke to her.
But who were they?
The voices sounded faded and distant like the surrounding darkness was holding it back.
All she could hear was a lady sobbing out her prayers in a her native Spanish language and a man who seemed upset trying to console her.
Are they crying for me? I'm here guys! She thought.
But she couldn't move her mouth. She couldn't feel her body and her head throbbed and ached like never before. Her mind came up blank except for a few images that made her head pound more. Soon she fell back into the darkness that had been pulling her. She felt the room spin as she twisted deeper and deeper into oblivion.
When Letty woke up she was in a hospital. She was hooked up to tubes and machines with Lia nowhere in sight. Her head was pounding, her body ached, she was bleeding. Everything felt broken. Worst of all she could barely remember anything.
Her eyes fluttered open slightly to see a figure, a man. He was so close to her bed that she could reach over to touch him. He was an unfamiliar face that felt so right. She worked through the pain to move her hand towards his, letting out soft painful grunts along the way. With that movement the prayers ended and the room became still.
"Letty?" He questioned in shock. Letty let out more grunts as she finally reached his hand. His subtle touch felt so right like the only thing she knew was true. He held her hand back before signaling for help.
"She's waking up!" He shouted towards the doorway.
A doctor rushed to her side with an emotional Mia in trail.
"Hello ma'am, I'm Doctor Lewis. I'd like to run some tests first before we do any talking, if that is alright with you."
Letty's voice was too weak to speak so she nodded instead.
" and family, do you mind waiting outside while I do this?"
Mia and Letty's mom Analisa began to exit the room but Dom remained sitting in the chair.
"Dom?" Mia asked.
"I lost her once by not staying by her side and I'm never gonna make that mistake twice." Mia only knodded in response understanding what her older brother had been going through.
Doctor Lewis began to run a few tests when Letty began talking more.
"Who-Who are you? What happened?" Her voice was raspy and weak.
"You were in a severe car crash, How is your head? Are you experiencing any dizziness, nausea, memory loss?"
"I-I don't know. I can't remember anything."
Dom leaned in closer. He gently caressed her forehead.
"Baby are you okay?"
"Ba-baby? Who are you?" Letty moved away from Dom in confusion. Just as she moved a sweltering pain coursed through her head causing Letty to shriek in agony. Then the pain subsided a bit enough for Letty to gather herself. "Is she alright?" Letty croaked.
She vaguely remembered anything but a flicker of painful memory flashed constantly. A little girl, wavy hair, brown eyes, smiley and singing in a car. Each flicker burned more and more into her mind, all the smiles and singing came to a crashing halt of glass. Letty held her head in pain as images shot across her memory like knives.
"Do you remember anything that happened?" The doctor questioned her as he got his medical supplies together.
"I had a girl with me, Lia. Where's Lia?" She struggled to remember those few things.
Dom only stared at her with sad apologetic eyes.
"I'm so sorry ma'am, but your daughter didn't make it." The doctor stated. "She was in a direct collision with a truck. Her body couldn't even be found."
A sudden rush of pain bubbled and boiled inside of Letty. Feelings she didn't understand. She began to breathe heavier and heavier, which began a panic attack. Machines all around her were beeping. Mia and Analisa ran into the room in worry. The foreign prayers began again but louder as if praying aggressively would heal Letty.
"Please calm down!" The doctor instructed. But it was no use. Letty kept gasping for air in a panic. "Damn it no! Nurse I need a sedative." A river of nurses flooded the room as they tried to sedate her. Dom,Mia and Analisa were pushed out in the panic.
Teary-eyed Mia turned to Dom to console her brother but he just stormed off angrily. He lost everything, his daughter, his girlfriend; someone had to pay.
A month later
Sacramento
She woke up in a dark cold room. She felt excruciating pain course through her veins and into every bone, if she could even speak she would scream. Blood still surrounding her.
Is that my blood? She thought.
"Monica check on Lia!" A distant voice shouted before steps accented from the room beside her.
Lia, that's me. But where am I? She thought again.
