Retribution

Chapter One

It would seem as if the world was back on its feet, ready to move on. Slowly but surly, the White House was being renovated. The President was being repaired, physically and mentally. It was as if the League's rampage was forgotten about. It seemed like it was just a passing moment, like a celebrity scandal.

Alas, it was not.

Television, radio, Web, newspapers, and all other kinds of media would not stop talking about it. My family and I, along with the Maddoxes, were being hunted down by the media, no matter where we went. Since the hype storm raged mostly in Washington DC where we stayed, I sat with my family and talked about my thoughts with them. I told them I wanted to move back to San Francisco. Reyna was unsure of the idea. She argued that if we were to move back to California, so did the Maddoxes.

"It doesn't work that way," I told her.

"I can't leave Peppin," Reyna said, "They say that most long-distance relationships don't last that long anyway."

Nate was also indifferent about the idea. He said that the police unit worked much better here than the one back in California. However, he was willing to work with the idea, since he was familiar with the California Police Department anyway. Since both Nate and I stuck with the idea of moving, we tried to negotiate with Reyna. Reluctantly, Reyna accepted our choices and we started packing up to go back home.

Our flight was delayed multiple times, which made our wait even longer. It seemed as if the days went by while we waited. To make the time pass, I read a book and played around on my phone a little bit. I was never a big fan of airports, anyway.

Finally, I started to doze off when someone nudged my shoulder. Reyna was excitedly shaking my left arm and pointing.

"Mom! Look!"

I turned my head in the direction of her finger. In the midst of the chaos, a slim young man stood, waving at us. After I got a good look at him, I recognized him right away. Reyna shot from her seat and gave Peppin a big hug. To save her seat, I places my purse on it so that no one would take it. It warmed my heart to see how happy Reyna was with Peppin. Another side of me regretted making the decision if moving. Sometimes, I really hated putting the burden on other people.

Shortly after Peppin and Reyna kissed good-bye and after we said our good-byes, our flight had finally arrived. It was strange because it was right after Peppin left. He must have been a good luck charm or something.

During the flight, Reyna barely said a word. All she did was stare out the window at the clouds. I placed my hand on hers and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

"Everything's going to be okay," I comforted her, "You two can still communicate."

Reyna only replied with a sigh.

About five and a half hours later, we arrived in California. Reyna skipped off the plane as if Peppin never existed. I guess the nap was worth it.

A couple of Reyna's closest friends had waited for her at the airport. Like typical teenage girls, they squealed and hugged her and told her that they had missed her, even though she was in touch with them almost every day. I couldn't help but smile. At least they'll get her mind off of Peppin for a little bit.

Luckily, no one had bought our old house yet, but of course, the route we took led us straight to my old neighborhood and to my old house. I knew right away that we were in a bad part of town. I pointed out a goldish-brown house with a chain link fence. It was rotting from age since no one lived there anymore. I mean, why would you want to live in the house of a former serial killer?

"That's where I used to live," I said in discomfort.

The building reminded me of a slaughterhouse. Nothing was homey about that place at all. Not a bit.

We came to our destination a bit later than I thought. Even thought it was evening, the summer heat made unpacking even harder, especially if the air conditioning was going to take a while to work.

My family and I all stayed up late to finish unpacking and to redecorate the house. We didn't take any of the furniture home and they had layers upon layers of dust. We were exhausted by the time the last knickknack was out of the package. We all went to bed without changing the sheets. Cleaning had to wait.