My phone buzzed for the 6th time that hour. I reached out and answered the call. The voice on the other end was of excitement. “Dawn !!! Why weren’t you answering my call? You know right that you are supposed to attend my party?”

“Chill girl.. there’s no way I can forget about your birthday party. I was a little busy. Sorry for not answering ya. And Happy b-day”. I replied.

It was Summer’s 17th birthday today and she had thrown a party for all her close friends. “Yeah, yeah. That’s the... 16th time you’re wishing me!! Well get ready quick. I guess Aura is coming to pick you up. Noah and Kiara are already at the Emperor Hotel with me.” She answered, the excitement still lingering in her voice.

“Roger that!” I said and hung up.

For the next 30 minutes I got myself ready. So long?. Common its my best friend’s b-day after-all!.. “Dawn!” , called out a voice from downstairs, followed by footsteps. Aunt Hazel came in. She looked at me with a surprised look.

“My!! You really look beautiful in that dress!!!”.

I looked at myself. Yeah.. The dress I was wearing was white from the top and was shaded with shades of blue till the end. It dropped a little below my knees, longer at the back than the front. It perfectly set out my ocean blue eyes and blonde hair.

“Thank you aunt Hazel !” , I smiled and said.

“Now, do you want me to drop you ?” she asked.

I was still searching for my bracelet so I answered with a quick look at her, “umm.. no need for that. Aura is coming to pick me up and drop me back after the party is over. Oh and also do you know where her birthday gift is? I mean I don’t remember...” I looked up at her as I said the last word.

“Hmm.. ok come down fast then..” she flashed a smile and left. After putting back everything I had removed, I found it on the bed. I almost thought I had lost it. It was my favourite charms bracelet. It had been with me for a long time. I grabbed my hoodie and phone and raced down the steps into the hall. I gave aunt a hug.

“Take care Dawn. Call me if you need anything.” She said softly.

“yeah aunt don’t worry about me. Don’t stay awake for me. I’ve the spare key. Bye!” , I opened the door and waved to her.

“Bye Apollo. Be a good boy!”, I said giving my pet dog a pat. He was An Australian Shepherd who was adopted by my aunt when he was a little puppy.

Aura was already outside. She was tapping something on her phone then looked up and waved at me.

“Coming !!” I yelled. When I was in the car, Aura waved at aunt. “Bye aunty!! Don’t worry about us. See ya !!”.

Aunt smiled ,as we took off down the road.

“Hmm. Now we head for the Hotel”. She looked down at the phone in her lap “do you have range in here. I guess my net pack is over” ,I nodded. “Then please could you put on your GPS and enter the ‘ Emperor Hotel'”

It took just a few seconds for me to get the directions for the hotel. we sped down into the main highway, listening to music and exchanging news and jokes in between.

The hotel was filled with talks and laughs. Waiters kept migrating from table to table. The Emperor Hotel was well known in Sky Depths and the top floors were sometimes hangout places for big shots as well. Summer came from a very good family that’s why she could afford this place.

“Oh there’s Summer”, Aura pulled at my hand, pointing to a fair girl standing at a distance, talking to the waiter. “ Yeah. That’s Summer”, I answered.

She was wearing a red dress. A bit longer than mine. Her brown hair was left and curled at the ends. Her brown eyes spotted us and she waved. “here!”, she called.

Before sitting we all exchanged a hug. The waiter brought her cake. It was a Chocolate Swiss with white chocolate chips here and there. We sang her a b-day song. Gave gifts, put a little cake in her face, clicked pictures. Boy!.. it was so much fun… The cake was really divine!!!... We cracked so many jokes, updated our statuses as well!..

Suddenly two waiters came up and went to each table one by one. Telling something in a quick way which was hard for me to catch. One by one they cleared the tables and the people went down. Just then 4 boys came up. Their dressing sense conveyed they were some important people.

“Hey!.. I think I know that guy in the white sweatshirt..” , Aura whispered.

