A/N: Hello again! I hope you liked the last chapter! In this chapter, things will start to clear up in terms of what happened to Lisa. Please tell me what you think, and again, if you can find Anastasia references, extra brownie points :)
11 YEARS LATER
In small home for orphans, the oldest of the girls, an almost-18-year old who had arrived about 11 years ago was sitting watching TV. On tonight was a special on local cold cases, crimes that have gone unsolved for over 10 years. One story struck her in particular- the story of a little girl, kidnapped over 10 years ago, of whom no trace had been found.
"Charles and Sarah Bartowski, parents of little Lisa, have never ceased to look for any sign of their little girl. Unfortunately, none have been found and the police have no leads. If you hear of any information relating to this crime, please call the tip hotline." The announcer said as pictures of a perfect 3-person family flashed on the screen. The little girl, the one missing, had blonde hair, like her mother, and brown eyes, like her father.
"Hey, Lisa, that girl has your name!" Annie, one of the younger girls in the orphanage, said.
"Don't get too carried away, Annie. I'm sure there are plenty of Lisas in Los Angeles. Besides, I can't remember anything from when I was that little. Lisa might not even be my real name anyway." Lisa said. She had basically grown up here in this orphanage. Most girls that arrived here were quickly adopted, but no one would want a girl that was found wandering the streets with no memory of anything relating to her past. It was just plain shady. She had become accustomed to the fact that she would be Lisa no-last-name the orphan forever. The headmistress of the orphanage, Ms. Shelton, came in the TV room, drawing Lisa's attention away from the television set.
"Lisa, I need to speak with you." Ms. Shelton said.
"Yes, ma'am." Lisa said compliantly, following Ms. Shelton into her office and taking a seat opposite the headmistress.
"Your 18th birthday is in a week. Do you know what you're going to do in the future?"
"Um…I don't know. I was hoping college, but seeing as I have no money…"
"You know what happens on your 18th birthday, don't you?"
"No ma'am, I don't."
"You become a legal adult. Your time as a ward of the state is through. You can live on your own."
"Wait, you mean, I have to leave?"
"I'm afraid so. But don't worry. I've gotten you a job in Los Angeles. You can work there and save up money for college. Also, I was able to get you a place to stay."
"But ma'am, how am I supposed to apply for college and get a job on my own if I don't even know my last name?"
"They'll understand. Until then, just make sure you keep the one I already got for you, alright? I know this is a lot to take in, but you have a week. You'll need to have all your things packed up by then."
"Yeah, cause I have so many…" Lisa said under her breath.
"What was that?" The headmistress asked.
"Nothing ma'am. I'll be sure to be ready to go." Lisa said. Ms. Shelton rose and opened to door to let Lisa out. Lisa was already starting to formulate a plan in her head. She was going to find her family. She knew they were out there. She knew they were looking for her. And now she would look for them.
A week later, with all Lisa's belongings packed in a small backpack, Ms. Shelton handed her the address to her new place to live, a little attic with barely enough room for a bed above a diner in Hollywood, where she was to work as a waitress. Ms. Shelton gave Lisa a hug (a first) and sent her on her way. Lisa left the gates of the orphanage waving to the smaller children that were waving back at her from the windows and calling out their goodbyes. Lisa continued down the sidewalk, all the while remembering her plan to find her family. She had no idea where to start. She silently asked God, or whoever was listening, for a sign. At that moment, her cell phone (part of the exit package from the orphanage) inexplicably fell out of her pocket and fell apart. She tried to fix it up as well as she could, but it needed more than just a simple putting back together. It wasn't turning on at all. She swore under her breath.
"Excuse me, sir, do you know of a good place where I could get my phone fixed? I'm kind of…new here, and my phone just went out." She asked a passerby.
"Sure. You'll want the Buy More. In Burbank. The bus has a stop right by it. Get on the green route."
"Thank you, sir." She told the passerby, and walked to the bus station. She sat down and looked at the small silver bracelet that had practically never left her wrist ever since she could remember. The person who gave me this must have loved me. She thought, and if I can find them, I can find my family. Her reverie was interrupted the loud screech of the brakes of the arriving bus.
She arrived at the Buy More and approached the Nerd Herd desk. A man with brown hair and brown eyes who seemed strangely familiar to Lisa turned around to help her.
"How can I help you?"
"Wait a minute, I know you…wait a minute, you were the guy in the TV special I was watching last week! They had a thing on cold cases, and they had a segment about your daughter. I mean, um…I'm sorry…" Lisa spiraled.
"I understand. It's hard to know what to say. My wife and I have been coping well with it though. So, what do you need?" He asked.
