Chapter Five: The Last Words You'll Ever Say to Me

The pain in my cheek was gone. I fell asleep in Ratigan's lap as he was gently rocking me. When I woke the other day, I was in his bed, but he was nowhere to be found. My prayer had been answered. I hate him. I hated everything he put me through. I hated his sympathy and his caring for me. I hated when he slapped me and threw me on the floor. I hate Ratigan. Period. The memory of last night haunts me. But, it wasn't the scary part that was haunting me. It was him of knowing my full name. I never told anyone my full name when I came to this world. So, how could he have known? I decided to get out of bed and get dressed. But before I did, I spotted two letters address to me on the nightstand. Both were Ratigan and Kitty. I ignored his letter and opened Kitty's. I don't want to do anything with him anymore. I began to read Kitty's letter.

Kiara!

Are you alright? Bill told us what happened. How dare he hit you! I'm really ticked off at him. I don't care if he's the big man or not. How's your cheek? Is it still bleeding? Everyone's mad at Ratigan right now. I'm so sorry I couldn't be there. I wish I would've known sooner. I wish you could run away from here, but I'm afraid he might end up hurting you more. I'm praying that someone will come and take you away from this horrible place. Please stay strong.

Your best friends,

Kitty and Mary Ann

I was happy to hear from them. I miss them so. I would do anything to see them once more. I kept ignoring Ratigan's letter and changed my clothes. I wore a long sleeve light red shirt with a dark red vest and a light red skirt. I wore white shoes and a pink flower in my hair. When I was done, I spotted a cabinet under the desk. It was slightly open. I'm not really a snoopy person, but I when I want answers, I go find them. Maybe in here, there might be a clue on how Ratigan knows my full name. I opened the cabinet and looked inside. My eyes grew wide. Inside, there were pictures of me. Pictures of when I was little and some of me now. How did he get a hold of these? I searched through the cabinet. There was a copy of my birth certificate, a family picture, some of my sketches I drew not too long ago of Ratigan, and my passport. What in blazes! It's like he's known me for a long time. I spotted a notebook. I opened it up. It was Ratigan's handwriting. I began to read it with fear in every word.

August 19th, 1897

I have discovered something new in my year of hiding. When everything was clear, I started up an invention of time traveling. Well, not exactly time traveling. It was an invention to pull items from the past and future. I tried on stealing a hat in the Renaissance. It worked! I also made it to see what was in the past and future. It was amazing in the future! I even looked through other countries other than the United Kingdom. I even saw America. But, something caught my attention. People were watching a movie that had me in it. It was about my failed attempt on taking over the kingdom and that stupid pipsqueak detective saving the day. I hate that memory. I'm planning on taking revenge for that later.

And then, I saw her. The discovery. A beautiful young woman around sixteen. She had short brown hair with blond highlights, brown eyes and glasses, and an amazing smile. She was truly beautiful. I spotted her watching the movie. She was freezing the frame I was in and was sketching it. Her ability to sketch was unbelievable! She captured every detail.

I remember Ratigan telling me that. I kept reading.

While I was watching her, a little girl came in from her door. She must be her sister.

"Why are you drawing him?" she asked annoyingly. The young woman replied.

"Because he's my favorite villain to draw. Is there a problem?"

Did I hear that right? She actually admires me. I never knew anyone else except my workers admire me before

I remember saying that, too. That was the day I got the DVD and my sketches of Ratigan went missing.

September 9th, 1897

I wanted to know this girl more. Where she was taught education, what her other talents were, her birthday, everything! She was so interesting. I stole her sketches and copied her birth certificate. Her full name is Kiara Lee Phoenix. What a beautiful name for a beautiful woman

He's known me over a year! Unbelievable! He kept going on about me until I stopped on a certain date.

March 25th, 1898

I have decided to bring Kiara into my world. I want to meet her in person. She must see me. I will bring her in tomorrow. She'll finally be able to see the world she never thought it exists

That was the day before I came here. My memory was coming back that night. I was about to sleep when I heard someone talking. I grabbed my slippers and robe and stepped out of my room. No one was outside. When I closed the door and turned around, something struck me on the head. That's all I ever saw. I continued reading. It read on about couldn't find me in the first place, seeing me on stage, almost mistaken me as a mouse when Mary Ann was covering for me that night when he wanted the letter delivered, and punishing the thug that was about to hurt me. I read the last entry he put last night.

March 29th, 1898

The fear in her eyes when she looked at me. I wanted to caress her, but she kept screaming and crying. It was horrifying to see her act like this. She knows I hate being called a rat, but that night I deserved to be called that. I didn't explain to her what was going on. She knew me well, as I knew her. I will never forgive myself for hitting her, and throwing her onto the floor. Her face, I can't get it out of my head. She's now sleeping. The crying made her fall asleep. I want to tell everything to her, but she'll probably ignore me. But, she needs to know. She needs to know why she's here, why I brought her here. Maybe I can write the reason in a letter.

The reason? That letter has the reason? I put the book back in the desk and grabbed the letter that was on the nightstand. Most of the letter was the same from the notebook, so I skimmed it to find anything different. I got to the bottom. Words were scratched out many times, only to begin with "I". What's the reason? Why did he want me? Is it because he thought I admire him? Is it because he wanted to do experiments on me? What? What's the reason, Ratigan? What are you not telling me?

