"I don't get it!" I exclaimed, throwing my hand up in the air. Isla sat across from me, chuckling and shaking her head.
"It's not that hard Dearie."
"Yes it is."
"No it's not."
I sighed and picked up my pencil, staring intently at the math problem she had written for me. Algebra was hard. I don't really care what the hypotenuse of a triangle is and I never will. But math is better than going out of the library. I shuddered at the thought and refocused.
After a few more tries, I decided focusing wasn't going go work. "I think I'm done for today." I said, Pushing the paper away and standing up from the couch. I decided to stretch for a minute and reached my hands above my head. My shoulders made a satisfying crick and I sighed in relief. Leaning against the bookshelf behind me, I crossed my arms and smiled. "Are we going to train today?"
"I'm afraid we can't, your father is coming back." Isla sighed and rubbed her eyes. Until now, I never realized how tired she must be, watching me all the time. Not that I needed very much supervision. In a week, I would be turning 14.
"He's leaving before my birthday, isn't he?" I asked, silently praying he was.
My father is becoming more and more distant. His hair turning grey and the lines on his face deepening. Except for the laugh lines, those are nonexistent. I hardly ever see him anymore and when I do catch his eye, he turns away, ignoring my presence.
"I hope so." Said Isla. I turned and slammed my hands against the books. Why does he have to ignore me? Why does he never speak or even acknowledge me? Suddenly, a grinding sound drained the frustration out of my body. The section of wood floor I was standing on was sinking into the floor, like an elevator. My eyes widened and I quickly jumped from the panel, onto the unmoving floor. Isla was standing up now, her eyes wide in disbelief.
"I can't believe you found it." She breathed silently, filled with disbelief.
"What?" The panel was continuing to sink downward, creating a kind of tunnel, and exposing the concrete foundation for the house. "What is that? Do something!" I yelled at Isla. She reached her hands toward me and clamped them over my mouth and then looked at the door. No noise came from the hallway.
"It's going to be okay Aria." I gasped and pulled from her grip. In that moment time, seemed to stand still. All thoughts of the secret panel, my father, and everything fell away.
"How did you know my name?" I demanded, my mind racing. Had anyone ever mentioned it to her. No, that couldn't be. Father hasn't said my name since... come to think of it, I don't remember him ever saying my name. But Uncle Felix called me by my name sometimes. He once told me that my mother had named me and my father refused to say it as long as she was gone. Isla studied my face, trying to understand. Then I noticed, the scraping sound had stopped. I turned toward the hole and stepped toward it. Looking down into it, it lead so far down the light of the library lamps couldn't reach the bottom. "What is that?" I wondered out loud. Then I felt Isla beside me, also looking down.
"Aria I can explain everything."
"Don't say that!" I snapped, "Nobody calls me that. You're not even supposed to know what my real name is. No one is." She turned away from me, gathering her thoughts and regaining her composure.
"Aria I promise someday I'll explain."
"What do you mean someday? You expect me to just not say anything about this?" Isla sighed.
"I feared you'd say that Dearie." With that, she reached inside her black coat pocket and pulled out a shiny black gun. I turned and ran to the door, frantically trying to open it. Risking a glance over my shoulder, the pistol was pointed straight at my back. Cline pulled the trigger.