The bearer of the white sweatshirt had golden brown hair. He was taller than me, ofcourse older than me too. His height and good built matched the boys around him. Close to him stood another boy. This one in a white suit. Talking to the other waiter. A little behind stood another guy. He was wearing a black hoodie and jeans. His light brown eyes completing his good looks. At the end, leaning on a pillar was the 4th boy. His eyes ran through the screen of the phone he was holding. He was the bearer of a black full sleeves t-shirt which matched his hair.

“You do!”… we all said together.

“Shhh…. Lower your voices!!!”, Aura said softly. She was right... if these people heard us talking behind their backs they would surely be pissed.

“If I’m not mistaken that guy in the white sweatshirt is the heir of the Falcone family. He just returned to Sky Depths”, she finished.

“Whoa.. but that doesn’t explain why he is making everyone get up from here..”, Noah whispered.

Now almost all of the seated people had gone. The boys gave us quick glance but as the waiters were moving towards us the dude in the white sweatshirt said, “waiter!.. its ok… no need to move any more of 'em”

Yeah.. you can get out now”, answered the guy with a hood.

The waiters went away leaving us, the boys and a few more people here and there who had not been told to move. All were in confusion but no one enquired about the situation. Everyone sought of settled down except us. We stole quick and curious glances at the boys who were now sitting at a big table, talking.

“Here”, Kiara said as she broke the silence between us, “That guy with the sweatshirt is Luca Falcone ..”

“How do you know that ?” , I asked.

“Google”, Kiara answered without looking up. She was still scrolling her screen.

“Ok.. tell us what you’ve read so far ..”, Summer said. She was the most curious one I guess.

“Uhh.. guys.. why are we suddenly talking and hunting for information about those people anyway ?” I asked, “I mean we are here to enjoy ourselves right ?”

“Yeah.. you’re right Dawn but it’s funny how they show up from nowhere and make so many people leave their seats”, Aura grinned.

“Ok ok.. you guys win.. tell us what you’ve learned Kiara..” , I said playing with my spoon.

At last Kiara looked up and filled us in on what she had learned, “Luca Falcone. He is the heir and the current leader of Falcones. He’s currently 21. Those other dudes beside him are friends. And the one with the white suit is Horas, someone who’s with him everywhere, maybe a.. whatever...”

“You mean to say the Mafia Falcone Family??”, Noah asked, surprise creeping up her face.

“Oh.. the Falcone family.. but Falcone is not exactly a Mafia Family”, I answered “they say it’s a Mafia Family but it’s not actually. I remember reading on the paper about it. It said he was searching for his little sister who was separated from him during childhood when there was a… fire..”

My head suddenly hurt. I supported it with my hands. Fire ?.... I kinda hated saying it.. But why? Just like the night...”

“Dawn ?.. you ok?.. what fire?..”, Summer asked in a worried voice.

“Yeah.. I’m ok.. my head just went blank for a couple of seconds..”, I answered.

“You sure?.. you want me to drop you? I’m ok with that. You can go and have a rest if you’re not feeling well”, Kiara said as she put an arm around me.

“no.. I’m really ok.. let’s just continue”, I said.

“Ok then.. so tell us what you read in the paper.. about the… fire..”, Aura said.

“Ok.. so I remember reading that Luca Falcone was searching for his little sister who was separated from him when their house was on fire. He lost both his parents but he was sure that his sister was alive. Her name was not mentioned. It stated that he killed a few people after learning from them the leads of the person behind his parents death. He hasn’t yet found out the culprit but he is still hunting for them at the same time looking for his sister”, I finished.

“hmm.. quite a story. So maybe he’s here looking for his sister..”, Summer asked giving Luca a quick glance.

“Yeah.. maybe.. or he’s here to kill that bad dude..”, Noah grinned.

I was looking at Luca now. He was smiling and taking to his friends, sipping his juice in between. Suddenly his eyes turned at me. That’s when I noticed them, Amber eyes. I couldn’t read his face. We just stared at each other but it didn’t seem weird. Just for a while we didn’t seem like strangers. Then I turned away from him just as Summer nudged at me. Motioning me to finish my food.

After an hour we were ready to go. We paid the bill and got up from our seats.

