"Flora, I have a secret, and you're never going to believe what it is." Fraiser smiled devilishly at me through the computer screen. "No, really, you're never going to guess." There was a buzzing and the video of Fraiser in his room flickered for a second. "Now, where to start? Well, I'll be blunt. I'm a special agent working for the government. maybe that was too blunt... What I mean is that I'm not your average high school student. 2 years ago, when I was 12 years old, I was approached by a man named Jeremy Daniels. at the time he taught my science class, which I'm not going to lie I was failing." Fraiser laughed the same way I remembered. "Anyway, he told me I was special and could help our country and the rest of the world. Daniels told me about this agency called A.N.G.E.L and said it was a special task force comprised of gifted individuals from all over the world. Apparently, I'm gifted, did you know that? After much debate, I decided to join, but I haven't told mom and dad yet." He stops and thinks for a second. "In hindsight, maybe it wasn't the best decision I ever made." He sighs but continues with an upbeat tone. "Once I joined I met some interesting people like little Rio, the one who gave you this disk. I've been an A.N.G.E.L agent ever since. " He hesitated briefly. "Well I guess that everything I have to say." he stands up so that he can turn off the camera, I grip the edges of the screen tightly in my hands.

"Don't go Fray! Why didn't you tell me this before?! Where are you!?" I yell at the computer screen filled with anguish; The little girl who missed her brother came to the surface. He pauses mid step as he remembers something. He sits back down. I half relax into my seat.

"I guess you're wondering why I'm bothering to tell you this." Not quite what I was asking but go on. "I'm being sent on a very dangerous mission and I'm afraid I might not come back. And, I guess, I just wanted to let you know what happened to me. If you're watching this video it must mean something did go wrong and I didn't come back. I don't know the future so I don't know how long it's been for you days, week, years, heck you could be watching this with me on the porch of some house with you great grandchildren running about and playing some childish game that hasn't even been invented yet. no matter, I just want to say I love you Flora and I'm sorry for what's happened. If you ever need any help ask little Rio. He'll help you no matter what. Goodbye Flora, and remember 32499." This time nothing stopped him and he turned off the camera and the screen goes black. I didn't know what to do. I just sat in the chair and stared at the computer screen. This was not happening; I wouldn't believe it. I shakily get up and wander towards my bed. I promptly collapsed into its embrace. I turned on my side, hugged my pillow to my chest, and stared out the window. The sun had started to dip below the residential skyline I lived in.

The longer I laid there and thought, the more the realization sunk in that my brother was not who I thought he was. Did he really go on such a dangerous mission that it caused him not to return? What was it he called that group... ANGEL. Does Frasier's involvement in this group have anything to do with what happened Friday? No, it had everything to do with what happened on Friday. I was truly afraid of what was going to happen, now that I knew his secret. Do I tell dad? Do I find mom and ask her to help me find him? I was lost in a sea of confusion.

The door to my room opened. I hadn't even noticed that Sam and Max had returned from the vet.

"Dinner's ready. Flora?" She paused, probably spying me lying almost lifeless on my bed. "What are you doing?" I could imagine her leaning against the doorframe staring at my back in her baggy t-shirt and sweatpants that she wore when grading her student's homework, her hair in a messy bun. I couldn't let Sam know about Fraiser just yet, it was still too strange for even me to comprehend. I cleared my throat so I could speak.

"Nothings wrong Sam. I just thought that I would think better while laying on my side is all. So, what's for dinner?" I casually brushed off her concern, drawing on my limited acting skills. I pushed off my bed and swept my hair from my eyes, strips of purple flashed in and out of my vision. I didn't want her to think something was wrong. My step mother sometimes had this annoying habit of sticking to a topic of conversation till she got the answers she wanted. I wasn't ready to tell her about Fraiser, not yet.

" Oh," Sam let out a little breath of surprise mixed with suspicion. My acting must not have been all that good. Sam, for once, let the conversation drop. "We're having Tacos. You might want to change out of those clothes, it's going to be a messy one." She let out a little laugh at her joke. "meet you down stair when you're ready."

"Kay." I smiled at her. When she left I changed out of my street clothes and into plaid pajama pants and a gray tank top covered in paint stains from when I'd helped dad paint his office last summer. One of the few happy memories I had with him since... I let that train of thought crash into a mountain in my subconscious. Wasn't going to think about that now. It was taco night, nothing could be better.

I joined Sam and Max downstairs in the kitchen and our trio was completed. I continued to act like nothing was wrong, but Max saw through me. His wet, cold nose brushed the bare skin of my arms, and when I looked at him he promptly licked my face.

