Chapter 3

"Okay," Roger told me when he came to me. "We can go now." He must have noticed my expression for what he asked next. "You all right? You look as if you've just seen a ghost." I turned to him.

"The fire." I just told him. Roger was confused.

"What?"

"The fire!" I repeated.

"What fire?"

"The fire that happened when Bessie Applebaum babysat Hayley."

"There was a fire?" I grabbed his arm and dragged him to the door.

"Ja; I'll show you."

"But you can't go out there. You're human now; you'll freeze to death!" I stopped. He was right. I needed a coat. I opened the closet and put on Stan's coat.

"What're you doing? That's Stan's coat. You can't take that. He needs to go places in that."

"It's all I got, now come on. Back in the time machine." I went out. I heard Roger sigh, and he, too, went out.

"Where to, fish?" I looked at him.

"You don't have to call me 'fish' anymore." I told him. "I'm human now."

"Well, I'm not going to say 'where to, human?' that sounds weird. Well, not really, but I'm not going to do it."

"Just call me Klaus."

"No." I frowned. He changed the subject. "So, when did the fire happen?"

"The next day around noon." Roger punched in the numbers and pulled the lever. We lifted off the ground and zoomed into the portal.

When we landed, the house was already ablaze.

"Adie!" I shouted, hopping out and running towards the burning house. "Don't worry; daddy's coming!" Before I reached the doorway, I saw Haley and Adie crawl out. I stopped; sighing with relief.

"Adie; you made it out safely und Haley did too." Haley looked around and looked back into the house.

"Ellie!" She cried. She turned around and crawled back inside.

"Haley! What are you doing?!" I looked inside and gasped. She was going back for Ellie.

"Haley! Just leave it; your mama and dada can buy you a new plush elephant and you can chew its ear." Haley crawled and crawled.

"Haley!" I shouted again. I tried to go in and get her, but a piece of debris fell and blocked my way. I saw Haley retrieve her elephant. I smiled.

"Wondarbar Haley, now come out of there!" Haley crawled back towards the door, Ellie in hand. "That's it Haley; you're almost there." Haley was just about out when all of a sudden, more debris blocked her way. The one year old just coughed and coughed. "Haley!"

I was about to go and get her when I was knocked aside by a fireman. I noticed more firemen hosing the flames.

"Move it!" He said. He grabbed her and hopped out. I could see that Ellie was all charred. The firefighter carrying Hayley ran to another firefighter with some blankets in her hands.

"Quick!" He told her. "Before it's too late!" They quickly wrapped her in the blankets and put her on the back of the fire truck. The man started performing CPR on her repeatedly.

"Come on!" The firefighter urged. "Breathe baby, breathe!" The woman prayed for Haley. I did too. Please, Haley. Don't die. You were my favorite one out of all the Smiths. Andy then came up, Adie in his hands.

The firefighter preforming CPR looked up and sadly shook his head. Haley was dead. Andy's face fell and looked at Adie.

"I'll go tell the Smiths." He said in a mournful tone. "I can't believe this child survived and the other didn't." He went off. I hung my head in shame.

I was happy that Adie had made it out alive, but sad that Haley didn't. I felt Haley's death was partly my fault. If I were there like I was last time, she would still be alive. Francine and Stan are going to be so sad and probably come straight home. I had ruined their trip again. I saw that the other firefighters had ceased their work and was in a moment of silence for Hayley.

"Hello?" The firefighter that performed CPR, who seemed to be the one in charge said to the others. "The house is still on fire." The others nodded and continued hosing down the fire.

"So, let me get this straight." Roger said, coming to my side. "If you weren't there to save her, Hayley would still be alive?" I nodded. "So, this is kind of your fault." I nodded again. "Gosh, the Smith life without Hayley. Want to see what it is like?"

"It's probably will be the same, just without Hayley. Although I am curious to how Steve treats Adie. Let's go to a time to where Steve existed."

"And me? I want to see how I would've treated her." I nodded.

"Sure! Why not? I'm kind of curious too."

"Alright! Let's kill those birds with one stone and show them no mercy!" We went to the car.

We went to the year that Adie was almost 16 and Steve was eleven.

