Siphoner

Chapter 2

~

So, I've been reading up on this book-" Cari began, digging her nose in the scented pages.

"Oh no here were go again." Kara swivels her chair to face Cari who is glued to the words that spoke to her. She sits down on the soft chair next to Kara and finally lifts her head.

Cari had" lovely black locks just as Kara did. They also shared the same violet eyes. No one knows how these fraternal twins were born into a family of blonde, brown-eyed soldiers. They undoubtedly stuck out like sore thumbs. Kara didn't care though. Instead of fighting all the comments and remarks. She looked in the mirror every day with Cari and picked out all their favorite, unique traits. Cari had a slightly bigger nose than Kara who had a button one. Kara had a narrower eye as Cari had bigger, brighter eye. To change ourselves up a bit, Cari decided it would be an excellent idea for her to dye her tips dark purple. Kara was traditional when it came to her precious curls. Rather than changing it to a spunky color, Kara cut her long locks into a bob. That didn't sit well with her.

"No, no. This is good. The book is called Supernatural Beings. It tells you all about Supernatural creatures that could exist." Cari started flipping the pages swiftly into her fingers. "It talks about their weakness, strengths, where they live, what they look like, etc. You'd really like if you gave it a read." Kara didn't appear to be the slightest bit interested. It was her skeptical side. Kara felt a slight breeze as Cari popped the papers between her hands.

"Give it a read?" Kara laughed, "Cari, you know I don't read fictional books. You know that stuff isn't even real, right?" Cari sighed, but she wasn't one to be saddened so easily.

"Fine, but if you ever want to crack it open, even just a little, it'll be right here." She laid the thick book onto Kara desk right beside her. She never opened the book, but Kara did glimpse at it occasionally.

~

A few months after the massacre, crowds of people who adored news still bombarded Kara's space. Privacy was a non-existent word, but after a while, she learned to live with it. Kara would never stop talking about her experience. All she wanted was justice for her deceased family. However, there was always a chip on Kara's shoulder. She couldn't shake questions that swarmed her like bothered bees: How did no one kill him? Why did he let her go? Was it on purpose or an accident? Where is he now? How has he not been caught yet?

The same night Kara got away, she promptly went to the police station. They asked her what he looked like and where the address was first. So, she described him to the woman with a pencil and a journal as the policeman searched for her house. No one alive was found in that building when the police arrived, but they did file for a crime. They asked her to report everything that had happened. She spit it out; the knock, the blood, the man, everything.

Kara fought her way out of the mob of chatterboxes and pushed through her door. Out of breath, she collapsed onto the laptop settled on her couch. Hours of researching the case of the mass murder led to 5 cups of coffee, 3 energy drinks, and 7 dead ends. When Kara finally freed herself from the blue light, darkness grazed the window. Nothing explained what happened that night and she always felt this bother inching its way onto her back.

Her head dropped behind her, onto the top of the cushion. Kara looked over at the nightstand with clutter. Without her glasses, Kara squinted, noticing a shiny object underneath her lamp. Then her eyes focused. It was Supernatural Beings, the book Cari bothered her to read every day. She groaned,

"No, Nah-ah, no way am I reading that book. I don't care how desperate I am, that book will not help me." Little did she know; her words helped her crawl closer to the book leaving her able to pick it up and slowly break open the first page. Time was liquid molasses as Kara scanned the somehow fascinating object. Cari was right, there were all sorts of creatures she didn't even know existed. She glanced over her shoulder to the laptop still open beside her foot. "Looks like you're useless." Kara joked, nudging the thing a little too hard. It fell making a loud crash. She quickly jumped up to check on the technology that wouldn't turn on anymore. "Crap, crap, crap. CRAP! This is gonna cost a fortune!" She whined. The worrying stopped when Cara noticed the time. 3 A.M. She really needed to get some shut-eye before anything happened.

The next morning started with Kara feeling a bit groggy from lack of sleep. She mindlessly got ready for the day in a haze as if the routine was interesting. Opening the front door invited more people to asked questions of her tragic life, so Kara escaped out the back door and made her way to the tech store with her laptop.

Kara clambered into the store with her hair in a bun and sweats clamping her legs. I the back of the store was the technology section, so Kara took her time passing by all the civilians and clothes on sale. As she checked out an elegant, baby blue blouse, a tall man bumped into her shoulder. Kara looked out to the man without saying anything. He turned around to look at her but kept walking as well. "I'm sorry." He hollered. It gave her time to really notice him. The man looked eerily familiar. However, Kara didn't have time to dwell on the thought of who he looked like. After all, it could've just been an old news reporter who stayed at her front door sometimes.

She finally plopped down the laptop on the desk before a teenage boy. He turned around to face her and look very shocked to see a messy girl with glasses and no makeup to cover her couple pimples. Kara awkwardly smiled, creasing her dimples into her cheeks.

"Hi, um," She looked over at his chest, "Roy. I- uh- accidentally dropped my laptop and now, it won't turn on. I was wondering if you could help me..." There was a long paused. He didn't seem to say much. Roy lifted the laptop and peeked under it. Then, he flipped the thing open as if it were a soda can top. Next, he left. Kara peered over the desk to see where he could have possibly gone off to.

A man, in his 20's, came over. "You'll have to get this replaced, but we will give you half off since there's a sale anyway." This was a relief for Kara. She didn't want to waste all kinds of money while she was in debt for other things as well.

"Thank you so much this is such a relief." Kara tried to be more careful with the technology this time.

When she arrived home, Kara instantly flipped off her shoes just as her phone chimed. In the time of the incident, Kara had bonded with more people than ever. The person she got closest to was Skylar, her best friend. Skylar loved parties but was held back a lot by her boring job as a telephone operator.

Kara checked her phone only to see her best friend saying she had great news. There was a party going on that night at her office. She craved office parties because she said, "It starts secret, passionate office sex." Kara didn't want to hear about Skylar's thrills, however, Skylar was a very persistent girl. Her mission was to finally pull Kara out of her shell. So, there was no saying no.