by Andy Coltart
They walked from the station to the end of Riley’s street.
‘Well this is where I leave you,’ said Casey.
‘You’ll call later, right?’ said Riley.
‘Yeah of course,’ said Casey. The girls hugged and then went their separate ways. Riley walked down her road. It seemed eerily quiet. It wasn’t a time of day she normally saw the street as she was always in school at this time.
As she arrived outside her house she paused where the sidewalk met the path. Looking at the house she wondered what had been going on inside there in the last few days. She hoped her mum would be pleased to see her and not too angry. She stepped onto the path and made her way to the front door and let herself in. Once inside she made her way to her room. Everything was exactly as she had left it. She took off her shoes and dived face first onto the bed. She just lay there for a few minutes relieved to be home.
Casey arrived home around the same time as Riley. Her house was empty too, much to her relief. But this was the plan: to be home before anyone in the family. She knew her mum would be home soon so she also went to her room to unpack. Once she’d finished she made her way downstairs and sat herself on the sofa in the lounge. She was less hopeful of a warm reception from her mum. She knew her mum wasn’t likely to believe anything she’d say so she was happy with Riley’s suggestion of not knowing what had happened for the last few days.
Suddenly the sound of a key turning in the door made Riley sit up on the bed. Her heart was pounding with a mixture of fear and excitement. Her mum and siblings were home from school! What would they think of her being there? She stood up as she heard them coming into the house.
Mr Manning’s plane had just landed at the local airport and was making its way to the terminal building.
‘Can all passengers please make sure you collect all belongings from the overhead lockers and the seats in front of you, thank you,’ said the flight attendant.
As the plane came to a standstill Mr Manning got up and collected his bag from the overhead locker and made his way down the aisle to the exit.
‘Right, you two,’ said Mrs Bennett, ‘go and get out of those uniforms please.’ The twins ran up the stairs. As they reached the top they saw their sister standing in the doorway to her room.
‘RILEY!’ they both shouted as loudly as they could before rushing forward and hugging her. Riley’s mum, hearing them, stopped what she was doing and ran up the stairs. She stopped at the top to catch her breath and couldn’t quite believe her eyes. There were all three of her children in one big hug. She stepped forward and the twins grabbed her and pulled her into the family hug. They all just stood there for a minute holding each other.
Casey was just walking through the hall to the kitchen when her mum opened the door. Not expecting anyone to be in Mrs Johnson dropping the shopping she was carrying and then screaming!
‘Mum, it’s me!’ said Casey. Mrs Johnson, hearing her daughter’s voice stopped screaming and finally focussed on who was there. Her heart still pounding, she said ‘Casey?’ ‘Yeah, it’s me, Mum,’ came the reply. Mrs Johnson ran forward, nearly falling over the shopping. She threw her arms round Casey and hugged her.
Mr Manning’s Mercedes could be heard pulling up the gravel driveway. Alex had opened the front door and was stood on the step as his father got out of the car.
‘Alex!’ said Mr Manning in a surprised, but relieved voice. He left the car door open and the bag on the seat and ran over to hug his son.
‘Are you okay, son? I’ve been so worried about you,’ he said.
‘I’m okay,’ said Alex.
Chapter 15
Questions and Answers
‘Let me just grab my bag from the car, then we can go inside and have a chat,’ said Alex’s father. Alex wanted to sit and talk with his father. It wasn’t something they did enough of. However, he was worried about what his father would ask him and whether he’d accept Alex’s answers.
Riley, her mum and the twins finally separated.
‘Right you two, go and get changed whilst Riley and I talk,’ said Mrs Bennett.
The twins went off to their rooms and Riley followed her mum back downstairs to the kitchen. As she sat down her mum put the kettle on.
‘Do you want some tea or coffee?’ she asked.
‘A coffee please, Mum,’ replied Riley. A few minutes later they were both sat at the island with hot drinks.