We landed just as Adie was coming home, backpack on her back. She was just about to go up the driveway when some older girls ran up to her. I gasped as one of the girls pushed her to the ground. Another one grabbed her backpack. The girls all laughed. I narrowed my eyes at them. Bullies!

"Please!" Adie begged. "Give me back my backpack! My homework is in there!"

"Yes!" Said the one with the backpack. "It would be a shame if Adie didn't get her homework handed in on time!" They all laughed again.

"Dana; I have a test tomorrow. I need to study."

"Oh boo-hoo!" The one named Dana jeered, pretending to wipe her tears from her eyes. "That's too bad. I guess you won't do well on the test then and your parents will yell at you for not doing your homework." She opened her backpack.

"Dana; I'm not kidding, give me back my backpack!" Dana looked in and scoffed.

"Really Adie? A fish binder, a fish folder and a book called 'Your Pet Fish and You?'"

"Yeah, I love fish, especially goldfish. I'm thinking of asking my parents if they could give me one or two or three, or whatever number of fishes I want for my birthday."

"Why?"

"Well, I just told you why. I love fishes; they're my favorite animal."

"No, I mean why do you want them as pets? They just swim in their stupid bowls or tanks all day."

"Yeah!" Another girl put in. "They're like the world's most boring pet."

"I read that fish reduces stress." Adie explained. "And they lower blood pressure. So they're good to have around."

"That's stupid!" Another girl said. "How can just watching one swim around whatever they're in possibly be healthy?" Adie shrugged.

"That what they say in the books."

"Well, goldfish also have a thee second memory." The fourth girl added. "They poop and pee in their bowls, they don't eat much, they don't play like cats and dogs do, and I hear that some fish can even change their genders."

"Yeah!" Adie agreed. "I wonder why they do that."

"It's creepy!" The second girl said.

"Well, I agree. It's a little creepy, but it's also kind of interesting." Dana crinkled up her nose.

"Interesting?" She questioned. "Fish are stupid pets." She looked at her friends. "Come on girls; let's leave stupid Adie with her stupid fish dreams." Her friends laughed as they went off.

"Wait Dana!" Adie shouted. "My backpack!"

"Oh yeah!" Dana faked. "I forgot!" And with that, she threw Adie's backpack into the snow. Adie bent down to get it. The girls laughed.

"Study hard, fish girl!" The second girl jeered. Before Adie could stand up, Dana purposely pushed Adie into the snow. Her friends laughed.

"Oops!" She pretended. "Don't worry Adie, your crazy stupid uncle that lives at your house will save you." All of the girls burst out laughing and went off.

"STUPID?!" Roger erupted. "I'LL SHOW YOU WHO'S STUPID; I'M GOING TO KILL HER!" He was about to go when I stopped him.

"Whoa there, tiger!" I told him. "I hate her guts too for bulling my Adie, but that's no reason to kill her!" Roger sighed.

"Fine." We then saw past Roger to Adie. He was in his 'Uncle Roger' disguise. Roger pointed to his past self. "Look! There I am! Dang, I am looking good!"

"Are you all right?" We heard past Roger ask.

"Yeah; I am." Adie answered. Past Roger helped Adie out of the mud.

"You really have to stand up to those girls."

"Yeah, I know."

"So, why don't you?" Adie sighed.

"I don't know."

"Well, once you stand up to those jerks, they won't bother you anymore."

"I know."

"So, why don't you? You know, it'll only get worse."

"I don't know. Someday, I guess."

"When? I mean, you're turning 16 tomorrow, you should know by now how to deal with bullies. You don't want them to ruin your life forever." Adie looked mad at him.

"I don't know, okay? I'll stand up to them when I can!" Past Roger held up his hands in defense.

"Okay, okay; sheesh! You humans are so complicated sometimes." Adie looked all around.

"Where's Jessie's phone number?"

"Huh?'"

"Jessie Riley's phone number! I finally got his phone number and I'm going to invite him to my party tomorrow night." Roger shrugged.

"Don't know; don't care."

"Roger; I need that; it's important!"

