I slowly awoke to see Conner’s bare chest in front of me. I looked up to his face to see he was still asleep so I tried to get out of bed but yelped when he grabbed me, “Where do you think you’re going?” He asked with a playful smile as he pulled my naked body back against his.
“I’ve got to go, Conner.”
“What?”
“I’ve got to see my mom.”
He sat up suddenly, “I still have no idea about your past, Rory. I’ve known you for almost all of my life and you know everything about me, but I know nothing about you,” He whispered and then kissed my shoulder, “How did your mother die?”
I sighed, “She was shot in the back of the head by her husband.”
“Your dad shot her?” He asked and I shook my head.
“No, her husband did. My dad was probably off with his real kids and wife.”
“So your parents were both married to other people and had an affair?” He asked and I nodded, “So do you talk to your dad?”
I shook my head, “He died in a car accident last week and I went to his funeral a few days ago. I finally got to see who his real family was,” I replied as I slipped on my clothes from the day before. I walked over to him, kissed his cheek, and smiled, “Call my cell so we can set up our next date, alright?” I asked and he nodded.
“I’ll call you later today.” He said as I left his bedroom. I went out of his condo and down the stairs of the complex. I got to my car and drove over to my mother’s grave. She was buried next to her husband who had committed suicide a few years back. I leaned against a weeping willow near her grave and took the envelope out of my jacket pocket and opened it. It said:
Dear Aurora, If you are reading this I have met my fate. You know the circumstances of my family situation and I hope you understand why I had Robert give this to you. I know you may hate me for what I did to you and your mother because of my foolish acts of the past and I regret everything I have made you go through every day. But, you are my first born child and as such you have been given the responsibility I had to uphold my entire life. You are to help out Robert with his family because only the first born of my family is passed a trait to be able to feel other’s emotions. You see, Robert’s family is isolated from the rest of the world except for you and me. When they are born they are provided the ability to read other’s minds, but this skill is very difficult to control in a typical environment so they must be isolated until they are of age to be married. Then they are to marry and whomever they decide to marry must come live in this isolated environment with them. You are to help connect this family to the regular world without truly connecting them. You must help them in any way they need and help the children of this house slowly learn to control their skills. I know you owe me nothing in life, but this is your duty as my daughter and you must help these people or they will die.
I looked to my mother’s grave, “You had an affair with a psychotic man, Rebecca,” I said with a sigh as I pulled my fingers through my hair, “A psychotic, psychotic man.” I went to my car and got in. I drove to my home and quickly went up to my apartment. I took a shower and as I was getting out my cell phone rang. I quickly picked it up as my body was covered with a robe and I was using my towel to dry my hair, “Rory Justice.”
“Aurora, have you read your father’s letter yet?” The older man from the funeral asked and I felt myself freeze. How did he know that?
“Um, yea. I just read it this morning. But, how did you know that?”
I heard him smile, “I am telepathic, Aurora. I can certainly tell when you read that letter. So I thought you could come have lunch with me today so I could explain it to you better. Are you free at noon?”
“Um, I think so.”
“Great. My house address in on the card I gave you. I’ll see you in two hours.” He said and then hung up the phone. I ended the call and just stared at the phone. So my old man wasn’t crazy? He was serious about this who telepathic thing? Luckily all I had planned for lunch was house work, but I could do that later, so I went into the bathroom and blow-dried my hair. When I was done I put on a nice pair of dark colored jeans, a loose collared black tank top, a sliver locket necklace, a pair of silver high heels, and a black blazer jacket. I grabbed my black clutch with my phone in it and left my apartment. I went down to my car, pulled out my GPS, took out Robert’s card, typed in the address, and pressed go. The GPS said I had to go towards Virginia for almost an hour and led me to a small town, but did not stop there. It kept going till I reached a long, uninhabited road. I drove down it for twenty minutes, but still the GPS said to keep going and I had not seen a house in more than 12 miles. Then the road turned to a gravel and dirt road which sent my car bouncing and hopping like a deranged animal as I tried to stay on the path. On either side were only trees that seemed to never stop. Finally a clearing of grass came into view, but I was supposed to keep going. The grassy area slowly turned into an orchard that went on for almost two miles and then turned back to grass land. Suddenly the grass turned into that you would find on a person’s yard. A very deep, rich color of green on the grass gave me hope that there would be a house soon, but it did not come for almost 10 minutes. When I did reach the end of the road I finally saw the house. The road ended in a roundabout that went around a small area of grass that had a birdbath in the middle. The house was at least four stories and did not stop until it hit the tree line about two miles on either side of the road. The house seemed bigger than anything I imagined to find, but at the same time reminded me of something I would love to have as my own. The house was made of brick and white siding with six large white pillars in the front that held a balcony that came out past the front door and the cement staircase to get to it. Bushes surrounded the house while trees that seemed to have a certain purpose were scattered in the large area of grass in the front of the house. Birds were singing in the trees nearby while the sun lit up the area. I decided it was rude to just stare at the house from my car so I tuned it off and got out. I walked up the cement staircase while holding onto the black metal railing till I reached the front porch. Of course it had the perfect two person swing off to the side to match the perfect dream house I could easily see as a movie backdrop. I knocked on the door with a brass knocker and was shocked when a butler in old fashion clothing opened the door. The man with glasses looked to me, but then seemed to loosen with understanding of some kind as if he knew who I was.
“May I help you?” The man asked me and I felt myself tense.
“Um, I’m here to see Mr. Robert.” I replied and then man opened the door wider.
“Please come in, Miss Aurora,” the butler said and I quickly walked in. He shut the door behind me and I felt cool air hit my body, but was surprised when I saw a little girl run past an open doorway in front of me. All I could see of the house was the open doorway and a rich wooden staircase to the right, “Please follow me. Sir Robert is waiting for you in on the deck,” The butler said and I followed him as he went through the open doorway. There was a living room with walls covered in books that we went through, but I followed as he went out another opening to the room. I followed the butler through a marble and stainless steel filled kitchen that should have been on a cover for a cooking magazine and then went out a door he held open for me. A small wooden deck covered with a screen to keep out bugs that held a small metal table with beautiful chairs came into view as I finally saw Robert. He sat at the small four person table that was set up like a restaurant for lunch. He stood and I noticed how slim he was.
“Ah, Aurora. I’m so glad to see you,” He said with a smile as he pulled out a chair, “Please sit,” He insisted, so I did. He looked to the butler, “Erick, please get the salads,” he said with a kind smile and then sat back down in his seat, “Was your drive long?”
“Not too terribly.”
“Good, good. So I hear you go to MIT?”
“Did your son tell you that?”
“Yes,” He said with a smile, “So how old are you now, Aurora? I believe you were only a few months old the last time we met.”
“I turned 18 last June.”
“So you are almost 19?” he asked and I nodded, “What year are you in college?”
“Senior.”
“Wow, a senior in college at age 18. That is certainly something,” He said with a smile, “So you created Justice Corp. when you were 16, correct?”
I nodded, “Yes.”
“Did you create it by yourself?”
I shook my head, “My friend James helped me. He is now my vice-president.”
“Oh is James also your age?”
I let out a slight laugh, “No, I do not generally associate with people my own age. They are a little too immature for me. James is almost 26. He was kind of like a brother to me when we both grew up in an orphanage together.”
“How long were you in that orphanage?”
“Till I was 15 and James adopted me. Then I made money by fixing computers with James so we could live in a place other than the orphanage. By the time I was 16 my invention became well known and then Justice Corp. took off from there. James is now engaged and lives a few miles from me.”
“So you live by yourself?”
I nodded, “For most of my life I have. Even if I had James I’ve always been very self-sufficient so I don’t really need another person with me.”
“So you were never adopted? But you were so smart.”
I sighed, “I was determined that if I became famous enough that my real parents would come find me. I thought that if I was rich they would accept me, but by the time I finally reached a high standing in the world I found out the truth from Henry.”
“Were you disappointed?”
I looked to Robert, “No, somewhere in the back of my mind I think I always knew they did not want me and no matter how well I did in the world they would never want me.”
“I think Henry always wanted you to be his child.”
I looked away from him, “No, his letter just proved my suspicions. The only reason he finally found me was because he wanted something from me. Just like everyone else, he wants something from me,” I whispered but then looked to him, “And that is what you want also.”
He shook his head, “No, I don’t want anything from you, Aurora. I just think you will be happier living here than in the real world. We will treasure you here like no one ever can because we understand you. You are different than anyone else and we are the only people who will fully accept you for such,” He replied but then looked to the butler as he set a salad in front of both of us, “Henry told me that the two times you met with him that you ordered a salad so I thought you might enjoy one.” He said kindly and I felt something tear inside me. He cared enough about me to put thought into this meal? I had never had someone do something so small but so kind towards me. I started eating the chicken and vegetable salad as he watched me with pleasure.
“So how many people live here with you, Mr. Robert?”
“Please, call me Robert,” He replied, “There are 16 of us living here excluding Erick. “
“Do all 16 of you have telepathic abilities?”
He shook his head, “My younger brother’s wife is not telepathic.”
“Oh, then why does she stay here?”
“She is married to my brother. She stays here to be with him and their children that are telepathic that would have trouble living somewhere else,” He explained but turned as a girl a few years older than me stopped in the doorway.
“Oh sorry, Uncle! I did not know you had company over!” She said with a smile. Her white hair was tied back in a braid that went to her hips and her green eyes flashed towards me as I realized I was staring at the girl wearing riding cloths.
“It is alright Juliet,” He said as he turned to me, “Aurora, this is my niece Juliet. She is my younger brother’s middle child. Juliet, this is Aurora Justice. She is Henry’s daughter.”
“Oh, it is very nice to meet you, Miss Aurora!” She said kindly and then suddenly frowned, “Wait…are you the girl Nathan has been thinking of all day?” She said in almost a growl that made me flinch.
“Who is Nathan?” I asked Robert who turned towards me.
“My son, the one who is in college with you.”
I looked to the girl, “Well we have a few classes together in college, but I doubt he is thinking of me.” I said and she stared at me.
“You are a reader.” She said and I looked to Robert.
“Yes, she is, Juliet. She is Henry’s first born child. Now run along and please act nicely towards Aurora,” He said and the girl quickly went back into the house. Robert turned back to me, “I’m sorry about Juliet. She gets very jealous.”
“It’s alright,” I said with a nod, “How old is she?”
“Twenty. She still has yet to control her telepathic abilities enough to leave this house so she is still not out in the world trying to find a husband.”
“But Nathan is already looking for someone to marry, right? That is why he is at college. He is trying to find a woman to marry.”
“You make it sound like he just finds the first woman he can get his hands on and then drags her back here.”
“No, I mean he’s dating.”
He shook his head, “People who are telepathic have the ability to connect with their soul mate and will not settle for anyone else to marry. He is still trying to find his soul mate.”
“Oh,” I said but quickly picked up my phone when it started to ring, “Rory Justice.”
“Hey Rory, it’s me.”
“Hey James.”
“So have you decided what you are going to do about that company?”
“I’m going to meet with the son of the company’s owner Monday.”
“Okay, because the father is very persistent on calling me.”
“Well at least we know they really want this and they won’t back out,” I said and he grunted in agreement, “Well I have to go so I’ll see you on Monday.”
“See you Monday.” He said and then hung up. I looked to Robert who smiled.
“Sorry about that. James and I are trying to figure out our schedule for next week,” I said and then took another mouthful of salad, “how many children do you have, Robert?”
“Five.”
“And is your wife telepathic?”
He shook his head, “She died a few years ago and she was just a regular person,” He replied, “But my eldest daughter married a telepathic boy from Russia.”
“How many people are telepathic?”
“No even 50 exist in the entire world. It was just a coincidence that my daughter’s soul mate happened to also be telepathic,” He said, “How much time can you stay here, Aurora? I would like to show you a lot of things but I first need to know how much time I have.”
“I can stay till tonight if need be.”
“Excellent!” He said with a smile and then stood, “First I shall introduce you to my brother. He was close with your father also.” He said and I stood.
“Alright.” I replied kindly. He took my hand in his in a way a father would hold his daughter’s hand and then led me through the other door of the deck. We were presented with a large, open field of the dark green grass like that in the front of the house. There was a small porch in the middle of the yard that was in the shape of a hexagon. Two young girls were running in the yard as a man and woman watched them from the shade of the small porch. The taller of the two girls had short white hair that went to her shoulders and the smaller girl had her short white hair in pigtails off to either side of her head. They both stopped when they heard us walking up and then their faces turned to smiles.
“Uncle!” They called as they ran over to Robert with their arms open wide. He knelt down to the ground and embraced the two girls as they squealed with joy. I watched with surprise. I had never been this close to such happy family members other than seeing this kind of thing in the movies. It was nice to see and I was happy for these girls.
“Lily, Debbie. This is Aurora,” Robert said as he stood beside me, “She is Henry’s daughter.” He explained and they smiled towards me.
“Hello!” They said together and I was surprised. These girls lived in isolation yet they acted so nicely to me.
“It’s nice to meet you Lily and Debbie.” I said but then looked up as the two adults in the porch walked over to us. The woman had on a long pink dress while the wind whipped around her. She had caramel colored skin that seemed odd next to all of these extremely pale people. Her straight black hair was in a bun in the back of her head, but her smile captivated me. The man who held her hand was just like the rest of them. White hair, emerald green eyes, and pale skin, but had a sweet smile like his wife.
“I did not know Henry’s daughter would be coming to visit us today.” The man said in a deeper voice than I expected.
Robert nodded, “I set it up this morning.”
“It is nice to finally meet you, Aurora. I am William, Robert’s brother.” He said kindly and I shook his hand as he held it out to me.
“It is nice to meet both of you.” I said kindly and then shook the woman’s hand.
“I am Julie,” She said with a smile, “But you look familiar…”
Robert n0dded, “Aurora is actually fairly famous.”
“Oh?” The woman asked me and I nodded.
“I created Justice Corp. It is a leading computer company in the country.”
“You created a company? You do not look even old enough to be in college!” The woman said with a smile and I nodded.
“I am actually a senior in college, but am 18.”
“My! You must be very smart to be a senior in college at only 18 and to have your own company! We actually own a computer from your company.”
“You do? Which one?”
“It was the first one that was created by your company, but it seems to have stopped working.” She replied and I looked to her.
“Well, if you don’t mind, could I look at your computer?” I asked and she nodded.
“Follow me!” She said with a smile and then took my hand in hers. She led me back inside through another door and then up a staircase to a hall. She stopped at the second door on the right to show a study with three computers in it. She brought me over to the second computer and pressed the power button. An odd screen came up and she turned to me, “This screen comes up every time we turn it on and it will not go away.”
“Could I sit?” I asked and she nodded. I took the seat near me and then looked at the screen. I read the message and then typed in a few number sequences. The computer made a dinging noise and then the normal screen came up, “There, it should work fine now.”
“That’s amazing!” She exclaimed, “How did you know what to do?”
“I created this computer model when I was 15 so I know just about everything there is to know about it.” I replied and she smiled.
“You certainly are something, Aurora. Robert was right.” She said as she turned to him.
“I told you she was special,” He said with a smile as he came over to me, “Let us go meet a few others in the house, Aurora,” He insisted and I nodded. I followed him up another staircase and we went into another living room, but this one did not have book covered walls. Four people sat on the couch watching the TV on the opposite part of the room. They looked up when we came into the room, but smiled towards Robert.
“Good afternoon, dad.” The older girl of the group said sweetly to Robert. There were three girls, two at about 15 years old and the one that talked who was about 25. The white haired green eyed man latched onto her I assumed was the Russian telepathic son-in-law of Robert.
“Sapphire, this is Aurora Justice. She is Henry’s oldest child.”
The girl gave me a knowing look, “Ah, the girl that made Juliet envious.” She said with a smile and then came towards me with her husband close behind.
“It’s nice to meet you.” I said with a smile.
“Same here,” She said and then gestured towards the man at her side, “This is my husband Vladimir, and these are my two twin sisters Hannah and Danna.”
“Pleasure,” The twin girls said together, “You should go say hello to Nathan. He was very excited when he found out you were here.”
“Actually there is something Aurora and I have to do so we shall see all of you at dinner.” He said and then walked away. I followed close behind him as we went back downstairs to the main level and went outside.
“So Robert, why are you introducing me to all these people?”
“Well if you are to live here you must know who you are living with.”
“Living here? Why would I live here?”
He stopped walking and turned to me, “So you can help me get these children ready for the real world.” He replied and I felt anger fill me.
“I can’t live here, Robert.”
“Well of course you can,” He replied with a smile, “We have your own room made for you and everything.”
“But I have a job, Robert. I can’t just drop everything I have made in order to help you. I’m fine with coming by every once in a while to help out, but I have to go to college and run Justice Corp,” I replied, “I did not sign up to be Henry’s first born so I don’t need to do this.”
“But it is your duty to stay here, Aurora.”
I took a few steps back, “I can’t do that, Robert,” I replied and then quickly looked away, “I’m sorry. I need to go.” I quickly walked back into the house. I made my way towards the back deck as I heard Robert quickly following.
“Please rethink this, Aurora,” he begged as I grabbed my clutch purse off the table. I shook my head as I went past him but was shocked when he grabbed my arm, “We need you, Aurora! We can only be helped by you!” I shoved him away from me and quickly went out of the house but was shocked when he grabbed me once again, but this time he grabbed both arms. I quickly whipped around towards him, “I can’t let you leave without knowing you will come back!” He demanded and I wanted James to save me.
“Father!” I heard someone yell and turned to see Nathan quickly coming over towards us, “What are you doing to Aurora?” He demanded and his father seemed to tense.
“This is none of your business, Nathan. Go back inside.” He hissed and Nathan seemed to increase with anger.
“It certainly is my business, Father.” He hissed back and then slapped his father’s hands that held me. I quickly took a few steps away and fixed my shirt.
“Aurora, please! I’m begging you! Think of the children you met today!” Robert said as he came closer but I quickly took a few steps away.
“You said you didn’t want anything from me! What happened to that? The only reason I even considered coming here was because I thought you might be different from Henry, but you are the exact same!” I hissed and then quickly walked over to my car but stopped when Nathan ran in front of me.
“Aurora, please wait a minute.” He pleaded and I looked away from him as my phone rang. I quickly picked it up.
“Rory Justice.” I said as I wiped a tear away from my face as it fell.
“What’s the matter, Rory? You seem upset.”
Conner’s voice was like a sweet melody, “Hey Conner. Nothing’s the matter! I’m fine.”
“Okay, well I was wondering if you were free for tomorrow.”
“Yea, I’m free tomorrow. What do you have in mind?”
