One Wish, One Choice

by Abby Hope Patrick

  Miles spluttered a reply from across the room, “We can’t all be as perfectly created as you.”

  Saskia stared at both the boys. “Should I be jealous?”

  Miles pulled her into an extravagant kiss.

  “Ewww.” Anja gagged, “Stop being so happy, it makes me sick.”

  They didn’t seem to hear her. She turned back to Kano, trying to block out the noise of her friends kissing. “So… what were we talking about? Oh yes, how much Faye hates me.”

  He cleared his throat. “Yep, that was it.”

  They both smiled at each other, covering up the awkwardness. Anja was grateful that he wasn’t as hostile as Faye. “I’ve known her for less than an hour and she already hates me,” she complained.

  Kano’s lips curved into a smile.

  “Are you enjoying my pain?” Anja asked playfully. He ignored the question, the smile still on his lips.

  “Faye will come around eventually.” He paused. “She doesn’t trust anyone without them giving her a reason first.”

  She returned to staring at her laptop and continued to work. It didn’t take her long to wipe the camera’s footage completely.

  Miles told Kano all about Rufus going missing and the lack of information they had managed to collect since then.

  Kano began asking Anja questions,

  “So you’ve seen the footage of him being taken?” Anja nodded. “But you don’t know why.” She nodded again. “Well I’m not sure how much help we can be, but if there’s anything we can do, just ask.”

  “Thank you.”

  Miles flopped down next to her while she was scrolling through Rufus’s emails, trying to find anything worth noting.

  “Are you all right?” she asked him.

  “I’m still processing how weird life is now. I mean, we’re literally in hiding. That’s insane! Your brother was kidnapped, Saskia is a missing person, we’re staying in a tiny apartment, relying on Kano and his internship to feed us, and even if by some miracle it all gets sorted out, what do we have to go back to?”

  “At least we’ll have each other.”

  “Eww.”

  Anja jabbed him in the stomach.

  Faye slipped back into the room, finished with her sulking. Kano went to speak to her in the corner of the room.

  Miles caught her staring at Kano and leaned towards her, his voice a whisper, “I did offer to set you up with Kano, remember? And from the way you’re looking at him I’m going to guess you’re regretting saying no.”

  Anja rolled her eyes, “My brother is missing. An attractive guy is not going to distract me from finding him.”

  Miles grinned, “Well, you look pretty distracted.”

  Anja shot him a glare. “Anyway, isn’t he dating Faye?”

  Miles broke into exaggerated laughter, “Nope. They’re just friends.”

  She nodded in response before snapping her attention back to her work.

  After Kano and Faye finished their hushed argument, Faye nodded, then retreated to her room. After her door slammed Kano turned to Anja, who quickly pretended she hadn’t been watching.

  “We’ll grab you some bedding and set up a temporary bed for you on the sofa,” he said. “It isn’t very comfy, but it should do.”

  Anja could feel her body beginning to shut down, so once the bed was set up she wrapped a blanket around herself. But she was unable to stop thinking about the question Miles had asked.

  What do I have to go back to when I find Rufus? Is this it for me? I’ve condemned him to life under the radar… unless Jabez was serious and he’ll give me my job back…

  The thoughts faded as her mind shut down to sleep.

  * * *

  She was woken by hushed voices. Anja lifted herself up slightly to get a better view of the kitchen where everyone, apart from her, was standing.

  “I don’t understand why we’re helping her.” Faye’s voice was sharp, filling the room.

  “Because she’s my friend,” Miles protested, “and she needs help.”

  “Yeah well, I don’t care.”

  Saskia snapped, her tone sharp, “Well maybe you should, instead of making her already difficult life even harder.”

  “This is my apartment!” Faye threw her hands up.

  “Our apartment,” Kano corrected before she could reply he continued, “Helping her find her brother is going to involve a lot of risks and that means we all need to agree to it if it’s going to work.”

  “Maybe you should stop trying to be the hero in every situation, Kano.” Faye spat his name like a curse.

