untitled but up for critique

Chapter One1

2


Life can hand you some uncontrollable situations that make you want to throw yourself off a tenth story window, and boy do I know. I have had the worst days of my life and all with the most stupid-ass people in the world. One example is my fifth grade boyfriend- he killed my gerbil by putting it in a fake dryer and spinning it, a lot. Another example is my ninth grade boyfriend- he tried to have sex with me in the bathroom of the funeral home right after my grandfather died. One more example, my college boyfriend… I think you get the idea. I attract losers. Well, more like assholes.
Right now I happened to have my drunk ex chopping through my apartment door with an axe. Over a key. My name is Alyxandria Cisne, I am 28 years old and have long, wavy black hair; sapphire eyes; a pouty mouth; long lashes; ivory skin; and I am 5’9” and 144 pounds.
I had his key that he gave me for Christmas and apparently, he couldn’t wait until the morning to retrieve it. I guess he could have been drunk and reasoned that he should be able to get his key whenever he wanted but I don’t think so. I think he may have stolen the axe to chop down my door, with no regard to anyone’s possessions but his own, though.
“Give it back, Bitch!” Rick slurred almost completely incoherently. “Give me my key or I’ll-“
“What,” I interrupted angrily, “Pay for my door? No, wait! You’ll be doing that already! You know it’s not like I don’t have any valuables! Grow a brain, Rick.” I was yelling and he was inching away from me as slowly as possible to not let me notice.
I was starting to feel better after having vented so I was speaking more quietly, “You aren’t going to get in now, but you know, you could always come back. Say, at ten in the morning? I’m pretty sure that,” I breathed, thinking that I should just push him out the window and have done with it, “Normal- well, sober- people don’t break down other people’s doors down over a key before nine in the morning. That is called sanity, courtesy, or even politeness! Use your brain Dickhead!”
Then I slammed the door in his face, waking up my golden retriever Genesis. She bounded over and started barking.
“Come here Genny! Come here! Come here Genesis. Yes, the mean asshole is gone. We can go back to bed now,” I crooned.
Then there was a knock on the door- or what was left of it- so I walked over and opened it. It was my neighbor from down the hall, the 64 year old Mrs. Butterfield, holding what looked like a rifle.
“Alyx, are you okay dear? I can show whoever was bugging you a few things, if you want.”
I laughed and said, “No, no it’s okay. I’m fine, but thank you.”
“Okay, good night.”
“Good night. See you in the morning.”
I closed the door and looked down at Genesis. She stared at me with her beautiful puppy eyes and I caved. “You want a snack? Want a midnight snack?”
I reached over to the treats and tossed her one. She bounded over and after sniffing it, gobbled it up.
“Come on, you can sleep on the bed tonight,” I said as I walked to the bedroom in my slippers, my worn robe, and my Thumper jammies. I was most definitely getting a donut and a chocolate caramel macchiato with a little extra caffeine- and chocolate- in the morning.3

~4

Next time I woke up was eight instead of ten because someone was banging on my window. I thought it might have been Rick, but Genesis, who was usually so nice and calm, was barking frantically.
“Go away! Leave me alone,” I groaned with my head under the pillow. When it didn’t stop, I looked out the window and saw my sister covered in blood and crying.
I jumped out of bed and saw more, it looked like her leg was broken. I rushed to the window and opened the bolt.
“A-Alyx, I- hic- c-couldn’t think of- hic- any other p-place t-to g-go! Hic!” Violet cried as I hugged her.
“Who did this to you, Vi? Who did this? You know what; I don’t want to know,” I said, “You need to get to a hospital.”
“N-no, they’ll ask- hic- w-what h-happened- hic- and he’ll d-do w-what he d-did- hic- again b-because I made him angry! D-don’t t-take me to the h-hospital, p-please!” Violet was practically screaming.
“Who are you taking about, who will get angry? Tell me,” I said as she sat down trying to take a few even breaths.
“Jamie. J-Jamie. Jaime did it,” she whispered.
“NO! Jaime as in Jaime from Thanksgiving dinner, Jaime?” Violet nodded slowly. “I won’t believe it! Oh, jeez. Damn him. Okay then. Well, fuck, does your leg feel broken?”
“Yeah, and my arm feels wet. And kinda warm. Is that red? Am I bleeding?!” She fainted.
“Shit.” Now I had to carry her down the stairs. Great.5

