I gasp. Helen again! Now I’m sure that Mr. Raunch, Gillian Gordon, and Helen are up to something bad—and have some connection to my sister’s disappearance. But who would leave this dead giveaway in my room? It looks as though it were deliberately put there. I count the people who could’ve left it… and it amounts to forty-nine: all the students and staff in my school, minus me. How am I supposed to narrow that down?
Elle looks up from her book. “What’s going on, Kate?” she asks.
“It’s this—a dead giveaway to who kidnapped Lily.”
“Lily?”
“My sister,” I correct. Elle and Meg still don’t really know Lily’s name. I walk over and show her the picture. “See, when I was at MS #3, I heard Mr. Raunch, the principal, and Miss Gordon, the vice-principal talking in secret. They basically said that they were both there for one reason only, talked about ‘What Helen found’—no clue what that is—and Mr. Raunch sent Miss Gordon to hide some files. But Helen—she just keeps popping up, and I’m pretty sure the three of them come in a package deal.”
Elle takes the picture from my hand and looks at it. Her brows furrow, and her small smile flips upside-down. She pushes a lock of her slightly wavy blonde hair out of her face, and squints at it some more; trying to identify clues from it. Finally, she speaks. “Bait… wait, this is you and, um—“
“Lily.” I supply.
“Lily, right?” she repeats. I nod. “Wow, you guys really are identical… hmmm… Well, by bait, that probably means someone wants to lure you somewhere using Lily—that’s probably the only reason they kidnapped her, in fact, because they knew you’d be too hard—and from this it looks like they want to use you for one of Helen’s experiments, but you’re right, it is a dead giveaway. It wasn’t ripped or anything?” I shake my head. “Well, then, I think someone left it here on purpose—so you’d come to Lily’s aid more quickly and they could use you sooner.”
“Any advice?” I ask. Elle’s the person to go to for a good answer to any question.
“Don’t go. They only want you. Sydney, Meg and I can get Lily out without you being taken. You can work behind the scenes.”
“So you mean I can be the handler! Great! I’ll take her while you distract them.” I know Elle won’t buy this, but I’m just playing for time until I can think of a good reason to be able to rescue Lily. Maybe she’s doing it for my own good, and deep down I know she’s right, but this is the mission I ran a mile for, I didn’t do well on the last one for, the mission I’ve wanted since I was eight.
“No! I mean you can look stuff up for us, and change our appearances and everything!” Elle says heatedly.
“I can’t. I have to help her—I have to make it up to her.”
I can tell Elle’s about to fight about keeping me safe, but this answer catches her off guard. “Quoi?” she asks. (“What?”)
Although I initially said something about helping Lily without thinking, I realize that the best way to convince Elle I should go is by telling the truth. “You’re going to think this is stupid… When I got the invitation to go here, Lily and I fought. She was mad that I got in here and she didn’t. After a while, she got over it. But then, when I left, she got angry all over again. I haven’t seen or emailed with her since, and my brother and parents try to avoid her in their emails, for some reason. Ever since, I’ve wanted to do something for her, to show her I still care. And I’ve never had that chance till now.”
Elle doesn’t laugh. “No, it makes sense. I’d want to do the same thing, but still…” she trails off, as if between decisions.
“I’ll take the risk.” I decide.
Elle stands up, truly desperate now. “I know you want to go, Kate, but you can’t! It’s too dangerous. I know this is against protocol, but someone’s after you, I’m sure of it! They’ve kidnapped Lily to lead you somewhere!” She’s practically shouting now, and I’m surprised that Sydney and Meg are still deep asleep.
I’m about to say something when Meg rolls onto her back in her sleep and mumbles, “Kate, go get lih… go, go… get…” I pointedly stare at Meg, which usually makes her crack, but she seems to be sleep talking. “I’m going.” I say firmly. Elle gives up, and curses in French to herself. (French is her native language. She moved to New York City when she was seven. Sometimes she slips and starts talking in French, but we don’t mind, because we all learn four languages: French, Spanish, Mandarin and Italian. Oh, and English backwards—great code use, and really hard to break.)
Elle walks to her bed, reopens her French mystery, and starts to read. Meg is still in what looks like an intense dream, as is Sydney. I walk to my bed and fall asleep almost instantly, hardly able to wait for the morning.
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A/N: Sorry i haven't updated for so long!!!! I know this chapter isn't that exciting, but it gets a lot better soon... *evil laugh*... :) Please comment and vote!!! I'll update when I get 5 votes.
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The Traitor, the Kidnapped, and Me (Editing)
Mystery / ThrillerWhen Kate found out that her long-lost twin Lily was missing, she took it upon herself to solve the case. But mysterious happenings have been occurring in Kate's life ever since she made this decision. Can Kate save Lily? And if so, can she save her...
