Tuesday {The Manhattan Trilogy #1}

The Pentagon (T)

I wasn't expecting the terrible news about Virginia.

I have two older sisters, and their names are Nicole and Julia. Both of them work in the building called the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, the town across the Potomac from our nation's fantastic capital of Washington. Nicole is currently twenty-four years old. Julia, my twin sister who was born an incredible six minutes before me, is twenty-one. I'm so proud of the two of them, working for our country's safety in the Department of Defense.

Now, though, they might both be dead.

The time is 9:38, and it is still the morning of Tuesday, September 11. Just thirty-five minutes and six seconds ago, a plane slammed into the South Tower just across from my workplace. One minute ago, there was yet another plane crash. The third one of the day, guaranteeing that this attack is planned.

That third plane, American Airlines Flight 77, flew itself right into the workplace of my two older sisters.

I have some paperwork to do, but I can't seem to focus on it at all. My home country, the beautiful United States, is currently under attack by someone that wants a lot of people dead. Both of my sisters, who I spent my whole childhood with and never want to lose, are trapped in a burning building a couple states away from me. My shoulders quake as I start on the pages and pages of work.

"Are you okay, friend?" the lovely young woman at the desk next to me asks, looking away from whatever she's typing on her computer.

"Yeah, thank you," I take a deep breath, brushing some hair out of my face. "I'm just a bit scared because of the planes."

"Me too," the woman says. Her name tag reads CAIHONG ZHANG—BEIJING. She has a pretty Asian accent and speaks fluent English. "I really didn't expect this to happen. I don't imagine anyone did."

Caihong notices me looking at her name tag and smiles. "Did you move here, too? Do you normally like it here in New York?"

"I came here from Oklahoma," I tell her. "I usually love it each and every day. Manhattan truly is a dreamlike place."

My new colleague grins and looks up at the wall TV in the corner. Her radiant smile quickly disappears, leaving a shocked frown in its place. They are broadcasting the Pentagon plane crash all over the place. It's the only thing on everywhere. Even the children's shows are news channels now, according to the reporter speaking now.

"My sisters are both in there," I mumble as the smoke rises from the hole in the building. My voice cracks as I struggle against my tears.

"Are you serious, Trevor? Oh my goodness, I hope they make it out alive!" Caihong looks at me with wide, sea-blue eyes. Her long black hair falls down her back. She must have heard me.

"Yeah, me too," I look down at my lap. A single tear dampens my paper. Until just now, I didn't realize I was crying.

"I'm so sorry about your sisters," Caihong responds, patting me lightly on the shoulder. We both stay silent for about a minute as more tears fall from my eyes. Then, I gather the courage to speak to her again.

"Hey, Caihong? Earlier, before any of the planes hit, I saw something strange," I confess.

"Sorry?" Caihong glances at me. "Like, what was it that was strange?"

"I saw two odd little girls on the street," I answer. "They appeared to be identical twins. I couldn't tell them apart until they did this...thing. They both had matching silver skin, hair, eyes, and clothes."

"That sounds like a near perfect description of the Towers," Caihong says. "But how do you think they are human?"

"I have no idea, they looked like young kids from some middle school," I explain, trying to remember as much detail as I could. "They each walked over to one of the towers, leaned against that tower, and kind of...just blended into it like they had never existed in the first place."

"That sounds very interesting," Caihong imagines the scene in her mind. "Later, we will have to see—"

Ms. Zhang never gets to finish her sentence.

At that moment, 9:59 in the morning, the building begins to shake violently. The deafening crashes and groans that erupt from outside seem like enough to make me go permanently deaf. A massive cloud of dust and paper presses against our window, wanting to asphyxiate us all to death. I hear screams and cries on the streets below. When the smoke finally clears, one of the Twin Towers is totally gone, nowhere to be seen. The only thing that remains where she stood is a massive hole in the sky.

We all realize now that the South Tower has collapsed.