Mary was only seventeen when she married her high school sweetheart, Dave Orion. It was probably a foolish idea.
But the two hardly had a say in the matter. Both came from very strict families, and when it was discovered that Mary was pregnant, they were forced to marry.
It was only a few short months before she’s given birth to a daughter, which she named ‘Alana’.
From the time Alana was born, she was beautiful, loveable, and just plain adorable to everyone who came across her. No one was spared from her charms. Mary and Dave prided themselves greatly on their daughter, and they denied her nothing.
When Alana was five, Mary became pregnant, this time giving birth to a boy, which the young couple named ‘Neil’. Everything was perfect, or so they thought.
The baby required an incredible amount of attention, and the young couple was quick to supply him with his every need.
Alana was jealous. She would tug at her mother’s clothes and give her puppy-dog looks, but it didn’t work to get her any attention.
She tried having screaming fits, but that too failed.
This sibling rivalry continued on until Alana was seven, when it reached a peak.
One night, after waking up to her brother screaming at the top of his lungs, she became frustrated. Creeping out of bed, she padded down to the kitchen and began to dig through the drawers.
Neil screamed on.
She found what she was looking for and headed back upstairs. ‘I’ll never have to listen to him again,’ she thought bitterly as she opened the door to his room. His wailing had quieted a bit, but that did not suppress her rage.
She stepped up to the side of his crib and raised the shiny object above her head.
“I hate you!” She hissed, and she began to bring the knife down.
“ALANA!” A huge person slammed into her and held her arms tightly at her sides.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” it was her mother, eyes terror-stricken. Alana said nothing. Mary shook her daughter hard, screaming at her, trying to make some sense out of what she’d seen.
”What is wrong with you? Are you stupid?” She growled. Alana’s eyes narrowed at her mother.
“I’m not stupid.” She snapped. She wriggled out of her mother’s grip and swung the knife viciously.
Mary couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Where had she gone wrong? She hardly even noticed when the knife entered her abdomen. Blood leaked out and Mary crumpled to the floor.
Alana saw the blood and her mouth dropped to the floor. The knife slid out and hit the ground with hardly a sound.
“M-mommy, I’m sorry I…” She tried to put her arms around her. Mary pushed her clear across the room, sending her crashing against the far wall.
Alana stared at her mother in horror. Had she done that?
She curled up into a tiny ball and began to cry.
They were like that when Dave came home from work and found them only a few short minutes later.
When they got to the hospital, Alana was taken away. They sent her to a home for criminally insane girls.
Mary cried when she saw her daughter’s face as they took her away. She looked so betrayed. Mary felt like a terrible mother.
The doctor came and said, “I’m sorry, but seems you’ve lost the baby.”
Both adults looked at him, stunned, then glanced at their son who was sleeping peacefully, as if nothing had happened.
”Did you…know you were pregnant, Miss?”
”N-No…” Mary gasped.
“I’m afraid I have more bad news.” He paused and looked at them seriously. “You’ll probably never have another child. The knife hit some vital organs. There’s nothing we can do.”
Mary wept.
It wasn’t until a year later that they finally decided to adopt. Mary wanted another girl, to start over. They applied at an adoption agency, and discovered that there was an adorable little Chinese girl in desperate need of a good home.
Mary fell in love with her, and they took her home two weeks later.
Her name was Jasmine, and she was a perfect new beginning for them. They did their best, and Jasmine grew up proud, strong, and beautiful.
But Jasmine was very curious, and one day she’d overheard them mention someone named Alana.
Jasmine, confused, asked her mother innocently, “Mommy, who’s Alana?”
Her mother got a look on her face, somewhere between terror and dread.
“Your sister, dear.” She said truthfully. She couldn’t bear to lie to her.
“Then why haven’t I heard of her before?” Jasmine asked angrily.
Mary smiled at her. She was seven, the same as Alana when…she pushed all thoughts of Alana out of her head. “She’s dead.” She could provide no other answer. How could she explain to a seven-year-old what had happened, and where Alana was? She couldn’t.
“Oh…” Jasmine frowned. “I’m sorry,” And she left just as quickly as she had come.
When she was ten, a miracle happened and Mary got pregnant again. Marco was their miracle child.
Alana was never mentioned again until the name was brought up when Jasmine was thirteen.
“Neil! Knock it off!” Jasmine screamed at her older brother. “Give that back to me!” She cried desperately as she chased Neil through the halls. Neil only laughed as he waved the book full of precious secrets over his head.
“MOM! Neil took my diary!”
“Marco, catch!” Neil cried, tossing the book at the toddler. Marco picked it up and proceeded to stick it in his mouth.