"It's really not that big of a…" He then noticed Adie's glare at him. "Okay, okay, I'll help, sheesh!" He then helped Adie search.

"Well, what do you know?" Present Roger stated. "I'm kind of nicer to Adie then I am to you. Who could of guessed?"

"I wonder if Adie wasn't kidnapped, would she still have bullies?" Roger shrugged.

"Could be. I mean, bullies are a the norm when you're a kid." I sighed.

"I guess. I just hate those girls for treating her like that."

"Well, that's a bully for you. They pick on kids who don't have the nerve to stand up for themselves."

"I guess." I then changed the subject. "And tomorrow's not Adie's birthday. It's two more months, March 15th."

"How do you know when her birthday is?

"Because I'm her father. Every father should know when their kid's birthday is."

"I know. I mean, how do you remember her birthday? You haven't seen her in 28 years."

"I just remembered it 10 seconds ago."

"Well, since Frannie and Stan made it up because they don't know when her real birthday is."

"But why? Why would they do that?"

"Because Stan's not going to ask the guy who he kidnapped from when it is, duh!" I sighed.

"I guess you have a point there."

"You darn right I do."

I saw a piece of paper in the snow.

"Roger; look!" I told him, pointing at it. He looked to where I was pointing. "It's a slip of paper. It must be that boy's number. Dig it up; I don't have mittens or gloves!"

"Aye, aye, Klaus!" He was about to dig it up, when he looked at me.

"What?"

"Are you sure? Adie could be dating a bad boy who does drugs and wants to invite Adie for a smoke."

"Und he might be a nice boy. Now, dig up the slip of paper."

"What's the magic word?"

"Roger!"

"I am a magical word, but not the word I was…"

"Please!"

"There it is!" He dug it up. He read it. "Yep, it's that boy's phone number all right." He looked at me. "Now, what?"

"Send it over. But, don't walk out and startle them. Just make sure Adie gets it."

"Got it! I know just what to do." He folded it into a paper airplane and threw it with all of his might. Unfortunately, his throw only went a couple feet. He picked it up again. "Let's me try again." He did it again, only with the same result. "I can do it." He picked it up and tried again.

After the seventeenth try, I was about to throw it for him when Roger succeeded. It hit

"I DID IT!" He cheered. He looked at me. "You didn't think I could, but I did. I showed you!" I rolled my eyes.

The paper airplane hit Adie in the back of the head. She rubbed it.

"Ouch!" She said. She glared at Past Roger. "Roger, don't throw stuff at me."

"I didn't." Past Roger admitted.

"Oh, yeah!" Adie challenged. "If you didn't, then who…" She unfolded the paper airplane and beamed. "Jessie's phone number!"

"Alright!" Past Roger faked, coming to her. "You found Jessie's phone number; bravo, it'll be tragic if it was lost and you couldn't contact him. Now, let's go inside. Don't you have a test to study for?" And so Adie and past Roger went into the house.

"Come." I told present Roger. "Let's go in where it's warmer." We were about to go in when we heard Steve scream.

"MY GLASSES!" He screamed, his voice a little higher due to puberty. We looked. He has just come home. He was with some boys. One of them held his glasses. Steve jumped repeatedly, trying to get them from the boy's grasp. The boys laughed.

"I remember those bullies." Roger pointed out. "Steve was so happy when I scared them off. And then Raymond got expelled for selling marijuana when he and his friends were in the eighth grade and Steve was in the seventh."

"You're not going to get your glasses at this rate, Anita!" Raymond said to Steve. The bully's friends all snickered at the mention of Steve's feminine middle name.

"Stop… making fun…of my middle name!" A breathless Steve said. "I didn't pick it. My…mom…and dad…did." Raymond and his chums laughed at that.

"Hey!" We heard Adie shout. We all looked as Steve was getting his breath back. She had come back out. She ran to them. "You give back my brother's glasses this instant!"

"Adie!" Steve whined, obviously not wanting her there.

"Still having your sister protect your battles, huh Steve?" The boy asked him. Steve glared at him.

"Just give me my glasses Raymond." He told the bully.

