Tessa

Chapter Three : Dead

I crawled into my side of the bed, cuddly and warm. The cold wind in Mexico was making us shiver. I slept beside Heidi and Sammy slept between her and Ceilia. Ceilia was new to our home and needed more space and guidance. She was shy and cute, being only five years old. Her parents killed themselves at her fourth birthday, they were potentially bankrupt and decided to end their lives, as they thought it was “useless” living. Poor Ceilia. But, we were very nice to her and treated her like our sister. Ceilia is going to love being a Jones.

Heidi was one year younger than me. She had parents but they weren’t good ones. They abused her and treated her like a slave.Once, she told me that they forced her to drink down her own urine, life was horrible for Heidi.However, mama and papa saved her and brought her to their home when she was ten, when they saw life was unbearable for Heidi.She told me everything, from when she young, she didn’t get enough milk and resulted in the lack of nutrients, that sent her straight to the hospital, near dying. But, this doctor saved her many times. Dr.Renee, she was the greatest doctor I’ve ever seen. She saved many lives, including mine when I suffered from my asthma attack. I was so grateful of her ever-persistent spirit of saving lives.

Sammy was the only boy in the family, and he was mama and papa’s real son. He was cheerful and happy to be able have three big sisters, as he was only three years old. He was Mexican, so he had black curls and fairly tan skin.He was the cutest boy I’ve ever seen and the most chubbiest!

Well, for me, um, I was first to be “saved”. It’s kind of uncomfortable to say this but anyway I will.

It was 1997. The date I remembered was 12 September.I was only seven years old when it happened.

During the time when I was in pre-school, I was playing blocks with my twin sister, Terra. I also remembered this girl too, Valerie Sands. She was very nice and friendly.Then, out of a sudden, this big and burly guy kicked open the door and everyone screamed. The teacher, Mrs.Geraldines, hurried us to safety and protected us.I was frozen with Terra beside me, Valerie tried pulling us to run with the other children.We could not move as we stared at the big man, who was holding a gun.Then, another burly man came in with a picture and pointed at both at us. Both of them came to us. Mrs.Geraldine ran and tried protecting Valerie and us, but the second man forcifully pushed her away and she hit her head to wall, instantly knocking her out. “Which one?” The first burly man asked, smiling. The second one grabbed me like a toy, “This one, blue eyes.”He had an evil laugh. “Get her to the van.” The first one told him and he followed, bringing me outside the pre-school. I cried and kicked him to let me go. He ordered me to shut up, and struggled with me. I bit his arm and quickly dropped me. I fell onto the hard floor but ignored the pain that flowed through my small body, and quickly ran for my life. Even though how fast I ran, he still caught up to me and covered my nose with some strange smelling substance. Before I knew it, I became unconscious.

When I woke up, I was in some warehouse full of boxes. I was tied to a baby chair to small for me, and it was very uncomfortable. I cried and cried till my eyes were itchy I tried to reach it to ease the itchiness. “Shut up!” I recognised the second burly’s man voice. “Liam! Go check on her!” I didn’t know who Liam was, and was terrified. He came down a flight of stairs that covered his whole self. I only saw his shadow. He seemed like my age. When light shone on him, I thought I was having a crush at first sight. He was the most handsome boy my eyes looked upon on. His face was pure and innocent and he didn’t know what was going on. He approached me and put his little finger on my thin lips. “Shh.” He whispered and smiled. I smiled too, my terrified feelings about him quickly washed away. “What’s your name?” He asked, entranced by me too. “Tessa.” I said in my child voice. “I am Liam. What are you doing here?” I shrugged my shoulders, pointing to the rope tightening around my waist and arms. “Oh.” He merely took out a pocket knife from his pocket and cut the ropes swiftly, freeing me.“Here,” He smiled, looked as if he were very mature and knew what he was doing. “Thank you” I hugged him, and he used his mature strength to carry me out of the baby chair. I felt relieved and gratified towards him, and wanted to give him a kiss on his cheek, however suddenly Liam’s knife dropped from his loose pocket, making a loud ‘ting’ on the smooth cement floor that echoed through the big warehouse.
“What was that?” The second man peered through the window overlooking Liam and I. He was shocked to see me free from the ropes and stumbled out of his chair and threw the newspaper in his side to hurry down. Liam shocked too, realised what he had just done, hurried me out of the warehouse. He held my cold hand tightly, and pulled me to run faster out of the exit. It felt like a fairy tale; A Cinderella fairy tale. I was the poor, abused twin sister away from my other sister, and Liam was the prince charming who rescued me in the end. Even though, we out ran the burly man in the end, we still had trouble.