" Eww, stop it Max!" I pushed him away, but he sat back down right next to my chair. His tongue fell out of his mouth and he panted excitedly. I knew what he wanted. I let out a short huff of a sigh and discreetly pick loose a chunk of ground beef from my Taco so Samantha wouldn't see, and feed it to Max. I was caught.

" Flora, you can't keep feeding Max human food. One, he's going to get fat, and two, it's bad for him. The vet today was saying that he was eating too much human food." I tried to play innocent.

"What food, I didn't feed him anything." Sam wasn't buying it.

"Yeah, sure." I looked down and quickly finished my food. There was still a single clump of meat left on my plate and I reached for it.

"Don't even think about it," Sam warned. That's twice now I'd been caught. I popped the meat in my mouth.

"What ever do you mean, I was only going to eat it, this is what you do with food." Samantha sighed heavily, her patience drawing to an end. "Well, I gotta go. Thanks for dinner!" I said quickly placing my grease soaked plate in the sink and almost bolting to the stairs.

"Yeah, you better run!" Samantha said, obviously joking. I stuck my tongue out at her and disappearing into my room with Max in tow. "You too Max! I thought you liked me!" I couldn't contain myself, I grabbed my stomach and laughed hysterically.

"Goodnight Flora."

"Night."

Max jumped up on my bed and laid his head on his paws. Gathering my hair into a messy bun I collapsed onto my bed and fell asleep with Max's head resting on my stomach, and my arm hugging him close like a warm teddy bear.

...

In my dream, or at least I thought it was a dream, Max stood at the door to my bedroom, letting loose an occasional, menacing growl. He pawed at the door and promptly started to whine. Through a dense fog of sleep, I saw Max jump up and catch the handle of the door on the way down. The door swung open just wide enough that he was able to stick his nose between the door and the door frame and open the door all the way. There was a soft thunk as the door hit the wall. Max then sat on his haunches and whined softly. Strange, he was much smarter than in real life and more persistent. Since it was a dream, I decided to leave the warm comforts of my bed to follow Max. Something I would never have done otherwise. I pulled on a pair of white socks and followed the dog.

Max crept forward, down the hallway, and passed the stair, proving that it wasn't the need to use the bathroom that he'd awakened me for. Shadows flickered in the dim light brought in by the moon. Dream or not, this was seriously creepy. With each step I took the floor creaked under my foot, echoing through the house like a scream. I was afraid of waking Sam. Max came to stop in front of a door that had not been opened in years. My blood ran cold, and a shiver touched my bare arms. There was a sign on the door, "Frazier's Room, Enter if you Dare". Like the south end of a magnet to its opposing half, my hand came to rest on the tarnished metal of the doors handle. Next, to me Max whined and nudged his nose against the crack where the door met the door frame, encouraging me to open the ancient seal. I pressed the flat of my hand against the door knob and pushed it down. With a soft click, the door swung open.

Max rushed inside, but I was hesitant. Even standing outside in the hall, my nose was assaulted by the musty, meek air that I imagined time would smell like if time actually had a smell. Not being opened for 11 years caused dust to form in the air. Not taking any challenges, I held the edge of my tank top to my nose and breathed through it when I entered. Time had not been the room's friend. Everything was covered in dust and the occasional spider web. The dust was so thick that it gave the entire room, which had once been so full of life, a dull lifeless gray look. Everything was neatly put away in its appropriate place, the bed under the window sill was neatly made. Everything still exactly the same. The posters that covered the wall peeled slightly at their corners. Being in this room cause a twisting, writhing feeling to appear in my chest. Sorrow. I wanted to make the pain stop, it was time to leave. There was a book shelf across from the door, and Max found great interest in sniffing its contents and growling at what he smelled.

"We shouldn't be in here Max," I whispered to the Retrevier in a hushed tone. I was ignored. Scratch. Sniff. Growl. Repeat. I was starting to think that my earlier thoughts about Max being smarter in my dreams was false. Trying to not stir up as much dust as possible I grabbed Max's collar and tugged.

"Come on boy, time to go." Max didn't move. I glanced at the spot Max had been growling at, then looked again. It was barely hidden by the bookshelf, but there was a thin crack about 6 feet long, stretching from the ground up. The dimmest of lights were shining from beyond. I ran my fingertip over the crack watching the light dance from beyond and my finger blocked it. Max growled again and I hushed him. I braced myself against the side of the book case and pushed sideways towards the bed. Inch by inch, the shape of a door emerged from behind the bookcase. There was no handle, but when I placed pressure on the door on the right edge, there was a click and the door swung open.

Inside, there was a secret room that I had never knew existed. Inside was wooden walls and a grey area rug that just covers the plywood floor. It had been furnished with an ash gray plush arm chair, some red bean bag chairs, and a desk covered in sticky notes and loose sheets of paper. The hidden door swung closed behind me. It left just enough that it didn't latch closed. I inched my way into the room step by step. where had all this come from? After Fraiser disappeared I could faintly remember police searching this room for clues even though we had been on vacation when it happened. Why hadn't they found this room?it had only been hidden behind a bookcase.

