Riley's POV

"Now, are you two going to do this the easy way or the hard way?" Terry taunts.

"Terry, leave Riley alone. Just take me." Maya says. I tighten my grip on her, telling her that I'm not letting her do that. 

"We are not that easy to break, Terry." I say confidently, knowing that he was going to bring our families in this soon. 

"Are you sure?" he says smirking. 

I smirk back. "Yeah. We're not stupid. We now that you have our families tied up back there." I roll my eyes and point to the corner. 

He sighs. "Ugh. I wanted to make that a surprise! Well, whatever." he says as the platform they're on lowers. Once it's on the floor, he takes the rags out of their mouths. 

I feel Maya stiffen. 

"Hi, guys!" I smile and wave, like it's a regular day. Lucas softly smiles, but I can see the fear in his eyes. 

Maya?

Hm? 

Can I send messages to other people's minds? That aren't witches?

Yes. 

We both look at each other, then at our families. I look at Lucas, and send him a message. 

Listen, it'll be okay. 

Riley? How are you-

Lucas, listen I'll explain later. But you have to stay calm. Promise?

He looks at me and nods slowly, so that only I notice it. I send him a soft smile, and he returns it. I focus back on Terry and Maya, who are arguing. 

"Give them up!" Terry is now screaming and getting closer to use, yet we stay where we are. 

"Never! We're not that easy to get to!" I scream back. 

"That's why I have your loved ones here." he walks over to them, walking circles around them. 

"Who should I take first?" he looks at them as if he's making a decision. He kneels down next to Auggie, and messes with his hair, much like I do. Auggie looks terrified. He's only 10, and he doesn't know that there's evil in this world. "How about you?" Terry says with a smile.

He unties Auggie, and picks him up. He carries him to a cage, and throws him in. I try to run for Auggie, but Maya holds me back. I look at her, and she looks at me. "Just wait." she says. 

He locks the cage, and Auggie grasps onto the bars. "Riley? Who is this man? What does he want? Riley, I'm scared." he's shaking, and tears are forming in his eyes. I have to use everything in me to not cry.

"Auggie, it'll be okay. He won't hurt you. You'll be okay. He's just a bad man that want something he can't have." I say, looking from Auggie to Terry.

"You're really going to regret this, Matthews." he says. 

"How do you know me? You've never seen me before." I snap.

"Never? Oh, Riley, I know everyone. And I know secrets about yourself that you don't even know. I know everyone that has ever been close to you. Your birth parents, your adoptive parents. Auggie, Farkle, Maya, Lucas. Hell, I even know about little Jane." his words stab me and the wound that was finally healed, breaks open again. I suck in my breath and stiffen.

"Oh, looks like no one knows about Jane. I wonder why...oh that's right!" 

"Shut up, Terry, and let them go! Just take me!" I yell. 

He smirks. "But first.." he lifts his hands, and instead of a gold spark, his is black. The spark moves in front of me and creates a picture. Tears form in my eyes as I live through the memory I've tried to avoid for years. 

I sit and watch as my original parents scream at each other. Sitting next to me is my older sister, Jane, and tears are streaming down her face. We go through this every night. Our parents fight, dad throws something at mom, she runs away, and then he goes after Jane and I. But, this time, mom and dad kept yelling. Jane got up and sprinted out the door. I jumped up and followed her, confused. 

She races to the top of the building, and stops. She turns around, facing me. She grabs my shoulders as tears stream down her face. 

"Listen, Riley. I know that you're only 6, and probably won't understand this, but I have to go. I can't live like this. So, Riley, run as far away as you can. Go somewhere else. Get away from mom and dad. After I leave, run. Go somewhere. Anywhere, Riley. And always remember that I love you more than life itself. I will always be your sister, no matter where we end up. Now promise me that you'll run. I love you Riley." she hugs me and kisses my forehead. She stands up and walks to the side of the building, her hair waving harshly in the wind. 

I watched as my 14 year old sister looked back at me, smiled, and mouthed, "I love you, Riley. Now, run." And she jumped off the side. "Jane?" I called, not knowing where she went. And I never figured it out until I was 10. 

And like she told me to, I ran. I ran downstairs, and out the door. I didn't know where I was going, I was just listening to Jane. 

But, something yanked me back. I looked behind me, and dad was carrying me back home. "But Jane told me to run!" I kept saying, trying to escape his grasp. He slammed the door open, and threw me against the wall. 

"Jane is dead. You killed your sister!" he yelled at me, kicking my side multiple times. He picked me up by the collar of my shirt, and threw me against the wall. 

"You killed your sister!" 

The black spark goes back into Terry's hand, as he smirks. 

I stand there, tears streaming down my face, and unable to move. The memories that I've finally gotten over, are haunting me once again. It's like I can never escape my past. 

"Oh, poor Riley, memories of her dead sister haunting her. You killed her you know? You are why she wanted to jump. I don't know how someone could ever live with something like that on their chest." Terry smirks as tears flow like a waterfall. 

Angry builds inside of me, and I can feel my eyes glow. A sudden wind picks up, and spins around me like a tornado, yet my feet stay planted on the ground. I lift up my hand, and a spark slowly forms. 

"She died because of my parents. She wanted me safe. She told me to run! She loved me! And I still love her, no matter where she is! She is and forever will be my sister! And it's not my fault that she decided to kill herself! It was my birth parents'! So shut up and actually learn what happened!" I scream, and the once tiny spark is now a blaring force that is spinning around me hand. It's the only light in the room, and the wind makes it even more forceful. 

And finally, I aim my spark at him, and shoot.