‘Where have you been for the last three days?’ asked Riley’s mum.
‘I really don’t know,’ said Riley.
‘What do you mean you don’t know? Surely you must have some idea,’ said her mum. Riley felt awkward, she didn’t like keeping things from her mum but had agreed with the others not to share anything about their invisibility.
‘I remember being in hospital,’ said Riley, ‘and you being there.’
‘Go on,’ said her mum.
‘I remember taking a shower and you going off with the twins for lunch. I also remember getting an awful pain in my head like a burning sensation,’ said Riley.
‘When was this?’ asked her mum.
‘I’m guessing while you were at lunch with the twins,’ she said.
‘What else do you remember?’ asked her mum.
‘Being here and the twins running up the stairs just now,’ said Riley.
‘And you can’t recall anything in between?’ asked her mum.
‘No,’ said Riley, adding ‘am I going to be okay, Mum?’ Mrs Bennett relaxed her interrogators voice a little in response to this question.
‘Of course you are, sweetheart,’ she said getting up from her seat to give Riley another hug.
Casey and her mum walked through to the lounge, still hugging. Casey couldn’t remember the last time they’d hugged but was in no rush for this one to end. They sat down on the sofa and Casey waited for the questions to begin.
‘So,’ said her mum, ‘where have you been for the last three days?’
‘I don’t know,’ replied Casey.
‘What do you mean you don’t know? You must know. No one disappears for three days and doesn’t know where they’ve been!’ Mrs Johnson was sounding angry and frustrated. Casey decided that even if she did tell her the truth she wouldn’t believe it anyway.
‘Honestly, Mum,’ she said. ‘I don’t know. I remember being in hospital and getting this awful burning pain in my head and then seeing you come in the house a few minutes ago.’
‘That’s ridiculous,’ said Mrs Johnson.
‘It’s true and I don’t even know how I got here,’ said Casey. ‘Did you bring me home?’ she added.
That question made Mrs Johnson pause for a moment. Perhaps Casey genuinely had got a gap in her memory.
Alex made some coffee for his father and they sat in the kitchen to talk.
‘Well,’ said Mr Manning, ‘where have you been the last three days?’ Alex replied the same way Riley and Casey had done. His father didn’t really understand how this was possible. He did however, suggest this lapse in memory could be due to the lightning strike and/or the brain burn Alex described.
All in all, it looked as if the three of them had been successful in convincing their parents they had no knowledge of the last three days. But then all of them were told the same thing.
‘We will have to go back to the hospital in the morning. Doctor Wu wants to carry out another brain scan and with your brain burn and memory loss he will definitely need to take a close look at the results.’ Riley, Casey and Alex all sat in silence in their different homes, having heard this same statement from their different parents, each wondering what such a scan might reveal.
Riley’s mum got up from the island.
‘I need to get dinner on,’ she said.
‘Would you like some help?’ asked Riley.
‘Yes, that would be great,’ said her mum sounding pleasantly surprised. The two of them spent the next half an hour preparing some Spaghetti Bolognese before calling the twins down from thei
r rooms to eat.
After dinner Casey’s mum called the police to let them know her daughter had shown up at the house. A few minutes later the FBI called her back wanting to arrange an interview. Mrs Johnson suggested doing this at the hospital in the morning as she was taking Casey in to see Doctor Wu. The FBI agreed and then call Mr Manning and Mrs Bennett to arrange to do the same with them.
‘Well,’ said Mr Manning, ‘that was the FBI on the phone. Looks like they want to speak to you and the girls at the hospital tomorrow.’
‘Do we have to go?’ said Alex, knowing full well what the answer would be.
‘Definitely,’ said his father. ‘We need some answers and this is the best way to get them.’
Later that evening Riley, Casey and Alex went online and chatted as a group. They each shared how their parents had reacted and what they’d been asked. They discussed what the morning would bring with another hospital trip and another brain scan. They also agreed to stick to the same story with the FBI.