My hand eventually fell upon the rough surface of the wrinkled paper on the desk. There was writing on the paper, but it was too worn to read. I check another paper. This one was more legible than the last. I read it allowed.

"Case number seven-two-four-one, the victim was found shot twice in the stomach," I couldn't read the next part, so I moved down to the bottom of the page. "Suspect has been found to be in league with RS; possible cover up." I was confused about what I was reading. My eyes flickered to other notes and paper on the desk. They all said similar things. "Case number 6299, shot in the head; case number 2395, found dead back alley; case number 5556; case number 3481; number 2216; Shot killed, dead." They all were case files and had one thing in common, a scratched R-S at the bottom of almost every page. I opened up some of the drawers, finding pens, pencils, other office supplies, and, in the very bottom drawer which was the largest, a Safe. It wasn't very complicated lock or anything, so I tried pulling on the handle. The door didn't budge. I turned the dial spinning it, just hoping that the right combination would magically reveal itself. Something tugged at the back of my mind like I'd forgotten something important. I brushed the feeling away. I check the other draws hoping to find the combination written on a sticky note somewhere. I was entirely curious about figuring out what was hidden in that safe. I mulled over all the different combinations that My brother might have used. I tried his birthday. Nothing. Mom's birthday. Nope. Dad's? not it either. The feeling surfaced again. Was I missing something important? I sat cross legged on the carpet and thought. Finally, a glimmer of a memory appeared in my mind. From when I watched that video that Rio had given me.

"If you ever need any help ask little Rio. He'll help you no matter what. Goodbye Flora, and remember 32499." 32499? I hadn't thought about it before but 32499 was my birthday; March 24, 1999. My hand Moved to the dial.

"Three... twenty-four..." I stopped my entry. There was no 99 on the dial. My heart sank. Then, just as fast as it deflated, my heart filled with joy. I tried once more clumping the numbers together differently this time.

"Thirty-two, forty-nine, nine." I held my breath and tugged the safe's handle. This time it opened easily. I giggle in happiness, amused with my clever thinking. Inside was a manilla folder. I could see a paper clip sticking out, probably holding the stack of papers inside together. I closed the door of the safe and using one of the pens from the desk, quickly jotted down the combination on my forearm. This dream was getting really weird. I placed The folder on the desk and rummaged around in another drawer. Something sliced my hand and I quickly pulled it back and examined the damage.

The blood ran from the slice on my palm, the pain very real. I wasn't dreaming. It was then that the hand appeared. I choked on my scream as a hand covered my mouth. I was pulled down and I landed hard against someone's chest. My hand flew up to release the hand from where it was clamped. My thoughts were blinded with fear as I kicked and tried to scream. I finally realized something that I had ignored. When I had entered the room, the light on the desk had been turned on. I cursed myself for being so stupid. The light had been on, and someone had been in here watching me the whole time. I frantically clawed with sharp nails at the forearm of my assailant, leaving thin trails of blood on their skin. Sence finally started to return and I stopped my struggling. my attacker, a male I found out by his voice, started to speak.

"Yeesh, you-" I slammed my elbow into his rib cage, hard. Air rushed from his lungs and his grip loosened slightly. I took up my struggle, but my attacker immediately changed from being weakened from by blow, to being an iron fortress. His hand came away from my mouth, and he managed to pin my arms easily to the ground above my head. Instantly, his face was 2 inches from mine. The scream that I had brought to my lips immediately left me and I stared silently into Spencer's face. His glance flickered to the scratches that I had left on his arm.

"Was it really necessary to scratch my arm. That really did hurt History Geek." He said in a nonchalant tone like he stole into people houses and pinned people to the ground every night.

"I'm not-a-history geek." I managed to strangle out the words. My voice came in small gasps as I struggled to breathe after my fight. He gave me a wry smile and loosed his grip on my wrist once he was sure that I wasn't going to scratch him again. I wasn't going to. He loosened but didn't let go of my arms. through the dimness, I was able to make out his black attire. Black long sleeved shirt, black pants, and black shoes. Considering the outfit, I expected him to be wearing a ski mask and threatening me for my money. "What are you doing here?!" I hissed through clenched teeth, once I got my breathing under control. "And while you at it, how about letting me go, and getting the hell off me." Spencer snorted, the corner of his mouth lifting into a small smile.

"I didn't know you could use language like that Miss Aldridge. Your mother wouldn't be happy to hear you say that."

"I said, Get-off-of-me! am I not speaking English." His attitude was starting to irk me. He complied, but not before tightening a metal cuff around my left wrist and securing to the desk.