“I thought we could go to lunch.”
“Alright, I’ll meet you for lunch tomorrow. Bye,” I said and then hung up the phone. I wiped another tear away from my face as it fell before I looked to Robert, “The minute my old man’s coffin hit the bottom of that hole yesterday is where my association with you ended, Robert. Rebecca and Henry did not want anything to do with me and I don’t want anything to do with them,” I crossed my arms across my chest, “I have James, my company, and my boyfriend so I certainly do not need the life my father wanted me to have. As I said to you before, I owe him nothing but hate. And I certainly don’t owe you anything,” I quickly looked away from both of them, “Now if you will excuse me, I need to leave.” I said and then quickly got into my car. I turned on the car and then quickly drove off.

I left the office on Monday at 11:30 in order to make it to the restaurant I was meeting Justin Simmons at by noon. When I got there I was surprised to see he was already sitting at a table. I
walked over and smiled towards him, “Good afternoon, Justin.” I said kindly as I sat across from him at the booth.
“Good afternoon, Rory. Thanks for meeting with me.”
“It’s my pleasure, so you said on the message you left at my office that you were going to bring a prototype of the new computer?” I asked and he quickly pulled a thin laptop out from next to him. He handed it to me and I used it for a few moments. I looked up to him afterwards and smiled, “This is a really good idea, Justin. I’m really impressed.”
“So do you think you could work side by side with my father?” He asked with a smile, “I really think it will be a good thing for both companies if they join together.”
“I do too,” I said with a smile, “After we eat how about you come with me to my company and we can sign the contracts?” I said and his smile broadened.
“Definitely,” He said and then started eating the sandwich he had ordered. As always I had a salad, but once he and I were done with our meals Justin paid for them. He led me outside but then suddenly stopped, “I walked over to here from work so we will have to walk over to my work place in order to get my car.”
I shook my head, “We can take my car and then I can have my helicopter take you back to your company so you don’t have to move your car.” I said and he nodded. I led him over to my red jeep and got in. When he buckled his seatbelt I backed out and started on the interstate towards my Justice Corp. office.
“I never expected you to drive such an older looking car, Rory. You are one of the richest people alive so you should be riding in some type of sports car.” He commented and I smiled towards him with a nod.
“You are not the first person to comment on this old car, but I enjoy my Jeep. I built it when I was 14 so I know exactly how it works and I don’t really trust anyone making a car for me. Especially fancy foreign sports cars,” I replied, “But it is just the same with my computers. I will never use a computer that was made by anyone but me.”
“So you personally put together this car?”
I nodded, “Mostly. I mean things like the engine were already assembled, but the rest I pretty much did.”
“How did you know how to make a car?”
I smiled towards him, “Just the same way as I learned how to my computers. I took apart ones that were not working anymore and learned them inside out,” I replied and then pulled off the interstate. I pulled into the parking lot for the Justice Corp. building and stopped my car in my designated spot, “We’re here.” I said as I opened my door. I hopped out and so did Justin. He followed me into the building and the young girl behind the desk shot up.
“Good Afternoon President Justice!” She said with flushed cheeks.
I nodded towards her, “Good afternoon.” I replied and then led Justin over to the elevator where the elevator operator tipped his hat towards me and then pressed the button for the top level. When the doors to the elevator closed I looked to the doorman.
“The vice President just stepped out for lunch not even ten minutes ago.” He informed me and I nodded. The door opened and I walked out. Justin quickly followed me as I went over to my desk. I pressed the button that was blinking on my desk phone.
“Rory Justice.” I said as I pointed to a seat as I looked to Justin. He sat down in the seat and watched me as I listened to the phone.
“Hey Rory, It’s Peter.”
“Hey Peter, what can I do for you?”
“I was upstairs in your office while you were at lunch and this older man came by. He insisted on talking to you immediately and when I told him you were out he asked where you were. I thought you probably did not want him to know so I said I could not tell him. He then insisted to stay till you got back here so I brought him down to my office with me just in case you did not want him to be waiting in your office.”
“An older man? Does he have white hair and green eyes?”
“Yea, I think he said his name was Robert.”
I let out a sigh, “Send him up here. I’ll have him wait up here till I am done dealing with a representative of another company.”
“Alright.” He said and I hung up the phone. I dialed a number for the front desk.
“How can I help you President Justice?”
“Could you please get my helicopter ready to go within the next 30 minutes?”
“Yes.” She said and I hung up. I smiled towards Justin.
“Sorry about that.”
“It’s perfectly fine.”
“Let me get out the contracts my lawyer made up for me over the weekend,” I said as I went to a filing cabinet on the side of my desk. I started through the files the elevator opened and Robert quickly walked towards me, but stopped when he saw Justin.
“The man downstairs did not say you were dealing with business.”
I looked up to him, “Well you interrupted me during my work, Mr. Robert, so this is expected. You need to wait until I am done with this before we can talk.”
“I came all this way and have been waiting for an hour, Aurora. Can you not make time to see me now?” He asked and I slammed the filing cabinet closed which made him jump.
“Mr. Robert,” I hissed, “I do not understand why you are patronizing me. I thought I made myself clear yesterday when I said I could not do as you asked of me. I’m sorry if that is not what you wanted to hear from me, but that is the way it is,” I placed my pile of papers in front of Justin and then looked back to Robert, “I do not owe you or my damned father anything so I do not have to treat you with respect in my office like I did at your home. If you cannot wait till I am done here then please leave or I will have security remove you.”
“Fine, Aurora. I shall wait over here.” He said and then took a seat by James’s desk. I turned to Justin.
“Sorry about that. Now, let’s get back to signing this contract,” I said and then flipped through the papers, “I need you initial here…signature here…printed name here….and signature here,” I said as I moved my finger to point exactly where he needed to write. I then closed the papers, “Alright. Then tomorrow I will meet with your father and have him sign his portion of the contract and we will have ourselves an agreement.” I said and he stood. He shook my hand with excitement.
“Thank you for this opportunity, Rory,” He said sweetly, “Well I should let you get to other matters…” He added and I nodded.
“Take the staircase over there to the helicopter on the roof. It will take you to your father’s company,” I said and he nodded. He walked over to the stairs and was gone within a few moments. I put the papers back into its spot in the filing cabinet and then sat down at my desk, “Alright Mr. Robert. Now I can deal with you.”
He walked over slowly and sat in the chair Justin had been using that was on the opposite side of my desk, “When you left so quickly yesterday I did not get a chance to give you this,” He pulled a bracelet out of his pocket that was sterling silver, “This was Henry’s mother’s bracelet. If the eldest born of each generation is a woman she receives this bracelet and if it is a man he receives a watch. Since Henry was a man he did not receive his mother’s bracelet so I was asked to keep it in order to give it to you.”
I took it from him and then looked back to him, “What is the point of this bracelet? Is it a family heirloom or something?”
He shook his head, “No, it will finally give you your special ability that makes you closer related to us.”
“Who do you mean by ‘us’?”
“Everyone who is telepathic.”
“This bracelet will make me telepathic?”
He shook his head, “Certainly not. It will give you an ability only you can receive. If I put this bracelet on nothing would change, but when Henry first tried his watch on he told me that he could see a color outline around every animal near him. He also said that the color of this ‘aura’ type thing changed with the animal’s mood. This is a way that you can tell how someone is feeling without talking to them or how to know what they are feeling even if they do not express it. It is almost like what we telepathic people can do. We can tell what someone is thinking and feeling, but we hear it in words instead of colors,” He gestured towards the bracelet, “Please, try it on.” I looked to him and then back to the bracelet. I slipped it onto my left wrist and instantly my eyes stung. I rubbed them with the backs of my hands until the stinging finally stopped. I looked to Robert and a rim of brown went around his entire being that was not even 10 inches thick.
“Brown,” I whispered, “What does brown mean?” I asked as I looked to him.
He handed me a piece of paper, “This was from your father’s personal journal that explained what each color represents.”
-Black: Mysterious, Intense, Serious, Excited, Fierce, Energetic, Stormy, Overworked, Stressed, Hurt, Tensed, Angered, Down/Dread
-Brown: Anticipation, Heated Emotions, Adaptive, Random Thinking, Rising Energies, Bold, Reactive, Rebellious, Volatile, Jitters, Nervous, Troubled, Worried, Fear
-Red: Love, Passion, Fiery, Allured, Aroused, Awestruck, Thrilled, Active, Adventurous, Excited, Anxious, Insecure, Harassed, Stressed, Angered, Tensed, Alarmed, Fearful
-Orange-Red: Evocative, Exploring, Emotionally Volatile, Strange Ambience, Tormented, Apprehensive, Turbulent Mood Shifts, Overwrought, Vexed, Aggressive, Exasperated
-Orange: Thinking, Searching, Busy, Stimulating Ideas, Excited, Daring Wants, On Edge, Eeriness, Deja Vu, Disturbed, Worried, Guilty Feelings, Impatient, Angst, Annoyed
-Yellow-Orange: Moods Mixed; Bittersweet, Enflamed Passion, Sincere, Concerned, Endearing/Emotional, Indignant, Challenged, Cool, Aloof, Confused, A Little Nervous, Anxious, Upset
-Yellow: Mixed Emotions; Many Thoughts, Ok Feeling, Fair, Just-So, Vague/Coy, Intent, Distracted, Imaginative, Cautious, Disquieted, Unsettled, Wary, Strained, Tensed, Foreboding
-Green-Yellow: Emotions Mixed; Simmering, Enkindled Romance, Hopeful, Restless, Expectant/Excitable, Contrary, Irritated, Troubled, Uneasy, Worried, Distressed, Gloom, Fear
-Green: Average Reading; Normal, Neutral, No Great Stress, Good, Calm, Easily Amused, Alert, Involved, Sensitive, Tender, Ambivalent, Inner Disquiet, Envy, Jealousy
-Blue-Green: Normal, Receiving, Easygoing, Inner Emotions Charged, Somewhat Relaxed, Enthusiastic, Stimulated, Pretentious, Flirtatious, Surprised, Puzzled
-Blue: Happy, Relaxed, At Ease, Calm, Cool, Approachable, Optimistic, Lively, Joyful, Coasting, Peaceful, Contented, Pleasant, Near Bliss, Moonstruck, Warm, Giving, Lovable
-Indigo/Dark Blue: Ecstasy, Truly Happy, Deeply Relaxed, Inner Harmony, Tranquility, Joyful, Bliss, Highly Passionate, Lovestruck, Very Romantic, Aglow, In Love, Sublime
-Violet: In Love, Romance, Heat, Passion, Sensual, Elated, Revitalized, Happy, Relaxed, Creative, Deep Thought, Keen, Intrigue, Mystical, Impulsive, Mischievous, Irked, Moody
-Red-Violet: Upheaval, Violent Love, Aflame, Romantic, Emotionally Peaking, Moodier Passion, Overwhelmed, Infuriated, Over The Edge, Surging Energies, Ballistic, Unhappy, Despair
-Pink: Loving, Affectionate, Warmth, Happy, Mellow, Alright, Calmed, At Rest, Cool, Thoughtful, Reflection, Curious, Uncertain, Mystified, Fear, Wonder, Enchanted, Infatuated
-White: Meditative, Philosophical, Constant, Temperate, Cooled, Settled, Restrained, Indifferent, Bored, Unenthusiastic, Confused, Frustrated, Strained, Stunned/Shocked
-Gray: Neutral; At Rest, Cool, Little Emotion, Inhibited, Aloof, Unconcerned, Sullen, Tired, Saddened, Depressed, Paranoid, Worried, Pessimistic, Very Nervous, Angst/Afraid
I looked back to Robert again, “Why are you giving this to me?”
He smiled slightly, “To prove that you were right. I do want something from you, but it is not something like money or resources. I just want you to be accepted and happy. And I think the best place for you to be accepted and happy is with us,” He stood and lost his smile, “Even if you decide to not come live with us, please talk to Nathan. He is very concerned about you and refuses to talk to me now. Well, I shall go,” He walked away, but then stopped. He turned to me, “And Aurora, I just want you to know one thing. I will always love you like a daughter regardless of what you choose. I personally would love to have you live with us at my home, but if you do not I will still love you.” I watched as he walked to the elevator and then disappeared behind the closing doors. I examined the bracelet for a few minutes, but looked up as the doors to the elevator opened. James walked over to me with a frown.
“Who was that old man?” He asked with concern and I sighed.
“My dad’s friend.”
“Your dad’s friend? When did you come into contact with your dad?” He asked with surprise as he sat down across from me. He had a ring of yellow and orange that repeatedly switched around him just as Henry’s journal notes said it would.
“A few months ago, but he passed away two weeks ago. When I told you my friend’s daughter fell off her bike and went to the hospital and that I was helping her, it was a lie. I was actually at my dad’s funeral.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
I sighed, “Because I didn’t want to worry you. I mean I barely knew the man and I thought that since he had died there was no point in telling you, but then his friend Robert came to talk to me.”
“What did he want from you?”
I sighed, “He wants me to become part of his family.”
“What? Why?”
I shrugged my shoulders, “I’m not entirely sure about that myself and I’m still trying to figure it out,” I said with a sigh as I watched the colored rim around him slowly change from yellow to a deep orange. What exactly was he feeling? These colors were not very specific. I assumed he was probably thinking and just let him be. I typed up an e-mail to Justin’s father about the contract and then looked up as the elevator opened again. The very girly Peter walked into the room with cloths folded over his right arm. He had a ridiculously tight pair of pants on, a tank top that was covered with beads, and his red hair spiked up. He quickly came over as I stood with a sweet smile and I noticed the dark blue around him that kept slowly going to light blue and then back to dark blue.
“Hey, Rory!” He said with enjoyment and then handed over the clothes on his arm. I to0k them and held then closely to my chest, “So that guy already left?” He asked and I nodded, “Awe that’s too bad. He seemed like a nice old man.”
“Thanks for watching him, Peter.” I said kindly as James came to my side.
“My pleasure!” He said happily, “So I’ll see you tomorrow!” He walked over to the elevator and the doors closed. I took the clothes over to my personal bathroom and locked the door. I slipped off my suit and put on the new clothes. There was a light white summer dress with black leggings and soul white high heels. I slipped on the leggings and then the white dress that had black flowers flowing on it with a black silk waist that was to bow in the back, but I could not tie the bow. I quickly went out of the bathroom and over to James.
“Can you tie the bow for me?” I asked and he nodded. I turned around and he quickly tied the bow. I smiled towards him when he was done, “Thanks,” I slipped on the shoes and then used the small buckles on the side to tighten them so they would not fall off. I took my light black sweater that only went halfway down my chest and used it to keep my arms warm. I then grabbed my clutch and went back over to James. I kissed his cheek, “See you tomorrow.” I said kindly but stopped when he grabbed my arm.
“Hey, I’m going to have a wedding shower on Friday, can you come?” He asked and I smiled towards him.
“Of course! I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” I said and then quickly left. I took the elevator and ignored the girl at the front desk as she tried to talk to me. I went out to my car and drove over to campus. I saw Conner’s car parked in the parking lot so I parked next to it and smiled to him as he got out of his car. He came over to my car and opened the door as I grabbed my backpack. I kissed him as he opened the door and noticed the purple ring around his being. I was happy to see he was truly in love with me, but was a little concerned when the ring around him started wavering slowly between red and purple. What did wavering mean? I took his hand in mine kindly as we went to class. When I walked in I saw Nathan standing by the door. He was wrapped in a deep red ring. I saw many other people and suddenly my eyes started burning. Each person in the classroom had rims of color that were changing continuously. I felt sick to my stomach as my eyes darted from one color change to another. Red, yellow, black, brown, white, blue, pink, purple, green, orange; repeating and switching over and over. I put my hand on my head as I felt dizzy, but was shocked when Conner’s hand squeezed mine. I looked to him as his riming changed to a yellowish orange.
“You okay? You don’t look so good.” Conner said and I forced a smile on my face.
“Yea, I’m just a little tired.” I replied and then followed him as he walked over to a seat. I lay my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes as I tried to stop the pounding in my head. When the class started I tried to focus on the teacher and his hue, but my eyes kept darting from him to color changes happening from my other classmates. I felt sea sick. Everyone was changing and moving and my eyes hurt from moving so much. I looked down to my bracelet and tried to take it off, but it seemed to be glued to my skin. It would not budge and now seemed tight. I closed my eyes for a few seconds and tried to focus but my mind forced my eyes open as more colors changed. I looked over to Nathan to see he was still a solid dark red. Why was he the only one who did not change colors? He stayed consistent just as his father did. Did only telepathic people keep one main color? Suddenly I felt as if I was going to throw up and I knew if I did not get away from these changing people I would hurl. I had to get away from them for just a little while. To my luck the bell rang to end class at around 7 p.m. and I stood. I clung onto Conner as his hue changed between a dark purple, light purple, and dark blue, but I did not care. If I did not hold onto him I would surely fall down on my own. We stopped walking when I heard my name being called and I looked over to Nathan as he ran over to us, “Hey Nathan.” I said quietly.
“Rory, could we talk for a minute?” He asked as I looked to Conner.
“I’ll call you tomorrow, okay?” I asked and he gave me an odd look, but then nodded. He walked off and I tried to regain balance of my own two feet. I slowly followed behind Nathan as he walked over to where we had talked once before. I sat down beside him on the bench from before and was glad that no one was near. My mind slowly stopped hurting.
“I’m truly sorry about what my father did to you on Saturday. He should not have angered you so much.” He said with a sad look towards me.
“Your dad actually came and talked to me today.”
His face turned to a frown, “I asked him to stay away from you and yet he comes right after and finds you.”
I shook my head, “No he just wanted to give me my grandmother’s bracelet and to apologize for what he did.”
“Really?”
I nodded, “He also said you were very concerned about me and that you are refusing to talk to him.”
“Well I think what he did was wrong.”
I sighed, “But he was right.”
“What?”
“When he gave me that bracelet today it brought out my own special abilities and I realize what he meant by I needed to stay there. When I look at anyone who does not have telepathic abilities they make me sick by how much they change between emotions yet all of you only have one key emotion. I need to be near you guys or I will get sick like I did during our class,” I said, “I almost fainted.”
“So what are you going to do?”
I sighed, “I need to go to Robert. He is the only person who will know how to help me.”
“If you are sick, you should ride with me. I can take you to my father.” He said as he stood. I slowly stood too but grabbed onto his shirt as I felt my head start to become light. He grabbed onto me and pulled me against him.
