Invisible

Chapter 9

The man stared at me for a moment, not moving.

"Mr. Dovev, are you alright?" his assistant rushed over after hanging up the phone. The man pushed him away.

"I'm fine, go away," he demanded, then turned back to me. " You're not my daughter. Get out of my face," he spat.

"You're Robert Dovev, formerly married to Sarah Peterson. I was affected by the power plant collapse in August of 2000 in Colorado. You left the day I was born because of my... condition." I said, starting to get angry.

"How are you still alive?" My father gasped.

"Mom kept me safe, she was running with me," I explained, tears rushing to my eyes at the thought.

"Your hand," Liam whispered, grabbing it in his again. I took a deep breath, trying to calm down.

"Is... is your mother here?" he asked, looking around.

"No. She ditched me yesterday and turned me in," I spat. My father looked at me sadly.

"Can we go somewhere private to talk?" he begged. I looked at Liam, who nodded.

We got into the car and followed my father just 15 minutes away to a large house in the woods.

"All of your siblings are here if you'd like to meet them," he said, opening the door. I was greeted by the yipping of a small dog, its tail wagging so fast it could have flown away.

"Hannah, Eli, Morgan, could you come down for a moment?" My father called up the stairs. I looked to Liam again, my stomach churning.

"This was a bad idea," I whispered. He shook his head.

"I'm sure it will be fine," he reassured, a hand on my shoulder.

Suddenly, three young adults bounded down the stairs, all looking at me in confusion. My father led us all to the dining room and sat us down.

"Guys, this is your youngest sister, Christina." He said. The three of them looked at me in shock.

"How are you alive?" The man said.

"Hold on a second, why don't you introduce yourselves," my father scolded.

"Fine. I'm Eli. How are you still alive?" he repeated, rolling his eyes.

"Stop it, Eli. I'm Hannah, it's nice to see you again." The blonde woman smiled at me. I knew from what my mom told me that she was the oldest, probably around twenty-five.

"I'm Morgan," the brunette said, staring at me intently.

"It's nice to finally meet you all," I said quietly.

"Could you please answer my question now?" Eli groaned.

"Um... I don't know, mom and I have been running all over the country," I shrugged. The three of them gasped.

"Is mom with you?" Morgan asked, looking into the other room.

"No, she left me yesterday. I don't know where she is," I muttered.

"How old are you now?" Hannah asked me, trying to lighten the mood.

"Sixteen," I answered. She gasped.

"Already? It feels like you were born just a few years ago. I'm twenty-four now. I was eight when you were born, so I remember you pretty well. Eli is 20 and Morgan is 18," she smiled.

"How did you find her?" Morgan asked our father.

He smiled. "She found me."

"Oh, and who is this?" Eli asked, pointing to Liam.

"This is Liam, he's my best friend," I explained. Liam smiled a little at that.

"Right. Well, you have to tell us all about yourself," Eli said to me.

My father left the room and left me with my siblings. I answered all of their questions. Little ones, like "what's your favorite color?" and more important ones, like "do you still have your power?"

"Are you staying in Pennsylvania?" Hannah asked. I shook my head.

"We're actually headed to Montana. We just stopped at Walmart so I could buy my own clothes." I said, pointing to Liam's clothes that I was wearing.

"So we'll never see you again?" Morgan asked sadly.

"I wouldn't say 'never.' I just have to find a way to be safe. Then I can come back," I smiled.

My family insisted that Liam and I stay for dinner, and after that that we stay the night.

"We only have one guest room, but it's a trundle bed so you don't have to share," Hannah explained as she led us to the room for the night.

"Thanks, Hannah. It was really great to meet you all finally," I smiled. She pulled me in for a hug.

"I'm so glad you're finally home. I hope you can come back soon," she said sadly, then closed the door as she left.

"Well, what did you think?" Liam asked as he pulled out the trundle bed.

"They're so great. I'm so glad I met them," I answered, smiling uncontrollably.

"They seem great. I'm not so sure about your dad though," he whispered. I furrowed my brow.

"Why?" I asked. Liam looked at the door, then back at me, sitting on the bed.

"His youngest daughter comes back after sixteen years and he leaves after ten minutes of conversation. That's a little weird if you ask me," he explained.

"You're right," I agreed, the familiar feeling of dread settling in my stomach.

"But I'm sure it's fine, Dovev. Don't worry about it," he said quickly, noticing the shift in my demeanor.

"I hope so," I said. Liam turned out the light and flopped down on his bed.

"Goodnight Dovev," he mumbled.

"Goodnight," I answered. But a few hours later, I was still awake. I couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.

Suddenly, at around 1 am, the door cracked open, letting some light in.

"Christina, wake up," the person at the door said. I sat up, seeing Eli and Morgan peeking in.

"What's wrong?" I asked as Liam stirred.

The two of them walked in and turned on the light, shutting the door behind them. They looked upset and scared.

"We were downstairs watching TV when dad came down and got on the phone with someone. We thought it was a little late to be calling people so we listened through the office door. He turned you in, Christina. He told them that you were headed to Montana first thing in the morning and that you were going to be here all night. He even gave them Liam's plate number." Eli rambled. Liam was wide awake now.

"You've got to be kidding me," he mumbled.

"We have to go!" I whispered harshly.

Morgan stood up quickly.

"You can take my car. I just had the plates changed and dad hasn't memorized the numbers yet. I'll get rid of all of the paperwork. You just go," she offered.

"Thank you, Morgan," I said, a tear rolling down my face. I gave her a hug, then Eli. Then the two of us rushed out the door, transferred our stuff into Morgan's jeep, and took off down the road.