"Sorry Flora, but if you hadn't noticed I'm kinda in the process of a B&E. I can't have you running off and telling someone."

" I will scream," I warned.

"I wouldn't if I were you."

"Try and stop me." I taunted, opening my mouth to scream. Spencer muttered something to himself before turning away from me.

"She's more and more like her brother." The threat of me screaming didn't seem to phase him. I decided not to waste the energy and closed my mouth. He wandered around the room and poked around. Obviously looking for something.

"Can I help you find something?" I said with false helpfulness. He ignored me. I rattled the handcuff attached to my wrist and pulled on it. I hoped by some miracle the metals would suddenly release its grip on my arm. yeah, no. I jerked it sharply in annoyance and growled in frustration. Growl? Wait, where was Max?!

"What did you do to my dog!? Where is he?!" My voice rose an octave in panic. Spencer didn't stop his searching. He looked under a bean bag.

"That golden retriever? He's in the other room. I feed him a treat and he fell asleep." I violently pulled on the handcuff again. The only thing I accomplished was leaving red marks on my wrist and causing it to bleed from where the metal scratched my skin. When I looked up again Spencer was right there standing over me. I gasped, taken by surprise. But, Spencer's cinnamon brown eyes weren't looking at me, they were looking just over my head at the paper covering the desk. He picked up the folder I had taken out of the desk. He fliped open the cover and read the contents of the first pages. Thumbing a couple more pages he finally closed the folder with a smile and tucked it under his arm.

"You can't take that!"My voice raised in alarm again. Yet again, my words didn't seem to cause him pause. I struggled to escape my handcuffs and practically screamed in frustration. Spencer stared at me in amusement, or was it pity?

"Those are made of steel, you're never going to break them." He was right of course, but I was angry and didn't want to stop.

"Watch me," I growled low and menacing. He chuckled. I had to stop him. I was the one who had unlocked the safe and discovered that folder. I had to know what's inside. One last jerk on the handcuffs and I looked at Spencer defeated. He stepped out of the hidden room and turned around to face me. He pulled a pair of black gloves on and adjusted his shirt sleeves. The sixteen-year-old girl in me couldn't help but notice that Spencer was only a little hot. My mind flashed back to what Skylar said about him in the lunchroom the other day. Ok, I had to admit it, Skylar as right. Hot was an accurate description. Suddenly, something silver flashed as it flew through the air. I caught it in the palm of my free hand. I surprised myself with my lack of clumsiness. Inside my palm was a silver key on a ring.

"Feel free to unlock your self now." He said. "See you at school tomorrow history geek." One last glance, one last soft smile later, he closed the door to the secret room will a soft click, leaving me with only the pale light cast by the lamp.

"Spencer! Damn it, get back here!" I yelled after him. Quickly and rather clumsily, I use the small silver key to unlock the handcuffs. I lunged at the door and pried at its edges. I crouched and reached under the door and pulled the door towards me. with a click, the door opened and I was free. I skidded to a stop in the middle of the room and frantically looked around. The curtain covering the window over the bed fluttered in the breeze of the spring night. Spencer was gone; vanished into the night. I stomped my foot in irritation. I sigh defeated. In the wake of my defeat, I moved the bookshelf back into place, so Sam didn't find the hidden room. not that she'd ever been in here before. Sam tended to keep a respectable distance from this room.

When I was finished moving it back, I grabbed a picture frame off of the shelf and stared at pictures inside. A little girl wearing a pink sun dress and sun hat sat on a picnic blanket under the shade of a pine tree. Her dark brown hair spilled in curls from underneath the hat. Beside her sat a 14-year-old boy with dark brown hair and intelligent green eyes. Together the read a book a smile on each of their faces. I stared at the boy's face, not quite knowing who I was seeing. My brother had smiled and teased me to no end that day, but From the past few days, I wasn't sure if that really who he was. I remember, that Fraiser had cuts covering his arms that day. When I had asked him about it with all the innocence of a small child, he covers the wounds with hand and told me that the neighbor's grumpy old cat had flown out of the sky and scratched him with her claws. At the time I told him he was being silly, cats couldn't fly. He told me if they tried hard enough they could, and that cat had been trying its best. I had then fallen into a shower of giggles as he had picked me up and spun me around like I was flying. He never gave me a straight answer after that. How did he really get those cuts I wonder?

I glanced around the room again and found that Max was nowhere to be found. Taking the picture with me I stole out of the room closing the door behind me. I found Max curled at the foot of my bed snoring slightly. I placed the picture frame on my desk and stroked Max's soft fur. Overcome with exhaustion I fell asleep immediately after resting my head on the pillow. Tomorrow I would get that folder back.