“Sorry, I think I’m still a little sick.” I whispered and he slowly walked me over to his car. He helped me get into the passenger seat and then closed the door as I buckled my seatbelt. He got in on the driver’s side and then backed out. It took us almost an hour and a half to get to Robert’s isolated house that looked less magnificent in the dark. When Nathan stopped the car I unbuckled and tried to get out by myself, but got lightheaded and fell to the ground. Nathan quickly rushed to me and helped me stand. I held onto him as we walked to the door. Nathan rang the doorbell and the butler opened the door.
“Get my father.” Nathan ordered and the butler quickly walked off. Nathan brought me inside and shut the door behind us. He helped me over to the living room directly in front of the door and lay me down on a couch. Robert quickly came into the room and knelt beside me.
“Aurora, what is the matter? You look sick.”
I nodded towards him, “This bracelet makes it so regular humans make me ill.”
“Ill? What do you mean by ill?” He asked and I brushed my hand against his cheek.
“You are always brown and Nathan is always red. But the other people…they change constantly and my head aches with their changes,” I looked to the butler, “Yellow to orange to pink to white, all in a number of seconds. The humans are making me sick.”
“I remember Henry saying something about motion sickness given to him at first by other humans,” He replied, “Until you get your powers under control and can tune into human’s main emotion you must stay here. Otherwise you will become too ill to walk.”
“But…” I started to protest but he shook his head.
“This is not a request, Aurora. This is an order from someone who can help you. My brother and I are the only people who are still alive that helped your father go through this changing period so we are the only people that can help you.”
“How long will I be here for?”
He shrugged, “It matters how quickly you tune your abilities.”
“But James’s wedding shower is Friday. I have to go.”
“If you’re not healthy then you cannot.”
“Then I have to be health by Friday. He is the most important person in my life and I couldn’t live if I disappointed him.”
“Well we will start tomorrow. Tonight you shall eat with us and then rest.”
“Alright, I need to make a few calls.”
“That’s fine. Dinner starts in about 30 minutes.” He said and then left the room with the butler following him. I pulled out my phone and dialed James’s number.
“Hello?” James asked as he picked up the phone.
“James? It’s me.”
“Oh, hey Rory. What’s up?”
I let out a sigh, “I seem to have gotten sick and I don’t know when I will be healthy enough to come back to work.”
“What do you have?”
I didn’t know how to answer, “Um, I’m not sure yet but I will call you once I am healthy.”
“Alright, I’ll handle all the work until you come back. Feel better.”
“Thanks, I’ll try. But could you call my college for me and tell them I won’t be going to classes either?”
“Sure.”
“Okay, thanks James. I’ll let you go now.” I said and then hung up the phone. I slowly sat up and looked at my phone. Nathan sat down beside me and I looked to him.
“What does red mean?” He asked me and I pulled the paper Robert had given to me earlier and looked to it.
“Red means you are either in Love, Passion, Fiery, Allured, Aroused, Awestruck, Thrilled, Active, Adventurous, Excited, Anxious, Insecure, Harassed, Stressed, Angered, Tensed, Alarmed, or Fearful.”

I got off the couch and creped outside. I sat down in the middle of the porch that rested in the middle of the lawn. Stars lit the whole area in shadows and odd shades of grey. I sprawled out across the porch near the two seats I had seen William and Julie sitting in while watching Lily and Debbie run in the yard. I wonder if Henry and Rebecca could have ever looked like they did when I first saw them sitting here. Could they’ve ever watched me run in a yard and look happy? Probably not. They would most likely be too busy with their real families to ever watch me. But I’m sure James would’ve still run after me like Debbie did to Lilly even if we were two orphans in a hell hole called an orphanage. But…because of this ‘gift’ I may have to miss the most important day of James’s life. I looked to the trees to the right, “I promise you, James, if I cannot control this ability by Friday I will find a way to get to you. This is the most important day of your life and you are the only person I lived for during most of my life so I won’t miss this. You saved me from death and I will be in debt to you forever. I will love you forever,” I whispered and then looked to my hand, “But why can’t you love me back? Why can’t I be the girl you love as much as you love Kelly? I want to be the one you give that wedding ring to. I want to be your wife. I want to cherish you for the rest of my life,” I let out a laugh, “What am I saying? I am not good enough for James. I am a worthless orphan with no home, no future, and no sense of direction. What will happen once Justice Corp. becomes obsolete or is bought out? I will go back to just trying to make enough money for rent. I will never amount to anything because I have never been wanted. Rebecca didn’t want me, Henry was ashamed of me, and soon James will regret me too. But who will stop me from killing myself if it happens again? Conner? No, he is just a passing ship. I don’t really love him. I just enjoy his company,” I looked up as a creature moved in the forest. It was low and wrapped around in gray just like the world around me. It was probably a small animal nervous and terrified it would not last through the night. It was just how I used to be; relieved when each night finally ended. The marks on my back and neck stung with thoughts of the past so I quickly ignored my wandering thoughts and just focused on a new animal emerging from the house. Wrapped in green, it must be Juliet. She brought a new meaning to the saying ‘green with envy’. She was beyond green. She was an unspeakable color that resembled green but made me shiver every time I saw her. She emitted her jealousy with just a glance towards me even if she did not know she was looking in my direction. I watched as she went out of the house, listened for a moment, and then let out a hiss.
“She’s out here. I know it. If only I could hear her thoughts, then I could know where she was and I could bring her back inside. Then Nathan’s obscenest worrying over her absence would stop and he would stop searching the house for her. Stupid girl, she should just die.” Juliet growled and then went around to the front of the house. I let out a breath as I realized I had been holding my breath the whole time in order to hear her words clearly. Why did Nathan care if I was not by his side anymore? I am just someone who is forced to stay here, so why does he worry about me? I am not going to just go inside when I am this upset to comfort someone I barely even know and if I did go in I would have to talk with Robert again because I was up. But I don’t care what Henry went through when he was going through the change anymore. I want to disappear to a dream where someone will actually care that I exist and not regret me; or even better, create it so that Henry and Rebecca never met. Then I would not exist and they would not have done everything they did. I suddenly felt a tear run down my cheek and let out another laugh with a sniffle to try to stop snot from running down my face also.
“I’m pitiful, truly pitiful,” I laughed again, “Crying and feeling bad for myself when I am not worth the tears, truly I am worthless.” I stood then and wiped the tears off of my face. I went inside and gently shut the door of the house in hopes that either Juliet was still outside and could not hear me coming in or she would just shoot me on the spot with anger. She hated me either way so she might as well do us both a favor and end this horrid life. I looked up when I realized I was not the only person near the kitchen. I looked around the corner of the wall to see someone with grey around them. Who was grey? I don’t remember anyone being grey when I saw them all last night at dinner. I suddenly felt a weird sting in my big toe on my right foot and then fell over. I let out a cuss as I sat up and looked to my foot. My toe was not broken, but it was bleeding. I had pulled up the nail, but that did not concern me as much as the creature who I heard moving. Suddenly Julie’s face poked out from around the wall separating my hiding spot and falling spot from the kitchen where she had been. She was the grey creature that suddenly changed to orange of most likely confusion.
“Oh, Rory. I thought you were one of my kids following me downstairs. Are you alright? It sounds like you hit the ground quite hard.” She said as she knelt down on the wooden floor over my legs as she examined my face.
“Yea, I just tripped when I was coming around the corner. Sorry to startle you.” I said with a smile and she returned it.
“It’s alright, I’m just glad you are alright,” She said and then helped me up, but noticed my toe quickly, “Oh dear, let me get a wet paper towel to put over that,” She said and then quickly ran back into the kitchen. She brought back a damp paper towel and pulled my foot up. She dabbed my toe where blood was flowing off and then put a band-aid on it, “There, that should be better,” She said and then looked to my face, “But what were you doing? It’s far past midnight and I thought I was the only one up.”
I faked a smile, “I was going to the bathroom when I heard someone and I was going to see who it was but as I came around the corner I accidently stubbed my toe on the side of a chair and fell.”
“Well, dear girl, you should get back to bed,” She said with worry lingering in her voice, but turned as a creature wrapped in deep red, meaning it was Nathan, appeared, “Oh, Nathan. You are awake also?” She asked with a smile as he came closer to us.
“Yea, I woke up and noticed Aurora was gone so I went looking for her.”
“Oh,” Julie replied, “Well then could you help her back to her bed? Her toe is bleeding and I’m afraid if she walks on it the bleeding may increase.”
“I’ll help her,” He offered and then put his arm around my waist and lifted me slightly off the floor. I lifted my right foot and he helped me hobble back over to the couch. I sat down on the soft cushions but looked to Nathan as he stayed standing, “You have been gone for almost an hour, where did you go?”
I sighed and then leaned back on the couch. I pulled my blanket over my legs, “I needed to think so I went out and just sat outside. That’s all.”
He finally sat down next to me on the couch, “Think? About what?”
I sighed again, “About this bracelet, about how I will be able to get back to my normal life even though I am different. What to tell Conner when I’m finally back in school and how I am going to get this problem under control by Friday.”
“You don’t have to have it fixed by then. My father said you can stay here as long as need be.” He said and I pulled my fingers through my hair in frustration.
“I can’t put my life on hold just because of this stupid ability! People are depending on me! I need to get back to the real world!”
“Do you hate to live here that much?”
I looked to him and then back away, “It’s not that I hate living here, it’s that I can’t live anywhere that allows me a lot of time to think. Then I will go back to the way things used to be and I don’t want that to ever happen.”
“Go back to what things exactly? High school?”
“No…ugh it’s nothing. Just forget I said anything. I can’t talk about it and I don’t know if I ever will so just let it be,” I said but then looked at the table in front of us as my phone vibrated. I quickly lunged for it and brought it back with me as I sat normally on the couch. I looked to my text messages to see there was one from Conner.
Hey, where are you? I drove by campus a little while ago and your Jeep is still there. Did you stay at school overnight?
I looked at the phone and then sighed, “Please don’t worry about me,” I whispered to the phone and then shut it off. I pulled a pillow to my chest and put my face in it in order to try to hold back my tears, but I looked up as someone came into the room. Robert stared at me as I realized I had started crying when I saw him so I quickly wiped the tears from my face and then looked to the ceiling in order to try to hold back more tears.
“Something is troubling you, Aurora? Did something happen to that guy you were telling me about before?” He asked as he came closer.
I let out a heavy breath as I finally lost the urge to cry, “No, James is perfectly fine. I wouldn’t be here if something was wrong with him.”
“You must love him a lot if you are willing to fight illness in order to be at his side.”
I let a smile cross my face, “You could say that, I guess,” I whispered and then looked to Robert as he sat down on the edge of the coffee table in front of me, “Robert, do you miss Henry? He was a good friend to you, right?”
He gave me a sorry look, “In some respects I do, but in others I have gained a lot from going through losing him.”
“What do you mean you gained something? Did Henry leave something for you?” I asked and he let out a slight laugh.
“He left you to me,” He said with a smile, “And I will forever be in his debt for him doing so. You are a very special girl, Aurora, even if he did not see it before it was too late. I know if he had actually gotten to know you before he died he would have regretted giving you up.”
I brushed my hair out of my face, “You obviously knew a different side of Henry than I did because when I met up with him he did not seem like the person who would regret giving me up. He barely seemed concerned with me.”
“You barely knew anything of him before the ending came,” He said with a sigh, “I will always be angry at him for what he did to you. I protested giving you up for adoption the moment I found out about it. No child should have to live in an orphanage just because she is a slight complication in one’s life plans.”
I looked to the bracelet on my wrist, “Maybe you’re right.”
“Do you not think he loved you?”
I smiled slightly, “I was his first born child who he knew would receive this power and this bracelet,” I let out a slight laugh, “But that wasn’t enough reason to keep me. Even if I was going to be his heir, I was still not worth his comfort or love. Neither of them thought I was worth anything more than regret,” I put my head against my legs, “But every day of my life I am given more incentive to think that they were right. I am not worth anything but regret.”
“You are worth many things, Aurora, but regret is not one of them.”
I looked to him, “Oh? How do you know Robert?” I felt anger boiling inside me, “You barely know anything about me. You do not know what I have done in the past.”
He nodded to me, “But I so terribly want to, Aurora. I want to be your fatherly figure in place of Henry because I wish so terribly that I could be your father.”
I looked away from him, “You would never be satisfied with all of my past, Robert. You would probably hate me like everyone else I have let understand all of me have.”
“James does not hate you.”
I nodded to him, “But he does not know everything and I will break my back to keep it that way. He is all I have left in this world,” I looked to Robert, “At least when Henry was alive I had someone to try to oppose and prove wrong, but now that is gone…and soon James will be gone also,” I looked to my hands and then back to Robert, “Maybe someday I can tell you my past, but not now. There are too many problems right now for me to add another thing to harp on my conscience.”
“I understand,” He whispered, “But can I ask one thing?”
I looked to him and nodded, “You deserve that much.”
“What gave you such horrible scars on your neck?” He asked and I felt myself tense which he noticed, “I noticed it when you were here last.”
I pulled my hands against my chest, “Um…an accident a long time ago.”
“It looks like rope burns…” He said and I knew what he was thinking.
“A man…a long time ago….he tried to hang me when I was too young to save myself…the rope he tied around me nearly did the trick, but someone saved me before I died. I was knocked unconscious but luckily I did not die.”
“Why would a man want to kill you?”
I looked away from him and wrapped my arms around myself, “I was the cause of the death of his wife.”
“Who was his wife?”
I looked to Robert and then quickly looked away as tears started down my face, “Rebecca.” I whispered and his eyes widened in shock. I quickly brushed the tears off and let out a long breath, “I’ll be right back.” I said and I quickly went to the bathroom of the house. I splashed cold water on my face and then dried it off before coming back, “Robert, if you don’t mind, I think I’m going to try to get some more sleep in.”
“Of course,” He said, but I was surprised when he came over to me. He kissed the top of my head and then smiled towards me, “Goodnight, Aurora.” He whispered and then walked away. I felt flustered but ignored it and went to the couch as Nathan sat on the one near mine. I lay and watched the ceiling fan spin till I finally fell back asleep.
When I woke up I saw the gasping faces of Lily and Debbie. The two of them ducked behind the top part of the couch they had been leaning over in order to watch me sleep. I sat up and watched them run into another room and went behind one of Robert’s younger daughters who were almost my age. I slowly stood and noticed Nathan had already disappeared from my side. It did not worry me that he was gone, but by the way he had been searching for me last night it slightly surprised me that he was off somewhere else. I went to the kitchen to see Julia, William, Robert, Juliet, Robert’s three daughters, Nathan, and the two young girls from before. Julie gave me her sweet smile I was coming to adore as I saw she was now wrapped in a light pink that suited her, “Good morning, Rory.” She said kindly as William smiled in agreement.
“Morning,” I whispered and then took a seat at the table but gasped when my dress caught on a corner of the table and a small tare formed, “Oh geez,” I whispered and then hit my head with my hand, “Peter’s going to kill me!”
“Who’s Peter?” William asked with his warming light blue ring around him.
I looked away from my dress and to him, “My stylist. He’ll kill me for sure this time.”
“Wow, a stylist! That’s a very nice thing to have.” Sapphire said as I noticed her light purple ring next to her husband’s equally dark purple ring.
“Yea, but this is the third wardrobe I’ve destroyed this month…he’s probably going to quit again.”
“Is he a flake?” Sapphire’s husband asked in his very strong accent.
I smiled, “More of a drama king.”
“Flaming?” He asked with a smile towards me which was surprising, but I greeted it with the same thing back to him.
“Yea,” I said with a nod, “Is there a sewing kit I could use?”
“You could surely use one of my daughter’s clothes, Aurora. You do not need to continue to wear the same thing.” Robert said with a smile and Sapphire looked to him.
“She’s much too thin for my clothes, but probably will fit in Hannah and Danna’s clothes. They are probably the same size.”
“Yea, we can spare some clothes.” Danna said and I noticed she had a different ring than Hannah which surprised me. Danna was wrapped in a mid-blue hue while Hannah was wrapped in a light green. Danna also seemed a little more outgoing than Hannah. They both stood and went up a staircase near the kitchen. I followed them up to a very large room on the second floor. The walls were covered in band posters and normal teenager posters of the cutest pop-star of the time. Danna went to a two door closet and then looked to Hannah, “What would look best on her?”
“Luckily she is close to our hair color and eye color or otherwise our clothes would not match her,” Hannah commented and Danna nodded, “But I think a jean skirt and a cute top would work. Something with blue or green would work best with her eyes.”
“I was just thinking of those same colors,” Danna said with a smile to her twin sister and then pulled out a jean mini-skirt and a halter tank top that was bright blue with bright green dots on it which sent a smile to my face. I put on the clothes and handed them my others, “You look adorable!” Danna said with a girly laugh to me.
“Thanks for letting me borrow your clothes.”
Hannah blushed slightly, “Any girl who can capture our brother’s heart is welcome to borrow our stuff.” She said and I was surprised, but not shocked. I had a feeling Nathan had feelings towards me, so they were probably right. He most likely had feelings for me.
“Well we should go back downstairs.” I said and they followed me back down to the group, but I noticed Robert was on the phone.
“Alright, goodbye,” Robert said and then hung up the phone. He turned and smiled towards me, “Good news, Aurora. My eldest son is going to be here tomorrow instead of Saturday. I was afraid you would not get to meet him, but now you are.”
“Cool,” I said but felt the gaze of Nathan on me, which I ignored, “Robert, could we start trying to focus my skills? I’d really like to start working on it.”
He nodded, “Of course, follow me.” He said kindly and then led my outside. I suddenly felt pain through my whole body and my eyes started flickering in every direction as bugs, birds, and other animals in the forest around us changed their mood. I quickly put my hands over my eyes, but was surprised when I was quickly pulled inside. I looked up to Nathan as I felt his warm hand wrapped around my wrist as he stared down his father.
“You are making her feel pain, Father, she is not ready for that.” He hissed and Robert quickly came inside.
“I’m sorry, Aurora. I did not even counter in that this may be too much for you.”
I shook my head, “It’s alright,” I replied, “But…I’m confused.”
“Confused? About what?” Robert asked as Nathan finally released me.
“Last night I went outside and I was fine, but why are all these animals harming me now? There were very few that I could even detect even though they had to have been there…” I started to explain but looked up as Danna and Hannah hurried over to me.
“Rory, we caught one of the younger girls with your phone and it keeps going off.” Danna said as she handed me the phone it started vibrating uncontrollably and I looked to the front screen. It was Conner so I picked up.
“Rory Justice.” I said quietly as everyone fell silent.
“Rory! Why the hell haven’t you been answering your phone!” He hollered and I was startled. He had never yelled at me like this before.
“I’m sorry; I’ve been away from it. What’s the matter? Did something happen?”