"Okay!" Raymond said and threw Steve's glasses into the snow. Raymond and his friends all laughed as they left. Adie went to pick up Steve's glasses from the snow. After washing them with her shirt, Steve put them on.

"Are you all right?"

"Yeah, I'm okay." He marched to the door.

"That's it?" Adie asked. She went to his side. "I just saved you from Raymond and those other jerks and you aren't going to thank me?" Steve just ignored her. "Steve!" Steve turned to her.

"Fine!" He said, sounding mad. "Thank you for totally making me feel like a wimp in front of Raymond and his friends!" Adie was confused.

"What do you mean by that?"

"You don't have to come to my rescue every time Raymond and his goons are after me, alright? I can handle them on my own."

"Really? Cause it looks like you can't…"

"Just stay out of it; gosh!" He then ran into the house. Adie just shrugged and went inside.

"Wow!" Present Roger spoke up. "Adie stands up for Steve's bullies, but not her's? What's up with that?" I didn't respond and we went inside after Adie.

Once inside, we followed Adie to her room. It was Haley's room, but is now her room. We hid under her bed as she started her homework.

Not a minute later, Steve came in.

"Did you break my Lego model of the Sydney Opera House?" Adie looked at him. She put an arm around him.

"Steve, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…" Steve jerked away from her.

"It took me two months to build."

"It was only an accident."

"'Accident' doesn't fix it."

"Tell you what Steve, after I'm done with my homework and you're done with yours, I'll help you rebuild it. It'll be a sister and brother bonding experience. We haven't had one of those in a long time. So, what do you say to that?"

"Just stay away from my stuff!" He stormed to the door. He was about to go out, when he said something else. "Sometimes, I wished it was you who died in that fire instead of my sister!" He slammed the door. Adie sighed and continued on with her homework.

"Wow!" Roger observed. "What strong words from a young Steve. Then again, Francine said that Steve and his friends knew advanced words at a young age."

"Can we go now?" Roger whined a few minutes later. "This is boring; she's just doing homework."

"Okay." I decided. "We can go now."

"Ooh, I know! I played ice hockey at the 1980's Olympics. Let's go there so I can see my team win again and get those medals."

"Stan told me about that. He said you cheated because you were on steroids."

"But we still won."

"I do not want to see you cheat! We're going back to 1986 to save me and my family." Roger groaned.

"You're no fun, fish."

We were about to go when we saw Adie stand up. She went out of her room. We followed.

"We have to tell her, Stan." We heard Francine say downstairs. Adie froze and knelt down to listen.

"No way, Francine." Stan responded. "We kept it a secret from her for this long, we can keep it until a few more years. We'll tell her when she's 18."

"No Stan; she has to know now! Why keep this a secret?"

"She'll ask questions. What will we do then? Tell her that the CIA kidnapped her when she was a baby? I don't think so!"

"Stan, every kid needs to know about their birth parents. And yes, she will ask questions because that is what foster kids tend to do when they learn they're adopted."

From the look on Adie's expression, I could tell that she was wondering what this was all about.

"Francine; we are never going to tell Adie that she was kidnapped and that's final." Adie gasped. She ran down the stairs. We followed a little ways.

"I-I was kidnapped?" Adie asked. Stan and Francine looked at her. Francine looked at Stan.

"She needs to know." Francine repeated. Stan let out a sigh. Francine looked at Adie.

"Yes Adie, you were kidnapped." She told her. "The CIA kidnapped you when you were really little. You are German." Adie was confused.

"But, why?" She wanted to know. "Why did you kidnap me? Francine sighed.

"For a really stupid reason, Adie. You were kidnapped in 1986 as your father was praticing skiing for the 1988 Olympics in the Swiss Alps."

"What happened to my parents?"

"Dead." Stan told her. "The CIA killed them because they refused to give up the Olympics, even after we kidnapped you." I got angry again, not believing what I was hearing. Lies! We're not dead, at least not me, and hopefully not Caroline. Adie stepped back, shaking her head in disbelief.

"No; no! No; you're lying! I am not a missing child!" She backed up to the stairs, and ran up them, crying.

"ADIE!" Francine called. She then sighed sadly. "Oh, what have we done, Stan?"

