The Taken

She sees a face a screams in terror. But calms down when she sees a man's face instead of the woman. He draws back and a moment later the window shatters. Hands reaching in and pulling her out.

Jill stands there watching as her car, her parents burn. The man tries to lead her away and turn her head but she breaks away watching it. It is not till the police arrive and lead her away putting her into the back of a squad car that Jill stops watching.

An ambulance comes and they take her away, as they wheel her off she can hear the truck driver saying something about not seeing them till they rear ended him. Once at the hospital Jill is lead to the examining room and she is checked for injuries. They keep asking her name but Jill, in shock says nothing. One of the nurses holds up Jill's clothing looking at the tag for a clue to her name.

"Her name could be Jill doctor." The nurse holds up Jill's clothing to show the Doctor the tag. "See, it says so on her nightgown." Jill head snaps around to stare at the gown. It wasn't a dream, her eight-year-old mind screams and breaks.

Jill comes out of the flashback with a deep breath. Her fist in her mouth her knuckles chewed. "Oh god... they didn't die in an accident" she says looking out at the wall. All the years of being kicked from foster home to foster home till her 18th birthday when she could get away and go to college flash back to Jill. Now at her Christmas break, on her third year at school she had believed, had convinced herself that it was a terrible accident that killed her parents.

Jill gets up and rushes to the bedroom closet she pulls out a small box from the shelf and going to the bed sits down. Opening it she pulls out a old ragged child's nightgown. On the tag faded she can just make out the gold lettering. She reaches into the box and pulls out a hand full of letters she had received over the years.

Opening first then the next she looks at the faint writing. "Oh god no" she moans and runs to the TV to get the cards and paper. She hurries back and compares the writing. Could it be? Aunty Carolyn? All these years she had been receiving letters and little gifts from a friend of her parents. Jill had come to call Aunty Carolyn even though she was no relation. While she had never met the woman they had written back and forth like pen pals and she became like a big sister to Jill. Once Jill had gone to college she had never heard from the woman again. She had always figured it was because the woman did not need to keep an eye out for Jill once she was grown.

But now, Jill knew she had to find her. She looked at the return address but found only "Summerville, NY" on it. "It's a start" Jill says to herself.

Act VI - Journey

Pulling together some clothes Jill packs them into her suitcase, her mind already on the road trip ahead. Glancing at the clock she notes that it says 6:52 am, "No wonder I am so tired. I stayed up all night." Deciding to nap for a few hours before searching she crawls in to the bed clutching the nightgown like a child would her blanket.

Though Jill is exhausted sleep eludes her. She lays there for hours her mind spinning the memories over and over like a broken record. Every so often Jill glances at the clock, 7, 8, and 9. The hours click by slowly. When sleep does finally come, her dreams are filled with visions of blood. Not only blood but of her sitting at a garden table, the woman across from her, both of sipping glasses of blood under a full moon.

With a sharp breath Jill awakens, sitting up and looking around wildly. The dream had been so real; she could almost taste the blood. She catches sight of the nightlight giving its comforting glow to the darkness like a lighthouse would to a lost ship at sea and calms down. Looking at the clock she sees that it reads 11. "Good only a few hours' nap like I planned," she says. Getting up she goes over and opens the curtains, the city looks so peaceful in the moon light.

A knot of fear rises up in her middle and Jill can feel the beginnings of a panic attack coming. Running to the bathroom she clutches the vanity staring into the mirror breathing hard. "It's ok, it's ok" she says looking at herself over and over. Jill had always been afraid of the dark. She had never understood why night time would create fear in her, until now. "Morning, I'll go in the morning."

Jill hears a voice in her head say, "Now." With a feeling of confusion, she moves like a robot, her body acting on its own accord as she picks up the gown, the box of notes, and the spare set of keys off her dresser. Going into the kitchen she retrieves the reddened key from the table and puts it into her pocket. Turning to the stove Jill upends the letters on top. Adding the wrapping paper and puzzle to the pile she turns the stove on before walking out the front door, closing and locking it behind her.

