Chapter 20



Thursday evening, all hell broke loose. I was at home, entertaining myself, as both the girls were out at some cheerleader thing. Victoria was in San Francisco (I think). I was dozing on the couch when my cell phone rang. My regular one, not the special one.

My cell phone never rings. It's just an ornament in my pocket. I fished it out, and saw on the caller ID that it was Victoria. I answered it right away. I knew immediately that something was seriously wrong. She sounded frantic, panicky even, and she sounded like she was crying.

"Oh, thank God I got you! Oh, Patrick, I am so sorry! I love you and Amy so much, and I have screwed up so bad. I have lied to you so much, and now I am going to die and never see you two again!" She was openly sobbing now. "I want to see you so badly again, I love you two so much! And I can't, because they are coming to kill me and I can't stop them. I'm so sorry! Please forgive me and take good care of Amy and Katie!" She dissolved into sobs.

I was terrified. Victoria doesn't panic, and doesn't cry. I couldn't imagine what could be happening that she could not handle. I did two things at once. First, I screamed in my mind.

'KATIE! AMY!' If they were listening with their ears, they would have been deafened.

'Daddy?' Amy.

'What is it, Daddy?' Katie. Thank God! I wasn't sure this would work.

Meanwhile, I was trying to talk to Victoria.

"Victoria, tell me what is the matter? Where are you, honey?"

"Oh, God, I am locked in an abandoned warehouse. I can't get out. They are going to burn it down around me. Oh, God, I love you so much! I wanted for so long to die when I was younger, and now I have you, Amy and Katie, and I don't want to die anymore! Now I'm going to die because I'm stupid! I'm so sorry! They've hurt me so bad, done so much to me, and now they are going to kill me! Tell Amy I'm sorry!

'Katie! Can you hook up with Victoria? She's in trouble!' I yelled in my mind.

'Already got her, sir. What do you need? All you have to do is ask, sir.'

'Can you tell where she is?'

'635 Wharf Street, San Francisco

, sir. She is in an abandoned warehouse. The warehouse is filled with gas fumes and gas is soaked everywhere. They have done really bad things to her, sir, ' Katie responded sadly.

I wondered what was going on with the 'sir' stuff, but I would worry about it later.

Meanwhile, I was trying to calm Victoria down. She was full blown hysterical. Something was seriously wrong to get her like this.

"Victoria, honey, calm down for me, ok? Is anyone there with you now? Exactly where are you?" I tried to sound calm and reassuring, even though I was dying inside.

"I'm locked in a room in the warehouse. There is gas everywhere. They said they were coming back to burn me alive. Please don't let Amy know how I died!" She begged. "Oh, God, I don't deserve to live with what I've done!" She sobbed.

Meanwhile, I was talking to the girls in my mind at the same time.

'Katie. I don't have time for the phones. Can you hook into Captain Jensen's mind?'

'I don't know him. I have no frame of reference to find him, sir," Katie replied.

'I know him!' Amy yelled. 'Katie, hook me in to him. Your connections are stronger. Daddy, you take care of Mommy. I will handle this.'

'I have to let you know what instructions to give him, Amy, ' I reminded her.

'If I need your help, I'll holler, ' she assured me.

Meanwhile, I had to calm Victoria down. I decided to try shock treatment.

"VICKIE! CALM DOWN AND LISTEN TO ME!"

Miraculously, it worked. She was quiet for a second, and then said calmly, with only a trace of hysteria in her voice, "Ok, talk to me."

"Sweetheart, I'm going to get the police there, just hang on."

"It's too late," she half sobbed. "I'm going to die!"

"Ok, so you're going to die. I don't want my last conversation with you to be this way. Tell me how much you love Amy. Tell me how much you love me. What do you want to do tonight? Tell me what you have always wanted to do that we haven't done yet. Talk to me, sweetheart." It worked! She began to calmly talk to me.

'Daddy! I have Captain Jensen. You can hear both of us, but he will not be able to hear you, ' Amy notified me.

'Captain Jensen, sir. This is Amy Phillips. This is an emergency. Victoria is in critical trouble. Please do not waste time asking me how I am talking to you. I am in contact with my Dad. Do I need to give you authorization codes, sir?'

'No, Amy. Tell me what you need.' Apparently, he remembered her.

'Ok, Amy, tell him... ‘I stopped and listened as I heard Amy begin to talk to Captain Jensen without even waiting for my instructions.

'Sir, I need you to scramble Angels 1 and Angels 2 immediately with full air-to-air capability. Twenty miles north and south of I heard her talk on the side to Katie. 'Katie, the airlines! Take down the air traffic control computers. Ground everything. All flights already in the air reroute to Los Angeles immediately! Send the reroute commands directly to their onboard computers. It's faster that way. We'll clean up the mess later. Get them out of there! Clear out at least 20 miles in all directions!' Then she continued with Captain Jensen. 'Scramble Extraction 1 and Support 1 immediately to that address. Be advised that there are massive explosive fumes and liquids in the area. Use only no flash weapons. Get Angels 3 up as soon as possible with a full load of air-to-surface missiles. Scramble Firebird 1 and Firebird 2 for close in support to the same location. Nothing except Victoria Phillips and your men come out of that warehouse alive, sir. As soon as she is out of the area, I want that warehouse to be a hole in the ground. You have less than five minutes to extract her.' I heard Katie give her an airlines report. 'As of now, Captain, you have total control of the skies over San Francisco. If anything approaches closer than 10 miles to that warehouse, shoot it down. You have authorization for all weapons short of nuclear. Do you need me to shut up so you can get all this done, sir?' I listened to her, stunned. How did she know all of this?