~6

“I know you worry about her, ma’am, but she’ll be fine under our care,” said the nurse.
“Bullshit. I won’t believe that for one second! She needs me. She has been-“I looked around and whispered, “She has been raped godammit. She can’t afford to trust anyone but family!”
The nurse stared at me and said, “The best thing for you to do is to just go get breakfast, get changed,” as she eyed my pajamas, “And go to work and visit her later when she has had some sedatives to calm her down, okay hon?”
I glared at her before saying, “Fine. I’ll be back around four thirty.”
Then I stalked out of the hospital into my car and drove to a diner back in town. I sighed at the warmth inside the thick walls. There were so many pictures up on the walls, mostly scenery paintings but a few family photos as well. I had been there so many weekends of my childhood that everyone knew me and what I was going to order as soon as I stepped through the shiny glass doors. Plus, my Uncle Alessandro owned the place.
“C’est Magnifique!” my uncle said while he hugged me. “I haven’t seen you since Lila’s birthday party. How long ago was that?” he saw my face expression, “Oh, dear. What now?”
“I can’t say Theo. You’ll tell Thia and then she’ll tell my mom and I don’t want her to worry.” A tear slid down my cheek but I wiped it away quickly, but not too quickly for his eyes.
“Ah, you’re growing up, belle. About ten years ago, you could have cared less about your mother. Now, you’re worrying about that poor old flower. Oh, Alyx.” He smiled at me. “Sit down; I’ll get you the usual.”
I was turning around to sit down, when I bumped into someone. I looked up and saw a man- a sexy man- smiling at me. No, laughing at me. I scowled and said, “Look, I am having a bad day and I don’t need you laughing at me! You can just-“
“My name’s Victor, what’s yours, sweetheart?” He reached out to do something but I slapped it away. All he did was laugh, “Hey, I’m not that bad. How about a joke?”
“Uh-huh, yeah, sure. Like I’m going to let you hit on me all day long. I’m not in the mood, leave me alone,” I said, trying to turn away. When he wasn’t letting me go, I looked over at one of the ladies behind the counter but she just smiled and shrugged.
Maybe he’ll just go away, I thought. I closed my eyes and counted to 10. Open. He was still there. He was still there and grinning so wide I thought his jaw might pop.
“How about a coffee? No? A kiss?” He was pushing it. Nevertheless, it was somewhat entertaining. Since I didn’t say anything, he actually leaned in and kissed me.
His tongue invaded my mouth and all my anger just melted away. Soon enough, I was kissing him back.
When it was over, I breathed,”Oh.”
I turned away and practically ran to a table, blushing all the while and trying not to make eye contact.
He had definitely made sure it was a breath-taking kiss. It had tasted of chocolate and peppermint, while he smelled like- what was it? Was it coffee? Cologne? Whatever it was, it had left me dazed. Wanting more.
I glanced back and he was looking at me as if he thought I was something special. Something unique- sexy even!
“Stop it, stop thinking about it, this isn’t like you to moon over guys,” I told myself, because it wasn’t like me to moon over guys, but I didn’t want to stop, not one bit! “You’re not going over there,” I whispered, but even as I said that, my feet defied me and started walking toward him. Towards him and his wonderful kisses. He looked as mischievous as a little boy who was playing a trick on the teacher.
“You couldn’t keep away, I see. Come back for more, did you?” he asked. I scowled. “The name’s Victor, Victor Black. I’m sorry about before, I couldn’t help it.”
“My name is Alyxandria and you’re not forgiven until you can prove that you are sorry. And not through more kisses.” I said.
“Ouch. Okay then, how about dinner to prove my sorrow?”Victor asked me quite hopefully. He was so cute; the mischievous part of the little boy just slipped away leaving an adorable boy. So, for some unknown reason, I gave him my number, very hopeful that he would call me.
“See ya, um, Victor.” The name rolled off my tongue so sweetly I whispered it to myself.
I sat down once more into a booth and I waited for my meal. I started to smile at the fact that I would most likely have a date. I was usually alone or with my parents. Maybe the day wouldn’t be so bad, after I ate anyway. I was still a little bit crabby.7