Standing in the hall she tries to turn back a soft "please no," coming from her lips. Tears rolling down her cheeks, she walks towards the night, the gown clutched in one hand and her keys in the other. The closer she gets to her bronco the need to hurry fills her, driving her forward. Jill breaks into a run at the front door reaching the driver's side door in moments. "I'll be safe in the car" she thinks to herself as she opens the driver's side door.

Something large and furry streaks past her and into the Bronco knocking Jill off her feet. What the heck?" Jill exclaims getting back up. Looking into car she sees a large dog sitting in the passenger seat looking out the windshield. It turns and looks at her panting, its breath coming out like a wheezing fog machine.

Her fear momentarily forgotten Jill says, "shoo... shoo" while making motions with her hands. "I don't need some damn stray moving into my car." The dog just looks at her and she can hear the thumping of its tail against the other door. "Ah come on," she pleads, but to no avail, the dog is not moving. "I don't need this today. Not today." She looks up at the heavens and asks, "Why me?"

"Guess you're just lucky"

She stares at the dog a moment and then in a worried tone, "Did you just talk?" The dog just looks at her its tongue handing out, tail wagging. "I must be losing my mind" she looks around and then back at the dog, "Are you sure you didn't talk?" Again the dog just looks at her its tail wagging. "Fine... Hope you like road trips" she says giving up, the need to hurry overriding the need to get rid of the dog.

Jill gets in and looks at the dog, a somewhat ratty but beautiful German Shepard. She had always wanted a puppy but first the foster homes would not let her and college life did not lend its self to puppies. "Ok you can come. But if you poop on the seat you will be out the door even if I have to push you out. "I wonder what your name is?" she asks as she starts the Bronco. Turning the lights on, she pulls out and begins the drive north out and away from the safety of the city. "I can't believe I am going somewhere I don't know, without a map, with a strange key, and stray."

As she drives Jill finds herself taking turns without knowing why. They just feel right. The dog beside her just sits there looking out the windshield panting. Further and further away from the city they drive in the night. Leaving the interstate Jill heads up back roads the dim memory of winding roads from her childhood leading her. She turns the wrong way once and then after about a mile the dog becomes agitated and Jill feeling something is wrong. Turning around she gets back on track and the feeling of wrongness fades.

After a while Jill stops at a lonely snow covered road or track leading up into the woods. Looking up it she looks at the dog and back at the snow covered trail leading up into the darkness, "Here it is... this is the place, I think." She turns up the road driving slowly. Creeping along at snail's pace she sees the iron fence, its spikes just as she remembered. The house sitting dark is just as in the puzzle at the end of the drive.

Turning off the engine Jill sits there a moment before getting out. She looks around and up at the sky. The stars are even more beautiful than they were all those years ago. It feels as if time had slowed, not a sound other than the quiet ticking of the Bronco as it cools off. She leans in and grabs the gown clutching it as the emotion and memories of that fateful night flood into her again.

The dog jumps out and runs over to the front door and looks back at her. "Woof" It's bark shatters the dead air and the magic that has caught up Jill in the beautiful horror of the scene and memories. Shaking her head clear of the cobwebs, Jill trudges up the steps and tries the door. Locked...

Digging into her pocket she pulls out the reddish key and slips it in unlocking the door. Opening it she steps in saying, "Hello?" the warmth of the house feeling like a hot oven compared to the crisp icy air outside. She steps into the house proper and again calls out, "Hello? Anyone home?"

The house looks lived in; dust free, to one side a vase of roses sits. Biting her lip Jill looks at the dog, "Stay and look around or not?" She nods, "Stay. I need to know the truth." She closes the front door and with the dog following she starts to look around the house.

Jill sees a glow from ahead and to one side, she moves forward like a moth attracted to a light. A room, fireplace with a roaring fire crackling in it greets her eyes. To one side Jill can see the back of someone sitting facing the fire. The dog moves forward to the figure and nuzzles the person's leg. The figure stands and turning Jill can see the woman from the church.

Act VII -- Ties that bind

Jill looks at the woman standing before her, her white silk dress picking up the yellows and oranges from the fire shimmering. She stands there at the entrance taking in the room, the antiques, the wingback chairs facing the fire, an end table with a decanter with a cut crystal wine glass sitting beside it almost as if the woman were expecting company. She looks up at the painting over the fireplace, the woman or rather her grandmother looks back at her in a Victorian dress in the English countryside. Looking back at the woman Jill says "Aunt Carolyn?" Her voice suddenly gone from her and the question comes out as a whisper.