I thought we were safe when we were in the city but we weren’t. We were lost. Being only seven year olds, we did not know our way through the urban jungle. We senselessly walked around, still held each others hands tightly. Many people thought we were so adorable being a young couple, some old ladies made, ‘tsk tsk’ sounds at us, but we didn’t care. We were in danger, for sure.

Suddenly, at the corner of the junction, the second burly man came out of nowhere, into our sight. Now, he held two guns, with a evil expression pasted on his face. He ran to us, crazily. “Come here, don’t be afraid.” He shot the gun anyhow, aiming it at various innocent people. Unexpectedly, one shot came into Liam’s right leg, causing him to fall back. Blood flowed continuously out of his leg, making me feel sick. Liam was strong and tried to stand up, but couldn’t.

“Go, run! He’s coming!” Liam waved me away, pain slowly creeping up towards him. “No, I won’t leave you! Liam, I love you!” my blue eyes became watery like the ocean, trying to pull him up, tears dropping onto my stained dress. “It’s okay. If I don’t make it, I will remember you forever. But, you have to make it. Leave, for my sake, Tessa. I love you.” Liam tried smiling but couldn’t too, more blood gushed out. The crazy man saw Liam and seemed delighted at his aiming, and wanted to shoot me too. I whispered and kissed him on his cheek, “Love you, Liam.” And my shadow disappeared into the crowd, leaving my love on the pavement, in pain. I didn’t have a choice.

The crazy man didn’t find for me for the past few week. I slept on benches, ate leftovers that kind people gave me. I didn’t even know where I was. I thought of finding Liam, but I didn’t knew the streets well. I went to a phone booth without change. I was lost and lonely. I didn’t know what to do.

I went to an abandoned playground, which was old and desolated. The swings were lousy and broken, the slide cracked in the middle. I wondered what type of children could have made such a playground become it’s present state.I sat on the end of the slide, and put my chin on my palm, feeling terrible.

I’ve been lost in this urban jungle for the one month already. Wasn’t anyone worried about me? My twin sister should have told someone about my abduction and there should be police searching for me right then but no one approached me. I lost hope, eventually. Lost hope of ever finding my family again, or finding Liam ever again.

Then, a lose crack of hope shone on me. A couple passed by the playground and saw me. They whispered some language foreign to me and went up to me. I was afraid of the people there, and avoided them too. “I won’t hurt you.” Said the pretty lady who touched my dirty hair. She was very beautiful and looked friendly. So, I let her carry me and for the first time for the past month, I felt warmth and love, from strangers.

They brought me back home and bathed me. It felt so refreshing and nice. I put on my washed dress, with comfort and ease. I didn’t even know who were these lovely people, but I felt very grateful to them. The couple let me roam their house which was very big and nicely-furnished. There were two floors. The ground floor had the living room, the drawing room and the kitchen. The upper floor had 4 bedrooms, had a small toilet. All the bedrooms were beautifully decorated with a queen-sized bed in every one. The walls were all white; plain but simple. Their room was the most decorated. The walls were light purple, with a big king-sized bed in the middle. They had white translucent curtains hanging from the top of the bed, making it seem very enchanting. The bedroom faced the hectic city but in the room, it felt very serene and nice. The best part of their room was that at the far end of it, was a rocking pony. It was antique but very unique, like those in a merry-go-round. I loved it very much, and sat on it nearly the whole time. The unique details of the pony made me wonder who could have actually done such a wonderful creation. The couple saw that I loved it very much and said that they would give it to me. “Really?” I replied in joy and shock. It was so beautiful, how could they give it to someone like me? “Yes, child.” The lady touched my head. The man asked, “Child, you haven’t told us your name yet.” I looked at them, and said jubilantly, “My name is Tessa Fang.” They gasped. I was kind of surprised at their expression and sad. I was thinking that they knew about what happened to me and would kick me out of their house. But, no. I was also very surprised when suddenly the lady hugged me to her chest. “Oh, Tessa. I’m really sorry.” “Why, Miss?” I asked curiously. I knew that I had disappeared from my family, but I didn’t know the rest.