“Had fun sneaking peeks at us ?”, said a voice. We turned back just to find the hood guy standing behind us. Luca was sitting watching the scene with another boy while Horas came and stood next to Mr. Hood.

“excuse me”, I said

“You very well heard what I said just now”, replied Mr. Hood.

“We weren’t glancing at you guys for fun. We were just confused due to your sudden appearance which caused so many people to leave their seats and go.”, came Aura's firm reply.

“Oh.. that.. we had to do that.. had no other choice.”, said Mr. Hood.

“ok.. but you all were observing us ?”, Noah asked.

“Sought off. Thought you girls recognised us. We have to be alert you know.”, Mr. Hood grinned.

“As a matter of fact we did recognise Mr. Falcone there..”, I said turning my eyes to Luca. “and You.” I looked at Horas.

“Oh..”. Mr Hood sounded surprised.

Luca stood up and as he came nearer he said, “It’s a privilege to know you read the newspaper and remember me.”

Mr. Hood grinned again. “So it means you don’t know us.” He said, motioning towards himself and the other boy who was seated with Luca earlier.

“You are right. We don’t know you.” Answered Kiara.

“if that’s the case, I’ll introduce us...”

He was interrupted my Summer. “No need for that. We are leaving now. Sorry for the peeking business we did. Enjoy yourselves.”

“That’s ok. But you know me and Horas. I think you should know them too.” Luca smiled. He sure was enjoying the drama.

We tried telling them that we had to leave now, but in vain. They were acting like little kids who were determined to introduce themselves.

“Fine. Fine. Make it fast.” I gave up.

“Good”, Horas grinned. “So my name is Horas Knight. This is Dominic Rochester. That’s Kai Xander. And He is Luca Falcone.”

“Nice meeting ya all . Bye.” We turned to leave but...

“Hey. Introduce yourselves before going.” Said Luca.

Boy!!. This is so very irritating. If he could just shut up and let us go, it wouldn’t harm him, would it ?

I turned to face him again and he gave a small smile. A disarming smile. Seriously ?

“ *Sign* we are running late.” Said Kiara.

“It takes only a couple of minutes. And after talking for so long I guess we should at least know your names.” Said Dominic.

“Fine. You’ll win again. My name is Summer Cruise. This is Noah Phoenix. This is Kiara Eagle. That’s Aura Quartz. And..

“My name is………”

Even before I could answer. My phone rang cutting the whole conversation. I sure was happy.

“Uh… sorry guys… we are running late… and I gotta take this call…” , before anyone could say anything I pulled Summer’s dress gently, making her swallow the sentence she was about to spoil and picked up the call.

It was an advertisement call but I spoke like it was Aunt’s . Luca exchanged a look with Kai. How I hope he believes it..

“Yes aunt.. we’re leaving now… hey Summer we got to rush.. come quick… umm.. sorry boys, introduction some other time..”, I said still holding the phone to my ear.

“Fine… farewell then..” , came Kai’s reply.

We left. Hopefully. It was already 11 at night. We said good night and goodbye to each other before getting into the car and driving w off. Noah and Kiara got into Summer’s car while I got into Aura .

Aura and I didn’t chit chat much. We were real tired. Aura looked sleepy so I offered to drive. She agreed. As I sat on the driver’s seat, Aura settled in the passenger’s seat for a nap. I got the Mini Cooper out of the parking lot and was headed for the highway when I saw Luca and his friends step out from the hotel and walk towards a Black BMW . Not thinking too much I headed for the highway, humming softly to myself.

I halted the car in front of my house and gently shook Aura. She rubbed her eyes and looked at me, giving a half sleepy smile.

“We’ve reached my house. You wanna spend the night here? You look too sleepy. I’ll call your parents and tell ‘em”, I said.

“No need. I’m fine now. Just a little sleepy. Pass me the bottle of water in the back seat. I’ll wash my face”, replied Aura.

I passed her bottle and she splashed it on her face. Wiping her face with the napkin she gave a ‘ I’m ok' sign. I smiled though I was worried about her. Grabbing my hoodie and phone, I stepped out of the car. I gave Aura a goodnight hug and headed for my house. I turned and waved as she drove off. Taking the spare key from my bag I opened the door.