  Saskia cut in. “Maybe,” she replied, her tone mimicking Faye’s, “you should stop being so damn selfish, Faye. Her brother’s missing!” Saskia gave her a death glare. The two girls seemed ready to tear each other apart. “I know you didn’t want a family and that’s why you’re in this hell hole. But Anja’s here for her family.”

  Miles put his hand on Saskia’s before speaking up,

  “We need this place and you, Faye. So pretty please with sherbet on top, let her stay.”

  Saskia frowned, “Sherbet?”

  “Well, Faye is more sour than sweet, so I thought she’d prefer it.”

  From where Anja was, she could just make out a small smile playing on Faye’s lips before quickly disappearing.

  “Fine.”

  Saskia and Miles cheered and grabbed each other, dancing in the small space. Anja raised her voice to make sure they could hear her. “For the record, I think sherbet is great.”

  Every head snapped towards her.

  Kano fixed his eyes on her and smiled. “And what is Rufus like? Just so we know when we meet him.” His use of ‘when’ made her heart ache.

  She put on a smile as she said, “Salty, very salty.”

  * * *

  “Anja?” Saskia called as she descended the stairs the next morning with Faye right behind her.

  “Here,” she called back.

  “Have you moved from the sofa at all since we left?” Saskia asked as she placed her shopping on the counter in the small open kitchen.

  “I’m going to choose to not answer that question.”

  Saskia talked while she put away the food. “How’s the search for your brother going?”

  Anja sighed, “I still can’t figure out why they took him? I feel like if I knew why then I could figure out who…”

  “And if you figure out who then you’ll know where he is,” Saskia finished the sentence.

  She nodded slowly. “I’ve gone through his emails, school reports and even the homework he sent in, and there’s nothing. I don’t know why they took him,” Her voice cracked.

  Saskia rushed from the kitchen and wrapped her arms around Anja, who was trying very hard to keep it together.

  “He may not have looked special from the outside but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t. People can always surprise us.”

  “Yeah but he’s my brother, I would’ve known if there was something going on.”

  “Family can keep secrets too,” Saskia replied. Then she let go of Anja and stood up. “Time to distract you with food.”

  Once they had all eaten, Miles left to go have a nap, but not before Anja made fun of him for acting like an old man. Saskia stayed and cleaned up the kitchen and Faye left to go outside to smoke. Which meant it was just Kano and Anja left sitting on the sofa.

  Kano’s eyes caught hers. He moved so he was facing her.

  “So how are you coping with all this?” he asked.

  “I haven’t gone crazy yet, if that’s what you mean.” She fell silent, the smile disappearing from her face.

  He nodded.

  “Well, for the record I think you’re doing better than I would be.”

  Anja was listening but his words passed right through her. One question kept rising to the forefront of her mind until she had to ask. “Why exactly are you all helping me?” she blurted. “I know I’m a friend of Miles and all that, but that’s not enough reason to take i
n a complete stranger and go on a hunt for a lost boy who you’ve never met.”

  Kano seemed to consider this for a long moment. Finally, he began to explain, “Each one of us is in this apartment for a different reason. For me, it’s because I’m trying to make a new life for myself. For Faye, it’s because she needs freedom. For Saskia, it’s an escape. And for Miles, it’s for the girl he loves. You’re here to find your brother. None of us would be here if we only thought about our reasons. We’re helping you because you need it. Because at one point we’ve all needed help and we had each other for that. Now it’s our turn to help you.”

  Anja hadn’t cried in days, but she wanted to when hearing his words. Saying, “Thank you,” was all she could manage in reply before Faye stormed down the stairs.

  Her eyes found Anja and she huffed, “I see you’re still here.”

  “Where else would I go?”

  “I don’t know. I don’t care.” She charged past them and slammed her bedroom door shut.

  “She really hates you.” Kano was laughing.

  “This isn’t funny,” Anja protested, but she couldn’t help joining in. She made a mental note to try to make him smile more often.