‘So, are you glad to be home?’ Casey asked Riley. ‘Yeah I am, but I am missing you guys,’ she replied. ‘We’re missing you too,’ said Alex.
‘Least we can be together at the hospital,’ said Riley.
‘Best not be too familiar though because as far as our parents are concerned we don’t all know each other,’ said Alex.
‘Good point,’ said Riley.
‘Well, we have a big day ahead of us tomorrow so I suggest we all get some sleep,’ said Casey.
‘Since when did you become the responsible one?’ said Alex laughing. They all said goodnight and ended the conversation.
Riley got changed for bed. It was so nice to be sleeping in her own bed again. It wasn’t that Alex’s house was at all uncomfortable, but there is something nice about being curled up under the covers in your own bed. Riley grabbed one of the teddys at the end of the bed and slid under the covers to go to sleep.
‘You up yet?’ shouted Casey’s mum the next morning. ‘Yes, Mum,’ she said as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes. Climbing out of bed she made her way to the bathroom.
‘Don’t take forever in there!’ shouted her mum from downstairs.
‘I won’t,’ said Casey as she stood staring at her reflection in the bathroom mirror.
‘What is going on in that head of yours?’ she said to herself. She’d started to experience feelings she’d never had before in the last few days. She kept staring, hoping her reflection might provide an answer, but nothing came. Distracted from her gaze by her mum shouting again, she focused on getting showered and dressed.
After breakfast Mrs Bennett dropped the twins off with a friend.
‘Thanks for taking them to school for me,’ she said. ‘I’m just glad it’s the weekend tomorrow. It’s been a hell of a week,’ she added.
‘No problem,’ said her friend as the twins ran past her into the house.
‘Well I’d better get this one back to the hospital,’ said Mrs Bennett, looking over her shoulder at Riley.
‘Well don’t worry about the twins,’ said her friend. ‘I can pick them up too if you get held up at the hospital.’ ‘Thank you,’ said Mrs Bennett as she got back into the car.
Alex and his father got out of the car in the hospital car park.
‘Do you know where we are going?’ asked Alex.
‘Yes, to the Neurology Unit,’ said his father. Alex’s eyes had gotten worse as the week had gone on and he now needed his father’s arm to help guide him.
‘I hope they can figure out what’s happened to your sight from this next scan,’ said his father.
‘So do I,’ said Alex.
Alex and his father walked into the Neurology outpatient reception area to find Casey and Riley already there.
‘Hi,’ said Riley to Alex, ‘I’m Riley, one of the girls hit by lightning. Do you remember talking to me in hospital?’
‘Yeah I do. I’m Alex,’ he replied. Mrs Johnson suggested the three teenagers sit down together whilst the parents talk to reception. Riley, Casey and Alex were fine with that as it gave them the excuse they were looking for to be together.
‘How are you doing?’ Casey asked Alex.
‘My eyes are getting worse,’ he said.
‘Yeah, we noticed you holding your father’s arm,’ said Riley.
‘Other than that I’m fine though,’ he added. ‘How about you two?’
‘Okay,’ said Riley, ‘just nervous about these tests and FBI interviews.’
‘You’ll be fine,’ said Casey, placing her hand on Riley’s. ‘If you had a mother like mine you wouldn’t worry about the FBI,’ Casey said. ‘Every conversation is an interrogation!’ The others smiled at her.
The parents seemed to be in discussions with staff at the reception desk. Suddenly, all of them were standing over Riley, Casey and Alex. The three teenagers stood up. As they did, the parents moved aside to let Doctor Wu see their children.
‘Good morning, you three,’ he said, ‘nice to have you back with us. Perhaps this time we can get the tests finished and give you all some answers. I also a bit worried about your loss of memory.’