Captain Jensen chuckled. 'No, Amy, all those units except Angels 3 were already scrambled. When our tail on Victoria lost contact, we scrambled them as a precaution. Extraction 1 is less than two minutes from the building now. We will have her in a few minutes.'

As all this was going on, I was continuing to keep Victoria occupied. She was calm now, probably because she knew she was going to die.

"Victoria, the police will be there in five minutes or less. Can you hold out that long, sweetheart?" I was so scared for her.

"I'll try, Patrick. The fumes are getting really bad. They will be back any minute. Once they light this building, there will be no chance. I'm sorry, Patrick. I wanted to grow old with you. Oh, shit. Someone is here! Goodbye, sweetheart, I love you." I listened in shock as her cell phone went dead. There was just silence. I sat there stunned. My mind couldn't even grasp the concept of losing Victoria. I understood perfectly Amy's wail now when she knew Cindi was dead. "Oh god, Daddy, what am I going to do now?" Then I heard Captain Jensen.

'We have her, Amy. She is alive. She has some injuries, and I don't know what all they have done to her, but she will live. Tell your Dad.'

I don't know if he said anything else or not. Between Amy and Katie's screaming for joy in my head, and my own dizziness, I couldn't hear. Then he continued.

'Amy, the warehouse is gone. It's a spectacular fire. We are moving out of the area before the police show up. We killed ten of the enemy, and captured one alive. I thought that maybe Patrick might want to say hi to him. Where do you want him and Victoria?' I finally found my 'voice'.

'Amy, have him get Victoria here on the fastest jet he can get. I want a fully armed fighter escort for her jet. I want her here yesterday. Get that scumbag here on a different jet, fast, well guarded. I do indeed want to pay him my respects.'

Amy passed that on. Then I heard her final conversation with Captain Jensen.

'It was a pleasure talking to you again, sir. Please accept my apology for my behavior last time we talked. You are a good man, Paul.'

He laughed. 'I would be delighted to work with you anytime, sweetheart. You are a delightful young lady. Don't you think Paul is a little informal, though?' He teased her.

'Normally, yes, I would. But in this case, no, since I know who you really are.' Amy giggled.

There was a long silence.

'Let's just save that conversation for another time, shall we, young lady, ' he stated sternly.

'Yes, sir! Anything you say, sir!' I could picture Amy saluting to him. I heard him chuckle. I smiled. Smart-ass teenager genius. How I loved them!

By this time, Amy and Katie were walking in the door. They had arranged for Rebecca's mother to bring them home. They ran up to me and hugged me fiercely. I couldn't tell which one of them was crying, but my shirt was wet. Hell, it could have been me.

I don't know what Captain Jensen got for a plane, but Victoria arrived 70 minutes later at our house, in a fully equipped ambulance, with an entire medical crew taking care of her. We set them up in our bedroom. Victoria was unconscious. I went out to talk to the doctors.

"How is she?" I asked.

"Patrick Phillips, I assume? I am so delighted to finally meet you, sir. She will live. She has some relatively minor internal injuries, and a few bruises and scrapes. Two broken ribs. Some minor temporary lung problems from the fumes. I have her sedated right now to give her a chance to rest and heal. Frankly, sir, I am more concerned with her mental condition. She... well, sir, it seems she was used rather extensively... shall we say sexually?" I closed my eyes for a second. Amy was standing next to me. When I opened them again, I saw her face had turned white. Then I saw her eyes. Flat, devoid of expression, empty. She looked at my eyes, and nodded slightly. I'm sure mine looked the same. Amy turned to Captain Jensen.

"Where is our guest?" She asked sweetly. Captain Jensen led her into the room where he was being held, as I followed. She turned to me.

"Let me try interrogating him first, sir. Sometimes a pretty girl with a soft touch can get much farther than a man." I should have been suspicious, with the eyes and calling me sir. But I was worried about Victoria, disgusted with what they may have done, and frankly didn't really care what happened to him as long as I got the information I needed.

Amy walked towards the suspect, smiling sweetly. I wondered what a soft touch entailed. Then I found out. As she was looking at me, smiling and talking, she suddenly moved faster than I had ever seen anybody move. Faster than Victoria at the Fair. Before anyone could react, she reached out and took Captain Jensen's gun out of his holster. She nonchalantly pulled back the slide, cocked the hammer, and took off the safety all in one smooth motion. Without even looking at the man in the chair, looking at me and talking to me, she fired two shots almost simultaneously. I heard the prisoner scream, and he grabbed both of his knees. Before he could fall to the floor, she moved smoothly to his side. My little 108 lb Amy then picked him up out of the chair by the front of his shirt, held him about a foot off the ground, and slammed him against the wall, hard, holding him there. She held the gun under his chin and then she smiled sweetly at him again.