The silence in the house confirmed Aunt Hazel was already asleep. Apollo welcomed me with his jumps and licks. I had to keep him quite if I wanted aunt to have a peaceful sleep. Once in my room, I had a shower and changed into shorts and a top. I kept my bracelet back in its place. And settled on my bed for sleep. Once in deep sleep I slipped into a dream….

I was in a house.. a big one.. more like a villa.. It looked beautiful.. kinda.. familiar. A laughter rang through the silence. Followed by a “stop!”.. A little girl came running from one door and a boy followed her. “you can’t catch me!”, she said over her shoulder. The boy a little older to her double his speed. The kids slowed down their game when they heard the sound of boots.

Like I did.

A young handsome man with brown hair walked the steps smiling at the kids. He was wearing a grey suit with a blue black tie and his blue eyes shone bright.

Maybe it’s their dad..

“Daddy!”, they screamed in unison and greeted him at the end of the steps. Then down walked the aisle a young woman her gown enhancing her pretty face. She had long blonde hair and beautiful amber eyes. The little girl walked up the steps to her mother and took her hand in hers and walked down. Father and son smiled at the scene.. it was a perfect happy family..

I couldn’t help looking at the little girl. The inherent of her father’s eyes and mother’s hair.. she looked.. like...me.. a smaller version of me.. the younger me.. it was sure me. No doubt it was me.. I. I had a Family!.. but I hated myself for not remembering this scene.. all the smiles and talks faded into nothing but black. The so-called sweet nightmare dissolving into blackness. And I woke up with a start.. my heart beating so hard it was like a caged animal trying to claw it's way out.

I tried to remember my past again.. the dream.. some memory.. anything! But.. there was only Darkness in my brain, like my own memories were afraid if me.. or I was afraid if them?.. I had a Family.. and right now I wanted it more than anything.. the faces from my dream slowly slid into Darkness. I don’t know who the boy was though.. I missed my family.. the emotions I kept locked.. began trying to emerge out.. a cloud getting heavier the more I thought of making it lighter.. I focused on the half-moon of grief on my skin..

I didn’t even have a photo of my parents but they were surely there, somewhere in my memories….. when I was small, I would try hard to remember their faces but they were never clear.. just splotches of memories… like I was going through a number of blur pictures in a slideshow…. There wasn’t a day when I didn’t miss them..

“Mom…. Dad…. I miss you’ll ..”, I whispered to the Darkness. I looked out at the window to see the Crescent moon emerging from behind the clouds. The moonlight escaped from it and fell in my bedroom floor… “How I wish.. you’ll were here with me...” And tears threatened to fill my eyes.. I missed them… I missed my parents… And I longed for them.. I couldn’t control my tears.. How long could I stop them ?..so.. I let them come.. How I wished I could see my parents.. What hurt even more was.. that I didn’t know much about them.. I wiped my tears and I laid back on my bed… And the sleep came quickly to me than I had expected it..

The sunlight tore through the curtains of my window. Birds chirping announced that it was already morning. A Sunday Morning. I looked at the watch which showed it was 8 o’clock. I freshened up and headed downstairs. Today being a Sunday it was my duty to make the breakfast. Noises were coming from Aunt Hazel’s room. Guess she’s already up and ready to go. Apollo was sitting on the door mat. And gave a good morning bark as soon as he saw me.

“Good morning Apollo!”, I said as I opened the front door.

Apollo jumped down the front steps and raced to the gate. It was a cloudy September day. Apollo sat in front of the gate and in a few minutes the newspaper boy came on his cycle. He stopped in front of the gate where Apollo was sitting and gave him a pat.

“Hii there Apollo. Here’s your today’s newspaper.”

He gave the Newspaper to Apollo and waved at me as he continued down the street. Apollo came jogging back with the newspaper in his mouth.

“Good boy Apollo! Good boy!” I said while patting him.