The woman smiles and nods, "I knew you would solve that little puzzle." She motions to the other chair, "Come sit child. We have much to catch up on."

Jill finds herself moving and sitting down, the keepsake from the last time she was in the house still clutched in her hand. Though she has a million questions flying through her mind she does not speak. It feels as though she is a child who has disrupted a class and sent to the principal's office. Unable to meet the woman's gaze Jill looks into the fire trying to find strength from the dancing flames.

A wine glass filled with a dark wine is thrust into Jill's vision. "Drink child... you must be thirsty" She turns and looks up at Aunt Carolyn and takes the glass. Opening her mouth to say I'm not thirsty, she instead takes a sip. The taste is like nothing she had ever tasted before. Like golden honey it slides down her throat. Jill takes a bigger sip and then again, over and over drinking it like she was dying of thirst.

All too soon she finishes the glass and looks at the woman, the vision of Oliver asking for more porage comes to her mind and she says, "Please sir, may I have some more?" as she holds out the glass.

Carolyn smiles getting the reference, "More? You want more?" she says in a mock thundering voice. "Of course you may child" she says in a softer kinder voice as a hand reaches out to stroke Jill's cheek softly. Going to the decanter she fills the glass and says, "Ginger you know what to do" looking at the dog sitting by her chair. To Jill's amazement the dog bobs its head and leaves the room, a few moments later she hears a door opens and close. Handing the filled glass to Jill the woman moves and sits down. As Jill raises the glass to her lips she admonishes, "Sip, don't gulp it down child."

Jill blushes and instead of taking the gulp she had wanted she sips instead. She looks at the woman who has been both devil and an angel to her. She knows deep down she should be mad, furious at this woman who took her happy childhood away from her. But, somehow the spark of anger is not there. Looking down at the gown Jill says quietly, "Why?" She looks up and at the woman her eyes making contact for a moment before sliding away and into the fire, "Why Aunt Carolyn?" She looks into the fire, sipping the wine, dreading reopening that wound, but needing closure.

"Them?" the woman asks, and seeing Jill's small nod continues in a calm matter of fact voice, "Because I needed their blood."

"Blood?" Jill asks making eye contact once more. The answer was nothing like she imagined it. She had thought it was for money or something like that.

"Just like you now" The woman answers. "You don't think that was just red wine did you?" The sound of her laughter bringing back childhood memories of Christmas and twinkling bells with her parents.

"Blood?" Jill says once more and looks down at the empty glass in her hand, the last little bit of wine blood mix congealing at the bottom. The happy memories flee as her mind rebels at the thought, willing her stomach to discharge the blood. But her stomach has other plans and shows them by growling loudly. She sets the glass down and wipes her hands on her pants as if to clean them. "But why not me?" She asks after she gets her composure back. "Why didn't you take me? End it there. Why?" She looks up at Carolyn the tears running red down her cheeks.

"Don't you remember? Think back." Carolyn replies. "Remember coming in, our words, your sweet little mind closed to me." She sips her wine and looks into the fire a moment. "What a surprise you were." Looking towards the entrance she says, "Mi Ling, please fill Jill's glass for her."

Jill looks towards the entrance and sees a small beautiful oriental woman wearing a white silk kimono. With a nod the woman says, "Yes Mistress Carolyn" and taking the decanter moves over to Jill. Though she does not want any more Jill was raised to be polite and raises her glass to be filled. The woman finishing says, "May you always drink deep" and turns to go. On the back or her kimono is a stylized picture of a tiger embroidered.

"I remember. I also remember the bath" Jill gulps, "the blood bath you gave me." She looks into the fire again to keep from looking at her and sips the wine. "But why didn't you finish it?" She looks back at Carolyn, "Why am I still here?"

"Don't you remember?" Carolyn asks. She smiles softly, "Let's see if you will solve this puzzle too. Think back to the next night."

Jill looks in confusion, "next night?" Her eyes get large as the memories come flooding back to her.