“Yea! Why the hell haven’t you been paying attention?” He hissed and I held back the urge to yell at him.
“I’m sorry I didn’t answer before, Conner, but what’s wrong?”
“It’s Sara. She’s in the hospital.”
“What!” I gasped and then quickly squeezed my waist with my hand that did not hold my phone, “What happened?”
“She was hit by a drunk driver and has been in a coma since early this morning. Her boyfriend tried to contact you, but couldn’t reach you so he called me. Where are you? You’re supposed to go see her because she is not doing well and the doctor said she might not make it through tonight.”
I swallowed painfully and tried to keep my tears at bay, “But…”
“Don’t you understand one of your best friends might die tonight? Why are you even saying anything other than I’m coming!” He hollered and I bit my lip with regret. I was only thinking of myself again. Sara could die tonight and yet I am debating whether or not I will go. I am so selfish for even putting my own pain over this.
“I’ll be there later today,” I whispered and then quickly closed the phone. I saw Julie run into the room and freeze as she saw me start to cry. She hurried over to me and hugged me tightly like no one ever had. I burst into tears and clung onto her, “My best friend is in a coma and they don’t think she’ll make it through tonight! But I need to stay here! I’m so ill if I leave this house, but I have to be at her side!” I said as I shook in her arms.
She rubbed my back, “Rory,” She whispered but I quickly realized what I was doing and pulled myself together. I pulled off of her and looked away as I brushed the tears off of my face. I cleared my throat and then stuck my phone in the back pocket of the mini-skirt.
“Sorry,” I whispered to Julie and then looked to Robert, “I need to get to Philadelphia.” I stated and he sighed. He knew regardless of how sick this was going to make me I was going to my friend no matter what.
“I’ll drive you,” Nathan said and I nodded. He walked out of the house and I followed him out to his black sports car. When we started driving he handed me a GPS that was much better than the one I owned, “I know what direction to go, but once we get to the other side of Maryland I’ll need exact directions since I am not very well known with most of Philadelphia.” He said and I nodded. I typed in York Springs and found the hospital nearest the city Sara lived in, guessing that’s where she was, at Gettysburg Hospital, since she would need a large hospital to deal with her coma. I took out my phone and called Sara’s cell phone.
“Hello?” A very manly voice said.
“Is this Sara’s boyfriend? This is Rory Justice.”
“Oh! It’s so good to finally hear from you!” He said even though I could tell his voice was strained from crying.
“How is she?” I asked with regret.
“She’s…better. She’s finally stable.”
“So she’s still in a coma.”
“Uh…yea.”
“Which hospital are you at? I guessed Gettysburg hospital, but I want to make sure.”
“Yea, that’s where we are.”
“If you don’t mind me asking, who else is going to be there?”
“Do you know James?”
“Yea, I know James.”
“He’s almost here, but that’s all I’ve called. They said to only call who was close to her and I’ve only heard her talk of you and James.”
I felt a smile slide across my face, “Yea, uh, the three of us pretty much grew up together once Sara joined us at the orphanage when her parents passed.”
“Yea she told me that.”
“Well…” I had to keep myself from crying again, “I’ll be there in about two hours so tell James when he gets there, please.”
“Yea, I will. See you.” He whispered and then hung up the phone. If I had been driving my car I would have pulled off the road and bawled my eyes out, but I was not alone. I could feel Nathan listening to me and watching me out of the corner of his eye. I wiped tears away as they fell down my face and then let out a sigh before I took on my real life. I noticed a message from Mr. Simmons so I called his cell phone.
“Jack Simmons.”
“Hello Mr. Simmons, this is Rory Justice. I am sorry I did not get back to your message before now.”
He laughed slightly, “Well when I called your office they told me you were terribly sick and did not know when you were coming back. Then I called back this morning to try to contact your vice president, but apparently he is gone.”
I cleared my throat, “Um, yes. I have been sick, but both of us are on our way to go visit a friend that is in a coma and may not make it through tonight… But I’m terribly sorry you have not been able to contacts us. I blame myself for this.”
“Don’t blame yourself, Rory. If you have something very terrible happening in your own life I absolutely understand why you could not return my call. I also understand if you would like to reschedule our meeting in order to sign those papers.”
“Oh! No, I will have my lawyer bring them over to your office sometime today or tomorrow because once I am finally healthy enough to come back to work I want to have our agreement met.”
“Alright, then I will talk to you later Rory.”
“Yes, goodbye.” I said and then hung up. I dialed my layer’s number.
“Mason Redmond.”
“Hey Mason, its Rory.”
“Hey Rory, what can I do for you?”
“I’m ill and will not be in work for a little while so could you bring over that contract to Mr. Simmons so we can get this thing done with? It’s a big favor, but I’d really appreciate it.”
He laughed, “Well maybe you could repay me with dinner?”
I laughed even though I really did not feel like I could, “I don’t think having dinner with my lawyer would be the best idea, but maybe some other time.”
“Okay, and I’ll get those papers over to him by tonight.”
“Thanks Mason.” I said and then hung up. I leaned back on the seat but looked to Nathan when he put his hand out to me, “What?”
“Give it.”
“Give what?” I asked and he looked to me.
“Your phone. I can tell how much it is hurting you to talk to those people,” he said and I sighed, but gave him the phone. He turned it off and put it in the back of the car before looking back to me, “Is there anything I can do to help you?”
I smiled slightly as I looked to my lap but shook my head, “This ride is help enough. Thank you so much.”
He lifted my left hand to his mouth, but kept his eyes on the road. He kissed my hand but held onto it, “It’s okay to cry in front of me.”
“I barely even know you.”
He gave me a side glance, “Well what do you want to know? I will tell you anything you want to know.”
“Have you met your soul mate?” I asked as I looked to him.
He smiled slightly, “I’m not sure, but I think I may have.”
“That’s good. Is she someone I know? Like that girl you are always talking to who sits next to you in class?”
He shook his head, “Definitely not. She is just a friend. But I believe you do know her.”
I had nothing else to ask him because truly all I could think about was Sara, yet his constant gaze on me made me want to ask more, “Has something happened between you and your father? You seem so distant compared to the other people in the house towards him.”
He sighed, “My father and I just don’t see eye to eye. We just have different opinions on almost everything so we have grown to dislike talking with each other because we always get into fights and we are both proud men that will not back down on their stand on a subject,” He smiled slightly, “There have only ever been two things we have ever fully agreed on. The first was that you were worth any trouble as long as you could be with us and that Henry made a huge mistake when he chose to give you away.”
I looked out the door, “That is something I disagree with. I could have never made him happy. I know that now.”
“If you don’t mind me asking, Aurora, I have a question for you.”
“What is it?”
“Why are you afraid to show your feelings towards others?” He asked and I slumped slightly in my seat, “I mean earlier you were so upset yet when Julie tried to hug you, you quickly pushed her away and acted as if nothing was wrong with you and that you should not be crying when you had many reasons to.”
I looked down to Henry’s bracelet, “I don’t want to get that close to anyone or otherwise I will become attached.”
“But Julie wishes you could be her daughter. Is it so bad to open up to her?”
“I don’t know what tomorrow holds so I try to not get attached to anyone. Even though I did not know Henry that well, I became attached to him as a young child and ruined my life because of it. I could’ve had a family, siblings, and parents, but because I had become attached to Henry and the idea that he would someday want me again I refused any offer that came my way. I don’t want that to ever happen again. But Henry is not the only person I have become attached to. I became attached to the idea that Sara, James, and I would always be together and then they both moved on. Sara left for journalism and James left for Kelly. Once again I was heartbroken because I had attached myself to someone. I never want to feel that way ever again. I never want to have to go through life and lose someone else,” I let out a slight laugh, “But look at me now, nearly bawling my eyes out because I have become attached to Sara.” I leaned down in the seat but was surprised when Nathan suddenly pulled off the highway we had been on for almost an hour now, “What are you doing?”
“The car needs gas and I need a drink.” He relied as he pulled up next to an open gas tank. He got out and hooked the car up to the gas as I got out. I walked behind Nathan as he went inside, but stopped following when he went towards the bathroom. I walked over to the isle of candy and gum and started looking for something I would like, but stopped when someone gasped. I looked up as a teenage girl about my age quickly turned away from me and back to her friend. I ignored it and went back to looking over the candy, but gave up after a while. I went over to the wall where the drinks were held and got out a Coca-Cola. I then went to the food isle and just looked around because I was out of things to do and Nathan was still not out of the bathroom. I looked up when someone tapped my arm.
“Yea?” I asked as I looked to my side to see the girl who had been staring at me standing near me with her friend behind her. Both had flushed cheeks like they were talking to a star.
“Um…are you Rory Justice? The girl I’ve seen on the news all the time?” The girl nearest me asked in a stutter as she seemed to blush more. My illness seemed to increase so badly it was now painful to breath.
“Yea, that’s me.”
“Omigod!” The girl behind her gasped, “We are like your biggest fans ever!” She let out a squeal and reminded me of Hannah and Danna, “Could you take a picture with us? Please!”
I felt weird, “Uh, sure.” I said and the two girls quickly handed the camera to a boy I finally noticed who I assumed had been there the whole time.
“Johnny! Take the picture for us!” The girl who had been closer to me squealed as she wrapped her arm around me and pulled me close as the other girl did the same on my other side, “Smile!” She added and I tried the best I could to smile in such an odd situation. When the girls were done with three pictures I noticed a guy come over to us. I looked over to Nathan.
“What’s going on here, Rory?” He asked me with suspicion and the girls gasped.
“Omigod! Is this your boyfriend?” She asked as she grabbed my hands.
“He’s just a friend,” I replied, “Sorry, I have to go. Take care.” I added sweetly and then quickly walked away.
“Bye! Thanks for the picture!” The girls yelled after me as Nathan finally reached my side as I got to the counter. He put a bag of chips onto the counter and I put my drink up there, but I grabbed his arm when he tried to pay for the stuff.
“I want to pay,” I insisted and then handed the old woman behind the register a twenty.
“Thank you.” She grumbled as I picked up the stuff, took the change, and then led Nathan back out to his car. I sat back in my seat as he took out the gas pump and then got into the car. He started driving and we did not talk for a long time. We finally got to Philadelphia and the GPS started talking a lot more to lead us to the hospital. When we got there I quickly opened my door and went inside. I went to the front desk and a nurse smiled to me.
“How can I help you?”
“Um, I’m looking for Sara Lathrop. Which room is she in?”
“Are you family?”
“Yea, I’m her adopted sister.” I said and the woman smiled towards me.
“Please follow me.” She said and then led me down a hall. She stopped at a door and opened it to show my worst nightmare. Sara lay motionless with bandages on her head. I looked to the nurse as I tried to not cry.
“Thank you.” I whispered and then quickly walked into the room. Her boyfriend and James must be off at the bathroom or getting food since he is not at her side. As the nurse closed the door I burst into tears and quickly walked over to her. I slumped to the ground beside her bed and grabbed onto her hand as I started hyperventilating to try to breath, “Sara! I’m so sorry!” I cried as I shook. “Sara!” I repeated over and over as I cried continuously. Once I could finally feel my legs again I knelt up so that my face lay on her chest. I cried as I listened to her steady heart beat and whispered her name more. My head was throbbing with the changing of colors of everyone around me, but I was so happy to be able to be in a room alone with Sara. But what horrified me was she had no color around her. She was not having emotions because she was in a coma. I cried even harder as the feeling of pain from all the changes around me hit me harder as the door to the room opened. I looked to James as his ring changed 10 times before he even reached me. I ignored the searing pain and just embraced him. I bawled like a baby in his arms as he let me cling to him. He suddenly pulled me from him and I was confused.
“You are burning up, Rory!” He exclaimed and I did not even realize I had started running a fever. I looked to the door when it opened and Nathan followed an unknown man into the room.
“James?” The man asked as I loosened my grip on James.
“Nick, this is Rory. Rory, this is Sara’s boyfriend Nick.”
I looked to him and put my head against James shoulder with a small laugh, “You really do look like her type,” I whispered as I wiped away tears and then put my hand out towards him, “It’s nice to finally meet you, Nick. Sara has told me a lot about you.”
“Same.” He whispered as I tried to ignore the changing of his aura.
“Who is this?” James asked Nick.
“Oh he was at the front desk looking for Sara’s room so I brought him here.”
I looked to James as he looked to me, “This is Nathan. He drove me here when I got the news.” I whispered and he looked towards the guy.
“It’s nice to meet you.” James said and Nathan nodded, but James quickly focused on me again, “Rory, we need to get a doctor for you.”
“A doctor?” Nick asked James.
“She’s running a high fever.” He replied, but looked to me as I grabbed his shirt.
“James, I need to be with Sara. I will see a doctor once she wakes up.” I whispered and he gently brushed the hair out of my face before embracing me.
“You’re too stubborn, you know that?”
I let out a slight laugh, “Sara says that to me all the time.” I whispered but then looked to her as a machine made a noise.
“It’s alright,” James assured me since I felt my face whiten in fear that meant something was going wrong, “That machine beeps every few hours.”
“Oh.” I whispered and then pulled myself closer to him.
“You should sit down, Rory,” James insisted, but was surprised when I refused the seat he wanted me to sit in. I grabbed the chair and carried it over to Sara’s side. I put it next to her bed and took her hand in mine before sitting down. I put my elbow on the side of her bed and used my open hand to hold up my head. I looked to James when he smiled, “Sara did the same thing when you were in the hospital.”
I looked away from him and to Sara. I brushed her hair out of her face and then rested my head again on my hand, “Yea, she did,” I whispered as I looked to her face that seemed a little blurry. I needed to leave this place with so many people changing their moods but I couldn’t bring myself to leave.
“Oh? Why was Rory in the hospital?” Nick asked me and I looked to James.
James pulled his hand through his hair and I could tell he was uncomfortable with saying anything so I quickly stepped in, “I caught the flu when I was ten. Sara had just become really close to me as she stayed by my side the whole time I was in the hospital.”
“Really? Doesn’t your flu have to go monstrously out of proportion to go to the hospital and stay?” Nick asked me.
“Yea, it definitely went out of control.” James said as he watched me. I ignored it and looked to Sara. I then noticed Nathan leaning against the wall. He was watching me so intensely it worried me. I suddenly felt sleepy and just lay my head down.

I woke up to see James sitting beside me watching Sara. He turned towards me as I sat up and looked to him, “Hey,” He whispered, “It’s almost ten. You were sleeping for a while.”
“Where’s Nick?”
He smiled, “He is sleeping outside in the hallway next to the man you came here with.”
“Nathan’s still here?” I asked and he nodded, “He should’ve gone home.”
I was surprised when James suddenly traced one of the three large scars on my back. I looked to him with concern, “I had almost forgotten about this scar of yours.”
I looked to Sara, “She still remembers it.”
“I know.”
“I wish I could help both of you forget.”
He wrapped his arm around my shoulders, “I would do anything to make that part of our past disappear.” I looked to him with a smile, but quickly turned when I heard a noise come from Sara. Her eyes opened and she groaned. I burst into tears and flung my arms around her neck as I cried harder.
“Oh thank god!” I cried and she squeezed me back.
“Oh geez, I’ve scared you. I’m sorry,” She said but then pulled me away from her slightly, “You’re running a fever?”
I smiled towards her, “I just wanted to see you.” I noticed the aura around her change.
“Well I’m fine now so please go home and rest up!” She said and I sighed with a laugh. I knew she wasn’t going to take no for an answer.
“I’ll go get Nick and Nathan.” James said and then left the room. When he came back in Nick quickly fled to Sara as Nathan watched me from the doorway. I went slowly over to him and did not fight him when he put his arm around my waist. I was too weak to walk very far so I actually needed his help. He brought me to his car that was parked outside and started driving me home. The further we got from the hospital the less sick I felt and I slowly fell asleep in the car. I was woken up when we reached Robert’s house at around midnight and Nathan helped me walk into the house. When I came in the house was quiet so I went over to the couches. I looked to Nathan as I lay down.
“You should sleep in your room.”
He shook his head, “No, I want to stay with you.” He said with a smile and I was not conscious enough to fight him on this problem. I fell asleep again as he sat down on the couch to my right.

I woke up to see Juliet watching TV on a couch to my left. When I sat up she gave me a frown as the green aura stung my eyes. I rubbed them in hope that this pain would go away, but it wouldn’t. She watched me intensely, “Nathan and Robert left early this morning to go pick up Logan. They made me watch you like a babysitter.”
I stood and fixed my skirt, “Where’s everyone else?”
“The younger kids are working on their homework, Sapphire and Vladimir went to the store, and William and Julie are working,” She said in a hiss and then stood, “Well if you’re up I’m leaving.” She stomped out of the room and left the TV on. I looked to it and was surprised when I saw an earthquake had hit Mexico, but was not very interested. I went into the kitchen and poured myself a glass of water. I looked down to my clothes and realized I had not showered in a while. I went to the front of the house and saw my Jeep parked outside. I was glad to see its red color and quickly went outside. I ignored the fact that I should probably tell someone I was leaving and just drove off. It took me almost an hour to get home, but when I did I took a shower and felt much better. But, the whole time I could feel my temperature increasing because of my aching head. There were very few people in the apartment buildings near me at 10 on a weekday, yet I was still very ill by their presence. I quickly packed up a few pairs of clothes and my laptop before I changed into a pair of jeans and a tank top that said PINK on it because it was from Victoria’s Secret and then left my apartment. The closer I got to Robert’s home, the less people were near me and that caused my fever and headache to decrease. When I got to Robert’s house I saw William trimming some bushes in the front of the house, but he looked up to me as I got out of my car.
“I told Robert you did not run away,” He said with a smile as he stood, “Where did you go, dear girl? You nearly gave my wife a heart attack from worry.”
I smiled back to him, “I needed to take a shower so I went back to my house and picked up some pairs of clothes since I don’t know how long I will be staying here.”
“Well you should head on inside. Julie made you some food for lunch in hopes you would be coming back unlike Robert guessed.”
“Okay,” I said and then walked inside. I shut the door behind me and set my suitcase off to the side of the door. Erick suddenly appeared and then disappeared. When he reappeared he was following Julie who let out a gasp of happiness when she saw me. She ran over and hugged me as her mood stayed a consistent light pink hue, “Hello Julie.” I said kindly.
She suddenly pulled away from me and put her hand on my forehead, “My dear! You’re running a fever!” She said with worry on her face.
“Yea,” I replied but followed her when she grabbed my hand and started dragging me behind her. She brought me to the kitchen where I saw Danna, Hannah, Nathan, Robert, and an unknown albino with green eyes that I assumed was Logan. I looked back to Julie as she stuck something in my mouth. It was a very cold thermometer that beeped after a few seconds and she gasped as she took it out of my mouth.