She tried to move but her body was stuck in a temporary paralysis. Every thought she had ached and sent a burning twinge to each nerve in her body, her brain was an empty canvas with only pain filling the void. A woman in the next room appeared to be mashing up fruit in a bowl then noticed she was awake.
"Gisele, She's up!" The woman spoke. She had brown hair, tall and almost perfect features. She seemed to be hispanic maybe in her late 20's. She began to approach Lia, she wore a dull yellow tank and dark high waist pants with her long hair in a ponytail. She didn't have shoes on just multicolored socks, and she had water and the fruit bowl in her hand. She sat on the bed Lia was sleeping on and handed her two pills, the water, and the bowl of fruit.
"The pills are for the pain, and the fruit is because you gotta eat." The woman explained as Lia took the medicine and water with a gulp and a groan.
"Who are you? Where am I?" She questioned.
"Shh, calm down Lia. I can explain it all later, you just need to eat." The woman offered a spoon to her prompting her to eat.
Reluctantly Lia took a bite and continued to eat through pained gulps.
"Why won't you tell me what's going on?"
"You hit your head, hard. We saved you, but you might not even remember what happened. I am Monica, aka the girl who gives you fruit and pills."
"When did I hit my head?"
"A few weeks ago, you have been practically comatose since. About two days ago you started opening your eyes, shaking your head, and muttering. We figured the meds and fruit had been working."
"Monica. I've heard that before."
"Common name. Maybe you heard the others yell at me during your coma."
"Others?" She questioned as she looked around the room.
"Yes there are more girls here. Elena, Gisele, Suki. We are a tight bunch of girls. Sweetheart do you remember anything?"
Lia shook her head before resting her head back down. Finally another woman entered the room from the stairs. Her hands were busy pulling her still damp hair in a ponytail, and she was obviously rushing. The mystery woman ran towards Lia.
"Has she said anything?" She questioned Monica as she finished her rushed approach and kneeled down on the carpet.
"We had a whole conversation. Gisele she doesn't remember anything."
"Hey Lia I'm Gisele, I am the leader of a team of hijackers, and we rescued you from a crash because we believe you can help us. Do you remember anything from the crash?"
The woman was tall, very pretty. She had medium brown hair with dark eyes to match, she was dressed in black skinny jeans and a leather jacket. Her accent sounded exotic but Lia just couldn't put her finger on the exact location. She had a serious vibe on her and guessing by the way she addresses Monica she is bossy, or the boss of the team. Lia took a second to inspect the woman and feel a weird connection to her as if she had seen her before.
"I only remember a voice and being moved it's all just a blur." She explained. "So why am I here?"
"Because you are the magic hybrid of the King and Queen of the streets." Monica blurted out earning a glare from Gisele.
"You mean my parents?" Lia thought hard for a second to remember what her parents looked like or who they even were. When visions began to pop up it sent the sharp agonizing pain back into her head.
"What Monica means to say is you have a skill set like we have never seen."
"I'm 11." She stated with a straight face.
"Yes 11 with red belt, stealth, and amazing computer skills. You were also raised in an auto shop on steroids. A little girl like you is a great tool, no one suspects a little girl to carry a bomb into interpol."
"I asked you a question." She sassed.
"We don't know. We have been tracking them for months, I finally found you with them the day of your crash. But only you were found in the remains of the car. God you're sassy."
"And my family?"
"When the time is right Lia, but for now we are your family." Gisele explained before taking the remains of her fruit bowl and heading into the kitchen. "Let me introduce you to the others. Monica go get them."
Monica stared at Gisele obviously in rebellion before rolling her eyes and heading upstairs. A few quiet seconds went by before multiple steps sounded as people came downstairs.
"Lia this is Suki, Elena and her son Damian. He is an amazing fighter, you may recognize him from your former neighborhood."
The boy smiled and waved and Lia did the same. He did seem familiar to her. Tall, light complexion, light green eyes, a charming smile.
"Welcome to our family Lia." Gisele welcomed as the others smiled.
So this chapter took soooo long to do! Honestly I'm finally happy with most parts of it, I hope you all like it! Leave reviews and have a great night!- xoxo Mira!