  “I’m sorry, it’s just so nice to see her pissed off at someone else for a change. But I stick with what I said. She just needs to find a reason to trust you and it’ll be fine.”

  “She hates my guts, trust has nothing to do with it.”

  He looked at the door Faye had disappeared through. “That might be true.”

  “Can you zip it?” Faye groaned, poking her head around her bedroom door. Then the door slammed shut once again, leaving Kano and Anja in fits of suppressed laughter.

  They kept their voices low as they spoke. Anja told him the story of how she had been employed by the government and what had happened after she’d arrived in Okland. Kano just listened. He wasn’t much for talking but he was a truly brilliant listener.

  “And that’s when I met Miles,” she finished.

  “All good friendships begin with pizza.” His smile returned. It was a truly beautiful smile. It spread to his eyes and transformed his face.

  Anja talked about the day her brother went missing. “Nothing is harder than losing the person you love most,” she told him.

  “Yeah, I know.” The smile faded from his lips, replaced by a sad hollowness. They awkwardly fell into silence.

  Saskia cleared her throat, ducking out from the kitchen.

  “Damn,” she said. “That got depressing.”

  Anja chuckled and Kano smiled, even if it was half-hearted.

  “I’ll pick your next subject of conversation.” Saskia put her finger to her lip. “Um, how about you talk about what a fabulous cook I am? And while you’re on the subject of me, why don’t you just list all the reasons I’m an incredible person.”

  Anja raised her voice, “Miles, wake up, your girlfriend is trying to get us to boost her ego!”

  A few seconds later, Miles opened the door to his room and peered out, his hair flopped over his face. “For everyone’s sake, let’s not do that.”

  Saskia blew him a kiss. “Too late.”

  * * *

  Anja’s phone went off. She picked it up and cursed under her breath.

  “Ooo is it, Jabez, begging you for a date?” Miles said, exchanging a look with Saskia who grinned back. But it wasn’t Jabez, it was Willow, calling again. Anja had been making up excuses, but she couldn’t put it off any longer. So, she answered the phone.

  “Hey Willow.” She hoped that the phone prevented Willow hearing the fake lightness in her voice.

  Willow started asking questions straight away,

  “Oh gosh, it’s so nice to hear your voice again! How are you doing?”

  “I’m doing fine,” Anja answered.

  “Has Rufus got his new phone yet? I’d love to call him.”

  “No, not yet, but once he does, I’ll send you the number.” The lie was easy to tell but Anja could feel herself beginning to crumble.

  “Eee! This is so exciting! Is he doing okay?”

  “Yeah, he’s doing great actually. He’s got back into his juggling.” Silent tears streamed down Anja’s face as she laughed with Willow.

  “I’m really missing you guys. It isn’t the same without you, I know it hasn’t been long, but I miss you both.”

  Anja paused, then focused on keeping the tremble out of her voice, “We miss you too but I’ve got to go, Willow. I’ll talk to you soon.”

  “Really? Because you’re pretty awful at calling.”

  “Yes, this time I mean it.” After saying goodbye, Anja ended the phone call.

  Kano walked over, his eyes thoughtful. “That’s a friend of yours, right?”

  “Yeah, Willow. She’s back in Kettleton at the orphanage me and Rufus lived in.”

  “I’m guessing if she doesn’t know about your brother then the Kettleton police aren’t investigating his disappearance.”

  Anja sat up suddenly. “What do you mean?”

  “Well, one of the first things the police would do is talk to family members and friends. So, if no one back home knows then they aren’t looking into it.”

  “Why wouldn’t they be trying to find him?”

  Kano paused, his eyes moving around the room as he thought. Finally, he spoke. “I think your brother was mixed up in something that someone with power wants to keep quiet.”

  The situation finally overwhelmed Anja. She couldn’t stop the tears or the way her breath came sharp and quick.

  “Hey,” Kano said calmly. He moved next to her. “I understand this is hard but we will do anything we can to find him.”

  Her watery eyes shut. She leaned into Kano’s shoulder, and his arm wrapped around her. “You can do this,” he said. “If not for yourself, then for your brother.”