"Well, my cell phone is broken. It fell out of my pocket, and I was able to put it together, but I can't get it to turn on."
"Fell out of your pocket?"
"I know, weird, huh?" She said, handing the phone to Chuck, who turned around to work on it. Lisa's bangs had fallen out of place, and she used her hand to push them back into place. As the sunlight coming through the window hit her silver bracelet, it reflected the beam. This caught the attention of a certain Morgan Guillermo Grimes, manager of the Burbank Buy More, who recognized the bracelet immediately. His eyes grew big.
"Here you go, good as new." Chuck said, turning around to give the cell phone back to Lisa.
"Thanks. I hope you find your daughter."
"Thank you so much." Chuck said. Lisa walked away and Chuck got back to his work on the computer. Morgan approached the desk.
"Dude, how could you not see the bracelet?"
"What bracelet, Morgan?"
"The bracelet. The one you gave Sarah when that weird guy was holding everyone in the Buy More hostage. That girl was wearing it."
"That's ridiculous, Morgan. Lisa was wearing that the night she disappeared. It's gone. She is too."
"You have got to get over that. Maybe she's been out this the whole time, just trying to find her way back."
"Morgan, are you trying to say that girl is my missing daughter?"
"I'm not saying that, but I do think that if she's wearing that bracelet, maybe she knows something about it. And how old did she look anyway, hmm? About 18? How old would Lisa be now?"
"18…today would have been her birthday." Chuck said. Lisa, who had decided to start browsing the DVDs instead of instantly leaving, was beginning to walk toward the door.
"Well, if you're not going to say anything to her, I will." Morgan said, walking toward the girl, "Excuse me," He said to Lisa, "Where did you get that bracelet? My wife, Alex, has been wanting one of those for the longest time."
"Well, you're going to think I'm crazy, but I can't remember where I got it."
"My friend over there, his wife used to have a bracelet almost exactly like that one. She gave it to their daughter." He said, indicating Chuck.
"Wait a minute, him? The man whose daughter has been missing?" Lisa asked. Morgan nodded. "I think I should talk to him…" Lisa said, walking back up to the Nerd Herd desk. As she did, a tall blonde woman dressed in nice business attire walked past her. As the woman walked by, Lisa caught a sniff of the perfume she was wearing. She was instantly reminded of something, but the only problem was that she didn't know what. The smell was oddly familiar, but she couldn't place it. Then, as she walked up to the desk to talk to Chuck, she figured out who she was. The poor mother of the missing girl. Morgan walked up to the desk right next to Sarah, with Lisa in tow.
"Oh, Sarah, you're here too. Good. This is Chuck's wife, Sarah." Morgan said.
"Pleased to meet you." Lisa said, shaking Sarah's hand, "My name is Lisa." She added. The three adults looked at each other with wide eyes.
"Lisa, that's a pretty name. Are you named after somebody?" Sarah asked.
"I don't know. I know this sounds absurd, but I have no memory of anything that happened since before I was 8."
"Then how do you remember your name?" Chuck asked.
"It was embroidered, on the nightgown that I was found in. You see, I was found wandering the streets. The nightgown, unfortunately, got ripped to shreds by one of the nastier girls to pass through the orphanage. But, I still have this bracelet." She said, holding up the silver trinket, "I had it on when I was found as well."
"That was mine…" Sarah said, "I gave it to my daughter, the night she…" Sarah added. She couldn't finish the sentence. Her hand rose to cover her mouth. She gave Lisa a hug, Lisa all the while having a confused smile on her face. Had she finally found her family?
"Alright, I think we all agree that this is strange, and maybe I am your daughter, but I don't remember anything about you, anything about me, from when I was little." Lisa explained.
"I know how that feels," Sarah said, "I had an…episode like that too. Perhaps if you see something from your past, it'll bring back a memory."
"But the problem is, I don't know anything from my past." Said Lisa.
"Sarah, maybe if we take her back home…" Chuck suggested. Sarah nodded.
"Are you up for it?" Sarah asked Lisa.
"I set out to find my family. If this gets me any closer, than I'm good." Lisa said.
"Well then, shall we go?" Sarah said. All four of them exited the store and headed to Echo Park. Lisa rode with Sarah in her car, while Chuck and Morgan rode together in the Herder.
"So do you really think I'm your daughter?" Lisa asked.
"That would be the best situation for all involved, wouldn't it? You find your family and we finally have our little girl back."
"But what if it doesn't turn out that way? What if I'm just a random girl that happens to have your daughter's name and a bracelet that looks scarily like the one you gave your daughter?"