"You have ten seconds to start talking about what happened today. After that, I am going to turn you over to that man over there." She gestured at me. "He's not nice like I am. He's mean." She leaned forward and smiled encouragingly at him. "And I don't think he likes you very much," she whispered in his ear.

She was right. The soft touch from a pretty girl indeed worked very well. He started talking immediately. Amy dropped him to the floor and fired a shot into the wall, nicking his ear, and then looked at him, encouraging him to go on. He could hardly get the words out fast enough. We had names, addresses, locations of the main people responsible. He was even able to provide us with floor plan layouts and the number of guards. I left the room when he started to talk about what had happened with Victoria. I felt sick. I didn't want to know. The girls could fill me in on anything I needed to know. Then I saw Katie run out of the room, sobbing, face green, and heard her throwing up in the bathroom. I went in and held her head, stroking her hair, as she dissolved into a puddle of sobs.

While he was talking, Amy walked over to Captain Jensen and handed him his gun back. She smiled prettily and said thank you. He looked at the gun as if he thought it would bite him. He looked at her with unabashed admiration, and maybe a little fear.

Later, we all gathered in the living room. Everyone was introduced to each other. It seems the doctor was so glad to meet me because he worked for me. When I introduced Amy to Captain Jensen, she wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him an affectionate kiss. He didn't seem displeased.

"Thank you, sweetheart. Be careful, though, you could give an old man a heart attack." Her merry giggle lightened the mood considerably. "Kind of intimate for an old Captain you've never met before, though, isn't it?"

"For an old captain, yes. But not for you." She whispered the next word so that only he and I could hear. "Grandfather."

He looked at her in shock. Then he looked at me. I was just as shocked.

"Don't look at me! I didn't tell her!" I protested. Amy laughed at us. Between her and Katie, I didn't know which way was up anymore. I had a feeling these two cute little girls were much more than we ever suspected; I was almost afraid to find out what they could really do. Little did I know I would find out sooner than I thought. I also suspected they knew much more about what was going on than they let on.

I had a private conference with Captain Jensen about what support I would need. Well, as private as it could be. Amy and Katie just followed me into the room and refused to leave. I needed to have a talk with them. Me Dad, you bratty teenage daughter, I make decisions, you obey. Yeah. Right. I told him to order a fast jet for tomorrow morning to take me to San Francisco. Amy said to make sure it would carry two. It took me a few seconds to realize what she was saying.

"You are not going, young lady!" I was scared and mad.

"Cut the crap, Dad. You need me. I can take care of myself. And if I were you, I would also talk to Captain Jensen about how well calling me young lady works!"

"Amy. You are a 13-year-old girl. A very unusual one, but still. I am not taking you into a situation like this." When did I lose control over this little... whatever she was? That was unfair. She was Amy, my precious little daughter.

"Dad. Do you really think you can stop me? You can either enjoy my company on the trip there, or I will just have Katie ground your plane and I will beat you there and do it all myself." I looked at Katie; she looked guilty, then giggled and nodded her head. "But, tell you what. Let's make it fair. Hand to hand combat or target practice at a range. If you can beat me at either one, I won't go."

My way out. I tend to downplay my abilities. It is wise when you are supposed to be a medical professional. The truth is, I am one of the best in the world at both hand to hand combat and shooting a gun. There was no way little Amy could beat me at either one of those. Although her performance with the gun in the prisoner room was impressive. Katie interrupted in my mind before I could embarrass myself.

'It's a sucker bet, Daddy. Might as well let her go. If anyone could beat her, it would be you. But you will lose. It will be close, but you will lose.' I was offended.

'You don't know what I can do, Little One, ' I said. I tried to keep my hurt feelings out of my thoughts. She noticed it though, and smiled apologetically.

'I'm sorry, Daddy. Don't be offended. Actually, I know exactly what you can do, and exactly how good you are at it. But you don't know what she can do. I do. I have seen her in action. Trust me. Besides, you really do need her for this.'

'Do you know what it would do to Victoria and me if she gets hurt?' I pleaded my case.

'Do you know what it would do to Victoria, Amy, and me if you get killed?' She countered. 'You said you trusted me with your life. Trust me now. Let her go. Do you want me to completely destroy your ego and show you in your mind what she can do?'

'It would help if I knew I didn't have to worry about her being able to take care of herself."

Katie sighed. 'One of these days you are going to learn just to take my word. Remember, you asked for it.' I watched two 'videos' run through my mind.

'Katie, can I see that again? I can't have seen that right.' I was startled. No one could do that!

'You saw it right. Here you go again.' She snickered at me as I watched it again. 'Look any different this time? Sorry, Daddy, I shouldn't tease you. It was just as hard for me to see the first time. I didn't show you the really interesting one. You've had enough shocks for the day.'