“The police who was searching for you all over USA, and… and they found you dead at a dumping ground, just a month ago.”

I was frozen, like that time at the pre-school. I was “dead”. Everyone thought I was dead, my friends thought I was dead, my parents thought I was dead, my own twin sister thought I was dead. Terra Fang was no more, I am nobody, I had no identity.

I cried, cried, cried till my heart could not take it anymore. The couple asked if I wanted to go home.I shook my head, my tears fluttering everywhere. I didn’t want to go home to everyone who think I didn’t exist anymore. I rather be someone new, someone with another identity. Even though I was only seven years old, I didn’t understand I felt like a twenty year old that was mature and could handle things on their own. The couple didn’t persisted in me going home, even allowing me to stay with them. “Thank you.”I hugged both of them dearly. This is my story; this is how I got to know my parents. When we had dinner together, we had the antique television switched on. We watched the news, the news of my “disappearance” and “death”. The news reporter announced,

“Seven-year-old Tessa Fang was found dead at the foot of Rose Dumping Grounds on Thirteenth September at 3.45 a.m. Police had K-9 dogs sniff out Tessa using a piece of cloth from her dress that the kidnappers tore. She was abducted at 8.05 a.m at Rose Hill Pre-school. The children were not injured however, the teacher who bravely protected the children, Mrs. Kristan Geraldines,had a brain damage and went into a coma yesterday in the hospital. Parents of the seven year old, were very distraught, told the news they were couldn’t believe this was happening to them. ‘My precious Tessa. How could my daughter suddenly vanish so fast? No, this cannot be happening.’ Her twin sister, Terra Fang, was very upset too. ‘Waaah, Tessa! Where are you! How can I live without you!Tessa!’

“The police are trying their best to track down the men who were said to be the escaped convicts that they were searching for. However, police are still nut-cracked on what motive they had to kidnap and kill Tessa. Witness and friend, Valerie Sands helped in their investigation and remembered them saying they wanted Tessa, who had blue eyes. Further investigation will be done and police asking more witnesses to come and state what had happened. Now for more breaking news, Flor… …”

I didn’t cry like I thought I would. Probably I cried all that I could cry. Ionly felt a numb pain in my heart, as I was causing pain to my family who thought I was dead, but I was merely a million miles away.

That following morning, when I woke up, I rolled to my side. I would usually see my twin sister, still asleep and snoring away. But just the cool wind flowing from the open window was cooling the empty space beside me. My heart ached even more and the thought of actually being away from my loved ones for so long, I felt I couldn’t make it.

One day, the couple brought me to an agency and registered me as their child as “Tessa Leanne Jones.” I told them I liked the name very much. They smiled and was satisfied that I didn’t mind. Then, it was already a few months after the incident, so I got over it soon, enjoying time with my new parents. We went to a saloon and cut my horribly long brown hair to shoulder length and cut my long fringe to bangs. I was very happy and I knew they loved me.
While walking down the pavement, we passed by an electric appliances store . It displayed many sets of televisions which people were curiously watching. We joined them in seeing what was so interesting. I regretted.

There in the news, they were announcing a casualty that had happened. My fears were beating faster in my heart as the same announcer spoke,
“……ra Fang was pronounced dead in a car accident. She was being driven by her parents when a drunk driver of a lorry crashed into their car, causing her to get flung out of the car, instantly dying at the scene.”

I couldn’t speak. My parents quickly carried me away, knowing what my reaction would be. I couldn’t sleep for the past few nights. I couldn’t eat or do anything too. Everything in mind was jumbled up, and my parents were not sure of letting me stay here. But,

“No, mama and papa. I want to stay here. I don’t want to go back.”

My parents did not argue and took care of me for the past eight years.

From that day, I vowed to myself that I would leave my past behind and I was Tessa Jones, nothing else.

The memory of my twin sister, was a distant one. Like I had locked her in a precious part of my mind far far away in a glass box, very precious and fragile as if it could break any moment. I kept the key in my bottom of my heart, never going to open it again.

