chen yet Elena's thoughts seemed to be miles away. It is a week after finding out about Paul's troubling past and it surely has displeased

Could she have trusted him so comple

shot of Paul, herself, and Steven at the park. The smiles were real, the laughter real. It had been a simpler

rator, the drip of the coffee pot, and even the distant sounds of the neighborhood outside all were made silent beneat

ing dark, hollowed eyes devoid of light. Faded signals of rage were curdled on his forehead as muscles on his face slackened,

said, sounded

ing. Peculiar and frustrating sounds which came from various parts of her body suggested everything and nothing, all at the same time. A se

ing which had sulked around him ever so often. "You know I have be

I want you t

t lips. Somewhere deep into Elena's eyes, Paul was alarmed to fi

his tone. Still, guarded fragility lurked beneath the surface, as though it c

e had never talked about, the children who were a part of his past that she had no idea existed. The thought of meeting them

r mind vague if she was a

asping onto the idyllic suburban setting before finally resting on Paul's picture--markedly different from what she was used to. Surro

st, "I didn't know he had children." It

on the wall and family photos lying all over the place struck her emotionally and she immediately felt h

l's daughters stood side by

se and her sister Lily once. I used to attend after school a

ena

om her thoughts, forcing her to

aid as she sighed with relief for not forget

s aroun

side in welcoming gesture

as easy as you m

ghts as she heard the arguing voices of

oke into her reverie. It was Maria, mothe

she sank into the couch and pl

ease. Over the years she had seen the twins

n, his family, from her all this time? She had a sudden twinge of guilt that

ey went to parks, baked cookies and told stories about their lives. The unease that had initially

their life. But the more she got to know them, the more she felt like one of the family. One night, when they were sitti

na's heart skipped a beat. She was staring at the girl, her love and hat

n her larger ones. "I accept with honor," she whispered, her vo

top of you. At that moment she realized her life would never, ever, be the same again. She

allenges and delights that accompany such a novel behavioral structure. It was certainly not always easy, but they figured it out. There were moments of laughter, moments of stress, and moments of

the handwriting neat yet stark. Within was a singular legal document, its contents brie

tter sent a chill down her spine. Who was sen

little information. Then, one day, she accidentally came upon something that made her blood run cold--Paul's ex-wife, Clara, had disappeared under mysterious fact

hin Elena as she angrily

from his quivering lips, 'One morn she was with us, and the next morn, not a soul knew her.' " But Elena would not be placated so easily. Too many missing pieces, questions without answers, as her mind gnawed relentlessly at the mystery w

lena received

voice on the other end said, its tone lo

ry gut feeling telling her to be careful,

o people, its silence scary and disturbing.And then, in the distance, she saw a looming fig

lowly turned around, and Elena gasped sharply as she was confronted with a spectral reflection of her own pale visage, and discovered tha

o thin air," Clara stated in a haunted and

he shriek of tires violently protesting against the wet pavement split the fearsome silence of the night like a knife; a foreboding black car had come

uted, panic risi

run away but a sharp pain shot throug