'Ok. She can go. But we are going to sit down and have a long talk when I get back. I am going to get some answers or you two are going to have some really sore little butts!' I suddenly thought of something. 'Did Amy see what you just showed me?'

'Oooh! Do we get a vote as to which one? Answers or spankings?' She giggled. 'No, Dad. Amy knows nothing about what I just showed you. She has no memory of it. We should keep it that way. At least as long as we can. She deserves to be a normal little girl.' I turned back to Amy.

"Ok, Amy, Katie has convinced me that you are going." Amy smiled gratefully at Katie. I could see it in her eyes — thank you, I didn't want to have to hurt him. "But you get yourself killed and I will never talk to you again!"

We talked about exactly what was going to happen. Amy wanted to make sure I knew where she was coming from on this.

"Dad. As far as I am concerned, this is the same as someone messing with Mommy's babies. I am going in there to kill them. Period. If that is a problem with you, tell me now so we can work something out. We will not have time to discuss this when things start happening." I felt like crying. My poor little baby. I couldn't forget those 'videos' I had seen in my mind. And Katie said she didn't show me the worst one. What had they done to my little girl? When this was all over, that issue was going to be addressed too. Right now, I was glad she was the way she was — I was going to need her.

"Amy, we are on the same page. The only conflict we are going to have is who gets to kill more of them."

I was very cold and clinical about this. They had fucked with Victoria, maybe literally as well as figuratively. They would die. The best they could hope for was a quick death. Depending on what shape Victoria was in when she woke up, they might not get that.

I arranged with Captain Jensen for everything we would need on sight. We were going in hot and the only thing that would be left would be a smoking hole. He would take care of notifying the various authorities that something would be going down and to stay out of the way. He finally convinced me to let him have a support group nearby on standby in case we ran into trouble. I let him only because, as I remembered again those 'videos' in my mind, I knew we would never need them. This was personal; we would do it ourselves.

Just before we were ready to go to bed, Katie came in. She was disheveled and looked really bad. She looked like she had a bad headache. Both Amy and I went to her, and sat her down on the couch between us.

"Katie! What's wrong, Little One?" I was shocked at how she looked.

"I don't know. I have an awful headache. I have so much interference in my mind. I think someone or something is trying to contact me. I can't think." She sounded desperate. "I can't block them."

We hugged her. Amy tried to patch in with her to try to help block them, but it didn't help. I decided to try something to help. I had no idea what I was doing. I blanked my mind, then thought of Katie as hard as I could. I blocked everything else out. I felt her confusion, her pain, her distraction. Then I saw some orange tendrils flowing in from the side. When I focused on them, I heard static, confusion. I somehow knew this was what was causing her problem. I also somehow knew it was not trying to hurt her. It was as if the tendrils were lost, looking for the right place to go. But I had to stop it. I focused on it as hard as I could, then commanded "STOP" as 'loud' as I could. I could sense surprise; it was startled. Then, I swear, the tendrils formed into the shape of words. It spelled out "yes sir." This was too freaky for words. The tendrils turned a softer orange, and just swirled around, still in her mind, but not focusing anymore.

Katie visibly relaxed and started to look better immediately. Both Amy and Katie looked at me in amazement.

"It went away! What did you do?" They asked in unison. They both were staring at me.

"I don't know. Did it work?" I had no idea what I was doing, but Katie looked better.

"I think so. It's still there, but it's behaving. I feel I should know what this is, but I can't place it." Katie seemed truly puzzled. Then she bit her lower lip. I knew what that meant. Confession time.

"Daddy. I think we had better have that talk now, before you go. I have a really bad feeling about this. Something is wrong, terribly wrong. There is something I have missed, or that I am not seeing. It doesn't add up; it doesn't make sense. I cannot send you out there without you knowing everything I know." She turned to Amy, tears in her eyes.

"Amy, you know I love you more than I can tell you, don't you?" She seemed really concerned. Amy nodded. "Do you trust me, Amy? Really, really trust me?" Amy looked concerned, but nodded her head again. "I'm so sorry, Amy, but you cannot hear what I have to say to Patrick." Patrick, not Daddy. This was going to be serious. Especially to cut Amy out. "Please, Amy, please, don't be mad at me. Don't hate me. You know I don't keep secrets from you. But you can't know this. Not yet. Please?" She was crying now.

Amy is such a sweetheart. She will do anything, especially for Katie. I know it cost her dearly, being a genius and as curious as she is, but she smiled tenderly at Katie.

"It's ok. If you say it is necessary, I believe you. You've saved my life, Katie. At least I can give you this. Why don't I ever get to save someone's life? I seem to always be the one that needs saving!" She smiled teasingly. "As long as you are not pulling another scam on me, like when you blocked me from your mind while I was asleep when you were seducing my Daddy in the basement!" She smiled to show her she was not really mad. Katie blushed and gasped. I gulped. "You two think you are so smart, don't you? What really hurts is that you would think I would be fooled by such an amateur ploy." She laughed to show us she really wasn't offended.