"We have nothing to lose. Our daughter has been missing for ten years. For ten years, I've been fearing the worst. We have no idea who could have kidnapped her, what his intentions were. He could have…I don't want to think about it." Sarah said, her eyes welling with tears, "No fear I've experienced or will experience will ever be equal to the fear I felt the first couple of days after she was missing. And believe me, I know scary situations."
"I haven't got anything to lose, either." Lisa said, "I've been a skinny little nobody for the past 11 years, and if this can help do anything to change that, if I can even have an inkling that I'm not alone in the world, that someone cares about me, it'll be worth it."
"Lisa, even if this doesn't work out and you don't remember anything, I promise, I will help you find your family. I know how it feels to be lost, without any memories. It was a…scary situation to say the least. I'm not proud of who I became for a while after that, but I can see that you're strong and confident. Even if I may not be your mother, I'm proud of you." Sarah said. Lisa began to tear up, but she turned so Sarah couldn't see. Lisa hoped from the bottom of her heart that this woman was her real mother.
Meanwhile, back in the Nerd Herder, Chuck and Morgan were having their own conversation.
"So do you really think this girl is your daughter?" Morgan asked.
"I sure hope so. It would be the best situation for all involved, I think. Do you think she's really my daughter."
"In all honesty, I would be surprised if she wasn't. I mean, what a coincidence, dude! That, and did you see how much she looked like Sarah? There has to be some genetic link there." Morgan noted.
"I guess so. Just to know that she's been okay all this time; that would be a big relief." Chuck said with a sigh.
They finally arrived at the apartment complex, and when they parked the car, Sarah noticed the small backpack that Lisa had been wearing around her shoulders this whole time.
"Oh, I should have asked you, where are the rest of your things? I mean, if you want to stay here for a while…" She said. Lisa looked at the ratty secondhand school bag she was carrying.
"Um…this is kind of…all of it. I mean, we don't really get out for shopping much at the orphanage, so…"
"I'm so sorry. I never should have asked that question." Sarah said.
"It's ok. I understand. Let's go." Lisa said, pressing on. When she entered the courtyard, her eyes got listy and she starting gazing around. She looked at the large fountain in the center of it all, and she hopped up and started on the edge of it.
"I think…I think…" She said hesitantly, "I think I remember this. I used to walk around the edge of this fountain. One time, dad came by and scared me and I fell right in!" Lisa finished. Sarah grabbed Chuck's hand and gripped it tightly.
"That's right. Lisa used to do that all the time. I remember Chuck carrying her in all wet. She…you…were shivering." Sarah said.
"I remember…there was another little girl…she laughed for a little bit, but then she helped me up out of the water."
"That would be Clara." Chuck said, "Cousin." He clarified. At that moment, as if on cue, a girl that looked only a couple of years older than Lisa stepped out of an apartment across the courtyard.
"I had to see if what I was hearing was true!" She said, "Wow…she does look like her, doesn't she?"
"She is her." Sarah said, looking at Lisa, "She remembered the fountain, and falling in." Clara yelped, and threw her arms around Lisa.
"Ooh, sorry, I forgot…you probably don't remember me. I'm Clara. Your cousin." She clarified. A couple exited the same apartment Clara had. The lady had long brunette hair and brown eyes, and the husband had blonde hair, blue eyes, and rock-hard abs.
"Oh my god. It really is her, isn't it?" Ellie said, upon inspecting Lisa closer. The Woodcombs had decided to move back to Burbank upon learning of their niece's disappearance to help in the search. As it had been ten years, they had given up almost all hope of finding the lost girl. But now that she was standing there, as plain as the noses on their faces, they had no idea what to say.
"Let's go inside. I want to show you something." Sarah said, taking Lisa's hand. She led her inside the apartment, and more specifically, to a door that had been closed for 11 years. The Bartowskis and the Woodcombs all gathered around the door.
"Is this…my room?" Lisa asked. Chuck nodded.
"We haven't been inside ever since you went missing. We couldn't bear to even think that you weren't going to be coming back. Then, you know, we decided to keep it as a sort of…memorial. But you're here now, so go ahead and open the door." Chuck said. Lisa sighed, then put her hand on the knob. She turned it and opened the door with the creak of 11 years of disuse. She walked inside. A fine layer of dust covered everything, and as she walked around, she brushed dust off of different objects that were typical in a little girl's room: Disney princess dolls, storybooks on the bookshelf, even a small gilded music box. However commonplace these things may have seemed, they seemed like echoes of a distant past to Lisa. Lisa paused when she saw the storybook that was still sitting on the night table. She brushed the dust off of it, and read the title: Hansel and Gretel.
"Their feet still knew the way home…" She recited. She began to cry. After eleven years of hoping and wishing, she had finally found her family.