Hollow

Chapter 5

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I sat on the bed of my holding cell and watched the clock on the wall in the hallway. The guard would be here in approximately thirteen minutes to bring me my breakfast.

He came every morning at 8:10, give or take a few minutes. I'd been here for seven days since my second round of questioning, one week exactly, and nothing had changed. I hadn't seen Vanessa since that day.

The guard came three times a day to give me meals, but no one ever said anything to me.

I counted down the minutes until the guard would be here. Seven minutes to go. And I waited.

With four minutes until 8:10, I heard the creek of a door opening from down the hallway. The guard was early for once. I watched for him but instead of the guard coming into view, it was Vanessa.

She wasn't alone this time though, she was with another man I'd never seen before.

"Good morning, Bella." She said with a smile. "This is Brandon Thale, he's also an FBI agent. We have something very important to discuss with you."

Brandon opened my cell and the two of them stepped aside so that I could come out. I was confused. They were alone and they hadn't handcuffed me.

I stood from the bed and slowly walked out. Vanessa turned and began walking and I followed her, Brandon stayed behind me.

We entered a room, much like the first one they put me in. There was a table and three chairs. Vanessa sat on the side with two chairs and Brandon gestured for me to sit across from her before taking the seat beside her.

"What is happening?" I asked them.

Vanessa seemed pleased by my question. "Well, we reviewed everything that you told me and we came to the conclusion that we want to get you out of all of this, try and help you live a normal life. The problem was, we weren't sure where to start. We didn't even know your age."

"I am in my eighteenth year." I told her.

"Yes, that was in your statement." She nodded with a smile. "However, we entered your fingerprint into our data base and just a couple of days ago, we found a match."

I tilted my head in confusion. "A match. What does that mean?"

"It means we've found your records." She pulled out another folder and opened it, sliding it in front of me. "Your name is Bella Price. Seventeen years old, your birthday is in just a few months."

I stared at the piece of paper, my mind was racing. There was a photo of a little girl, red hair, blue eyes, pale skin.

Bella Price

Born: 4/11/1997

Hair color: red

Eye color: blue

Height: 43 inches

Weight: 44 pounds

Parents/guardians: Miranda and Victor Price

Siblings: Liam Price

I stopped reading and looked up at Vanessa and Brandon.

"This is not me." I told them simply.

Vanessa looked at a loss for words. "Of course it is. Your finger prints match. Bella Price was kidnapped at the age of six, no one ever saw her again. Until now. This is you."

I shook my head. "I don't have parents. I am an orphan, we all are. My parents are deceased."

Vanessa and Brandon looked at each other before back at me.

"Is that what Francis Sotelo told you?" Vanessa asked gently.

I blinked as I looked at them. "Yes."

"That isn't true. Most of the children he took had parents. Only a few of you were actually orphans." Brandon said, speaking for the first time.

"The boy you were supposed to take, Braden?" Vanessa spoke softly. "I'm sure Francis would have convinced him of the same thing."

My whole body froze.

"We've been chasing him for more than fifteen years. Each year he kidnaps a number of children and raises them in his world, trains them to kill." Brandon explained. "We finally caught him."

They were saying that I had a family. I was taken from them at the age of six. Wouldn't I remember something like that? Maybe not, I knew children were impressionable. I just wished that some piece of this old life that I had would come to me, like some proof that they were telling me the truth.

I never thought I could have a family. Other people who shared my blood. Who loved me.

I didn't even know what it felt like to love or be loved. I only knew what I'd read about it on a computer screen.

"We can set up a meeting." Vanessa said as I stared down at the record.

I looked at her questioningly. "A meeting?"

She nodded. "With your parents."

I gulped slightly and my breathing shifted. My parents. It was hard to imagine that I even had parents, I'd gone so long thinking that I didn't.

Almost twelve years had gone by since they'd seen me. Would they still want me? What if they'd moved on?

"We've already made contact with them. We explained what happened and that you're alive and safe. They want to see you. Your mother was insistent about bringing you home." Vanessa gave me a soft smile.

I didn't know what it was, but something stirred inside of me when she said 'home'. It was unusual, but not unpleasant.

I nodded to them. "I want to meet them."

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