"You knew?" Katie whispered. "Amy, I am so sorry!" Amy grinned at her. She always gets you back! Katie turned to me.

"In five minutes, an icon will appear on your computer desktop. It will remain there for one hour, and then will disappear forever. As soon as you open it, the icon will disappear forever. The file can only be opened once. Once it is opened, it will remain for one hour. Then it will disappear forever. It cannot be recovered. If anyone else but you tries to open it, it will disappear forever. If anyone is in the room with you when you open it, it will disappear forever. When you click on the icon, a password will appear in your mind. Type it in. That password will never work again. Do not type it in wrong. Are you getting the impression that I want only you to read this file?" She giggled. Then she turned serious again. "Please, Daddy, please, keep loving us after you read it. Please? Remember, we want nothing more than to be your little girls. Remember that Victoria loves you so much it hurts. We didn't ask for this. Remember, tell no one what you read. I shouldn't even be sharing this with you. I have no idea what ramifications this might have. But I am afraid of what is out there, and I can't let you go without knowing about all of us."

"Are you sure I don't need this information to be prepared too?" Amy asked. Katie smiled at her.

"Nice try, Amy. The last thing I am concerned about is you being prepared."

I kissed the two girls, and went into my office. It was exactly as Katie said it would be. I opened the file, and started to read.

Katie's File:

My name is Katie Thompson. I am 13 years old. I, like Amy and Victoria (Mommy) ran across this file while Patrick (Daddy) was unconscious. I did not write in it then, as I figured two was enough. Besides, they were being computer pigs! However, Daddy is out of town for a few days at a medical conference, so I have access to this now. No, they did not leave us here alone. We are staying at Rebecca's house, three doors down, but we have access to the house. Although I consider myself a good, moral and trustworthy person, I guess I must be a little lower in moral fiber than Amy and Victoria, because, unlike Amy and Victoria, I could not resist reading this file. And their additions. I did, however, tell Daddy that I had read it when I talked to him on the phone yesterday. He laughed and said he wondered who would find it and read it first. He had already seen the stuff Amy and Victoria had written. It seems that Victoria was planning to erase much of her writings, but she must have forgotten.

I have Daddy's permission to write this account of our family. It was necessary to get his permission because of some of the things that will be revealed here that pertain to all the members of my family (you don't know how good that feels to say — my family!). We had a big long fight about this. I think this story has to be written in case anything happens to us. Daddy thinks it is dangerous, and he also just hates to be the object of attention, as he will be in this story. He doesn't know what is in here until he reads it; he just knows enough to know he is not going to like it. We compromised; I am writing the story, but it will be password encrypted with a code that is unbreakable. The code to open that encryption is buried in the minds of Patrick, Amy and Victoria. They do not know it is there. I will explain as we go along how I can do that. The code will become available to their memory at any time that any one of them is the only surviving member left of our family. I have access to the code at all times, and can change it at will. That change will automatically update to everyone's mind. There are safeguards in my mind that will inactivate the current code, change it to another code, and transfer that code to Patrick's mind and erase it from my mind if a serious attempt that I can't handle is made to access it in my mind by anyone other than me. Patrick can also change the code, but he doesn't know that. Under certain conditions, this knowledge will become available to him. So, if you reading this file it means a) I am dead (that will really ruin my day!), b) I am captured and incommunicado, or c) I have released it or transferred it to Patrick's mind for some reason. I really hope it is c).

I guess I have your attention now! Let me begin again.

My name is Katie Marie Thompson. I am 13 years old. I am 5' nothing, 90 lbs, long blond hair, and eyes that used to be blue but now are blue with yellow flecks in them. Let me say right off the bat, as I am sure you are wondering; I do not know what Amy, Victoria, Patrick, Cindi, Becky or I am (or were, in Becky and Cindi's case). I do not think we are aliens (I hope not; I want to be human) but I do not know that for sure. I think we are, shall I say, governmentally manipulated humans. I have some reasons for believing that that I will share as I go along. I cannot prove that, however. I also want to reiterate that I am a normal 13-year-old kid. I am going to tell you many things here that will make it seem like I am much older, that I know what is going to happen, that I know why things happen. Some of that is true. But, I giggle like all teenagers, I panic when my Daddy is hurt. I cry every night in my bed because I miss my twin sister Becky. At least two nights a week, Amy crawls into bed with me and I hold her as she cries about missing Cindi. And I cry with her. Do you know what it does to you to watch and listen to someone who never cries, one of the toughest, strongest people you know, as they cry? I know Cindi had to die, but I still cry for her. I still wish she had not. I would still give up my life to bring her back. I am still a mixed up kid, even though part of me knows things no one else knows.

If you have read Patrick's file, you know most of my story. My lousy family life. My father raping me for six months when I was 11 years old. How he raped Becky. Her death in the fire. My guilt in deserting her and my responsibility for her death. Cindi's death. My connection mentally with Amy. My love for Patrick and our relationship. It is all there. Read it if you haven't already. It tells everything about me. Everything worth knowing. Which isn't much. I wish I were as interesting as Amy is or Cindi was.