“It’s already to 101!” She gasped and then turned towards Robert, “Do we have anything for a fever?” She asked and he stood. He walked over to me with a smile.
“There’s nothing we can do for her, Julie. This fever occurs when she is around too many regular creatures. The best medicine for her is to just be around all of us.”
I nodded, “It will go down soon, I promise.” Julie quickly hugged me again.
“You are such a brave girl!” She said as she squeezed me but finally let go as Danna and Hannah ran over to me.
“Omigosh! Where did you get your jeans? They are so cute!” Danna said as she wrapped herself around my arm.
I shrugged my shoulders, “I could ask my stylist but truly I have no clue.”
“I wish I had a personal stylist.” Danna said with a glance to Robert.
“Keep dreaming, dear,” He said with a laugh and she frowned towards him, “Now don’t be so rough towards Aurora. She’s still sick.” He said and Danna let go of me, “So my son tells me your friend that was in a coma is much better?”
I nodded towards him, “But when she awoke she was upset with me because I was staying at her side even though I was running a fever.”
“Yes, Nathan said you became very sick.”
“Kinda.”
“Oh, Aurora, I want to introduce you to my eldest son Logan,” Robert said as he led me over to his son. I smiled to the man, “He is a very important person in his company.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you.” I said as I noticed the aura around him was somewhere between orange and yellow but was nothing like any color aura I had seen yet. Even though regular humans would change their moods many times I had not seen something like this.
I was glad when the man took my hand in his as I had expected him to do since I had put my hand out to him, but was shocked when he lifted my hand to his mouth and kissed the back of it, “No, the pleasure is all mine.” He said as he looked into my eyes and I had to keep myself from blushing because I knew his type; a player or a con-artist towards women, that enjoyed playing with their minds and emotions even though he did not care for them, but I would not fall for his tricks because I knew what he was. I smiled towards him in order to see if I could become the deceiver of a con-artist.
“I’m sure it is.” I replied and he let out a laugh as he looked to Robert.
“She is more than I expected from Henry’s bloodline. Fearlessness, beauty, and grace all in one woman is very uncommon.”
Julie smiled towards him, “She also very intelligent.”
“Oh?” Logan asked as he smiled towards me.
“She is only 18 but owns her own computer company and is a senior in college. She is certainly brighter than most.”
“Especially for Henry’s child.” William said as he came into the room and smiled towards me before kissing Julie on the cheek.
“William,” Robert said with annoyance, “That is no way to talk about your departed best friend.” William laughed and looked to his brother.
“You must agree that Henry was not the brightest man. I certainly made many mistakes in his life. His worst mistake was giving up his bright daughter.”
“That I agree with.” Nathan said with a smile towards his uncle.
“Indeed,” Robert said as he squeezed my shoulder in his hand, “So are you ready to train today, Aurora?”
“Yea, but I first need to check on work. Could I plug in my computer?”
“Of course,” Robert said as he followed me to my suitcase. I grabbed my computer and brought it over to the kitchen table as Robert plugged it into a light socket. Julie sat down beside me as I turned on the computer.
“Wow, where did you buy this computer, Rory? It is beautiful!” She exclaimed and I smiled towards her.
“I didn’t buy it, I made it.”
“Where did you get the parts?”
“Well I first built it out of scraps from a junkyard, but James made me remake it last year with some brand new equipment he had created.”
“You certainly are a genius.” She commented as my computer fully turned on. I went to my emails and over 100 e-mails quickly popped up. I looked to one that was from Mason that had urgent written on it. The e-mail said he could not find my papers I had Justin Simmons sign a few days ago. I quickly picked up my phone I had found in my car earlier and dialed his number. The phone rang for a few moments before he picked up.
“Mason Redmond.”
“Hey Mason, you can’t find the contract?”
“Yea, I went to your office yesterday and couldn’t find it anywhere.”
“Did you check the filing cabinet to the right of my desk?”
“I’m not sure. I’ll check there and call you back if I can’t find it.”
“Alright. Talk to you later.” I said and then hung up. The rest of the e-mails were not very important so I looked to Robert, “Alright. Let’s go.”
“But what about all those unopened e-mails?”
“Most are from our company branch in China so they would be sleeping right now so I don’t need to e-mail them just yet.” I replied and then followed Robert outside to face my fears.

I sat at the table and watched everyone enjoy each other’s company while feeling my heart float towards thoughts of Henry. I noticed William feeding his youngest son that I had just met names Alex and felt the scars on my back burn with regret along with the bleeding I could feel slowly coming out of it. No one other than I had noticed when Debbie jumped on my back earlier she had ripped open the scab low on my back that sent me into shock and agony. I needed to put a bandage on it soon in case of infection, but the only way to do so was to either ask for bandages or go through my suitcase and have to ask someone to help me dress my wound which I did not want to do either way. I looked to Sapphire when her hand rested on my shoulder, “Are you alright, Aurora? You don’t look well.”
I forced a smile, “I’m fine. I was just thinking about work. Sorry to worry you.” I replied and she smiled towards me. I decided I needed to act in front of them or they would worry so I started eating my food as everyone continued on with their lives. When the dinner was over I looked to Nathan as he stood and walked over to me.
He leaned over and whispered into my ear, “Come outside with me.” He then went and put up his plate as I slowly followed after him. I saw him go out of the back door so once no one was near me I slipped outside. Nathan waited against the wall beside the back door and took my hand in his as I came outside. I used the trick Robert had taught me and focused all of my abilities on Nathan as he brought me to the small porch in the middle of the yard. I sat down next to him in a white wicker chair.
“Why did you want to bring me out here?”
He watched me for a moment and then finally spoke, “You were certainly not thinking of work at the table tonight and I thought you could talk to me about it. I also assumed you did not want the others to know so I decided to bring you out here,” He suddenly leaned forward and took my hands in his, “I want to help make you happy, Aurora, so please tell me.”
I looked away from him with a sigh, “When I saw William feeding Alex I was suddenly overtaken by the realization that I could never do that with my father. He hated me and is now gone so I can’t fix it.”
“Henry was moronic to let you go, Aurora. You are the best child he could have asked for but yet he let his fear of letting his mistake be revealed he missed out on getting to know a wonderful girl such as yourself,” He whispered and I suddenly could not hold my feelings back. I started crying but was shocked when Nathan pulled me out of my chair and into his lap. He embraced me tightly as I shook and I could feel my heart opening up to him. I was falling for Nathan because of his gentle heart, “I wish I could take your past away so that you could be happy once more.” He whispered and I was shocked when I suddenly had the urge to kiss him. I let my emotions take over and I lifted my head from his shoulder. I put my hand on his cheek and looked to his eyes as I still cried. I then moved in and gently set my lips against his. Nathan’s left arm wrapped around my waist to keep me close while his right hand slid into my hair and rested on the back of my head in order to pull me closer for a more intimate kiss. I opened my mouth and let him enter me as I closed my eyes and tried to stop crying. Nathan suddenly pulled his lips from mine and started kissing my collarbone.
“Nathan.” I whispered in a seductive way as he wrapped his arms around me to pull us tighter together.
“Aurora,” He whispered and then suddenly pulled from me to look into my eyes, “You are the one,” He slowly kissed my neck and shoulders, “You are my soul mate. I had questioned the thought since I first saw you, but now I know. You are my destined love.”

I awoke in Nathan’s arms and quickly felt my cheeks brighten. I slipped away from his grasp and made my way inside to see Logan playing with Lily and Debbie, “Good morning.” Logan said with a smiled towards me and the girls kept running.
“Morning,” I whispered and then walked past. I went to my bag and took it to the bathroom with me in order to change. I put on a light weight pink dress that I had gotten right before I left the orphanage. It was the dress I made especially for my first introduction of my invention. I looked to myself in the mirror and saw the old me. All I used to think about was if I could finally get my parents to accept me and now I stood in this dress with knowing the truth that those dreams could never happen. I left the bathroom and went to the kitchen as I heard Julie cooking. She smiled towards me as I focused on her pink aura, “Wow, something smells amazing.” I commented as I came into the room.
She smiled from the stove, “Thank you,” She said and then looked over to William as he came into the room. He smiled towards me and then went to kiss her on the cheek, “William, where did Juliet go so early this morning?”
“She did not say,” He replied but looked up as I went to the table. I opened my computer and looked at my messages. I typed over 30 emails and then looked up as Julie set a cup of coffee in front of me.
“Thanks,” I whispered but then picked up my phone, “Rory Justice.” I announced.
“Rory, this is President Fujimoto.”
“Ah, yes. Mr. Fujimoto, did you receive my email?”
“Yes, but it seems we are a few days behind schedule.”
I sighed angrily, “I take leave for only a few days and if seems all of you lose your minds! The china branch of this company is supposed to be the highest, Mr. Fujimoto. Do not forget we have an image to obtain and uphold. James and I are working furiously here in the states and when I made you the president of the china branch I believed you would do the same. Now I certainly have a hundred people I could replace you with, but I am willing to forgive this and give you the rest of the week to fix the problem.”
“Thank you Miss Justice! I will not let you down!”
I smiled and let out a slight laugh, “Call me if anything else happens, Mr. Fujimoto. Goodbye.” I said and then hung up the phone. I looked to William as he sat beside me.
“That sounded like a very serious call.”
I nodded, “There is a problem with our Chinese branch so I had to tighten the rules in order to achieve my goal,” I replied but then stopped, “William, I have been meaning to ask you something.”
“Ask away.”
“Did Henry ever talk about me?”
He gave me a concerned look, “Why are you asking something like this so suddenly?”
I sighed, “Ever since my friend was in a coma I have been thinking about the past even though it is painful to relive and I was just curious.”
He smiled, “Yes, he talked about you a lot of the time he was here.”
“Ah,” I replied, “But you could not read Henry’s mind either?”
He shook his head, “Henry did not posses as much power as you do. Robert and I were able to read his mind as long as he was not focusing, but you are a different story. I cannot tell what you are thinking at any time and as far as I understand no one else can either.”
“I feel as if so many outside of this house can though.”
“There are others outside?” He asked with shock and I laughed.
“No, what I meant was some people have watched me so closely it seems like they can read my thoughts now,” I replied, “Like this guy I was seeing for a while forced me to go see my friend that was in the hospital.”
“So you are still seeing this guy?”
I shook my head, “He got mad that I had been ignoring him and said we should give up dating. But I’m fine with it. I have too much to deal with that being a true teenager cannot fit into my life. My company and this house are all I can think about now.”
“So will you finally live here?”
I looked to him, “Yea, I think I might. I just have to clear a few things this afternoon at my friend’s wedding rehearsal and then I will stay.”
“Robert will be very happy to hear that and so will my wife.”
“I really like Julie. She’s like the mother I’ve always wanted.”
“She really likes you too,” He replied but then looked to Nathan as he came into the room. I looked to him as he watched me in a needy way, “Oh, there you are Nathan. Great news! Rory has decided she is going to move in!”
I looked away from him, “That’s nice.” Nathan said as he came over and sat at my open side. I picked up my phone when it rang again.
“Rory Justice.” I announced.
“Miss Justice, this is your bank attendant. I just got your request for giving money to an orphan and I think something is wrong.”
“What is wrong on it?”
“It says you want to give one million dollars to a child that is now in Elementary school. You must have added too many zeros.”
I crossed my arms over my chest, “No that is correct. I want one million dollars to be put in an account for Miss Anna Keller.”
“But do you even know this child!”
I sighed, “I am not crazy, sir. I know Anna very well. I took care of her when she was an infant at the orphanage I grew up in. On my birthday I want that money immediately set aside for her so that she will not have to pay for her own college and will be able to get a house.”
“Alright, thank you for your time.” The man said and I hung up.
“You are giving a million dollars to a child?” William asked as I looked to him.
I nodded, “Anna has almost the same family situation I did and I want to help her. I was lucky that I had a calling in life and could support myself, but I just want to make sure she has something to lean on if needed.”
“You are truly a gentle soul, Aurora.”
I smiled towards him, “I’m actually thinking o adopting Anna.”
“Oh?”
I nodded again, “But I need to get myself settled down before I can do that.”
“That is very smart,” He agreed and then looked to me intensely, “But do you have that kind of money to spend?”
“I have over 10 million dollars to my name so I definitely have enough to live comfortably. Also, when I sell my company I will receive over two million dollars.”
“Are you planning to sell your company?”
“I want to create what I could never have,” I said with a sigh, “I want to be able to have a husband and have kids and live as a happy family. I want to adopt Anna and give her a wonderful life, but right now all I do is work. I mean this is the first time I have had a lot of contact with people in a very long time and I am almost 18. I don’t want to stay like this forever. I want to create my picture life.”
A snort added with laughter filled the room, “Good luck on that!” Juliet mocked as she came into the room. I watched her walk over to me, “That bracelet on your wrist will make it so you can never do that. You will be linked to this family like the rest of us and you will never be able to find someone who can accept the freak you truly are.”
“Juliet!” William hissed but I did not lose her gaze.
I narrowed my eyes, “Do not compare me to you, Juliet. Not everyone is as cruel to people as you are.”
She smiled again, “You’re right, Rory. You are not comparable to me. You have it worse off. At least I have a family to support me and have real friends. I’m not a worthless orphan without a future.”
“Juliet! That was uncalled for!” William hissed but froze when I got up.
“Think what you want, Juliet,” I replied as I put the cup that used to have coffee in the sink, “But jealousy will get you nowhere. You can never find a man if you act so rudely towards everyone you encounter. That just proves how childish and shrew you are,” I sat down again at my seat, “And I may be an orphan, but that has made me strong.”
“Whatever.” She hissed as she stormed out of the room.
I let out an angry breath, “Great comeback there, Sherlock,” I mumbled and then closed my computer.
“I’m sorry, Aurora. She did not mean that.”
I shook my head to him, “No, she did mean it, William, but she is just angered because I am a woman of her age invading her territory. She is jealous.”
“But she had no right to say what she did.”
I looked to him, “If I was weak enough to be upset by her words I would not have made it this far in my company or in life.”
“That is probably true. I have heard life in an orphanage is hard.”
I looked up as Robert entered the room with a smile on his face, “Good morning.”
“Robert, I’m going to leave for a few hours today.”
“Ah, yes, that thing for James. But are you sure you are ready?”
I sighed, “I think so.”
“Well just in case maybe I should go with you.”
“Oh that’s not necessary!”
“Father, I will go with Aurora.” Nathan offered and I had to keep myself from blushing. I knew this was going to be weird if Nathan went with me, but yet I did not have any substantial reason to deny the offer so I nodded to Robert.

I leaned against the wall and just watched as James and Kelly practiced saying their vows with not even 20 people watching. I felt Nathan watching me from the last pew in the main room, but for once I felt safer with his gaze than annoyed. I looked to James as he turned slightly and smiled to me. I smiled back but as he turned away I let out a sigh. I still had this urge to tell him my true feelings, my feelings of passion towards the man that adopted me and is now my business partner. When they were done with the vows James came directly to me and smiled again before he took my hands in his, “How was it?”
“Really good,” I replied with a smile, “But I am not the right person to ask for an opinion since this is the first wedding I have ever been to.”
He let out a warm laugh, “I forgot,” He joked, “But did I sound too stupid up there?”
I smiled towards him, “You could never sound stupid,” I replied, “Well I should get going. I need to get back home.”
“Aren’t you coming to the after-party? I invited Anna and Sara and I know they are looking forward to seeing you.” He baited me with the hopes of other’s and I could not refuse.
“Alright,” I replied and then walked away from him. I went over to Nathan as he stood, “James wants me to go to an after-party so you should probably go home. Robert will get worried if you stay out too late.”
He shrugged, “I’m 20 now. He does not control me,” He gave me a slight smile, “And I want to spend some more time with you so I’ll go with you.” He said as I noticed James listening in. I turned and he smiled in order to tell me he was fine with it. Before I knew anything I was in the back of a limo with Kelly, James, and Nathan. We reached an extravagant white building with pillars that reminded me of those on Robert’s house and went in to see hundreds of people. They all cheered as we walked in, but I was captivated when Sara suddenly embraced me. I quickly squeezed her to me and let out a sigh of relief.
“How you doing?” I asked as I brushed hair from her face.
“Really good, actually,” She said but seemed to perk up, “Oh and guess what! James invited a bunch of people from the orphanage! And Anna of course! She’s been sitting in a seat and has refused to talk to anyone except to ask if you’re here yet.”
“Where is she?” I asked with concern but was surprised when I young boy I recognized from the orphanage pushed Anna through the crowd as her teary eyes locked on me. I smiled towards her with all my heart before she quickly ran over to me. I quickly knelt down and embraced the child with all my love, “Oh, Anna! Anna! Anna! Anna!” I whispered as I held her as tightly as I could. When I let go of her she took my hand in hers and wrapped her arms around my arm.
“I told you I’d make sure you could see Rory,” James said as he knelt down towards the small, blonde haired, blue eyed, girl that looked so much like me. He then looked up to me, “I went to the orphanage a few weeks back and Anna was insistent that she needed to see you.”
“Is something wrong, Anna?”
“I miss you, Rory,” She whispered as she buried her face into my arm and started crying. I quickly picked her up and held her tightly again, “Don’t leave me.”
I looked to James as he gave me a troubled look, but then put my hand on the back of her head so that she would rest her head on my shoulder, “Sh, it’s alright now. I’m here.” I whispered soothingly and then smiled towards Sara who knew what to do.
“Alright! Let’s get this party started!” She hollered and the large group cheered in agreement before James, Kelly, Sara, and Nick all went to the rest of the group. I went to the nearest table and set Anna in my lap. Nathan sat beside me as the three of us watched the group dancing and having fun. After an hour I realized Anna was asleep on my shoulder as she hugged me while I hugged her back.
“I have never seen a child be so attached to someone other than their mother.” Nathan commented and I slowly turned so I could look to him.
“I wish I could be her mother,” I whispered, “I love her with all my heart, even if we cannot be together.”
“You really want to adopt her, don’t you?”
I nodded with a blush, “I really do.”
“When the day comes, I will drive you,” He said with a smile, but looked up as a hand was set on his shoulder, “Yea?” He asked as he looked to Sara.
“Sorry to interrupt, guys, but I think Rory should go up and sing!” She said as she moved closer, “Come on, Rory! When we were growing up you said you always wanted to be a singer, but gave it up to make computers! Just sing us a little something, for James and me! Please!” She said as she grabbed my hand and I sighed.
