FIRE

            It had been a few weeks since our first day of work, we started working all day, not that I mind, it wasn’t that bad. We blared music, singing along to the newest music, as we packed the small bags of the illegal plant. It took us a while to become okay with the idea of packaging the plant but Xavier and Parker reassured us many of times.

            Parker and Xavier had been extremely tense lately, they always have us take the back exit to get to the car. We also don’t leave until its dark and most of the time they have us get to the warehouse before the sun comes up. I have also noticed there are less workers around as well.

            Parker and Xavier came into the room, they seemed different, I couldn’t figure out what exactly was different about them but they were definitely not themselves. “Girls, take a break, eat something” Parker said, his face held a slightly different emotion. If asked, I would have said he looked nervous…and slightly guilty.

            “Alright, come on Fire, I’m craving some Cheetos.” Alison said while grabbing my arm and taking me out of the room to find some food. When we reached a room that has food Alison quickly ran to the table and opened a new bag of Cheetos, stuffing her face with the food. “Gosh I love Cheetos!” Ali exclaims causing me to laugh.

            “Let me have some.” I said as I took a handful of the cheesy snack.

            “Let’s go back, I need to ask Xavier something.” She said and I nodded following her back to the room.

“Xavier? Parker? Are y’all still in here?” Alison asked into the empty room.

“I think they went somewhere, you can ask later, let’s just get back to work” I said and Alison nodded. She went back over to the table and I went over to the stereo to pick a new station to listen to.

“What in the world is this?” I hear Alison said as she reaches for something on the table.

“What are you talking about?” I asked as I turned the dial on the machine.

“There is something under the we-“

There was a loud, high pitched sound that made me think I had gone deaf. A powerful, unseen force came and pushed me up against a wall causing my head to pound. I wasn’t sure what had happened, but I didn’t have much time to think about because the darkness started overcome me just as I heard sirens in distance.

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I was lying on a stretcher; paramedics had rushed me into an ambulance after the explosion. Parker and Xavier had done it to get make sure they couldn’t trace the drugs back to them, that way, they couldn’t go to jail for a lack of evidence,at least that what I had heard police say while they I was being assessed in the warehouse. Parker and Xavier didn’t care about the few other people who weren’t in their immediate group; they didn’t care if we were hurt, hell they didn’t care if we were killed. As police cars and federal agents started to surround the build, Ali and I where inside when the bomb went off, throwing me against a concrete wall, cracking my skull as it did. Luckily ambulances surrounded the building as well, after the explosion paramedics flooded the place trying to find people who had gotten hurt.

I was lying down in the ambulance as it took me to the hospital my mind instantly went to Ali, she had been at the table when the bomb designated, and she was closer to it. I shot up into a sitting position, my eyes seeing black spots all over. “Whoa, there, you need to lie back down.” A female paramedic said as she tried to push my body back down.

“Alison,” I said, or at least I thought I had said it. My mouth felt heavy and numb, I couldn’t form words very easily.

“What?” the woman said as though it was the most crucial information she would get.

“Alison! Alison!” I tried to yell.

“Alison?” I nodded my head yes slightly, it hurt, it felt heavy. “Is that you name?”

“No! No!” I said still fighting her as she tried to push me back down

“Calm down, lie down and then talk. Your head is busted open and is bleeding we need to make sure it’s okay.” She explained, I complied and lay down only to have the darkness take over my body.

            I woke up in a hospital bed, monitors beeping, and my head feeling like someone had taken a sludge hammer to it. I looked around the room and saw balloons and small things of flowers scattered around. I attempted to sit up but was stop by oldest sister Natasha. “Don’t, your head was hurt pretty badly, and needs to heal, you moving it around is not the way to do that.”

“What, What are you doing here?” I choked out, my voice barely even coherent.

“Well, when you find out your sister had run away and then you’re at your house watching the news and hear that your little sister was found and was somehow working with a drug dealer, you tend to come running.” She said as she sat on the side of my bed with a small smile, I could tell she wanted to yell, she wanted me to know what kind of hell I put her and Willow and Mum through, but she didn’t.

“I’m sorry.” I say.

“You’re safe, right now that’s all that matters.”