If I could be anyone in the world, I would want to be Amy. I envy her. She is my hero, along with Patrick. Patrick because he saved my life. He doesn't realize that. He is so clueless sometimes! Victoria knows. Amy is the smartest person I know. She was correct in what she wrote — Cindi was smarter, although at the level both of them are / were it is a moot point. Amy is able to use that intelligence better than anyone I know, except possibly Patrick. She is beautiful. She can do anything. She is sweet. But the real reason I envy her is that she is the only person in our family that has led a somewhat normal life. Cindi is dead. I would not wish on my worst enemy the life that Victoria and I have led. Well, maybe on those that killed Cindi. They have no idea the mistake they made there. They will. If they had just left her alone, we might all be dead now and they would be safe. I'm so glad they are ignorant fools. Patrick's life has been better than Victoria's or mine, but still not wonderful. Amy is so lucky.

I guess I should explain how I know all of this. All of us kids have a power that is special and peculiar to them. Mine (and Becky's) is /was the power of the mind. I think there were two of those in case something happened to one of us. Or maybe because we were identical twins. So identical powers. Get it? Sorry. I am a tutor at school and I am used to explaining things to those boobs. I lied when I told Patrick I did not know how I inserted myself into Amy's mind to replace Cindi. I know exactly how I did it. The tricky part was to find who could replace Becky in my mind. It appears that could only be Amy. I had no problems inserting the codes for this file in each of their minds. I know more about this family than anyone else does. That is because their minds are open to me. I am a mind reader. Before you decide that is neat, know that I only recently have learned how to somewhat decide when and with whom I want to do it. I have also learned to a certain extent to ignore it to keep myself from going crazy, but that control is tenuous at best. If this discourse seems somewhat disjointed, that is likely the reason. It is sometimes hard to concentrate with the constant interruptions. I am getting better, however. I am the only person, besides Captain Jensen, that knows what Patrick really does. Even his enemies are in for a rude surprise; they don't know the half of it. I will explain later. I can also patch into and manipulate computers. I can to a limited extent implant things into minds. I cannot force things they would not have there.

Cindi's ability was to heal, and to manipulate events. Cindi might have been able to change the outcome of that car accident had it been anybody else that was in it. She could never change events that directly affected only her. That is why our enemies had to kill her. Unbeknownst to the other members of the family, except me, including herself, Cindi had already saved us several times. The act of manipulating events erases the memory of the old event from everyone's mind. Except... yep, you guessed it... mine. Lucky me. NOT! Little did anyone know that Cindi's death, as sad as it was, had to happen and started a chain of events that are very necessary and cannot be stopped. If Cindi didn't die, our family wouldn't continue to live. I think that at some level she knew that. She didn't know how or when, but she knew it would happen. I don't know how her death saves us, but I know it will. Don't ask me how I know this. I don't know. I know without a doubt that it is true, however. I think we will know it when it happens. I suspected that Cindi had some of Amy's abilities in a lighter dose, but I never saw any proof of that.

Amy's ability is physical ability. Her control of her body and ability to use it is unbelievable. I have seen the replay in Patrick's mind of Victoria's actions at the Fair. I know what she can do. It is truly an experience to see Victoria and Amy spar and watch Amy kick Victoria's ass 10 out of 10 times without even breaking a sweat. Victoria finally fully understood on the day that Amy did it blindfolded. To her credit, Victoria laughed and thought it was neat. Then she was really, really nice to Amy the rest of the day! I have seen Amy blindfolded, spun around until she is dizzy, then watched her put a bullet in the center of six different targets spread around the room in 3.5 seconds. While still blindfolded. With either hand. She has no problems fighting hand to hand and shooting at the same time. I doubt there is anything she cannot do. Do not fuck with that girl (figuratively, not literally! With her body control, I'm sure she will be really fun literally!). You will be dead before you realize you are in trouble. You might say it might be different if it was real combat. I once watched them give Victoria a mind control drug and then ordered her to kill Amy. She had no idea what she was doing. Amy had no idea what was going on. It made no difference. Amy still kicked Victoria's butt. What kind of low life makes a mother try to kill her own daughter just to see what would happen? We never saw the doctor running that experiment, and the one with the ten armed men, again. I think the handlers realized how stupid that was too. All of us have special duties. Some of us don't realize what we are to do yet. Amy has known her reason for existence since she was a little girl. It is to protect her Daddy, Patrick. Ever seen a small thermonuclear explosion on TV? That is almost as bad as what you will see if anyone ever tries to harm Patrick when Amy is around. I saw it once, at the camp. They gave her a mind-controlling drug, put her, unarmed, in a room with ten armed men, and convinced her that Patrick was there and in danger of being killed. It was the most terrible thing I have ever seen. In three minutes, she was the only one left standing in that room. The men had guns, and they used them. They could not hit her. She dodged their bullets. Yes, dodged them! She had one small bullet crease on her arm because four of them fired at her at once from different directions and she just couldn't avoid all of them. Only two of the men survived. Afterwards, she found me, took my hand, and led me to the cafeteria to eat lunch, as if nothing happened. She scared the hell out of our handlers at the camp that day. They never again tested Amy on anything physical. They had seen as much as they ever wanted to see. She didn't fool me, however. I held her, cuddled her, whispered to her for the next four nights, trying to undo what those assholes had done to her, as she sobbed her little heart out all night long for what she did to those men. She is so sweet and they made her into a killing machine. There are times when it is a good thing that they wipe our memories when we leave camp. I fervently wish I did not have that memory anymore.