I closed the door behind me and tossed the newspaper on the table. I took Apollo’s bowl and washed it cleaned. Switching the gas on I kept a pan on it. Apollo was hovering near my feet. Probably because he wanted to eat. I gave him his dog food and water. In a few minutes a breakfast of coffee and pancakes was ready. Just then Aunt Hazel came down the steps.

“Oh.. you’re done?”, She asked as she read through the newspaper.

“Yea, I’m done. Come quick.”, I answered setting the plates on the dinning table.

“coming!..”, she called.

We sat down on the table and munched the breakfast peacefully.

“Um.. it tastes good.”, she said in between her munches.

“Thanks Aunt. I thought you had a holiday today.”, I asked after finishing my bite.

“Even I needed one but it’s ok. I’ve a new chief coming over and then I need to update the theme as well. So come to the restaurant for lunch. I’ll join you. If you’re going out take Apollo with you.”

“Yea... I’ll be going to the garage first to get my car and then I’ll be heading to the library. I’ll take Apollo with me but then I’ll have to drop him at the restaurant.”

“No problem.. I’m done.. I’ll leave now. Take care and don’t forget to lock the house when you’re going.”

“Yea.. bye. Take care.”

Aunt Hazel left. I cleared the table and Apollo’s bowls. I went up with Apollo close at my heels. I put the library book I had bought - ‘Vendetta’ by Catherine Doyle in my bag. I dropped my phone, purse and a towel in it too. Apollo was sitting in my balcony, probably enjoying watching the squirrel in the trees. Then he got up, staring at the squirrel like a predator would stare at its prey.

“No Apollo. No squirrel chasing! I told you that you aren’t supposed to run and catch a squirrel. Its bad.”, I warned.

“Woof!”, was Apollo’s answer. Maybe he got what I wanted to say.

'maybe'...

I sat at my laptop. It was only 10:30 and I had a lot of time to spare so I decided I would play games. I booted the computer on and typed in the password. I played for almost half an hour when an incoming message popped on my screen. It was Noah. It said

**Hi ! Wat’s up ?

Nothing much. Wat bout u ? , I typed back.

Same. Dad said he’d take us to the beach today evening. I didn’t know u'd be online.

Yea. Actually I was playing games. Its only me and Apollo at home. Aunt’s gone to her restaurant. We’ll be joining her for Lunch after I get my car from da garage and visit da library.

Oh ok. I was gonna ask ya to tell me bout the project our eng tr. gave wen I was absent. Could u?

Oh yea. We r supposed to write n stick pics on any one sport. Ur favourite sport if ya want. U must write bout its origin. More like it’s history. Then describe it.

Ooh. Thx. Ur done with it?

Kinda. Only da pics n decorating da cover is left.

Ooh. Wen to submit it?

Wednesday.

Hmm. I’ll start with wat to write first. Then I’ll think bout da pics tomorrow.

Ok. Enjoy urself.

Yea. Thx. :-D

^_^

Ok. I gotta rush now orelse I’ll be late. Byeee..

Bye. Take care.

U too..

I logged off my computer. I took a quick shower and changed into a denim jeans and white crop top. I put my sack over my shoulder and headed downstairs.

“Come on Apollo. Let’s go!”, I said as I jumped down the last stairss.

Apollo appeared and I put a leash on him then I locked the door and We began our walk.

“We’ll head to the garage first, then go to the restaurant. Fair?”, I gave Apollo a glance.

“Woof! Woooof!”, was the reply.

I increased my pace. After 20 mins we were entering the garage named ‘Furious Wheels'. I always came in here to get my Mustang checked. The owner of the garage Toby Goodwill knew me well. He was engrossed in talk with someone so I decided to wait.

I was taking in the scene around me when my eyes spotted... I didn’t expect him but... I spotted Kai Xander leaning on a Black BMW. Seconds after I discovered him, his brown eyes discovered me. He waved and I smiled back in reply. He sure remembered me.. Then he walked through the few parked cars heading towards me.

“What does he want now!?”,I said to myself.

Just a few feet away from me, Apollo barked and growled at Kai. Apollo was protective of the people he knew. Kai stopped in his tracks as he looked at Apollo and then up at me.