I groaned.

Never before had I had as much trouble breaking into a building than I was with the Public Records one. That could have to do with the fact that I'd never actually broken into any place before. Besides, of course, when I got locked outside the Foster Care building once... but that's another story and I wasn't worried about any damage being caused to it then. My mission of this time was to make it look like it never even happened.

That was abandoned the moment I set foot inside, as, after fifteen minutes of frustration and lock-picking, I managed to bust open the doors and slip quietly inside, only to run into a bookcase, knocking not books, but decor from on it. The items crashed and clattered to the floor.

I harshly whispered "shh!" before I realized the objects were, in fact, inanimate and, therefore, could not shh on demand.

I left the things on the ground, too much in a hurry and too excited to care, and turned on my flashlight and lit up the room. Straight ahead was the counter I would have had to stand in front of during the day. But it was not the day and I would not be in front of it this time.

Leaping over the counter was a breeze, to my surprise. They must not have people trying to jump over them often, I thought.

Immediately I got to work, shuffling through papers in random orders until I realized they were in alphabetical order.

"How convenient.." I whispered under my breath as I ran my index finger along the shelves.

"G... H... I... J... K..."

I scanned the K wrack for my name.

It wasn't there.

My mind began to race. Surely I had to have some records there. I was nineteen years old! There had to be something...

"Kotter... Kustella... Ku-"

I stopped cold and almost smiled, glancing back at the names one more time.

"Kennedy... Kerry... Kevinson.... These aren't first names!"

I shook of the panic I'd been feeling and went to the Ls instead.

"Larry... Lawson... Lee-"

I paused again, not realizing that time was still of the essence.

"Mackenna Lee..."

I couldn't help myself. Maybe I wouldn't have if she had come along, but she had to be a party pooper and ditch me to do it all by myself. Now, I'd do things my way. Even if that meant snooping into my best friend- and only friend-'s background information.

Basics
Name: Mackenna Sukie Lee
Birthday: May 2nd, 1997
Sex: Female
Hair color: Black
Eye color: Brown
Race/ ethnicity: Asian

I pursed my lips and read on. I already knew all that I'd seen so far (obviously- they were just the basics) so maybe there wouldn't be any deeply-hidden secrets. What was I thinking? Of course there wouldn't be. Mackenna was the definition of a perfect angel. Her only flaws could be being too good. I wasn't going to find anything I didn't already know.

I was wrong.

The third page in, I dropped it from shock.

After that, I was more shaky than a child on Christmas. But it wasn't overload of excitement and joy causing it. It was nerves of too many emotions than my body could handle.

Betrayal, fear, sadness, shock, anger, and confusion, to name a few.

But if there was one thing good I got out of the snooping if was that then I knew just how deep and thorough they were. I'd gone to the very back shelves, where only the information for police or people in a life-or-death situation were held. No one was suppose to see what was in Mackenna's file unless it was absolutely necessary. I added guilt to the list.

Shaking my head and swallowing I moved a few shelves down to where my own file rested, untouched.

-------------------------
KYRA MARIE LENT
--------------------------

I took a deep breath, closed my lids for a moment of peace, and tore open the file. As my eyes rested on the pages, I'd never been so disappointed with myself before than right then. The file was so much thinner than Mackenna's and it was because of one simple reason- I'd never done anything worth mentioning in my records.

But what brought sadness most of all was the one word scattered about ever third area.

"Unknown"

I was already clenching my fists at my sides, my visions blurring some, and my face heating up. But the mission had not been completely worthless.

I did find something I didn't know before, on page two.

Found on the steps of a Foster Care Building in Maine, USA.

Attached to it with a paper clip was a picture of a house that was the splitting image of the very place I lived in, and what if assume to be baby me in the arms of a smiling social security worker.

Only, I wasn't in Maine.

For some strange reason the lack of answers and raise of questions fueled me and I began throwing papers around, searching desperately for anything that had any connection to that foster building or a missing child of anything. There had to be more. I didn't even know what hospital I was born in... if I was even born in a hospital at all. Birthplace was another unknown on the papers.

Two hours later, I gave up.

Tears slipped down my check and clouded my vision as I made my way past the mess I'd created to the door. Wiping my eyes, I twisted the knob and pushed forward. It didn't open.

Too late, I realized my mistake.

An alarm blared from above, screaming at me a warning and a threat. Sirens followed it shortly. Oh no, I thought. "I can't go to jail!" I shouted to no one and ran to the back room.

No other door was in sight anywhere. The sirens got louder until they, too, were belting in my ears. Lights cut through the night darkness and shone through the glass doors I had so cleverly broken into.

Glass...

Spinning on my heels, I plugged my ears and ran forward the noise of the alarm. Directly underneath it lied a window.

I grabbed one of the decorations I'd busted earlier when I knocked it off the bookcase and slammed it into the window, shattering both the vase and the window.

"HEY!" A man's voice shouted from behind me, and I struggled to pull my feet out of the window.

So many mistakes has been made that night. Why not add on another one?

I whipped my head around and looked at him, for only a split second but no doubt it was long enough for the man and woman to get a good look at my face.

Then I loosened my foot and leg and flung myself out the building, taking only with me the treacherous piece of information and the possibly helpful one in my memory as I shot down the dark New York streets.