Maria:

My mother's death was the last straw for my dad.

Dropping me off at boarding school was naturally the best solution then.

Two months ago, while we were watching our backs and hoping the people behind my dad's takedowns, Ambassadors of Evil, didn't catch on to our whereabouts. The bell rang one day in that solemn white house, and bam! My mom was whisked away to the lair of her long-time stalker.

How did he find out where she was?

Of course, he happened to be a part of the same organization my dad fought against! (In their Serial Killers & Stalkers Division though.)

This being reality-when the stalker, and former high school classmate, found out he harbored unrequited feelings; a box showed up at our doorstep out of nowhere.

Inside it were the remains of my mother's internal organs.

So much for true love never dies.

Unfortunately, my dad blamed himself as he had been deployed to the Middle East at the time and was not the one who opened the door to their house when the abduction occurred. It wasn't altogether unusual that he got frequently deployed to other countries and left us for long periods of time as he was Special Forces. Was it his fault? No, not even I noticed she was being stalked as again, even though we were being very careful not to get caught by terrorists. (AOE being classified as a terrorist organization and all that.)

As a result, I lost my mom and locked myself in my room for days, simply inconsolable.

However, my mother's death was the last straw because of an event that had happened the year prior.

My younger sister's kidnapping.

The probability that the same people who messed with my sister were behind my mom's untimely demise was very high due to one simple thing.

AoE, otherwise known as the Ambassadors of Evil, is rumored to not exist.

When you're a global terrorist organization that acts like a secret society attempting to keep the status quo of murder and mayhem, someone like my father fighting against them was a major thorn in their side.

Consequently, it was off to boarding school I go! Yay!

I know that he thinks that the best way to keep me safe is a secure boarding school recommended by a friend, but my older brother gets to go to another private school!

Simply outrageous.

That is why I was in Virginia, being dropped off against my will in a boarding school, several states from where we used to live. My dad moved from our last home in Ohio when the defendant pleaded the judge for a guilty sentence. Currently, he had been transferred to Quantico base in Virginia and received orders to deploy again soon. Albeit he does not want to go this time, but me and my brother told him he could not just avoid work to spend all his time with us.

Thus, my current conundrum being left here in this school headed off to the unknown while my brother...better not thinking about it here, in case I say it out loud and land myself in deeper trouble.

The plan was that I was supposed to lie low here, not end up attracting a serial killer/stalker or kidnappers in the process. With a heavy heart, I walked into school, ready for a new beginning in the beautiful state of Virginia.

In the evening, I laid down to rest in the dorm room surrounding by other beds filled with chattering girls, clearly nervous about the next day. I however wished for them to stop talking and let me rest, but their gossip buzzed around the room, flying rumors along with them.

As soon as I thought I could sleep by placing earplugs on, the silence became deafening.

Crickets became the soundtrack to my life at that moment.

I looked around, startled that the insistent bees had stopped buzzing, and noticed why too late.

The chatty girls were being taken away, one by one, by men in masks.

What would you do if you thought you were being kidnapped?

I know what I did. I panicked.

Bolting out of bed, I ran out of the room and bumped into a large burly man in the hallway. Smelling chemicals, I got ready for the worst and the man muttered, "This one's for the warehouse."

Suddenly, it was Lights Out for me.

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Author's note: The first chapter is back up! I'm revising the first few chapters slowly, and thinking of releasing the ending chapters because it's killing me not to have Imposter, the direct sequel, published already.