Act VIII -- Past Dreams

Jill wakes up to the sounds of a cat purring as it head butts her. She smiles and her child hand reaches out to pet it, "nice kitty" As she pets the cat it walks back and forth over her little chest purring loudly. "Will you be my kitty?" she asks it. Suddenly the cat stops walking back and forth over her chest and turns to face her. She looked in to its deep emerald eyes and suddenly sees herself opening the drawer next to the bed, pulling out a needle, pricking her finger and a drop of blood forming on the tip.

Almost without hesitation she opens the drawer and pulls out a sewing needle. Jill looks at the cat watching her with big eyes and then pokes her finger. She watches the drop of blood form and hears the woman she would come to know as Aunt Carolyn say, "You have to offer her your blood and say, "I claim you, Mi Ling, as mine as long as we both may live."

In her child's voice, Jill offered the cat her fingertip and said, "I claim you, Mi Ling, as mine as long as we both may live." She giggled at the cat licked the blood from her finger with it's rough tongue. When it finished and looked up at her she smiled, pet it and said, "Good kitty."

The cat turned walks to the edge of the bed and looks back at her. After a moment it jumps off the bed and goes to the closed door. Jill stood and followed it out of the bedroom and down the hall. At the end was a grand staircase which the cat walked down and sat at the bottom looking up at her. Again she followed the cat down the stairs.

The cat led her into a big kitchen and table. At the table was several little boxes of different types of cereals, milk, bowl, and spoon. Next to the bowl was a glass of chocolate milk. Outside she could see it was dark but at the time it didn't matter. As the cat jumped up on the table, she moved over, sat down and opened a box of frosted cereal.

Jill heard the sounds of tapping and a moment later a German Shepherd came around the table to sit next to her. She looked down at it and smiled, "Nice puppy." It seemed as if the dog was smiling back at her with its tongue hanging out and she giggled. Instead of finishing her breakfast she offers the bowl to the dog, "Would you like some cereal?"

The dog licks up the milk and cereal mixture for a moment and then stops to look at her. "Mi Ling might want some of the milk," she hears the woman, who she would come to call her aunt, say.

As the cat moves forward to lick the remaining milk in the bowl. Jill sees a needle has appeared on the placemat before her. She picks it up and then looks at the dog smiling up at her. Without prompting she pricks another finger and once the blood drop has formed offers it to the dog, "I claim you..." She hears the name "Ginger" and continues, "Ginger, as mine as long as we both may live."

Finishing her milk, Jill followed the dog and cat out of the kitchen through a different door, down a long hall and into a room lit by long red candles. The woman stepped forward and again Jill felt minnows nibbling at her brain. "Come here child," the woman held out her hand.

Jill walked to her and together they walked to an altar. She looked at it and then the woman not understanding. Looking around she saw the cat and dog both sitting and watching them. "Is it time for mass?" she asked the woman finally.

The woman crouched down so they were eye to eye, "No dear. The night will come when you return and must make a choice. I felt it was only fair for you to know it and have a pair of protectors; a kitty cat and puppy dog."

Act IX -- Mass

When she came back to the present time, Jill found the cat curled up on her lap buzzing softly as she strokes it absently. "I missed you, kitty cat," she said looking down at it.

She looked at the woman sitting next to her, "Aunt Carolyn, every night while in bed I pretended to tell Mi Ling about my day. If I closed my eyes I could feel her sitting on my chest buzzing away as I talked." She looked at the redhead who was now standing beside her chair and said, "Ginger was always around so I had someone during the day to help me and be my friend." She looked from one to the other and finally to the woman, "I could not have asked for better protectors and friends."

She bit her lip and then said, "It's time isn't it Aunt Carolyn. I mean what we have been building towards. The alter... death." Jill closed her eyes and bit back a sob. "Thank you two for protecting and being my friends all these years." She stood as the cat jumped off her lap, "I'm ready Aunt Carolyn."

"Standing Carolyn said, "You solved the final puzzle. Or have you? She offered her hand to Jill, "Come along Jill." As she led Jill down the hall she said, "You have no idea how long I have been searching for someone worthy, someone I could raise as my own. Imagine my surprise when you showed up Jill. A young girl whose mind was completely closed off to me. A mind I could not mold or do as I pleased."