“Alright, I’ll do something,” I whispered and then went up to the stage as everyone was hushed. I saw the familiar face of Johnny, a boy that was now 16 and the best guitar player I had ever met. I smiled towards him, “Crazier by Taylor Swift?” I asked and he smiled with a nod. He started playing his acoustic guitar and I cleared my throat. I waited till the correct time and they looked down to James, “I'd never gone with the wind. Just let it flow; let it take me where it wants to go to. You open the door, there's so much more. I've never seen it before. I was trying to fly, but I couldn't find wings. But you came along and you changed everything. You lift my feet off the ground, you spin me around. You make me crazier, crazier. Feels like I'm falling and I am lost in your eyes. You make me crazier, crazier, crazier. I've watched from a distance as you made life your own. Every sky was your own kind of blue. I wanted to know how that would feel. And you made it so real. You showed me something that I couldn't see. You opened my eyes and you made me believe. You lift my feet off the ground, you spin me around. You make me crazier, crazier. Feels like I'm falling and I am lost in your eyes. You make me crazier, crazier, crazier. Baby you showed me what living is for, I don't wanna hide anymore. Oh, oh, you lift my feet off the ground, you spin me around. You make me crazier, crazier. Feels like I'm fallin' and I am lost in your eyes. You make me crazier, crazier, crazier,” I stopped as Johnny stopped playing and the group near us cheered. I smiled and blushed slightly, “That’s for James and Kelly. May you two find happiness in your lives together.” I whispered and then walked off the stage. Sara hugged me as I walked towards the table.
“That was beautiful, Rory,” She complimented and then looked to Anna as she sat up from my chair, “Did you like it Anna?”
She blushed, “I’ve never heard you sing before,” She whispered as she clung onto my navy dress.
“I should probably go.” I insisted and Sara quickly grabbed Anna. She held the girl.
“I’ll take you home now, Anna,” She offered and then smiled towards me, “I’ll tell James you left. See you at the wedding, Rory.” She added before walking off with Anna. I quickly made my way out of the building but was forced against a pillar by my lightheaded walking. I was breathing heavily and my fever was more than I could bear. I felt Nathan touch my shoulder and I looked to him. His deep red aura that never changed hugged me with assurance as I pulled myself to him. I lay my head on his chest and tried to gain control of my mind. He embraced me and just watched me.
“Your voice is beautiful, Aurora,” He whispered as I listened to his calm voice, “You were more than I could stand up there. I wanted to take you away so that no one else could see how beautiful you and your voice are. I could not stand that others were allowed to see you,” He pulled me tighter to him, “I felt ill when you left my side and only felt calm when I touched you. I must truly be bonded to you by soul because I have never felt this sensation before. I have never felt jealousy like this.”

I felt the impact of the man’s hand on my chest as if it was fire burning me to the core and the wall slammed into my back while I tried to keep the top half of my body from leaning back. The wind blew my hair off the side of the building as the creature’s face changed in the dark in a way I knew was horrible. He tried to push me over the edge of the short concrete wall that surrounded the top of the building and I finally gained enough strength to push him away. I fell to the concrete floor of the roof and quickly tried to get to my feet, but the man already had recaptured my hands and pushed me against the concrete. Sudden pain pierced my back and I let out a scream as I knew I was going to die. Suddenly my surroundings changed to that of my new room. I felt my body flash with heat and terror as my breathing quickened. It slowly regained a steady rate as I looked to the red room around me and all of my things from my apartment. I was now living in Robert’s house with everyone, but have a room on the 4th floor where only Robert, William and Julie, and my room existed. I let out a sigh and put my head between my legs to try to focus. I looked to the alarm clock to see I was going to be getting up in ten minutes anyway, so I got up and went to my bathroom. It was small, but all I needed was a shower, sink, and toilet. I took a 30 minute shower and then blow-dried my hair. I put on a dark purple suit, grabbed my stuff I needed for the day, and then made my way downstairs. I left the house and quickly drove to work where Peter quickly got me a coffee. When James came into the office he smiled towards me, “Hey birthday girl!” He said with a smile and then set his stuff down, “I was kind of concerned when you asked me to come in early because we needed to talk. I mean this is my first day back since my honeymoon and I was not expecting that.”
I sighed, “Sit down, James.” I said and concern filled his face.
“That’s not good. You’re acting like my boss for once. What’s up?” He asked as he sat down across from me at my desk.
“James, I want to resign from the company.”
He laughed, “That’s funny, Rory!”
I frowned, “I’m serious, James.”
He froze, “What is this about, Rory? All you’ve thought about since we left the orphanage is this company. Why would you want to give it up?”
I looked to my hands on my lap, “Today is my last test in college and then it’s over. I’m finally nineteen and I just feel like I don’t want to do this anymore.”
He frowned, “Is it that guy?”
“What guy?”
“The guy that has been following you around like a lost puppy the past few weeks.”
“Nathan is not the reason,” I replied, “I can finally adopt Anna and I want to be able to be her mom. I can’t do that and run this company, even now I almost have no life other than this company and I want more! I want to be able to be the person I’ve always wanted to be! I want to be a mother and a wife and just stay with my family! And I’ve finally found my family and leaving them every day is killing me!”
“But we’re family, Rory! You, Sara, and me!”
I let out a sigh, “Sara has Nick and you have Kelly. I am alone once again and I don’t want to ever be like I was before. I want to be with people who care for me and can be there for me and put me first.”
“But I always put you first!”
I stood, “Then why did you not notice I was in love with you almost all of my life!” I hollered, “You never returned my feelings, but now I have found someone who loves me and I’m finally happy! I’m not going to give that up!” He froze and I quickly sighed, “I didn’t call you here to yell at you. I’m sorry. I lost my temper,” I apologized, “But my decision is made, James, and I thought you should hear it from me before my press release in a few minutes.”
“You’re already giving a press conference?”
I looked to him and then to my desk as I brushed my fingers across it, “I have been thinking about this for almost a year, James, and now that I’ve made up my mind I’m not going to stop for anything.” I left the room and quickly went to the stairs, but halfway down them I broke down and crumbled to the ground. I cried repeatedly for a few minutes and did not move until I regained my composure.

I drove to school in a light purple dress and sandals as my fingers tapped the steering wheel of my red jeep with anxiety. When I pulled into the parking lot of the school I quickly made my way to my classroom and everyone looked up to me as I realized I was 30 minutes late. I quickly walked over to the teacher as he watched me like everyone else, “Sorry, Sir. My press conference went over time.”
“Is everything alright, Rory? You look pale.”
I smiled towards him, “Yea, everything’s fine.” I said and then grabbed my test as he handed it to me.
“This test is supposed to take the whole class, Rory. You may not be able to finish.”
I let out a small laugh, “I’ll be fine.” I said and then went to the nearest open seat and quickly started my test. I finished within an hour and still had 15 minutes left. I looked to the ceiling to try to focus on the present, but fear of when I left the classroom over-flooded me. I knew those vultures were waiting for me to come out of my rabbit hole before they would pounce, but I did not want to deal with them right now. The bell rang and I quickly stood as my test was taken by the teacher. I was surprised when Conner came up to me.
“Hey.”
“Hi.”
He seemed nervous, “Listen, I just wanted to wish you a happy birthday. I mean I know things have been a little weird between us lately, but I just want us to go back to being friends.”
I smiled, “Thanks and I’d like that.”
He smiled, “See you around, Rory.” He said and then walked away. I turned as Nathan came over to me.
“Why were you so late?”
“I’ll tell you once we get back to the house.” I replied and then walked out of the room with him following. Immediately we were crowded by hundreds of reporters all yelling and trying to get closer to me.
“Miss Justice!” They all yelled repeatedly as I tried to push them out of my way. When one woman reporter grabbed my arm I froze.
“Miss Justice! Is it true you will be resigning as President of your company?”
I pushed her hand from me, “I am not at liberty to say. Please leave me alone.” I whispered and then quickly made my way to my car. I waited a few moments till Nathan finally made his way to my car and got into the passenger’s seat. I knew he was watching me as I started towards his house. My phone started buzzing.
“Aren’t you going to get that?”
I sighed, “I already know it’s James. I don’t need to pick up because I am done with him.”
“Is it true? Are you really leaving your company?”
“Please,” I whispered, “I can’t talk about it right now. The minute my head stops spinning I’ll tell you all about it.”
He put his hand over mine that was on the consol and intertwined our fingers, “Are you going to be okay?”
I nodded, “I needed to do this.” I whispered but we were silent the rest of the way home. When we came in the door I was attacked by Debbie and Lily as they hugged my legs.
“You’re home!” They cheered and I smiled towards them. They then took my hands in theirs and led me into the kitchen to present everyone else. They all looked to me in shock as I realized what was on the TV they watched.
“Aurora, what is the meaning of this?” Robert asked and I looked away from him.
“It’s all there. Everything is in the press release.”
“But why are you quitting!”
I sighed, “I…I just can’t talk about it right now,” I whispered but then looked to my phone as it rang. It was Sara so I picked it up.
“Happy Birthday!” She hollered at the top of her lungs and I quickly pulled the phone from my ear, but then brought it back.
“Thanks, so what’s up?”
She sighed, “James has called me three different times in the past 30 minutes asking me to call you so that he could talk to you.”
“So you’re calling because of James?” I said with regret.
“No, I just wanted to make sure you’re okay. I mean leaving the company you built is a pretty big thing.”
I sighed, “But the highlight is my lawyer finally passed my papers today.”
“Oh! So you’re going to adopt Anna?”
I smiled slightly, “Yea. I’m going to be picking her up at the end of this week. Then we’ll finally be mother and daughter.”
“But where are you going to stay?”
I sighed, “I’m not sure. I’ve heard Chicago is a good place to live.”
“You’re moving?”
“Maybe, I’m not sure.”
“Ohmigod!” She suddenly gasped, “Go to channel 6 right now! You have to see this!” She said and I quickly went over to Robert and took the remote. I went to channel six to see the picture of the devil himself. The woman on the TV told how Richard Worthington had escaped from federal prison as I felt myself shaking, “What are you going to do Rory?”
I let out a breath and then tried to calm myself down, “I’ll be fine, Sara. He won’t find me a second time,” I whispered, “Well I need to go. I’ll talk to you later.” I whispered and then hung up the phone. My hands shook as I looked to Nathan as he put his hand on my shoulder.
“You don’t look well.”
I sighed, “Yea, I think I’ll go lie down.” I whispered and then went up to my room. I cried myself to sleep as the scars on my back burned my soul.

I woke up when Hannah and Danna entered my room. They both looked extremely happy as they ran over to me and I sat up, “Rory! We’re going to the beach! Everyone’s going! Are you gonna come?”
“Uh, sure. I’ll go. Is Nathan going?”
“No, he has his last test for college.” Hannah replied.
“We’re leaving in 20 minutes!” Danna called and then quickly left the room. I sighed and stood up to get my swimsuit out. I took off my shirt but when I passed the mirror I caught a glimpse of the scars I so strongly tried to ignore. They were now deep red scars with a thin purple line in the middle of all three. They went from just below my neck to my hips in a straight line. I quickly looked away and slipped on my bikini. I looked into the mirror to see the tied string in the back did not hide any of my scars and quickly decided to slip on a thick t-shirt, a pair of sunglasses, and a skirt. I went downstairs to see everyone was already waiting so I went to the car and got into the large van. I sat next to Rachel (William’s little girl) and Alex who were both in booster seats. The drive was not very long, not even an hour, and when we got to the place of the beach we were going to stay at we all got out. I helped carry a lot of stuff and then helped put sunscreen on the kids before putting it on myself. I sat on a folding chair but looked up to Hannah and Danna as they came over to me.
“Aren’t you coming, Rory?” Hannah asked and I looked to her. I wanted to go.
“You should take off that shirt, Rory, or you’ll end up with a farmer’s tan.” Julie warned with a smiled towards me and I sighed.
“Okay,” I whispered and then stood. I slipped off my shirt and skirt as I heard Julie, Hannah, and Danna all gasp.
“Dear goodness, Rory! What happened?” Julie hollered as she went to touch the stripes on my back but I quickly jumped away from her hand.
“Please, don’t touch them. They’re very painful.”
“Is it new? It looks like it has happened recently.”
I shook my head, “This is a wound from a long time ago that just seems to not be able to heal and reopens a lot,” I whispered, “I should put my shirt back on. I don’t want to frighten your kids.”
She smiled, “They will not care, Rory, and neither do I. I’m just worried.”
I sighed, “It seems that everyone is.” I whispered and then went out to the water with Hannah and Danna. A little while later I was slashed by a wave and my wounds reopened so I quickly left the water and went over to Julie, “Do you have a napkin?”
“Here,” She said as she handed it to me and I quickly put it to my back as she turned to look. I saw that I had luckily stopped the blood before it got to my bottoms of the bikini, “Oh no! Are you alright?” Julie asked as she took the napkin and sat me down. She turned me to face towards the water as she sat behind me on a chair and dabbed my wounds as they bled, “What is the world gave this to you, Rory?”
I sighed, “A knife.”
“Was it an accident?”
I sighed, “Yea,” I lied. I hated the thought of lying to Julie, but I had to. I did not to cause her any type of inconvenience. Suddenly my name was called and I looked up to see James who was running over to us in a suit in the heat of June, “James?” I asked as I stood and he quickly grabbed my shoulders.
“Finally!” He gasped through heavy breaths.
“What are you doing here, James? How did you find me?”
He gave me a slight smile, “You did a very thorough job of hiding your location, Rory, but I did find you.”
I shoved him away from me, “I thought leaving the company, ignoring your calls, and blocking all ways to communicate with me was enough to make you understand I did not want to see you, but I guess I was wrong,” I hissed, “Leave me alone, James.”
“I can’t leave you alone, Rory. I care about you.”
I took a step back, “Well stop caring! I don’t want your help anymore! You have Kelly and Sara so I don’t need to stay by your side anymore!”
I looked back as Logan quickly came over to us in a white t-shirt and a pair of swimming trunks. He stopped at my side and gave me a worried look, “What’s going on here, Aurora? Why are you making a scene?”
James frowned towards the guy, “This has nothing to do with you, so leave us be.”
Logan frowned towards James, “If someone is yelling at the daughter of Henry, I certainly do have something to do with it.”
“Who the hell is Henry?” James asked in a hiss.
“That’s my dad’s name.”
Logan put his hand on my shoulder, “Who is this, Aurora?”
“Aurora? Since when does anyone call you that?” James asked me and I quickly smiled towards Logan.
“Everything’s fine, Logan. This is just a friend that is a little frustrated with me.”
“Should I go get my father?”
I shook my head, “Oh no, Robert does not need to come over. I can deal with this.”
“But your back is bleeding…”
I smiled, “I’m alright. Don’t worry.”
“Are you sure?”
I nodded, “Go on. I’ll come back over to the group in a few minutes.” I said and he finally left. I turned back to James to see his scowling face.
“Who the hell are those people?”
“They’re none of your business, James.”
He grabbed my arm, “They certainly are my business! If they have something to do with you, they have something to do with me!”
I shoved him away, “Why are you here, James? What do you want?”
“I want you to come back with me. You can’t just decide that you’re not going to speak to me anymore!”
I quickly took a few steps back and got out of his grasp, “I’m leaving.” I hissed and then quickly walked away. I started back towards Julie, but was stopped when Lily ran over to me.
“Rory! Come build a sandcastle with me!”
I let out a happy laugh, “I can’t right now, but I’ll come over and help you in a minute, alright?” I asked and she nodded with a smile. She ran off and I went over to Julie as Robert and William stood beside her.
“Aurora, who is that?” Robert asked.
“That’s James.”
“Why were you two yelling?”
I sighed, “It’s nothing,” I replied and then slipped on my t-shirt. I went over to Lily and Debbie to help them with their castle until we were told we were going to go somewhere to eat and then go home. I picked up a chair and a bag, but was surprised when Logan came over to me. He took the bag and chair from me to add to the chair he was already carrying, “I can carry that.” I offered and he shook his head.
“I’ll make up a story to tell my dad. You need to go resolve whatever is going on with that man over there. He still hasn’t left yet and I don’t think you will want him to find out where you have been hiding lately. Call me when you’re done with him and I’ll come get you. Here’s my number,” He said and then handed a small piece of paper to me, “See you later.” He added and then walked over to the group. I watched them leave and waved back to Hannah and Danna when they waved to me. I then made my way over to James.
“Why are you still here?”
He pulled off the brick wall he had been leaning against that was part of the exit of the beach and uncrossed his arms over his chest, “I’m not leaving until we talk, Rory.”
“Fine, let’s talk,” I said with a sigh, “Follow.” I insisted and then started walking. I went to the small restaurant I had seen on our way to the beach that was only a few minutes away. I went in to see a beach themed restaurant and went to a man in a pair of white shorts and a pink shirt. I gave him a warm smile and he returned it.
“Table for two?”
I nodded, “Outside, please.” I said and he nodded. I then followed him outside to a two person table that was white with two plastic chairs. I sat down and James sat across from me.
“Here are your menus; can I start you off with something to drink?” He asked and I smiled again.
“Yes, I’ll just have a glass of water.”
“Same.” James replied before the guy nodded and left. A warm ocean breeze whipped around me and I grabbed my hair to stop it from flying into my face.
“Alright, you wanted to talk so talk.”
He sighed, “Why are you acting so weird towards me?”
I frowned, “Because I can’t act like nothing’s wrong anymore. I can’t try to stay by your side when I am miserable doing so. I’m just acting the way I feel.”
“Why couldn’t you’ve told me…that…before?”
“What do you mean by ‘that’?”
“That you…love me.”
I sighed, “I don’t know. I just couldn’t. I saw how happy you were with Kelly and realized I could never make you happy like that.”
“Don’t say that.”
“Why?” I asked as I looked down to the right to see the water a few miles away. All that separated us from the beach was two other buildings that were spread far apart, “It’s the truth so why can’t I say it? I am naturally not a happy person and have always created bad things that happen to you.”
“You never caused me anything like that. None of the past was your fault.”
“Oh?” I asked and I leaned back in my chair, but stopped when the waiter brought us our waters and smiled to me again.
“What can I get you guys?”
“The house salad.”
“Make that two.” James added and then the man left.
“My scars on my back were created because I was too weak to defend myself. I had grown up counting on you to protect me, but the minute you were gone I was helpless and ended up being raped by an older man. I know I caused it, so don’t say I didn’t.”
“But other than that our childhoods were fine.”
I let out a small laugh, “Are you kidding?”
“No.”
I looked to him, “I made sure you did not know all the other horrible stuff that happened because I saw how scared you were when I was in the hospital for over a month.”