Tessa

Chapter Three : Dead

I crawled into my side of the bed, cuddly and warm. The cold wind in Mexico was making us shiver. I slept beside Heidi and Sammy slept between her and Ceilia. Ceilia was new to our home and needed more space and guidance. She was shy and cute, being only five years old. Her parents killed themselves at her fourth birthday, they were potentially bankrupt and decided to end their lives, as they thought it was “useless” living. Poor Ceilia. But, we were very nice to her and treated her like our sister. Ceilia is going to love being a Jones.

Heidi was one year younger than me. She had parents but they weren’t good ones. They abused her and treated her like a slave.Once, she told me that they forced her to drink down her own urine, life was horrible for Heidi.However, mama and papa saved her and brought her to their home when she was ten, when they saw life was unbearable for Heidi.She told me everything, from when she young, she didn’t get enough milk and resulted in the lack of nutrients, that sent her straight to the hospital, near dying. But, this doctor saved her many times. Dr.Renee, she was the greatest doctor I’ve ever seen. She saved many lives, including mine when I suffered from my asthma attack. I was so grateful of her ever-persistent spirit of saving lives.

Sammy was the only boy in the family, and he was mama and papa’s real son. He was cheerful and happy to be able have three big sisters, as he was only three years old. He was Mexican, so he had black curls and fairly tan skin.He was the cutest boy I’ve ever seen and the most chubbiest!

Well, for me, um, I was first to be “saved”. It’s kind of uncomfortable to say this but anyway I will.

It was 1997. The date I remembered was 12 September.I was only seven years old when it happened.

During the time when I was in pre-school, I was playing blocks with my twin sister, Terra. I also remembered this girl too, Valerie Sands. She was very nice and friendly.Then, out of a sudden, this big and burly guy kicked open the door and everyone screamed. The teacher, Mrs.Geraldines, hurried us to safety and protected us.I was frozen with Terra beside me, Valerie tried pulling us to run with the other children.We could not move as we stared at the big man, who was holding a gun.Then, another burly man came in with a picture and pointed at both at us. Both of them came to us. Mrs.Geraldine ran and tried protecting Valerie and us, but the second man forcifully pushed her away and she hit her head to wall, instantly knocking her out. “Which one?” The first burly man asked, smiling. The second one grabbed me like a toy, “This one, blue eyes.”He had an evil laugh. “Get her to the van.” The first one told him and he followed, bringing me outside the pre-school. I cried and kicked him to let me go. He ordered me to shut up, and struggled with me. I bit his arm and quickly dropped me. I fell onto the hard floor but ignored the pain that flowed through my small body, and quickly ran for my life. Even though how fast I ran, he still caught up to me and covered my nose with some strange smelling substance. Before I knew it, I became unconscious.

When I woke up, I was in some warehouse full of boxes. I was tied to a baby chair to small for me, and it was very uncomfortable. I cried and cried till my eyes were itchy I tried to reach it to ease the itchiness. “Shut up!” I recognised the second burly’s man voice. “Liam! Go check on her!” I didn’t know who Liam was, and was terrified. He came down a flight of stairs that covered his whole self. I only saw his shadow. He seemed like my age. When light shone on him, I thought I was having a crush at first sight. He was the most handsome boy my eyes looked upon on. His face was pure and innocent and he didn’t know what was going on. He approached me and put his little finger on my thin lips. “Shh.” He whispered and smiled. I smiled too, my terrified feelings about him quickly washed away. “What’s your name?” He asked, entranced by me too. “Tessa.” I said in my child voice. “I am Liam. What are you doing here?” I shrugged my shoulders, pointing to the rope tightening around my waist and arms. “Oh.” He merely took out a pocket knife from his pocket and cut the ropes swiftly, freeing me.“Here,” He smiled, looked as if he were very mature and knew what he was doing. “Thank you” I hugged him, and he used his mature strength to carry me out of the baby chair. I felt relieved and gratified towards him, and wanted to give him a kiss on his cheek, however suddenly Liam’s knife dropped from his loose pocket, making a loud ‘ting’ on the smooth cement floor that echoed through the big warehouse.
“What was that?” The second man peered through the window overlooking Liam and I. He was shocked to see me free from the ropes and stumbled out of his chair and threw the newspaper in his side to hurry down. Liam shocked too, realised what he had just done, hurried me out of the warehouse. He held my cold hand tightly, and pulled me to run faster out of the exit. It felt like a fairy tale; A Cinderella fairy tale. I was the poor, abused twin sister away from my other sister, and Liam was the prince charming who rescued me in the end. Even though, we out ran the burly man in the end, we still had trouble.