  She pulled away from him. His t-shirt was wet with her tears. “I need some air.” She got up and left the apartment before he could say anything more.

  The streets were as busy as usual. Anja was getting used to the extreme weather, the air bit her exposed skin. How did things get so messed up?

  She walked for a while, fiddling with the necklace around her neck as she went. Every time she looked at it, the necklace brought back memories of Kettleton, the old man, and Rufus. It had been only a few months since she’d left, but already she felt like a different, weaker person. She unclipped the necklace from her throat. It lay in her hand, warming the skin surrounding it. It had all started when she’d met the Sorcerer. Everything had gone downhill after that.

  She placed the necklace back around her neck. The heat was pleasant at least, though she wished she knew what it was, it had belonged to a Sorcerer after all.

  When she stepped inside, the warmth of the apartment instantly hit her.

  Kano was reading. Miles and Saskia, the two lovebirds, were cooking and singing together, and Faye was on Anja’s laptop.

  “Oi!”

  “What’s up?” Faye replied, her innocent expression entirely unconvincing.

  “Am I allowed my laptop back?”

  Faye thought for a second, then nodded, pushing the laptop back to her.

  “How’d you even get into it? It’s password protected.”

  “You left it unlocked, which is a bit of an amateur move. It was calling me to snoop.” She smirked. “Who’s Carl?”

  Anja snatched the laptop away, “None of your business.”

  “You seem to hate the guy. You’ve ignored all his messages. It’s kind of cute actually. Is it a love-hate situation?”

  Anja noticed that Kano had looked up.

  “More a hate-hate situation,” she said. “He’s my old co-worker, who I went on one and a half dates with.” A wicked smile spread on Faye’s face as she beckoned for Anja to continue. “I ended the last date by slapping the guy.”

  Faye’s lip tilted in what some could interpret as a smile. “I wouldn’t have thought of you as a heartbreaker. Careful, or you�
�ll be next,” she added to Kano, grinning as she rose to her feet. Anja opened her laptop, avoiding Kano’s searching eyes.

  It didn’t take long for her to hack her way into the security cameras dotted around Kettleton. But searching them took most of the day.

  She pulled up the footage that contained Rufus walking to the train station for the hundredth time. She poured over it, searching for anything. He walked alone, no one seemed to be following him. Nothing to indicate what was about to happen.

  Saskia and Miles sat next to her as she replayed footage of Rufus being taken. Saskia was writing down everything they could distinguish about the men who’d taken him, their height, hair colour, anything they could see behind their armoured uniforms and masks.

  Kano was sitting on the other side of the sofa, looking through missing person sites, adding Rufus to each one.

  Even Faye helped out a bit — she called up every police department in Okland and Kettleton and harassed them for information. But they knew nothing. Anja needed to find him. It felt like time was running out.

  * * *

  “So, what do you guys do all day?” Anja asked, unable to imagine a life structure that didn’t revolve around work. Saskia replied first,

  “Kano works during the week because he’s a smarty pants who has an internship at the Okland hospital. Miles and I mooch off the fact that he still has an ID card. And Faye…”

  Faye interrupted, “I do whatever the hell I want. You have no idea what people miss when they’re tied down by following the law.”

  Anja turned to Saskia. “Have you had a chance to visit any of the city’s museums?” She had wanted to visit one ever since she’d arrived in Okland. Kettleton lacked the funds and the interesting history for a museum of its own.

  Saskia laughed, “The only people who go to museums are either bored or boring.”

  Kano finally piped up, “I like museums.”

  “Point proven.”

  Faye spoke, silencing everyone. “I often visit museums.” Everyone stared at her, bewildered. “They’re a great place to take something from someone’s wallet because they’re either lost in the exhibits or falling asleep.”

  Saskia got up, dramatically, from the sofa, “Instead of going to a dull museum that’s filled with dead things, let’s go out drinking, we could all use the break.” She turned her head to Kano. “You can’t ditch us dude, we need your ID card to order drinks.”