“But what about right now, why are you leaving the company? It certainly can’t be because you want to do something else because all we talked about when we were kids was growing up, creating a computer company, and living together.”
I looked away from him with regret, “That was before I almost died. Ever since that happened I have tried to go back to thinking I wanted that but then I looked at reality. I never had a childhood to grow up from because my innocence was forcefully taken from me. I only made computers to keep my thoughts from how disgusting I was, and we only lived together for three months after the orphanage.”
“But you said you wanted to live on your own.”
I nodded, “That was because you were in love with Kelly and it hurt me to see her with you. She was perfect, kind, and sweet, she loved you and you loved her back. But I couldn’t help think that I was too disgusting for you to ever love like that, I was never happy, and you never looked at me the way you looked at her. I was just your friend and sister, but I wanted to by your girlfriend. Ever since Justice Corp. started I’ve tried to tell myself that it was enough to just be at your side, but lately I’ve realized I am fooling myself waiting for you to finally love me back. And now you’re married to Kelly and I can’t help but feel worthless and abandoned every time I am near you and I don’t want to feel that way anymore.” I stopped when the waiter brought our food out to us.
“I didn’t know any of this. I was clueless to how you felt.”
I sighed, “I wanted to keep it that way because I did not want to ruin your life any further. Then a while back I decided that staying at Justice Corp. would hurt both of us so I finally decided to leave.”
“But what about Anna? Mason called me yesterday night because he was concerned when you called him to say you wanted to cancel your papers to adopt Anna,” He leaned closer, “You love that girl so why are you giving her up?”
I had to stop myself from crying, “I will hurt her if I adopt her. I can’t let her be with me if Richard is out of jail. I know he is going to come after me and I don’t want to get her involved. Of all things I don’t want to hurt her.”
“If you already know about Richard Williams escaping, why are you still here?”
“Why wouldn’t I be here?”
He frowned, “You need to get away from Maryland. He is going to come looking for you so you need to get out of here.”
I looked to him, “It doesn’t matter where I run, he will stop at nothing to kill me. If I leave he might hurt someone else to try to get to me and I would rather die than have that happen. I don’t want someone else to be hurt because of me.”
“But Sara and I are worried. If he finds you he will definitely kill you this time.”
“I’m done talking about this, James. I’ve made up my mind and I’m not going to run from Richard again,” I stood, “I’m leaving.” I added but stopped when he grabbed my arm.
“At least let me drive you.” He begged and I sighed. He stood and we walked out after he paid for the food we did not even touch. I got into the passenger seat of his Honda Civic and as he drove I gave him directions to Robert’s home. When we got there he stopped the car and looked to me, “This is where you’re staying?”
I nodded, “The head man of the house was my father’s best friend and he wants to have me become part of his family.”
“Why would he want to do that? He doesn’t owe you anything.”
I sighed, “I asked him the same thing and he said he thought my dad was stupid to let me go and he wanted to become like a father to me.”
“Could I meet him?” He asked and I looked to him.
“Why?”
“I want him to help keep you safe from Richard if possible and I’m sure you don’t want to tell him everything since you still can’t talk about it. If you won’t let me protect you, I want to make sure I can trust whoever you will let protect you.”
“Fine,” I replied and then got out of the car. I went to the front door and rang the bell as James came to my side. Erick answered the door and nodded to me.
“Good afternoon, Miss Aurora.” He said and then let us in.
“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to people calling you Aurora.” He whispered to me as we walked in. I looked to Julie as she quickly ran over to us.
She hugged me, “I was scared out of my wits when Logan told me you left!” She said but then looked to James, “And who might this be?”
“This is James; he was my adoptive brother and was the vice-president of my company,” I replied, “James, this is Miss Julie. Her husband is the brother of my dad’s friend.”
“It’s nice to meet you.” He said and then shook Julie’s hand as she let go of me.
“Nathan was worried about you when he got home and Robert told him you were off with a friend.” Julie said to me with an odd smile of understanding.
“Do you know where Robert is?”
“I believe he is upstairs talking to Sapphire and Vladimir.”
“Okay, thanks.” I said and then looked to James. He knew to follow me so when I went up the staircase beside the door he followed. I went to the second floor living room to find Sapphire, Vladimir, Robert, and William talking. They all turned to me, but I was surprised when Robert came over with a smile towards James.
“Ah, James. It is wonderful to finally meet you. Nathan has told me how much you have done for Aurora over the past few years and I must thank you for doing such.”
“I care dearly for Rory, so it was my pleasure.”
“Robert,” I said and he turned to me, “James and I need to talk to you.”
“Oh? About what?”
James sighed, “It would be best for the three of us to discuss it privately, but I think it would be best if your brother and Ms. Julie joined us. We may need their help.”
“James, don’t bring them into this too.” I hissed.
“No, William and Julie should hear whatever you need to say.” Robert argued and I sighed, “William,” He insisted and William came over, “Let’s go to the dining room.” Robert added and I sighed. I followed behind William, James, and Robert till we got downstairs. I froze when I saw Julie talking to Nathan who quickly saw me.
“Aurora,” Nathan said as he came over to me and kissed my forehead, “You look ill.”
“Rory,” James said and I looked to him, “You have close relations with this man so he should hear what we have to tell the others too.”
“No,” I hissed, “I can’t let anyone else get involved.”
“Aurora,” Nathan said and I looked to him, “If there is something you are going to tell my father then I would like to hear it also.” He said and I sighed. We all went to the dining room and sat down. I sat between Nathan and James at the very end of the table. James turned towards Robert and cleared his throat.
“A problem has come up with Rory and she refuses to let me help her. But since the four of you are close to her, I hoped you could help keep her safe.”
“Keep her safe? From what?” Robert asked and I looked away from all of them.
“I assume you have seen the three scars on Rory’s back?”
“Yes, I saw it earlier.”
“And Sara has told me Rory was with all of you when she saw the news report of Richard Williams escaping from jail.”
“Yes, but why does that concern Rory?”
“Is he the one who accidentally injured Rory?” Julie asked and I looked to her before looking to James who watched me.
“You told them it was an accident?”
I nodded, “I did not want to worry them if I did not have to,” I whispered and then looked to Julie, “Ms. Julie, the scars on my back were not an accident.”
“What do you mean not an accident? Did that Richard William’s fellow purposely injure you?” Julie asked as I saw her squeeze William’s hand she held on the table.
I looked to James because my eyes were welling with tears, “This topic is very difficult for Rory to talk about so I will tell you instead,” He said and then looked to Robert, “Richard Williams requested to adopt Rory when she was 10 but she did not want to go. He then asked to spend time with Rory after school in order to gain her trust and to hopefully be able to adopt her at some point. Rory agreed to meet with Richard and they became close, but I left for a school trip a few months later and when I came back Rory had locked herself in her room and had not come out to go to school or even eat for almost an entire week. I found out from the owner of our orphanage that Rory was very sick and needed to go to the hospital so I persuaded her to come out and let us go to the emergency room,” He cleared his throat, “I was informed by the doctor tending to Rory that she had been raped and had become ill because she was so distraught by the occurrence that she was terrified to leave her room and did not eat for almost 5 days,” He looked to me and I shook as the memories slowly consumed me, “Richard Williams apparently had fallen in love with Rory and when she refused his offer to adopt her for the second time he went mad and raped her. He was then not allowed within a mile of Rory and for 4 years we never saw him again. Then one night I woke up when I heard sirens of an ambulance and came out of my room to find two paramedics rushing up the stairs following after Sara. I went to the roof of our orphanage building to see Rory being transported by a helicopter to the nearest hospital because she had lost enough blood to die and was close to it. On the way to the hospital with Sara she explained to me what happened. Sara was sharing a room with Rory at the time but did not wake up until she heard Rory scream outside. Since Sara was the only person with a room close to the stairs that led to the roof she was the only one to hear Rory. She quickly made her way out of the room and went up the stairs, but halfway up she heard Rory scream again so she started running and by the time she got to the roof she saw Richard Williams cutting Rory’s back with a knife for the third time. Rory screamed once more before passing out below the man as he tried to rape her for the second time. Sara attacked the man from behind so that he could not see her coming or attack her with the knife. She started screaming for help as she pinned the man to the ground and luckily some of the older boys in the building that had a room next to hers came up and helped her keep Richard Williams on the ground. She then called for the police who took Richard Williams away as the helicopter transported Rory to the hospital. She was in a coma for two weeks and when she came to she could not use her legs very well because the cuts had tampered with the muscles on her back. Luckily after a year of physical therapy she was able to use her legs,” I felt tears start to drip off my face as I was overtaken by the past, “But now Richard Williams has escaped from jail and will, with no doubt, come to try to either rape or kill Rory again so I have to ask for all of you to help me keep her hidden from him. She has already been affected so much by this and I can’t stand if she is hurt more by that man. This has already caused her problems of the present. Rory had to cancel her adoption papers for Anna because she is afraid to get Anna involved with the matter. But Rory also refuses to leave the area to hide from him.”
I wiped my tears off my face, “If I leave Richard will most likely come after you, Sara, our workers, or this entire family. If I leave he might kill someone else,” I whispered, “I also should not stay here any longer or you will all be put in more danger.”
Robert stood, “You can’t leave, Aurora, we will protect you from that man.”
James touched my cheek, “Even if you don’t want to be near me right now, Rory, I’d really like to help protect you from Richard. Last time I couldn’t protect you, but now I can.”
I looked away from him, “Go home, James. You need to be with Kelly.”
He frowned, “I care for you much more than I do for Kelly, Rory!” He argued, “I may not be able t return your feelings, but you can’t just shut me out like this! I love you!”
I shoved his hand away, “As a sister and nothing more,” I replied, “I don’t want your sympathy, James. I may have been raped and injured by Richard but I was the one who said okay to meeting with him every day and I was the one who met him on the roof! I chose the wrong way to do things, but it was my choice! I don’t want to get sympathy for my mistakes! Richard is not the only one at fault so stop acting like I’m innocent!” I quickly stood and walked out of the room, but James followed.
“This is not your fault, Rory, so stop blaming yourself!” He hissed and before I knew it I had slapped him across the face.
“Stop it! Get away from me! I hate you, damn it!” I hollered and then quickly went up to the room I called my own in Robert’s house. I locked the door before I started packing my stuff and putting it in the boxes I had used to get it here. A knock sounded at the door but I ignored it and kept packing. After about an hour my hands and legs were shaking so bad that I just slumped to the floor and started crying. I didn’t want to die, but even more than that, I did not want anyone else to die because of me. I went to my bed and lay down to try to recollect myself, but all I could think about was the past. The knife piercing my back, the pain of being pinned against the ground, and the pain of forcefully having my virginity taken away, that is all I had left in my mind. Suddenly my body seemed to burn and I looked down to my wrist to see my bracelet fall off my wrist and roll on the ground. I watched the bracelet and then sighed. I changed my clothes into a green t-shirt and jeans and then carried my main box of belongings out of the room with me. The house was silent now so I assumed it was around midnight as I carried my box outside. I opened my car and placed my box in the back. All I could fit other than it was one more box so I went upstairs again and carried down my second box. I came back to close the front door but froze when it would not close. Nathan came out from the back of the door and just watched me.
“Where are you going this late at night?”
I looked away from him, “Anywhere but here.”
His hand gripped my wrist, “You can’t leave, Aurora. You belong here.”
“No I don’t, not anymore,” I whispered and then held my hand out to him. He put his other hand out to me and I placed my bracelet in it, “Apparently I am not supposed to be here. I don’t know why exactly, but that bracelet has decided I do not belong with this family.”
His grip tightened on my wrist, “I don’t care about that stupid bracelet or that it links you to us! You belong here with me, at my side! You are my soul mate with or without that bracelet!” He yelled and then hugged me tightly, “I love you more than anything and I’m not going to let you go to that man.”
“But you might get hurt if I stay here and of anything I can’t bear the thought of hurting you. I can’t handle letting you be in harm’s way,” I whispered as I pulled him closer, “Just when I finally realize how I feel about you, this happens! Damn it all to hell!”
He lifted my head so that I looked him in the eyes, “And how do you feel for me?”
I let out a strained breath as I started crying, “I love you, damn it,” I whispered as I looked to my feet, “I love you more than I thought I could ever love someone!”
He pulled my head up and kissed me deeply. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled myself up closer to him as he leaned down. He helped lift me onto the tips of my toes by pulling me up by his arms that wrapped around his waist. I kept crying as we kissed too many times to count but when I tried to pull away to catch my breath he pulled me back, “No, don’t stop,” He whispered into my ear and then started kissing my neck. I was swept up by the passion I felt towards Nathan and lost all thought.

I woke up in Nathan’s room with him embracing me. I looked to the ceiling and imagined Richards’s face watching me. How long would it take him to find me? Would he even come for me? Would I die when he found me? Would he finally finish the job or lock me up somewhere so that I could never be found and rape me? I let out a sigh and felt Nathan’s arms around me tighten. I looked to him and he kissed me, “How you doing?”
I sighed again, “This is the first time in a while I’ve been so uncertain about my future.”
He kissed my neck, “When the day comes that he finally comes for you, I will protect you from his horrible touch.”
I turned to him and put my head against his chest, “I’m glad you will,” I whispered, “Why couldn’t he just give up?”
“He is obsessed with you.”
“But hasn’t he hurt me enough?” I asked, “My back aches every time his memory reaches my conscience. Then comes the feeling of terror.”
“Soon it will all be over.” He whispered and I nodded. After a while Nathan fell back to sleep and I slipped out of his grasp. I went downstairs and set up my computer on the kitchen table. I looked for the number of my landlord and dialed her number. No one answered so I waited for the answering machine to beep.
I let out a quiet breath, “Hello, Ms. Kelly, this is Rory Justice. I know my apartments rent will be up soon, but I would like to extend the contract for 2 more months if possible. You can reach me at this number whenever it is most convenient for you with your reply. Thanks and I will talk to you soon.” I ended the call and looked to the computer. There were still four meetings today I needed to attend in order to get closer to quitting my job. Then there is the interview with the press that is expected to last late into the evening. I picked up my phone and dialed Peter’s number. He did not answer either, “Hello Peter, this is Rory Justice. I was wondering if you could do one last design for me before I quit. I need an outfit for my press interview thing tonight starting around 6 and I will be in the office for other matters at around 5:30 so I’d pick it up then. If you could do this I’d be grateful but if you cannot, I understand. Thanks.” I hung up the phone once more and then stood. I made a pot of coffee and poured myself a cup before going back to the table. I sighed as I sat down and then looked to the emails I had received. I replied to the Chinese branch and told them that the head representatives would be picked up at the airport by me personally at noon tomorrow before closing my computer. I turned on the small TV near me and was surprised to see they were already covering the story on the escaped prisoner. Apparently he had last been seen yesterday three states away. They showed a video of Richard walking in a gas station’s small store. He was wearing what looked to be a suit and looked much like he used to but slightly aged and tired. My back ached with every move he made but I was startled when the TV suddenly turned off. I looked up to Logan as he watched me and held the TV remote in his hand that had been beside me on the table just before.
“Don’t torture yourself, Rory,” He whispered, “You looked as if you were going to cry when you saw him.”
“What are you doing up, Logan? It is not even 7.”
He smiled slightly, “I was going to ask you the same thing.”
“I needed to check my emails and couldn’t sleep.”
“I usually am up before the rest of my family in order to try to get some of my work done in silence.”
“Robert said you were a very important man where you work. What exactly do you do?”
“I am the vice-president of the Sony branch in the states.”
“Ah, that sounds important.”
He let out a small laugh, “But it is nowhere near as important as your last job.”
“But when you are gone don’t you miss this place?”
He nodded, “Of course, but it is my duty to find a wife so I can further this family.”
“That’s a lot of responsibility.”
“Not really. I mean everyone outside of these walls does that also.”
“But you have to find the exact person. People outside of this home all go through many candidates before they find the right one or end up marrying the wrong person.”
“I think we have it easier than the others do in that respect. We will not marry the wrong person and we will know who to stay with.”
I smiled, “That would be nice,” I whispered, “It certainly would have helped to be able to read other’s thoughts. But it obviously is a double-sided sword.”
“That is true.”
“Have you found the right one yet?”
He smiled, “No, but I hope I am as lucky as my brother and receive a wonderful woman as my soul mate. If she is anything like you I will be extremely happy.”
“Thank you for the flattery.”
“But it is true.”
I gave him a side glance, “I assume Robert has told you about what be discussed with James?” He nodded, “Then you do not want anyone like me.”
“Your past does not decide who you are, Rory.”
“But my past has returned.”
“That is true, but this time you have us.”
I let out a small laugh, “And I am thankful for such,” I replied but then grabbed my phone as it rang, “Rory Justice.”
“Hello President Justice. This is Angie. I work at the front desk.”
“Oh, yes. It is nice to hear from you again, Angie. How can I help you?”
“The vice-president has requested a limo for you for your meetings starting this afternoon but I have been advised to ask you if that is alright.”
“Thank James for me,” I said with a quiet laugh, “Please decline the request. I do not need a limo or any other type of transportation.”
“Yes, President Justice. I will do so immediately.” She said before hanging up. I put down my phone and stood.
“I need more coffee. Would you like some, Logan?”
“Sure,” He replied as I looked from his light orange aura and focused on pouring two cups of coffee. When that was accomplished I came back to the table and handed Logan the new coffee cup. He accepted it and then I sat down, but opened my computer when a small ring was made. It was a reply to my email to the Chinese branch of the company confirming that everything was ready to go, “Work?”
I nodded, “Our Chinese branch of the company is coming to meet with me personally tomorrow along with the other head members of the company and I am just assuring that I will do my part and personally pick them up from the airport tomorrow.”
“Can’t someone else do it?”
I shook my head, “For some reason the head of the Chinese branch does not trust anyone other than me.” I replied as I smiled to him but looked to the door as I heard my name.
“ Rory!” Lily and Anna yelled as they ran over to me. They hugged me as I stood but when they let go they looked excited, “Will you play with us Rory?”
I nodded, “Sure,” I replied and closed my computer, “What do you have in mind?”
“Hide and seek!” They hollered and I laughed. I then followed them outside and played the game for a few hours and did not stop till my name was called again.
“Aurora!” Robert called out of the door and I quickly came out of hiding behind a tree. I came to his side as he smiled, “Someone is here for you.”
“Alright,” I whispered as I followed Robert into the kitchen but froze as James looked up from the kitchen table and to me, “James,” I hissed, “What are you doing here?”
“You may have connections to the company staff, Rory, but so do I. Angie told me you declined the offer of any type of transportation so I had to come here to see if you were planning on not coming to any of the things planned for today.”