Riley, Casey and Alex plus their parents listened as Doctor Wu told them the plan for the day. It included brain scans followed by FBI interviews and finally a meeting with medical staff to discuss results. Alex was also going to be seen by the consultant ophthalmologist in an attempt to sort out his eye problems.
Chapter 16
What Will the Doctor Say?
Everyone waited in the outpatient waiting room. They were all very quiet. One by one they were called through to have more detailed brain scans and another EEG. Alex went first as he would have to go on to Ophthalmology straight afterwards to have his eyes looked at again.
‘Riley,’ called the receptionist, ‘you’re next.’
Riley got up from her seat and walked towards the examination room door. She glanced back at Casey with a worried look on her face.
‘You’ll be fine,’ Casey mouthed silently. Riley gave a little smile and turned her head back to the door.
Once in the examination room Riley sat on the bed while the nurse attached the probes to her skull. It wasn’t a pleasant experience having electrodes glued to your scalp. Riley hated the mess the glue left in her hair almost as much as the procedure itself. Although it wasn’t physically painfully it was mentally challenging.
‘Okay, just relax while we do the scan,’ said the nurse. Relaxing was the last thing Riley was going to do. She didn’t want the procedure to trigger her invisibility, her epilepsy or reveal she knew what had happened in the last three days.
After several minutes of flickering lights and being asked to close her eyes, open her eyes, hold her breath etc. It was finally over and she was able to go back to her mum. Riley sat in the waiting room, picking glue from her blonde curls, whilst Casey went in for the procedure.
Once Casey reappeared Doctor Wu came by to collect the results from all three repeated EEGs.
‘I’ll see you all later in the outpatient reception,’ he said, ‘but for now the FBI would like to talk to you all in the hospital manager’s office on level one.’
‘What about Alex? He’s gone for a sight test,’ said Riley.
‘He will join you there,’ said Doctor Wu.
Riley, Casey and their mums walked round to the lift. It was the same one the three of them had used earlier in the week when they first became invisible.
‘Level one, wasn’t it?’ said Mrs Johnson.
‘Yes,’ said Riley’s mum as the lift doors closed. Mrs Bennett pressed the button and they waited for the lift to move. As the doors opened on level one they saw Alex holding his father’s arm as they walked past.
‘Hey guys,’ said Casey.
‘Oh, hello,’ said Mr Manning.
‘Are you heading to the manager’s office?’ asked Mrs Bennett.
‘Yes, we are,’ said Alex’s father.
The group made their way along the long corridor on l
evel one and arrived a few minutes later at the manager’s office. The door was open and inside were two FBI Agents and the hospital manager.
‘Come in,’ said the manager. ‘My name is Mr Vandenberg. Take a seat everyone.’ He made sure everyone was seated and then said, ‘I’m leaving you with these gentlemen, but I’ll call back on you all shortly.’ With that he left the room. Everyone’s attention moved to the two agents sat on the other side of the table.
‘Afternoon everyone, my name is Agent Kennedy and this is Agent Davis. We’ve already met some of you,’ he said. ‘We need to ask you three some questions as your absence has triggered a nationwide missing persons search,’ said Agent Davis, sounding slightly annoyed.
Riley, Casey and Alex all sat there feeling sick to the stomach, each hoping the others wouldn’t say anything to get them in trouble. They were all glad to be together for this though, less chance of something going wrong.
The agents clarified the points they knew, such as when the three of them had disappeared from the hospital. Riley was already thinking how wrong their facts were. They’d stayed the night in the hospital after they’d disappeared for example. She kept quiet though.
‘Okay,’ said Agent Kennedy. ‘So can you tell us where you have been since you were last seen in the hospital?’ One by one they each answered with a ‘no’.
Mrs Bennett helped by saying ‘We think they may have some sort of memory loss, perhaps caused by the lightning.’
‘Or they’re hiding something,’ replied Agent Davis.
Riley gave Casey a quick glance, looking very scared.
‘Are you saying our children are lying?’ said Mr Manning.