I thought we were safe when we were in the city but we weren’t. We were lost. Being only seven year olds, we did not know our way through the urban jungle. We senselessly walked around, still held each others hands tightly. Many people thought we were so adorable being a young couple, some old ladies made, ‘tsk tsk’ sounds at us, but we didn’t care. We were in danger, for sure.

Suddenly, at the corner of the junction, the second burly man came out of nowhere, into our sight. Now, he held two guns, with a evil expression pasted on his face. He ran to us, crazily. “Come here, don’t be afraid.” He shot the gun anyhow, aiming it at various innocent people. Unexpectedly, one shot came into Liam’s right leg, causing him to fall back. Blood flowed continuously out of his leg, making me feel sick. Liam was strong and tried to stand up, but couldn’t.

“Go, run! He’s coming!” Liam waved me away, pain slowly creeping up towards him. “No, I won’t leave you! Liam, I love you!” my blue eyes became watery like the ocean, trying to pull him up, tears dropping onto my stained dress. “It’s okay. If I don’t make it, I will remember you forever. But, you have to make it. Leave, for my sake, Tessa. I love you.” Liam tried smiling but couldn’t too, more blood gushed out. The crazy man saw Liam and seemed delighted at his aiming, and wanted to shoot me too. I whispered and kissed him on his cheek, “Love you, Liam.” And my shadow disappeared into the crowd, leaving my love on the pavement, in pain. I didn’t have a choice.

The crazy man didn’t find for me for the past few week. I slept on benches, ate leftovers that kind people gave me. I didn’t even know where I was. I thought of finding Liam, but I didn’t knew the streets well. I went to a phone booth without change. I was lost and lonely. I didn’t know what to do.

I went to an abandoned playground, which was old and desolated. The swings were lousy and broken, the slide cracked in the middle. I wondered what type of children could have made such a playground become it’s present state.I sat on the end of the slide, and put my chin on my palm, feeling terrible.

I’ve been lost in this urban jungle for the one month already. Wasn’t anyone worried about me? My twin sister should have told someone about my abduction and there should be police searching for me right then but no one approached me. I lost hope, eventually. Lost hope of ever finding my family again, or finding Liam ever again.

Then, a lose crack of hope shone on me. A couple passed by the playground and saw me. They whispered some language foreign to me and went up to me. I was afraid of the people there, and avoided them too. “I won’t hurt you.” Said the pretty lady who touched my dirty hair. She was very beautiful and looked friendly. So, I let her carry me and for the first time for the past month, I felt warmth and love, from strangers.

They brought me back home and bathed me. It felt so refreshing and nice. I put on my washed dress, with comfort and ease. I didn’t even know who were these lovely people, but I felt very grateful to them. The couple let me roam their house which was very big and nicely-furnished. There were two floors. The ground floor had the living room, the drawing room and the kitchen. The upper floor had 4 bedrooms, had a small toilet. All the bedrooms were beautifully decorated with a queen-sized bed in every one. The walls were all white; plain but simple. Their room was the most decorated. The walls were light purple, with a big king-sized bed in the middle. They had white translucent curtains hanging from the top of the bed, making it seem very enchanting. The bedroom faced the hectic city but in the room, it felt very serene and nice. The best part of their room was that at the far end of it, was a rocking pony. It was antique but very unique, like those in a merry-go-round. I loved it very much, and sat on it nearly the whole time. The unique details of the pony made me wonder who could have actually done such a wonderful creation. The couple saw that I loved it very much and said that they would give it to me. “Really?” I replied in joy and shock. It was so beautiful, how could they give it to someone like me? “Yes, child.” The lady touched my head. The man asked, “Child, you haven’t told us your name yet.” I looked at them, and said jubilantly, “My name is Tessa Fang.” They gasped. I was kind of surprised at their expression and sad. I was thinking that they knew about what happened to me and would kick me out of their house. But, no. I was also very surprised when suddenly the lady hugged me to her chest. “Oh, Tessa. I’m really sorry.” “Why, Miss?” I asked curiously. I knew that I had disappeared from my family, but I didn’t know the rest.

