Forlot - Books 4-6 {Completed}

Nora's Words of Wisdom and Chapter One

"Do you not know a person that well? That is the problem with this world. Trust can be broken in many ways. It can be hard to know the lie. So discover the truth. And trust nobody but your own instincts."
- Nora the Wise

True and False

Nigel showed me and Gretel to the living room. We sat on one of the couches. Mrs. Sanders came into the room and exercised her fingers. The sweet smile that she had on when we were at the mental asylum remained on her face.

"I am thankful that I could get you kids out of that place," Mrs. Sanders said.

"Me too," I agreed with her.

"You have a nice house," Gretel complimented. "It is better and nicer than the apartment that our parents forced us into."

I crossed my legs. "Way better."

"Thank you." Mrs. Sanders hugged Nigel. "But I was not the one who decided to buy this specific house. That would go to my husband and loving son. I was not with them for a long time."

"Oh?" I put my hands on the edge of the cushion. "Where were you?"

She rubbed the side of her neck. "Well...you would not believe it..."

"My mom was busy with stuff," Nigel piped in. "Important work. She was still with me and Dad. She just worked a lot."

I frowned. "That stinks."

Mrs. Sanders nodded. "My son is right. But I recently quit my job. I desire to spend more time with my family."

"That is good to hear," Gretel said.

The mom wiped her forehead with the back of her hand. "Which reminds me...I have to go and chat with my man." She called to her husband. "Richard! Could you please meet me in the kitchen? We need to talk." She looked back at us. "Are you kids hungry? Thirsty?"

"I will take something to drink," I declared. "Like water. My throat feels dry."

My sister shook her head. "Nothing for me. Thanks."

"I will get your drink, Hansel," Nigel insisted. With that, he and his mom left the room.

Gretel and I laid back on the couch and rested. We were so happy that we were out of that asylum. The building smelled bad all around. The guards who work there were mean-spirited and treated the two of us like garbage. Even the inmates who were actually insane stared at us with their crazy eyes. I can remember as plain as day that a person was hiding a knife and signaled to me and my sister what he was planning to do with that knife.

I had the sinking feeling that he had a desire to kill us.

But thank gosh that Laura and Nigel visited us when they did. I do not know how they found out about us or how they got both of us out of that dump. Gretel and I never asked them. Though, one thing was certain. Laura and Nigel saved us. Possibly our lives. And we owed them. Big time.

Then I remembered.

Aunt Katrina.

I sat up and looked at my twin. "Sis."

"Hmm?" She turned to me. "What is it?"

"I remembered something. Something very important. Or should I say...someone."

"And who would that be?"

I lowered my face to hers. "Katrina. Aunt Katrina."

Her eyes widened. She covered her mouth and muffled, "Crub."

If you yourself do not remember why we were making a big deal out of Aunt Katrina, then allow me to refresh your memory.

Our aunt had visited us minutes before Nigel and his mother. We told her that we were innocent and to get us out of that sick place. She reassured us that she would get to the bottom of it and search for the person who filed the report. She insisted that it would not take her long. However, now that Laura had gotten us out, Katrina had no need to try and bust us out. We had to let her know.

I held out my hand. "Let me see your cellphone. I want to call Katrina," I said to my sister.

Gretel frowned and crossed her arms.

"What? What did I do?"

"Lots of things that you should not have done," she finally answered. "Have you forgotten that you threw my phone out of the house earlier? I did not retrieve it because I found out that it was broken."

"...oops." I was embarrassed and felt kind of awful. Kind of. Hint, hint.

Yeah, yeah. You readers can call me a bad character all that you want, but I am the narrator of this story. So get used to me!

Nigel returned with a glass of water in his hand. He went over to me and handed me the glass.

"Here you go," he said. "This house has good water."

"Thanks," I thanked. I took the glass and drank. I felt water dripping off the sides of my face and wiped the drips away. "Say, you are correct on that. The water tastes great!"

Nigel grinned. "It must taste better than all the food at that asylum."

I glanced up at him. "Absolutely! By a long shot." I got up and set the glass on a nearby table. "Do you have a phone that I could use? I need to borrow it for a minute."

"Sure." He walked off and soon returned with a phone. "This is my mom's phone. Please do not break it."

"I will not." I took the phone and dialed Aunt Katrina's number.

"That was a bad idea giving him that phone," Gretel warned.

I rolled my eyes and held up the phone to my ear. "Hello? Katrina? This is Hansel. Your nephew."

There was no answer.

"Aunt Katrina? Are you there?"

I still got no response.

I hung up and handed the phone back to Nigel. "She was not there. I sure hope that she is doing alright."

Mrs. Sanders stepped into the room. Her smile was gone. She looked ticked.

"Nigel. Hansel. Gretel. Gather your things," she ordered. "My husband and I had a huge fight. We are leaving."