Victoria and Patrick's special talents, if they have them, have not manifested themselves yet. Since they have the same lineage as I do, I think they will. Patrick's power may be a lesser combination of all our powers, plus the power of command. I think command will be his main power. Victoria's power, at least one of them, seems to be similar to Amy's only a little less. Therefore, I think she should have some other powers. Especially after all the power that was slamming around the room when Patrick was brought out of his coma. There are already some effects of that release of power that are showing up in some of us, although we are not all aware of it just yet. This is partially my fault, if fault is the right word. I was not supposed to enter into the power stream. Actually, I didn't know I could do that. But it appeared Amy was having trouble and Patrick had to be saved.

Your first question will be: how do I know all this stuff? I have seen it during our periodic visits to "the camps." If each of us, except Patrick and me, were to examine their memories carefully, they would find gaps in them periodically where they have no memory. These are the camp visits. Their memory of them is wiped out before they are brought back home. That wipe does not work on me. I don't think the people who run the camps know that. I think they have no idea of my access to all this data. My mind cannot be wiped — I cannot forget anything. Don't ever think that is not a curse! If I could have any wish granted in the world, other than to be Amy, it would be to be able to forget or change my past life. The only exception to this memory wipe for the others is some memory of Amy's. For some reason she remembers one of the sparring episodes with Victoria. Not the blindfolded one. Victoria does not remember them. Amy has some idea what she can do physically, but she has no idea to what extent. Often, our powers only reveal themselves when needed. Cindi had no idea how to cure Amy until it was needed. Amy had no idea she could take out those kids at school until it happened. I had no idea I could add my power stream to Amy's. I didn't even know I had a power stream. I have no idea who the people at the camps are. Is this making any sense? I have been especially distracted lately. It is almost as if something, or someone, is trying to contact me.

Victoria has already stated in her write up what she does. She has no idea that some of the trips she takes are not to where she thinks they are. They are to the camps. The job she does for the government is not part of the plan of the camp people, but they have not interfered with it. They cannot change her need to do it without seriously damaging her. She also understates the danger of what she does. She is uniquely suited to do what she does. I will not state here why she does what she does. It is an intensely personal reason that has to come from her. I have been to that part of her mind once. That is enough. I will never go back there again if I have a choice. I was afraid I would not survive. How she deals with that is beyond me. Somehow, her relationship with Patrick has helped her deal with it; wall it off into a black area. It occasionally breaks out, when someone tries to hurt her babies. She actually was rather controlled at the Fair. Let's just say if you have her, Amy and Patrick together, you don't need an army. All those guys would just get in the way. Do you get the idea I just adore Amy? Giggle!

Patrick is unique. He is the only one that does not go to the camps, at least since he was a little boy. They are not pleased with him. They cannot do anything with him. He only survives because of the necessity of his breeding stock for the lineage. They have made a huge mistake in leaving him alive. Now they cannot kill him. Would you want to try that with Amy around? They know what she is capable of; they dare not incur her wrath.

Patrick belongs to an international organization known simply as "24". He refers to it in his mind more often as 'two- four'. Actually, he is the founder and leader of the organization. It is a conglomerate of ex-intelligence, ex-law enforcement, and ex-military personnel. It is the most elite private investigation firm in existence today, if PI is the right term. Although most law enforcement firms, intelligence organizations, and military leaders have heard of "24", they know little about it. They have the full cooperation of all governments. It wouldn't matter if they didn't, as most of the time, they don't involve the governments anyway, but act at a much lower level. There is nothing that Patrick could request that he would not have immediately. Having the cooperation of the governments only makes it easier to clean up later. "24" is the most nonpolitical, incorruptible entity in existence. They only accept jobs that help people or organizations that are in trouble. That and anything that protects Patrick's loved ones. They only work for good. Patrick will not let them do anything else. No job is too little or too big if it will help a person or organization that is being taken advantage of or unfairly hurt. Although most everyone that has dealings with "24" knows that Patrick is associated with it, I don't believe anyone knows his true involvement in it. The organization grew out of a disastrous experience Patrick had as a young teen with a young girl named Julie that he was extremely close to. It was not a sexual relationship of any kind; she was only six years old. Her life ended one day very badly. He swore that no one would ever hurt one of his loved ones again if he could help it. Once he was old enough, he set up "24" to accomplish that purpose. In some way that I don't understand, Victoria was also impacted by that same situation, even though Patrick and Victoria did not know each other then. I strongly suspect the memory of that experience resides in that black area of her brain. It is responsible for her response when someone tries to mess with her babies. Somehow, the experience of the young girl is connected with her relationship with the older man that taught her about love and saved her life when she was in her early teens. Patrick stepped away from "24" a number of years ago after an operation that somehow went wrong and resulted in the death of his high school sweetheart. After he personally killed everyone that caused her death, he left the business. He felt he did not like what he had become, that he wanted to save lives, not take them. The organization stipulated that he was able to assume command anytime on a moment's notice. He occasionally used their organization, like when he arranged Victoria's flight home when Amy was sick.

