"My real name is Alexei Volvsky and I am a Russian operative." Taylor froze in her spot, his accent now coming out for real. It was thick, rich and inviting. So he was Russian. That means he is bad! Was she in danger? Was this the part where she gets killed?

"Are you going to kill me"? Alexie chuckled.

"No, no I'm not. That was not my mission." She swallowed slowly as she tried to get used to hearing his accented voice. The one he'd hidden quite well.

"What was your mission?" She watched him stand and walk to the fireplace.

"My mission was to locate you, watch you until my father gave the word to bring you back."

"So he really wants to kill me? Even after all these years. Even though I know nothing?"

"It's stupid I know." He turned and faced her  "I don't know if he wanted to kill you now, all I know is that I was supposed to bring you to him. But-"

"What changed?" She interrupted.

"What changed was that I-I came to know you Alina. I came to know you by another name, another lifestyle. You had no clue, you were so naive, living a teenager life when you should have been living an adult life."

"When did you come to this conclusion?"

"The night we went to the hospital. I realized I could not bring you back to my father. It wasn't right. I wish that you didn't have to learn the truth, but you had to."

"I mean I guess I'm okay with knowing the truth. I probably would never have found out anything if your father hadn't ordered you to kidnap me."

"So you're okay with the truth?" Taylor tilted her head and looked at the operative. She was semi okay with it. But she wanted proof, this is something you don't take lightly and something you're just okay with right away.

"Yes, I think I am okay with it."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Uh, Alina is my real name huh? I mean that's what you just called me." She watched him blush and dip his head

"Yes. It really is Alina. Alina Petrov."

"Alina. Alina, Alina." She said it in different ways. Then she smiled at the operative. "I like that name much better."

"I've always loved it." He said with a smile.

"So are we around the same age?"

"More or less, I'm Thirty and you are Twenty-Three."

"Oh. Well for one, you're old. But I'm old too! All this time I thought I was only Seventeen. Oh gosh, it's just embarrassing."

"Why? You didn't know."

"I don't know. I've been so into teenage things but I'm really an adult. It's like I'm an adult stuck in a teenage life." Taylor began to laugh hysterically.

"A-are you okay?" She heard Alexie ask. She stopped long enough to wipe her eyes and sigh.

"I don't know what I am right now. I just found out all the answers to my questions and I don't know how to feel. I thought that it was going to feel good, but it didn't. I just feel lost and empty."

"I think I know someone who could help." Alexie said as he stepped towards her

"W-who?" She asked, trying to contain her nervousness.

"Danka. She is someone to you, and I think it's time for you to know before it's too late."

"Too late for what?"

"Before they come to get us."

"The bad guys?" Taylor asked as they stopped at his door

"Yes." Alexie knocked on it and then opened it "Wait here." He closed the door and Alina waited there. Her head reeling with all the information she'd just been fed. It was too crazy for her. She'd been living her life a lie, she had a different name, a different age, she wasn't even American! Did Becca and Tom know? Was her real father still alive? Who was this Danka woman to her? How far away were the bad men from them? The door opened softly and Alexie stood there. Alina looked up at him,

"Is she ready for me?"

"Yes, she is still weak, but she is okay to answer questions." She went past him and into the room lit by a single lamp. Danka lay in the bed half sitting up, her hair had been pulled back and she smiled softly at her

"Hello Alina. It's a pleasure to officially meet you." She said in an accent like Alexei's though her's was not as thick.

"Uh you too, your name is Danka right?" Danka laughed. It was a pretty tinkly laugh.

"Yes, that's correct. I see Alexei has finally told you everything?"

"He did, but there are still some things I am confused about. Like who you are to me and why his father wants to kill me."

"Please, come sit." Danka patted the bed and Alina, scared that Danka would do something if she did not comply, crawled up next to her on the other side of the bed. She saw a black binder book next to Danka. On the cover were two babies that looked similar, but they were not twins.

"Who are they?" Alina asked. Danka grabbed the binder and ran a hand fondly over the black and white image

"This Alina is us. These are our baby photos. This book contains just a few documented photos, our birth certificates, our fingerprints and blood type. It's not much, but I think it will help you."

"Wait! We're sisters!" Alina said in a high pitched voice. Danka laughed but then held her stomach in pain.

"Yes Alina, we are sisters."

"How do I know you're not lying to me?" She asked with squinted eyes.

"Because Alina, I have no reason to lie to you. That's only something a spy would do. And that is simply what I am not. Besides, I've been tracking you since the day Alexei left to get you. I wanted to meet you, wanted to know you, wanted to see you."

"So when you bumped into me at the store, you were actually trying to see me and tell me something?"

"Exactly, I was trying to tell you in a non creepy way that we were sisters, but then bozo brain came and ruined it."

"Actually, I think I ruined it by trying to run away." Alina said, ducking her head.

"It's alright. And now for the part where his father wants to kill you, he-"

"Alexie said it was because my father was a gang leader and once he died I would take over."

"That is correct."

"But how come you wouldn't?"

"Because Ian hid me away from the world. No one even knew I existed, he said he only wanted them to know you since you were born first. Then once you were a bit older and off doing your own thing, he'd bring me to life and say that I was an orphan that he found." Alina gasped

He'd really do that? Just to protect you?"

"Oh yes father would go to any lengths to keep me, well and you safe. He was  going to cut your hair and say you were a boy. He was going to bind your breasts so that they would be hard to detect."

"Oh my goodness. I guess he really will go to any lengths."

"Yes. That is how kind he is. Now here, you can look at the binder." Danka handed her the binder and Alina gripped it tightly, staring at the chunky babies in the front. Then she opened it. Inside were only two photos, one was with a young woman, she had soft kind eyes, a warm smile and held the babies close.

"Is that mom?" Alina breathed out, staring at the gorgeous woman

"Yes, that is Alonya. She is beautiful, yes?"

"She is." Alina said as she ran a hand over the picture. Taking her mothers structured face, long fingers, and nails. She looked so happy. In the next photo Aloyna was in it with the babies again. Standing next to her was a tall man. He had slicked back hair and was wearing a three piece suit with a watch attached to it. He had cold eyes but a soft smile.

"That is father. His name is-"

"Ian. Yes, Alexie told me. He looks so much like you."

"And you look so much like mother." Danka said brushing back ALina's hair. Alina turned and took in her sister's face.

"I can see it now. We really are sisters. A-are the birth certificate here?"

"Yes." Danka flipped the page and there tapped inside were two old vertices. But Alina couldn't read them though because they were in Russian but she saw all their names written clearly. She began to cry as Danka pulled her into a hug.

"We're finally together, Sister. I can't believe I'm saying that. I-I went from being an only child to having a sister all in one night!"

"Is it alright? Am I alright?" Danka asked. Alina sat up and touched her face

"You are more than alright. You are perfect." She said with a smile as she lay once more next to her sister. She held her hand as she lay her head on her chest to hear the sound of Danka's heart. Her ghost of a sister that she never knew about, finally reconnected at last.