“Where’s Ali?’ I asked remember the other girl I had gotten to know over the past few weeks.

“Ali? Oh that other girl, she is here in the hospital.” Natasha said just as my mum and other sister walked in with smiles on their faces as they saw that I was finally awake.

“Can I go and see her?”

“See who?” my mother asked as she sat down in the car beside my bed.

“Alison, she was the other girl that was with me, she was there when the explosion happened.” I explained in a small voice trying to keep it from cracking up. My mother and two sisters all looked at one another before looking back at me.

“You know sweetie, you’re still healing, and maybe you can see her later when you’re feeling a bit better.” My mum was now rubbing circles into my hand trying to keep me calm. They were keeping something from me, they didn’t want me to know.

“What aren’t you telling me?”

“Fire, not today, just relax. Are you hungry? We’ll go get you something to eat.” Before I could protest Natasha was already out the door to fetch some food. But wasn’t having this, I needed to know what happened to Alison.

“What happened to Ali?”

“You aren’t going to let this go are you?” my mother sighed, “Alright, if I tell you will you please relax, eat some food and get some sleep?” she continued just as Natasha returned with a tray of food. As much as it hurt I nodded my head, not being able to make words at the moment. “Alison is here in the hospital; however, she is in a coma.” The words left my mother’s mouth, she made then sound as if they were the most common things in the entire world but I wanted her to suck them back in and pretend they didn’t exist pretend they weren’t real. My heart and mind started to race, she was in coma? Would she ever wake up? What if she didn’t? What if is she dies? I know we hadn’t known each other long and we came from two completely different worlds, but we were the same. We connected we understood each other, I was myself, I was considered strange, but Ali didn’t judge me. In fact she was the same as me on the inside, she loved the different color hair and the random piercings, it wasn’t her fault she didn’t get to look like that.

“Fire? Are okay? You’re very pale.” Willow asked.

“Please let me see her.” I was now begging.

“Sweetheart, seeing that girl right now isn’t going to do anybody any good. Now you are going to lean back against your bed, and you are going to eat. Then you are going to rest, whether that be by watching to TV or sleeping, you are going to do it.” You could tell by the way my mom had said it there was no arguing. Though I wanted to keep fighting on this, but with the tone in her voice and the nonstop pounding that was my head, I decided to just do as she wanted. With the help of my oldest sister I got into a position where I was sitting up just enough to eat but was still lying down enough so that my head didn’t threaten to explode and ate my meal that she had brought to me.

I woke up the next day my mother being the only one in the room. “Hey, how are you feeling today?” she asked.

“Okay, my head hurts still, but it’s manageable.” I said putting a small smile onto my face. “Mom?” I asked she turned her head to side looking at me to let me know she was listening, “I really am sorry, it wasn’t supposed to happen like this, and when I get home I’ll get as many jobs as I can to help pay for the large medical bill I know we will have.” I told her meaning every word; she grabbed my hand and gave it a squeeze.

“That’s not necessary, we will figure something out we always do. I know you didn’t mean for all of this to happen, as much I wished you hadn’t ran away, I don’t blame you. Your life is hard; you deserved to be a teenager for a while. I just wish you didn’t end up in a hospital because someone set off a bomb in a drug cartel’s building that you were working for.” She said then started laughing uncontrollably.

“What?” I asked a little confused on why she was laughing.

“It sounds like something from a movie, that’s all.” She said, I gave her a small smile, just as a federal agent walked in.

“Sapphire Jones?” she asked. I nodded slightly worried about what might happen. “Hi, I’m detective Carter.” She said I nodded again. “I need you to answers a few questions about Parker Hendricks and Xavier Matins.” She said.

                “Are you going to arrest her?” my worried mother asked Carter.

                “If she cooperates and gives us a testimony that could possible put Hendricks and Martins away then no, she’ll have full immunity.” Carter said.

                “What about the other girl?”  I asked.

                “Same for her, you both are only seventeen, still technically minors.” Carter said. “Speaking of the other girl, we need to ask you a few questions about her.”

                “What about her?”

 “What can you tell us about her? When she was found she didn’t have a cell phone or identification, and even with her face on the news no one has said anything as to who she is.”