I'm afraid telling you on paper won't do any good. I need to tell you in person.

That was it. No answer. Only he was going to tell me. The door knocked.

"Come in." I spoke. It was Bill.

"Breakfast." He called.

"I'm not hungry." I replied. There was a slight pause.

"He thought you would say that. Its best you come down, hungry or not. There's someone else to see you." Who else would want to see me? Was it Mary Ann? Kitty? Johnson? I finally gave in Bill's persuasion and followed him to the dining hall. Ratigan was there. He was talking to someone in a chair that was facing him. I only saw the back of the chair. He had a cold look in his eyes, but it went away when he saw me. He backed away slowly. The person stood up and turned to face me. I almost fainted.

"HAYLEY!" I screamed out. It was my sister! My sister! A part of my family that I thought I'd never see again! Hayley burst into tears as she ran to me. I hugged her tightly.

"Oh, Kiara! You're okay!" she sobbed in my embrace.

"Yes, I'm alright, Hayley." I started to cry, too.

"Where did you go? Where am I? How did you end up here?" She looked at me. I looked at Ratigan. He nodded his head. I looked back at my sister.

"Why don't we take a walk?" I smiled. Hayley dried her tears and began to walk. We walked through the whole barrel as I explained to her everything. From getting here to discovering the truth.

"So, you don't know the reason why he brought you here?" Hayley asked as I finished explaining.

"No. I'm afraid not. Something doesn't add up. The reason is the missing piece of the puzzle." Hayley looked at me. She had her dirty blonde hair tied up in a ponytail, and was wearing her favorite Fall Out Boy jacket, belt, and jeans. She has my eyes as well.

"Will we be able to get out of here?" she asked. I gave her a sad smile.

"You might, but I'm not sure for me."

"What do you mean?" I gave her a sad look.

"Ratigan won't let me go. If I try, he'll end up killing me. He does not want anyone to know the invention he created."

Hayley stopped looking at me, and then did a double take as she saw a bandage on my cheek. "What happened to your cheek?"

I almost forgot. "Did he…do that to you?" I tried to hide the expression, but she knew what the answer was.

"Why, that good for nothing…! He'll pay for hitting my sister!" She shouted. She turned around to find Ratigan, but I stopped her.

"Stop! Let me go!"

"Hayley, if you want to live, you stay right here!"

"But…"

"I won't have it. I won't allow him to do you any harm other than bringing you to this dreadful place."

Hayley stopped. "Did he…regret?"

"Hmm?"

"Did he regret doing that?" I sat her down and explained the night with the professor. When I told her the part when he was rocking me and kissing my hair, she gave me a disgusted look.

"Ew." She said. "I'm sorry, but I find that freaky." I burst out laughing. She laughed as well. I was so glad to see her. We might argue a lot, but in a time of need, we're there for each other. Dad said that in the future, we'll become the best friends we'll ever have. He was right. Hayley is the best friend and sister I'll ever have. She told me about Mom and Dad. They're still worried about me since I've been gone for five days. I wish they could be here, too. I hugged her tightly and said a prayer with her. I even told her that I'll never forget her, and that she'll always be in my heart. Every word that I said was true. She hugged me back and started to cry.

"I'm sorry for all the arguments we had." She said.

"I am, too." I smiled.

"Ahem." I heard. I turned around.

"It's time to go home, Miss Hayley." Ratigan said in a cold voice. Hayley glared at him. I could feel her anger. She stuck her nose in the air as we walked past him. We went outside.

"Kiara, you wait here." Ratigan separated me and my sister. He took my sister around the corner, but I quickly called out to him.

"Ratigan!" I shouted. He turned around to face me. "If you, your cat, or any of your thugs lay a finger on her, I'll kill you." I was serious. I won't allow anyone to touch my sister.

Ratigan nodded. "I won't. I promise." There was something in his voice that made me distrust him. Bill looked at me. He looked like he wanted to tell me something. Ratigan took my sister away. How could I be stupid?! I didn't even say goodbye! I ran around the corner. Bill tried to stop me, but I kept going. I stopped when I saw Hayley enter through a device that looked like a portal.

"Wait!" I shouted. I wanted to see my sister off. Thugs were carrying axes. Are they going to…? No! He promised!

"Stop!" Hayley spotted me.

"Hayley!" I screamed. She turned to smile as she went in the portal. Ratigan pushed a button and the doors began to close the portal.

"No! Wait! HAYLEY!" I screamed out more. Hayley smiled, but tears came running down her face.

"I love you, Big Sis." The doors closed and the thugs began to destroy the invention. I stood there, frozen. Her last words echoed in my thoughts. I love you, Big Sis. I never said goodbye. I've lost my best friend. My sister. I'll never see her again. I love you, Big Sis. I'll never see my parents again. I'll never see my friends again. I'll never see home again. I love you, Big Sis. Ratigan came up to me and tilted my chin with his finger. He looked at me with a cruel, evil smile. It was like my dream. Only this time, it was for real.

"Now, starting today, I'm your family. You only have me." It was the end for me. No more family. No more friends. No more home. Only darkness and Ratigan.

I love you, Big Sis. I love you.