~8

“Jenna, I need those files on Malcolm Riddler, A.S.A.P. His parents are here.” I called over to the clerk.
“Ok, let me dig them out, Alyx. So how are you, anyway?” She asked. “Last I heard, you were still single. Any progress?”
“Yes actually, I have a date, I think.” I replied slowly.
She started to choke on the water she was drinking. When she had stopped coughing, she said,” I don’t believe it! A date? With a man? A real one?”
“Yes, a date with a real man. I’m pretty sure that it’s a date. I gave him my number.” I said.
Then, my cell phone rang. Jenna looked at me and wiggled her eyebrows mouthing ‘already?’, while handing me the folders.
“Hello?” I asked.
“Alyxandria Cisne?”
“This is she. How may I help you?”
“This is Karen, hospital administrator, it’s about Violet. She appears to be gone. She had a visitor and now they both have left her room. It’s been an hour.” I didn’t say anything, I couldn’t say anything. “Ma’am? We need to let you know that we have the police looking for her. Do you understand?”
“Yes. I understand. Let me know if you find her, please. Goodbye.” I hung up.
“Alyx? Are you ok?” Jenna asked with obvious concern in her voice.
“I have to leave, I can’t stay here. Violet was checked into the hospital this morning and now she’s gone. I’ll be at home.” I quietly told her.
I grabbed my purse, went into the parking lot and beeped my yellow bug open. I got into the driver’s seat, put my bag shotgun and then rested my head on the steering wheel, crying all the while. It took me about a half an hour to stop crying, but once I was calm, I put in my keys and started the car. I drove slowly, all around town trying to figure out what to do.
“Everything will be fine. Vi will be fine. Everything is fine,” I unsuccessfully tried to convince myself. Not making anything any better, I turned the radio on- loud, hoping it would drown out any thoughts of kidnappers, Violet, and the hospital.
When I finally decided to go home, I pulled into the parking lot and went into the apartment after unlocking the door. I was attacked by Genesis about three seconds after I hung up my coat.
“Yes, Genny, I’m home. I’m home. Yes, yes, down. Down, Genesis. Down.” I said. I went to the counter in the kitchen and washed my hands before checking my phone messages.
One said, “Alyxandria, it’s your mother. Are you there? I want you to come to dinner for your father’s retirement tonight. Where your purple dress you wore to your birthday, it’s adorable. We’re throwing him a party, just so you know. I told your aunt that you would also bring dessert, so bring something everyone will like!” I sighed while she finally said, ”Love you! Bye.”
The next one was just myself saying some reminders like to go grocery shopping, pay the rent, ect. I erased that one as soon as I remembered that I took care of most of that before I went to work.
The last scared me. It was a man with a very husky voice and a very odd accent. It said, “I know you want your sister back but you aren’t going to get her, not unless you give me something in return: 1 million dollars.” I was trembling. “1 million dollars or your Violet is dead. One week. I will call again with instruction. Call the police and you’re dead, too.” Dead dial tone.
I had never been so scared in my entire life. Who would do this to me? Who would hate me enough to terrorize both the people I care about and myself? I had no answers.
Since I had no answers, I decided to take Genesis- who was barking quite obnoxiously- for a walk. So, I got the leash, my keys, my phone, and pepper spray just in case. I had to get some of the panic out of me, and losing energy seemed like the good way to go.
“Genny, come on, let’s walk around, take a shit and then come back, okay? After that, we’ll have dinner. Vindo.” I said to her.
We went to a doughnut shop about a mile away and back, which was very good considering my position at the moment. I got the biggest, chocolate-iest, most suragy doughnut I could find and some apple cinnamon tarts for the dog panting at my feet.
When we got back to the apartment, I felt a little less hungry but not any better. I ordered Chinese food and got out a tub of ice cream. When I felt too full to eat anymore, I took a shower and went to bed. After crying for about an hour, I finally fell asleep.9