                “I, I don’t know much. Her name’s Alison.” I said looking down at my hands feeling terrible that I couldn’t remember more about her.

                “Do you know where she’s from? Maybe middle or last name, a birth date, mother’s name, fathers name? Something that was out of the ordinary.” My mind was racing trying to remember everything this girl had told me about herself, but I couldn’t there was absolutely nothing. I just shook my head and started to cry. It was my job to know this, I was supposed to be able to tell the police about this girl, about whom she is and where she came from. What if she had died and I couldn’t do this, someone would think their child was alive for year and years but in reality they were dead.

                “Oh, sweetheart it’s okay, your head got hit pretty heard. Just take a deep breath and try again, I’m sure you can think of something.” My mother said reassuringly.

                “Fire, it doesn’t have to be big, just give us something.” Cater said I could hear the desperation in her voice. I thought and thought and then it hit me

“My eldest brother got into Harvard, early admission.” Her voice rang in my head.

“Her brother got early admission into Harvard.” I said.

“Great, that’s good, please tell me you have a name.”

“Dylan, no…Devin, no…Derek! His name is Derek!” I just about yelled, happy that I finally remembered something helpful. The detective nodded writing some stuff down before leaving the room.

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It was the next day and I was finally getting to see Alison, she was still in a coma. I wheeled my chair into her room, it was quit depressing in her room, there were no flowers or balloons that day get well soon. It was just the constant beeping of multiple machines keeping her alive. The blinds where closed and the lights were all off. “I’m sorry, I know it’s not my fault but I’m still sorry, you just wanted to be free and now you are move confined than ever.” I expected it to be like a movie, she would slowly open her eyes and make some remark about how stupid my apology sounded and then we would both laugh and talk like we had known each other forever. But this isn’t a movie, she didn’t wake up, she laid there, completely motionless. I sighed and went back into my own hospital room only to find Detective Carter and her Partner. “What now?” I asked exhausted from just about everything.

                “We found three people whose names are Derek and got early admission into Harvard for the following school year. We have their files here, we want you to look at them and go over them, hopefully, there might be something in them that sparks a connection.” Carter said as my mother helped me into my bed that I had been occupying for the last few days. I picked up the files and started going over them.

                I started going over and over the files trying to piece everything back together after it had been destroyed into millions of pieces that spread across the country. Derek Cartwright read on the label, he was from Virginia and was the oldest of four children. His father was a doctor and his mother didn’t work.

“Yeah, when my mother realized she could be a house wife instead of a gym mom, she moved me and my family up to Virginia.” Alison’s voice rang in my head.

                “This is her brother!” I said.

                “Are you sure?”

                “Yes, her mother’s a stay at home mom and her father’s a doctor.” Carter nodded at my words and took the files as her and her partner left the room.

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            “Martins and his accomplices are facing many years behind bars if convicted of their crimes. In relation, we are still looking for the family of this young girl who goes by the name of Alison,”

I was watching the news as they showed a picture of Alison, but she was so beat up that it didn’t look like her, then when you add in all the piercings and different hair colors she gained along the way, I doubt any one would recognize her. My sister Natasha was with me, despite their efforts to protest Willow and my mother had to go back to their jobs. The only reason they left was because I promise them that I would call every day and that Natasha would bring me back home soon.

“This was one of the two girls hurt in the drug cartel explosion, sources say the two girls have been giving immunity in the trail and are both still in the hospital recovering. If you have any information regarding to Alison’s family please call the number at the bottom of the screen.” The news anchor said before going to commercial break.

“What? I thought they contacted her family.” I said to Natasha

             “I thought they had too, maybe they weren’t able to get in touch with her family.” She said trying to reassure me.          

After a few moments of silence I spoke, “I looked her up on Google, just to see if I could find something that would be a sure fire connection to her.” I said while turning off the television.

“Did you?”

“Yeah, when she was eleven she was a world class gymnast, best of  her time.”

                “Are you sure about that? That’s not something you just give up and if that was true, more people would have recognized her.”

                “I know, but it said that she just up and disappeared she stopped training, and she stopped competing, no one has heard from her in six years. The names and ages all fit with Alison.” I said trying to convince her that this was who the girl only a few yards away in a coma.