I crossed my arms over my chest, “Just because I declined the limo does not mean I will not be going to the meetings and interview, James.”
“Well what am I supposed to think, Rory? You suddenly quit so who’s to say you will finish all of your duties.”
I looked to the group and felt my mind sting, “I am not your responsibility nor am I a child. I know my duties and I will fulfill them. I plan to go to everything today and I also plan to go pick up the head representatives of the Chinese branch tomorrow afternoon. I may have quit but that does not mean I am just going to let everyone down.”
“That’s all you’ve been doing the past week, Rory, so who says this will be different?”
I walked over to James and leaned closer to him, “I do not have to explain myself to you, James. You are not my father or Robert so I do not answer to you. This is my life so I will choose what I will do. Now,” I stood normally, “If you do not mind, please leave.”
“Then let me drive you to the conference.”
I shook my head, “No thank you,” I hissed but looked over to the door of the room when I heard something, “I’m sorry Anna and Lily. I have to go change for work but I will play with you when I get back.”
Anna ran over and hugged me, “Who is that man, Rory? And why is he thinking about you?”
I smiled and patted her head, “He is just a co-worker, Anna. Do not worry.” I replied and then quickly left the room. I went upstairs and changed from my pajamas and to a black suit and dark blue silk undershirt before putting my hair up into a clip and putting on a pearl necklace along with their matching earrings. I slipped on my dark blue high heels that matched my shirt and grabbing my purse. I went downstairs and was happy that James had left. I went into the kitchen but looked to Julie as she gasped.
“You look so grown up, Rory! That suit fits you wonderfully!”
I smiled, “Does the jewelry look alright? I have never been good at picking jewelry that would match what I am wearing.”
She nodded, “It looks great!”
“Thanks,” I replied and then went into the kitchen. I grabbed a bagel from the counter and then made my way out of the house, “See you tonight.” I called before shutting the front door of the house behind me. I went to my car and got in with my bagel in my lap. As I drove to the office I ate the bagel and tried to focus my powers on the cars around me. When I got to the office I noticed the name on my parking spot had been changed from my name to James’s. The company was almost ready for my leave and I felt pain in my heart. I had created and nurtured this company with James at my side but now I had to give it up. It was almost as painful as telling James I loved him more than a brother, but I had to let this happen. It was the only way I could possibly become a mother to Anna someday and stay with Robert’s family. When I walked inside the woman at the front desk seemed to ignore me but I could tell she did not know how to greet me. I went to the stairs and made my way up to the top floor. When I got there I was shocked to see all of my things had been put in boxes and moved to James’s desk while his stuff inhabited my desk. A picture of Kelly and James at their wedding caught my eye and I felt as if crying was the only way to stop this pain in my heart, but I would not break down now. I chose to leave the company and I chose James as the new president. The phone on my desk rang and I quickly picked it up. “Rory Justice.” The representative for another company tried to convince me once again to meet with his president on Wednesday, “I’m sorry, Mr. Smith but I cannot plan anything on Wednesday. I will be taking that day off from work,” I looked up as the elevator opened and James walked in. I quickly looked back to my new desk, “Yes, I will see you next week. Have a good day, Mr. Smith.” I hung up the phone and placed my purse on the desk. As I pulled out my daily planner James came over to me.
“What does Mr. Smith and his company need with you? They should be consulting me for anything dealing with the company.” James said with a sharp tone but I refused to look to him. I wrote down on Thursday about the meeting as I sat in my chair.
“His company is not contacting me about the company. They know to go to you for that,” I sighed and finally looked to James’s face, “They are trying to convince me to join their company just like every other computer company in the world.”
“Why do they think you will join them?”
I cleared my throat, “They believe that if they offer me enough money and allow me to work from wherever I want I will help their company. Most want me for my ideas, but some companies want me for my leadership capabilities. Mr. Smith’s company wants to make me the President of their company.”
“Don’t they understand that you will not go against the company you made?”
I stood, “That has yet to be determined.”
“You can’t be serious.”
I gave him a sharp glance, “I am dead serious.” I hissed back before going to the elevator.

I finally got home around 10 and made my way inside to see Julie, William, Logan, Robert, and Nathan sitting at the kitchen table talking. They all looked up when I came into the room in a beautiful, skin tight, black dress that barely covered my butt and 20 silver chains that hung as far as my stomach, “Welcome home, sweetie.” Julie said kindly as I smiled towards her.
“You are all still up? It is past 10.”
“We thought we would wait for you,” William replied, “We just finished watching your interview that was all over news.”
“Oh.” I answered before putting my bag on the counter and taking out my planner. I quickly picked up my phone as it rang, “Rory Justice.”
“Hello Miss Justice! This is Mr. Wong. I am the translator that is accompanying the representatives of the Chinese branch for your company.”
“Ah! Yes, hello Mr. Wong. You are the usual worker who helps me through phone discussions, correct?”
“Yes, I have called to inform you that everyone has made it safely onto the flight.”
“Alright, thank you Mr. Wong. I shall meet you at the airport at noon tomorrow.”
“Yes, goodbye.” He said and I hung up with a sigh.
“What happened to you quitting, Rory?” Julie asked me.
“I have quit, but it may take up to 6 months for me to fully quit.”
“Oh! Aurora, James called about an hour ago and asked me to tell you that a Mr. Smith has called the office 18 times since you left.” Robert said and I let out a large sigh.
“He won’t give up.” I groaned to myself.
“Who is Mr. Smith?” William asked and I looked to his light blue aura.
“A man that works for a rival company that wants to hire me.”
“But you’re quitting your job.”
I nodded, “Yes but a rumor has started that I am leaving the company because I am pregnant with James’s child even though he just got married to someone else,” I sighed again, “Mr. Smith wants me to come work for him so I can get back at the man who married someone else even though I have his child and will let me take leave to raise my child.”
Robert seemed concerned, “Rory, you talk as if it is true. Is there something you need to tell us?”
I looked away from Robert, “I am just telling you his perspective, Robert. There is nothing to worry about,” I turned back to him, “Besides I have been over James for some time. I only fell for him because he was the first man to care for me that did not have ulterior motives. I figured that out once I met this family,” I smiled as I looked to my feet, “I loved the way he treated me, I did not love him. I know that now and feel much better about this whole situation and everything I have caused.”
“That is good to hear.” Julie replied.
I nodded, “Well I should sleep. I have to get up early and go into the office.” I whispered before making my way upstairs.

In the mid-afternoon of the next day I sat quietly beside James who sat at the head of the table and Mr. Wong who was to my left. Across the table sat the angry looking President of the Chinese branch, Mr. Lee, along with three other representatives that inhabited the rest of the table. Finally Mr. Lee sat up and looked me directly in the eyes. He yelled something in Chinese and I looked over to Mr. Wong who slightly shook at the harsh tone, “Mr. Lee asks you why you insist this young boy takes over the company while you are more than capable of running this company that you made.”
“I am 7 years older than Rory, Mr. Lee.” James hissed and Mr. Wong quickly translated. Mr. Lee did not move his glance from me and shook his head.
“Mr. Lee says he is not speaking of years of life, but intelligence.”
“James helped me create all of this so he is equally smart.”
“Mr. Lee says he does not agree and does not agree that James should become the new President. He strongly believes no one will be able to run this company as well as you have.”
I sighed and looked directly to Mr. Lee, “You have a wife and children, correct?” He nodded after Mr. Wong translated, “Well I am leaving the company in order to start a family. I plan to be married soon and may adopt a child along with having my own child hopefully. Now if I am always at work, leaving at 5 am and not getting home till at least 11 pm, I will not be able to be a suitable mother. I have dedicated the past 5 years to this company and its products, but I am still young! I still want to have a family and live a real life! Can you understand?”
Mr. Wong cleared his throat, “Mr. Lee understands, but he does not see why you must fully quit the company. He believes you should stay as the president, but give more duties to the vice-president.”
I looked away from him, “The man I love is not able to live outside of his home and I want to be with him.”
“Mr. Lee suggests that you become the vice-president and work from home. This may make the work load for the new president more difficult but argues that you seem to have full confidence in James.”
I nodded and then thought for a moment, “Alright Mr. Lee, I will accept those terms, but I will not announce this to the media till I consult my family.” I stood and shook all the representatives’ hands before leaving the room. When I left the office building I was attacked by cameramen and had to fight my way to my car. I made sure none of the news people followed me back to Robert’s home and quickly made my way inside.
“Miss Aurora, everyone is outside eating.” The butler informed me as I came in and I nodded. I quickly went upstairs and changed into a thin pair of jeans, a green t-shirt, and flip flops before making my way outside. Debbie and Lily ran over and hugged me immediately before anyone else even realized I was there.
“You’re home!” Lily yelled with delight.
“Hey girls,” I said with a smile, “what did you do today?”
“We did school work and helped mama cook!” Debbie replied.
“That sounds like fun!” I replied but looked up when Nathan got up out of his chair. He came over to me as the girls let go. He kissed me kindly before hugging my waist with his arm.
“How did the meeting with the Chinese branch go?”
I sighed, “Let’s sit down. You did not finish eating,” I said and he nodded. I pulled a chair over to the table and sat between Nathan and Logan, “Nothing is fully decided but the Chinese branch’s president refuses to let me leave the company. He told me that James was not good enough to replace me. I ended up negotiating him into letting James become the President but I am most likely going to be vice-president and I get to work from wherever I want.”
“Well that seems reasonable.” Julie said and I sighed.
“It is the best I could get. The other president was very determined to make me stay with the company, but I told him that I would have to discuss it with all of you first. Are you alright with me working here?”
“Of course, Rory,” William said, “Your father worked here a lot.”
“Alright then I will let the Chinese branch’s president know in two days.”
“Why don’t you tell him tomorrow?” William asked and I looked to my lap.
I cleared my throat, “Tomorrow is the day I was planning on adopting Anna, but even if I cannot adopt her for now I always take her out all day to spend time with me for her birthday. She is turning 6 tomorrow so I have already scheduled the day off.”
“Will you be alright, Rory?” Sapphire asked.
“Yea,” I replied, “Robert could I talk to you privately?”
He nodded, “Of course,” He stood and I quickly followed him inside. He sat on the couch I used to sleep on and I sat at his side, “What is it, Aurora? What could you not say in front of the family? Is something wrong?
“Not exactly,” I replied and then sighed to try to calm myself, “I’d like to ask a large favor of you, Robert.”
“Ask away.”
“I want to go along with the adoption of Anna, but if something happens to me, especially now that Richard is on the loose, I don’t want her to end up in that orphanage again. If she loses me I don’t want her to lose her home too. That is why I want to ask you to take guardianship of Anna and let her stay with this family if I cannot keep her.”
“Are you that sure Richard will kill you?”
I sighed again, “It’s not just Richard, it could be anything that kills me or makes me unable to take care of Anna. Either way I want Anna to be able to stay with people I know will support her and love her.”
“And you want us to support her?” He asked and I nodded, “Well if that is what you want, Aurora, I will support you.”
I quickly hugged Robert, “Thank you, Robert.”

I rang the doorbell of the orphanage that held so many memories for me and smiled to the 12 year old girl that opened the door. She gasped as she saw me and then quickly whipped around to the inside of the house, “Rory’s here!” The girl screeched and then quickly hugged me. I hugged her back as the house filled with the commotion of all the orphan children rushing to the door. I smiled to all of them and greeted each one individually as they hugged me, but when Anna hugged me I picked her up and squeezed her against me.
“Oh, Anna! I’ve missed you!” I whispered but looked up to the woman who owned the orphanage and she smiled to me as she handed over Anna’s small suitcase.
“Be sure to behave for Rory while you’re with her, Anna. We will see you tomorrow morning when Rory drops you off.” The older woman said and Anna nodded to her before burying her face back into my dress. I quickly whisked her to my car and sat her in the back seat with her suitcase. I turned on the car and looked back to her through the rearview mirror.
“So where would you like to go first, birthday girl?”
“Could we go to the carnival? I heard it is in town.”
I nodded, “First stop, the carnival!” I called out with delight and then quickly drove to the colorful tents I recognized. We went on rides for the first two hours, then ate a lunch that consisted of corndogs, popcorn, and ice cream before we hit a few more rides and then hit the game booths set up all over the carnival. I allowed Anna to spend 60 dollars (since she was turning 6) at each booth and would play also if she asked me to. She won all the games at least once and by late afternoon we had won 16 stuffed animals in all. I carried the larger 10 as she carried 6 smaller sized stuffed animals. When we were done we went back to my car and put all the stuffed animals in the back seat with Anna, per her request, and then drove to Robert’s home. When we were on the long dirt road I knew so well Anna finally looked to me.
“So who are we meeting today?”
I smiled to her through the rearview mirror, “This is a friend of my father’s family. The man’s name is Robert and he has asked me to live with him. He wants to make up for the mistake my father made and make me part of his family,” I looked to the road, “And he has agreed to allow you to join his family also if you would like.”
“Really! I’ll get to live with you, Rory?”
I nodded, “That is if you feel comfortable at their home.”
“I can live anywhere as long as you are with me, Rory,” she seemed to suddenly become embarrassed, “But…uh…will you finally be my…um…mom, Rory?”
I felt something tear within me by the weight of her request, “If you will allow me to, I would truly love to become your mom, Anna.” She became quiet but seemed content and excited to see the place we were going to. I stopped in the roundabout that went around the birdbath in the small grassy area and then turned off the car. I helped Anna get out and carry the stuffed animals up to the front of the house. I knocked on the door and Erick opened the door, “Hello Erick.”
“Good evening, Miss Aurora. May I help you carry those?” He asked and I smiled with a nod. He took the stuffed animals from me and I took the stuffed animals and suitcase from Anna before taking her small hand in mine, “Shall I take this to your room?”
I nodded, “We will follow you.” I added and then led Anna upstairs to the 4th floor where Erick set the stuffed animals in my room. I placed the group of things I had on my bed and then picked up Anna. Erick left the room a few minutes before we did.
“Who is Erick?” Anna asked as she clutched some of my dress in her fist.
“He is the butler of the house,” I replied as I carried Anna downstairs, “Would you like a snack, Anna? I’m sure you are hungry.” She shyly nodded and I brought her to the kitchen. I placed her on the counter, “What would you like?”
“Is there any fruit?”
I went to the fridge and looked at the fruit, “Your favorite is blueberries and strawberries, right Anna?” She nodded and I quickly took the fruit out. I placed some of both fruits in a bowl and washed them off before giving them to Anna.
“Thanks.” She whispered as she quietly ate the fruit, but she and I were startled when a sudden holler filled the house.
“Oh, be quiet you clones! No one cares about you!” Hissed Juliet from the back door of the house that was close to the kitchen.
“You’re such a prude, Juliet!” The twins said at the same time as they followed Juliet into the kitchen but all three of them froze as they saw Anna watching them. When they stared at her she quickly grabbed the sleeve of my dress and pulled me over to her. She shook as she hid behind me.
“Why is she afraid of us?” Juliet hissed as Anna shook more.
“It’s your yelling, Juliet,” I hissed, “Anna is afraid of anyone when they yell. Stop yelling or you will scare the poor girl half to death.”
“She’s so cute!” Danna exclaimed as she ran over to us, “What is such a cute girl doing at our house?”
“Anna is the girl I want to adopt so she is going to do a trial run to make sure she will feel okay at this house before she comes and stays here.”
“Well with Juliet still living here, that’s impossible.” Hannah mumbled and Juliet whipped around to glare at her.
Danna suddenly came closer to me, “All this girl’s thoughts are about you, Rory.”
I smiled towards her, “And if you could read my thoughts, I would be the same way,” I looked to the other two girls, “Do you guys know where Robert is?”
“He was in the yard with Aunt and Uncle a few minutes ago.” Hannah replied and I quickly picked up Anna who wrapped her arms around my neck while holding her bowl of fruit and eating it behind my shoulder.
“See you girls later.” I said as I brought Anna out of the kitchen and went outside to see Debbie and Lily running around, chasing each other in the yard. They halted when they saw me and quickly ran over to me.
“Rory!” They cheered as they hugged my legs and I smiled towards them when they let go. They looked to the stranger I was holding but then followed me to the porch in the middle of the lawn when I walked that way.
Robert came over with a warm smile, “Well this must be the famous Anna,” He said kindly and Anna quickly hid in the crook of my neck as Robert laughed, “She’s very shy, isn’t she? She also seems attached to you, Aurora.”
“Yes, Anna is shy,” I replied but then kissed Anna’s head, “It’s alright, Anna, this is the man I was telling you about earlier.”
She peeked out from her hiding spot to look to me, “This is your father’s friend?”
I nodded, “This is Robert. He owns this house.”
Anna finally came out of hiding but held onto me tightly, “Hello.”
Robert smiled towards her, “Hello, Anna! It is nice to meet you,” He gestured towards William and Julie, “This is my younger brother William and his wife Julie.”
I nodded, “William knew my father also.”
Anna suddenly seemed to gain confidence, “Mr. Robert.” She whispered.
“What is it, Anna?” He asked sweetly.
“Wh..why did Rory’s daddy leave her?” She asked in a whisper, “Rory is friendly and really nice! She wouldn’t be mean or greedy towards him!”
I squeezed Anna towards me with sadness, “Its okay, Anna.”
“No!” She whined, “You deserve a daddy too!”
I smiled, “I told you before, Anna, my father wanted me but there were complications that made it so we could not be together,” I looked to Robert in a way to tell him this was the story I wanted to stick with when it came to talking about Henry Hoffman.
“Happy birthday, Anna,” Miss Julie said as she walked over to us, “Rory told us it was your birthday and you were going to spend the day with her. Did you have fun?”
Anna nodded at the kind woman, “Rory and I went to the carnival! We rode the rides, ate really good food, and then played games!”
I let out a small laugh, “Yes, I spent almost $700 for 16 stuffed animals.”
“Wow, you spent a lot more on Anna than we do with our whole family!” William added.
“Well it is her special day, so she deserves whatever she wants.”
“Have you gotten anything for your birthday, Anna?” Julie asked.
“Timmy gave me his favorite toy and Miss Quinn gave me a doll.”
Julie gave me a confused look, “Timmy is one of the oldest boys at the orphanage and Miss Quinn is the owner,” I remarked and Miss Julie finally understood, “But Anna will be receiving some gifts later tonight from me.”
“You certainly splurged for this girl, Aurora,” Robert pointed out, “Oh! Nathan was looking for you earlier.”
“Oh?” I asked, “Well I will go find him.”
“Dinner will be ready in 30 minutes, Rory.” Miss Julie added before we left the small porch.