“The police who was searching for you all over USA, and… and they found you dead at a dumping ground, just a month ago.”

I was frozen, like that time at the pre-school. I was “dead”. Everyone thought I was dead, my friends thought I was dead, my parents thought I was dead, my own twin sister thought I was dead. Terra Fang was no more, I am nobody, I had no identity.

I cried, cried, cried till my heart could not take it anymore. The couple asked if I wanted to go home.I shook my head, my tears fluttering everywhere. I didn’t want to go home to everyone who think I didn’t exist anymore. I rather be someone new, someone with another identity. Even though I was only seven years old, I didn’t understand I felt like a twenty year old that was mature and could handle things on their own. The couple didn’t persisted in me going home, even allowing me to stay with them. “Thank you.”I hugged both of them dearly. This is my story; this is how I got to know my parents. When we had dinner together, we had the antique television switched on. We watched the news, the news of my “disappearance” and “death”. The news reporter announced,

“Seven-year-old Tessa Fang was found dead at the foot of Rose Dumping Grounds on Thirteenth September at 3.45 a.m. Police had K-9 dogs sniff out Tessa using a piece of cloth from her dress that the kidnappers tore. She was abducted at 8.05 a.m at Rose Hill Pre-school. The children were not injured however, the teacher who bravely protected the children, Mrs. Kristan Geraldines,had a brain damage and went into a coma yesterday in the hospital. Parents of the seven year old, were very distraught, told the news they were couldn’t believe this was happening to them. ‘My precious Tessa. How could my daughter suddenly vanish so fast? No, this cannot be happening.’ Her twin sister, Terra Fang, was very upset too. ‘Waaah, Tessa! Where are you! How can I live without you!Tessa!’

“The police are trying their best to track down the men who were said to be the escaped convicts that they were searching for. However, police are still nut-cracked on what motive they had to kidnap and kill Tessa. Witness and friend, Valerie Sands helped in their investigation and remembered them saying they wanted Tessa, who had blue eyes. Further investigation will be done and police asking more witnesses to come and state what had happened. Now for more breaking news, Flor… …”

I didn’t cry like I thought I would. Probably I cried all that I could cry. Ionly felt a numb pain in my heart, as I was causing pain to my family who thought I was dead, but I was merely a million miles away.

That following morning, when I woke up, I rolled to my side. I would usually see my twin sister, still asleep and snoring away. But just the cool wind flowing from the open window was cooling the empty space beside me. My heart ached even more and the thought of actually being away from my loved ones for so long, I felt I couldn’t make it.

One day, the couple brought me to an agency and registered me as their child as “Tessa Leanne Jones.” I told them I liked the name very much. They smiled and was satisfied that I didn’t mind. Then, it was already a few months after the incident, so I got over it soon, enjoying time with my new parents. We went to a saloon and cut my horribly long brown hair to shoulder length and cut my long fringe to bangs. I was very happy and I knew they loved me.
While walking down the pavement, we passed by an electric appliances store . It displayed many sets of televisions which people were curiously watching. We joined them in seeing what was so interesting. I regretted.

There in the news, they were announcing a casualty that had happened. My fears were beating faster in my heart as the same announcer spoke,
“……ra Fang was pronounced dead in a car accident. She was being driven by her parents when a drunk driver of a lorry crashed into their car, causing her to get flung out of the car, instantly dying at the scene.”

I couldn’t speak. My parents quickly carried me away, knowing what my reaction would be. I couldn’t sleep for the past few nights. I couldn’t eat or do anything too. Everything in mind was jumbled up, and my parents were not sure of letting me stay here. But,

“No, mama and papa. I want to stay here. I don’t want to go back.”

My parents did not argue and took care of me for the past eight years.

From that day, I vowed to myself that I would leave my past behind and I was Tessa Jones, nothing else.

The memory of my twin sister, was a distant one. Like I had locked her in a precious part of my mind far far away in a glass box, very precious and fragile as if it could break any moment. I kept the key in my bottom of my heart, never going to open it again.