                “I don’t know Fire, really I don’t. Please don’t obsess over this, you did your part okay? You found this girls family, let the police handle the rest.” Natasha said in a worried tone.

                “Okay, I just…I hope her family comes soon.”

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            I was sitting in my hospital bed, there was a camera in front of me and Detective Carter and her partner who I learned was Agent Taylor. “We are going to record your testimony, you need to speak clearly and explain it the best that you can. We will ask you questions and you will have to answer out loud, do not just shake or nod your head it has to be verbal. Also you,” Detective Carter looked over to Natasha, “Cannot say a word, or even make a sound, in a normal court you would be allowed to be there for her for support which is why you are in the room. But just like a normal court you cannot interfere with the testimony.” Carter said very sternly, Natasha and I nodded. “Alright let’s start,” Cater pressed a button on the camera “Place you hand on the bible,” Detective Taylor held up a bible and I placed my hand on it. “Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you God?”

 “I do.”

“Please state your name and age.”

“I am Sapphire Maria Jones, I am seventeen years old.”

“What is your relationship to Parker Hendricks and Xavier Martins?” carter asked.

“I had a job with them, a live in job, they gave me a place to live and food to eat if I worked for them.” I stated looking straight ahead at the camera.

  “What was the job?”

   “It was a taking care of marijuana plants as well has packaging them.”

   “How did you come across this job?”

                “It was my first night in L.A. I was trying to get a job at a small diner. However they wouldn’t let me because I had no address or phone number. A man came up to me and handed me a business card. He told me that if I ever needed a place to live and job I should give him a call. I was wary about it at first and decided not to take it.”

“If you didn’t take it how did you end up there?”

“The girl at the diner let me stay with her for a little bit, but after a little while she said I needed to leave. So I left, I was alone on the streets and wasn’t too sure what I should do. I came across the card given to me a month earlier I realized that was my only option. So I took it.”

                “What did the business card imply the job was?”

                “A plant nursery, it had some saying on, something about helping troubled youth, it’s why I took it. I didn’t think someone calming to help trouble kids would just use us.”

                “So when you accepted the job you had no idea that it had to do with making and distribution of drugs?”

                “No.”

                “Why didn’t you leave when you found out?”

                “I was scared that they would hunt us down and kill us.”

                “Us? Who’s us?”

                “Me and the other girl Alison Cartwright.” I said. Detective Carter hit a button of the camera then turned to me.

                “That was great; when you are discharged from the hospital you are free from us. Thank you, this could help put those men in jail for a very long time.” Carter collected her things and she and Taylor left the room.

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                They had taken out all the tubes, unhooked all the wires and turned off all the monitors. I was sitting in my wheelchair in the hospital rom I had been occupying for the last couple of weeks; waiting for my eldest sister to finish signing all the paper work so that I can go home. Home, my home, the one I had originally left with Zach. Zach, he was supposed to be in college but dropped out when we decided to go off to see the world together. Then of course there was school where I had already been labeled as a freak.  Now I would be even more of one, it was all over the news two under aged girls were corrupted into making and distributing illegal substances. That wasn’t a complete lie; I didn’t know what I was doing until it was too late and by then I knew too much and didn’t know what to do. I was brought out of my thought by Natasha.

                “Ready to go?” she asked a smile on her face.

                “Yeah.” I said and a nurse started rolling me out. We were going by Alison’s room “Stop!” I near about yelled as I quickly got up out of the wheel chair and went into her room

“Fire, what are you doing?” Natasha asked but I did not answer I went over to her bed and sat on the edge of her bed. She laid there lifeless and monition less. No one had showed up, her family wasn’t here and her room was just a plain as the first time I had visited it. There were no balloons or flowers or get well soon card. I took the small teddy bear that I had in my hands and placed it beside Ali’s arms. “Goodbye Alison, get well soon.”

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A/N: I am both happy and sad to say that this the end of the story, there will be no sequel. I have been working on this story since April of 2012, though I did not post until this year. Thank you for reading this story, I hope you have enjoyed it as much as I did.

This story is copywrited to alison-fire, it is illegal to steal this story, it's idea or any of it's charater...unless i give you premission.

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