As I stated earlier, I have no idea who the camp people are. Our association with them has always been as teacher and student. I would assume since they periodically bring us to the camps that they still have some plans for us. It should be interesting to see how that will change if Patrick reads this and finds out that some of the cheerleader camps his girls went to were not that at all.

I guess it is obvious here that some of what I have told my new family was not exactly true. Like not knowing them until I moved to town last year. I have known them most of my life. From the camps. They just don't remember me. Although Amy and Cindi might have had some indistinct memories — that would explain why they were always rather distant with me. Like pretending I didn't know how I saved Amy. Most everything else is true. I am Patrick and Victoria's sister. My twin sister, Becky, did die in a fire. All of that is true.

There is a big fight coming. I don't know with whom. Someone killed Cindi, and tried to kill Amy and Victoria. Patrick has stepped on their toes big time in protecting his family. I almost hope they go after him. That will end it really quickly when they run into Amy. I think that is going to happen anyway. Several pieces of this whole puzzle just don't make sense to me, though. I can't put my finger on it. I wonder why they have never gone after me. Surely, they must know about me. Surely, someone must know how much of this I have figured out. Why do they think they don't have to worry about me?

I wish I knew who is trying to contact me. Their color is orange. It is getting increasingly annoying and distracting. It is distorted somehow. I hope the enemy doesn't have others like us. I really don't want to see two Amy's fight.

Our family is driven by love. That is the source of all our power. That is why we seem to be normal people until something or someone threatens someone we love. That, and self-defense, activates everything. Amy could not walk into a bar and start a fight. It wouldn't work. She would get her butt kicked. If someone attacks her, or even insults someone she loves, such as the kids at school making disparaging remarks about Cindi, their world can change very quickly. She controls it pretty well though. We have discovered we each have an aura connected with us. It is often connected with eye color. I am yellow — that was not connected with my eye color, but my eyes are changing to that color. Amy is bright, deep green. Cindi was bright, deep blue. Both of those match the eye color. Becky died before we started exhibiting auras, so we don't know what hers would have been. Patrick and Victoria have not exhibited an aura yet, but both their eye colors are the same as Amy's, bright, deep green.

Our family has some unusual ideas about love and sex. It is difficult to form a relationship with someone that does not know or understand what you are or what you can do. Keeping a huge secret like that from your partner can really affect a relationship. Somehow, Patrick and Victoria have managed with their secrets, maybe because it is the same secret. We tend to form our relationships within our own family and fellow manipulated beings. It seems that is our own brothers and sisters, parents and children. Incest means nothing to us. It is as if we are a different species with a very small gene pool to pick from. That may be why Amy and Cindi had so much power — Patrick and Victoria being twin brother and sister, they got a double dose of the genes that control these powers. There are no feelings of taboo with any of us. Well, maybe Patrick, but that is more concern about causing harm, not a taboo per se. I feel like I am really rambling here. I just cannot concentrate well with all the interference in my mind.

I am writing this so that someday someone will know what they have done to us. Amy, Cindi, myself, Becky, we are / were just kids, damn it! Amy should be enjoying herself, learning about life and love from boys, going to dances. She shouldn't be a well-polished killing machine. She is the sweetest person you would ever want to meet, yet she has to live with the guilt of killing people. No one should have to live through what has been done to Victoria. I have never experienced so much pain, sadness and suffering in one person. She shouldn't have to live with the guilt of what she has done to survive. It is not fair! This must never happen again. I will update this account as we come across more information as to who is responsible for all this.

I hope I am still alive if you are reading this. I wanted to die so badly after Becky died. I even tried to kill myself. But after I have met Amy, Victoria, Patrick I want to live. I hope I'm not dead. If you are reading this, Patrick, please don't think your little girls are monsters. If you could see into Amy's mind as I can, you would see how wonderful she is. Of course, I see how you look at her, so you already know. Who wouldn't love her? Please keep loving us. We love you, and always will.

Tears were flowing down my cheeks as I finished reading the file. It only made me love my girls more. They really were special. I walked out into the room where Amy and Katie were waiting for me. They both had nervous looks on their faces. They looked so pretty, so vulnerable, so helpless standing there, afraid I would condemn them. They just looked like scared little girls. There must be some mistake. That pretty little girl called Amy that I saw standing in front of me, biting her lower lip, could not be the same girl I saw in the 'video'. But I knew it was. My heart just melted. I still had tears on my face. I hugged and kissed both of them. Then I took them by the hand and led them into the bedroom where we were staying.

635 Wharf Street

, at 10,000 feet.'