10


Chapter Two11

12


“Alyx? Are you sure you are going to be okay? I can bring over some soup if you’d like.” Jenna was worried about me, as usual. She was my best friend.
“No Jen, I’ll be fine.”
“Okay, you know I love you. Bye.”
“Bye.”
When I had woken up, I was as gloomy as when I fell asleep but I couldn’t quite recall why. I was doing my make-up a good ten minutes later when it had hit me- Violet was gone and was being held ransom by some ridiculously accented maniac. Once more, I had began to cry. Sadly, I hadn’t thought to put on waterproof mascara.
When I was finally able to pull myself together, I cleaned my face up, walked and fed Genesis, and called in sick at work.
Considering I had worked at the school for about four years and had not once called in sick. I had earned that right to a partial vacation. It wouldn’t be a real vacation since I would be looking for my sister, though.
I hung up the phone and called my mother to explain why I wasn’t at the party the previous night.
“Mom? Hi, Mom. Yes, I’m all right. Don’t panic. I just wasn’t feeling very good. I wasn’t able to manage going to the party because I wasn’t quite in the mood. By the way, Violet has been kidnapped and is being held ransom for a million dollars. Bye!”
“WHAT?! Alyxan-“ dead dial tone. I had talked at lightning speed in order to avoid her complete panic attack, and then hung up.
Then, I went to the computer and typed up some missing posters. It said:13

MISSING
Have you seen me?
Violet Cisne
I am 5’7”, 136 pounds, and have dark chocolate hair, crystal blue eyes, and a violet tattooed on my lower back.
Please call (209) 892- 8218 if you have any information.14

It had a picture on the bottom of the page with her smiling as if everything was okay. I didn’t believe it for one second. I was usually the one who saw the glass as half full, but right now, all the glasses were empty- even if they were full to the very rim.
When I read over the poster about three times, I printed it out and grabbed it along with my phone, purse and jacket. I wanted to get over to the library to make copies as fast as possible. Then I realized that I would need to get the stapler so I could post it on trees and telephone poles. So I turned back into my office and grabbed the stapler and a whole case of staples.
Then I ran to the elevator and I must have pressed the button fifty times before the doors actually opened. I pressed the button for the lobby and watched as the screen said third level, second level. And then the doors opened and four people squeezed into the very small elevator. Finally, we made it to the lobby and so as not to upset the lobby attendant, I walked outside and went to my car. I went as fast as I could without going over the speed limit and rushed to the library. When I got inside, there was a line to use the copy machine.
“Damn,” I said to myself.
I was starting that I should just go to work and use the copy machine there but as I was about to leave, it was my turn. I made up to 150 copies and saved the original to make copies for tomorrow. I intended to make copies tomorrow and hang them up in Turlock, Modesto the next day, Ceres, and so on. I was going to cover as much area as possible.
When I was done, I was starving, so I went to the diner. I sat down in a booth and was greeted by Francine- a very old woman who knew my family for years and reminded me of Maxine.
“Hello, doll! What can I do you for? The regular?” she smiled at me.
“Yes, please. But could you add a muffin? Banana?”
“No problem.”
She brought me over my meal in record time and when I was about halfway done with my meal, a voice I really hoped not to hear said near my ear, ”Surprise, babe.”
I had been drinking my coffee, so when I gasped, I started choking on my coffee and then I closed my eyes. When I opened them again, I saw a very worried Victor at my side.
“I am so sorry! Are you okay?” I smiled at the concern in his voice. It really sounded like he cared about me. When he noticed the smile, he smiled back but the concern didn’t leave his eyes. I stared at his eyes for a bit but then I caught myself and then spoke.
“Yes, I’m fine. Thanks.” I was still thinking about his eyes. There was something about them. They were a gray with a hint of green, barely any but easily seen.
Then I started thinking about him and realized that he was here, at my uncle’s diner, again. So I said,”Wait, what are you doing here? I come here every day and all the sudden, you show up. What’s up with that?”
“Well, the cafe I used to go to closed down and now I know that you come here, all the more incentive for me to.”
I gasped. I couldn’t believe it, he really did like me! I hadn’t had a man hit on me in ages and now that I was having a crisis, one was interested!! I pulled myself together and asked the question that most girls wouldn’t ask for about two weeks, “So you really do like me, then?”
“Well, yeah. I mean, you don’t see me hitting on any other girl in here, do you?”
I smiled and said in a small voice, “No.”
He grinned back at me and said laughing, “You have dimples! I never would have known!”
I had to admit it, I really liked this guy. He was charming, handsome, he cared about me, he was honest about hitting on me, and- oh my god!- he could kiss.
I laughed, “Well, yeah. Of course!”
Just then, Fran came over with the check and before I could stop Victor, he paid for the whole thing, when he didn’t eat any of my food. He was definitely a gentleman. When he got his credit card back, he walked me to my car.
I was leaning against the side of the car thinking he was going to kiss me when he stopped and asked, “What are those papers? Are those-“
“No! Stop it!” I was too late, he had opened the car door and was looking at the missing posters.
“Who is this? Babe?”
“My sister. And stop calling me ‘babe’ when we hardly know each other!"
He looked at me as if he were studying me and then I once again looked at his eyes and this time, I saw not only worry, but sadness, pity, and for some reason, attraction. He walked toward me and put one hand behind my neck and the other at my waist. Suddenly, the attraction was all that remained and he kissed me, softly and comfortingly.
When the kiss was over, I found my arms around him and myself panting. Victor just acted as if that were expected and said, “I’ll help you. I don’t trust you not to get yourself in trouble.”
“I’ll be fine. I’ll be fine.” I tried to turn away but he held me firmly in place. “Let go! Let me go!”
“I’ll let go if you promise that I can come along.” He eyed my car and grimaced, “We’re gonna have to take my car. I can’t be seen in a chick car or my man-card will be taken away.”
I laughed and glanced at my bug. I stopped when I saw his car. My jaw dropped. It was a black mustang with flames painted on. “Okay! Carry the box of posters and let me get my purse.”
I practically ran to get to the driver’s seat. I was rubbing my hands all over the steering wheel when he got over to the driver’s side himself.
“What are you doing? The man drives the sports car.”
“Well, I am the one who is allowing you to come, so out of gratitude, you should allow me to drive. The woman is the boss. Did your mother teach you nothing?”
He rolled his eyes and handed me the keys before climbing into shotgun. “Women.”
“Excuse me? ‘Women’ what?”
“Nothing, women are just like this. I like that. A lot.”
I scoffed and just started the car, smiling. It was hard to believe that someone I would usually consider an asshole could be so charming. The scary thing though, was not that I could fall for him, but that he could break my heart.
I sighed and pulled out of the parking lot. "So, where should we start? The library? City Hall? Or should we start out in Modesto and work our way back?"
"Patterson's good," he chuckled. "Let's go to Taco Bell and start there. I'm hung-"
"Taco Bell? It is 9:30 in the morning and we were just at a
diner!! What, do you have an endless pit for a stomach? God!"
He laughed and said, "No, I just didn't eat and I'm in the mood for a burrito."
I mentally barfed. I just kissed a bean eating freak. I knew I wasn't without my own faults, but eating beans wasn't one of them.15