"This wouldn't have happened if you kept this a secret." Stan told her. "The truth hurts Francine; the truth hurts." She looked at her husband.

"You didn't really kill her parents, did you Stan? If you did, I think I want a divorce."

"No, I didn't." Stan admitted. "I just told Adie that so she wouldn't ask about her parents." He comforted her wife. "If it makes you feel better, it pained me to do it." She looked at him and slapped him on the cheek. Stan rubbed at it, looking shocked.

"You're unbelievable, Stan." She then went to the kitchen. Stan went after her.

"Francine? It was for the best. It was either that or my job. Can we at least talk about this? Francine!"

We didn't hear the rest for we went back into Adie's room. Adie was so busy crying on her bed that she didn't hear us come in. We hid under her bed. I frowned. I hated seeing my Adie crying like this.

Adie then went off her bed and went on her computer. We went closer to look at what she was looking at. She pulled up a 1986 article on what happened on that day. I saw on her face that she couldn't believe what she was reading. Her phone then rang and she answered it.

"Hello?" She asked. She then beamed. "Jessie! Boy, I need to talk to someone right now. You'll never guess what I found out." She then listened for a moment. Her face fell. She had new tears steam down her face. She hung up and put her head down, crying. What did Jessie tell her? We hid behind the bed again as we heard someone come in. It was past Roger. He went to Adie.

"What's wrong, Adie?" He wanted to know. Adie looked up at him.

"Oh Roger!" She cried. "It's horrible! Jessie…broke up with me!" We all were shocked. Jessie dumped my Adie? How could he do that to her?!

"Why did he dump you?"

"He wants to date Stephanie."

"Told you that Jessie was bad news." Present Roger told me. I ignored him.

"Yep!" Past Roger said. "He's a jerk all right." He comforted the crying Adie. "But don't cry, if he can't see what a great girl you are, it wasn't meant to be."

"Roger? Why are boys such jerks?"

"Watch it; I'm a boy and we have readers that are boys too. They might find that offensive. We could get in trouble for that."

"Sorry, not all boys are jerks."

"That's more like it."

"Can I be alone?" He withdrew himself from her.

"Sure thing, sweetie." He then left the room.

Adie then went to an online chat room. She typed some stuff in and looked at the screen. She scrolled down and gasped.

A minute later, she he jumped to her feet with tears in her eyes, and ran off.

"I wonder what made her upset." Present Roger wondered out loud. We went to the computer and looked at the screen. I gasped. There were a lot of posts and they were all nasty.

'Nobody loves you' said one. 'You are an extremely hated person', said another, 'Why are you still alive? ' and 'Wish you were dead," But the last one really had my attention.

'Just go and kill yourself' It read. It was from Dana. My eyes widened in absolute terror. Adie wasn't going to commit suicide, is she?

"Hurry Roger!" I told him. "Before it's too late!" I went out of the room as fast as I could.

"Before it's too late for what?" I heard Present Roger ask behind me. "Oh; she's going to kill herself; I got it now."

I saw past Roger run into Stan's office. I followed him. I gasped as I saw Adie holding one of Stan's guns. Adie looked at the clock. It read 12:00.

"Well," She said, sniffing her tears. "Happy birthday to me. Mom, Dad; I will soon be with you." I was about to go and stop her, when Roger ran pass. I think it was past Roger. He took the gun away from Adie.

"Whoa Adie!" He said. "What are you thinking?!"

"Give me back the gun Roger!" Adie sobbed. "I'm got to kill myself!"

"Why?"

"Because my life sucks, Roger. I'm a kidnapped child, I just learned that my real parents are dead, Jessie dumped me, and because Dana told me to online!"

"That's no reason to kill yourself!"

"Yes, it is! Now, give me the gun!"

"No!"

"Give it!"

"No, look we can work this out. Let's go talk with your fake parents and..."

"No; they won't understand! They kept me all of these years. They don't love me. I'm just a pawn in their game and I'm going to end it!"

"NOOOOOO!" She accidently pulled the trigger, aiming at her stomach.

BANG!

My eyes widened again in absolute horror as I saw my Adie drop to the floor, blood splattering everywhere.