~16

It was four in the afternoon and we were finally done with Patterson. We had stapled a poster to every single telephone post we saw and hung some up in every store and restaurant we came across. It took us hours because not only did we have to hang up the posters, we just had to buy food practically everywhere for Victor. I could have sworn he had an endless stomach. We were now at the diner again so I could get my car.
I turned to him, “Thank you. You know you didn’t have to do this for me.”
“Yes, I did.”
“No, you didn’t. I’m grateful. A lot of people wouldn’t just do this for strangers.”
“Well, I’m not a lot of people.”
Then, he kissed me. I don’t know what got into me, but I swung my arms around him kissed him back with twice as much enthusiasm as he was probably expecting. All the sudden, he stopped.
“What’s wrong? Are you okay?” I asked him.
“This is wrong. I want this, but it would be wrong to take advantage of you this way.”
“What do you mean take advantage? I am willingly throwing myself at you-“
“Out of grief. You are doing this to make yourself feel better.”
“So?! Is that so bad?” I asked. “Is that so bad that I am doing this to make myself feel better? What if I told you that all the passion wasn’t out of grief? What if it were real? What would you do then?”
He was silent for quite a while but then he said, “I guess I wouldn’t have stopped you. I’m sorry, Alyxandria.”
I winced and replied quickly, “Please call me Alyx, I hate my name.”
All he did was smile and kiss me again, this time softly so as to not rouse me up again. I smiled against his mouth and ended the kiss.
I grabbed my purse, the empty box, and headed towards my car.
“Where are you going beautiful? Off to entice hundreds of other men as you did me?” he laughed. Even his eyes were smiling at me as I looked back at him.
“No, I’m going home to get some rest. Tomorrow I’m going to Westley, and maybe even Crows Landing or Grayson.”
The smile left his face as he said, “There’s more?”
“Yes, there’s more. What, do you think the kidnapper would only stay in Patterson? No. There is a chance that he’ll be anywhere around the area.”
“But there’s more? Are you sure that this isn’t enough, I mean there’s more!”
I laughed, I couldn’t believe that someone who could act like a sexual god one moment could act this much like a child the next. It was hilarious!