“Oh, gross.” Neil made a face and walked away. “Marco! Put that down! Give it back, you stupid baby!” Jasmine demanded, stomping her foot. She grabbed the book and tore it away from him, causing him to start to cry.
Mary came running in the door. “What’s going on?” She demanded breathlessly, a look of utter horror on her face. Jasmine never understood why she was so protective of Marco. She flipped whenever he cried, like someone was trying to hurt him or something.
Jasmine didn’t bother to answer as she dried the book off on a towel.
Mary scooped up the wailing child and carried him into the kitchen where she picked up the phone.
“Hello, Orion residence.” She said pleasantly. Jasmine crept to the doorway and listened to the conversation.
“Who is this?” Mary inquired. “Who?” Her eyes widened and she dropped the phone suddenly. She clumsily picked it up and spoke into the receiver again. “Yes I know that…But she did what?” She frowned, “I don’t want her coming back here.” She said firmly. “Not ever.”
Jasmine was confused. Who could she be talking about?
“Thank you,” Mary hung up, her hands shaking.
Jasmine looked at her mother, she’d never her seen her like that before. It made her afraid.
When her father came home, Mary spilled the entire situation to him.
“Alana’s out,” She said, “She’s eighteen today, and she left, didn’t go to the job they set up for her, and she didn’t call in like she was supposed to. She just…disappeared. The warden thinks she may come back here.”
Dave frowned and took her in his arms. “It’s OK, maybe that place helped her.”
Isn’t Alana dead? Jasmine thought to herself as she slipped away from the scene. “What’s going on?”
Jasmine heard her parents talking of the dead Alana several times in the next two weeks. And always, they spoke of her as if she was still alive. Jasmine began to get frustrated, it angered her that they hid the truth from her and told her lies her entire life.
“Who’s Alana?” She asked Neil one day.
”Our dead sister,” He said simply.
So…He’s in on it too… Jasmine narrowed her eyes. She would just have to find out for herself.
It didn’t take long before the answers came knocking on her door…literally.
“Hello?” Jasmine opened the door. A beautiful woman dressed in a miniskirt and tight tank top stood on the other side. “Hi there,” She said smiling. “I need to talk to Mary and Dave Orion, do they…do they still live here?”
“Yes, they’re my parents,” Jasmine said glaring. The woman looked at her, as if she were confused, but then shrugged it off and stepped inside.
Jasmine eyed her for a moment, “Who are you?”
“My name is Alana, could I please…”
Jasmine gasped and cut her off. “But you’re dead!”
Alana’s face darkened, “Is that what they told you?”
“Yes, but I didn’t believe it. They’ve been lying to me all along!”
Alan frowned. “What’s your name?”
“Jasmine,” The girl replied, crossing her arms. “Jasmine Orion. You’re my sister.”
Alana smiled, “I’ve never had a sister, now can you find mom and dad, please?”
“I guess,” Jasmine groaned, turning and heading for the stairs. She opened the door to her parents’ bedroom “Your dead daughter’s here!” She announced angrily, before slamming it shut again. She ran to her room and threw herself on the bed. Mary and Dave didn’t even stop to scold her. They ran right past her door and down the stairs.
“What are you doing here?” Her mother hissed.
“I just came for a visit. I wanted to see how things are going. But I see you’ve erased me completely from your life.”
“You have no right to be here.” Dave added, “After what you did…”
Jasmine crept to the door and opened it just a sliver so she could see out.
Alana glared, “I’ll admit, I was young and stupid, but that’s no reason to erase me completely! And tell your kids that I’m dead!”
“What are you talking about?”
“I spoke to that little girl, Jasmine. She said you told her I was dead; and that you’ve lied to her for her entire life. Which I’m guessing you have, about more than just me.”
“What do you mean?” Dave cried.
“I mean look at her! She’s Chinese! Either mom has been a little unfaithful, or you adopted her. And I’m guessing she doesn’t know, right? It could be damaging to a child…”
Jasmine held in a gasp. Her parent’s weren’t hers? How…how could that be…?
“Alana stop it! We’re going to tell her…”
“I don’t even care.” Alana snorted. “I was hoping I would have a warmer greeting, but I guess not.”
“Well look at you Alan!” Mary snapped, “You’re dressed like a hooker!”
“Yeah well…a girl’s gotta make money somehow.”
Mary and Dave did nothing but stared at her.
“Huh! You’re surprised? Half the girls that come out of that shit hole end up as prostitutes, and the other half die within months. And frankly living my life as a whore seems a lot better than not having a life at all.”
“Get out…” Mary growled. “Stay away from my family.”
Alana just looked at her, without malice or contempt, she just simply looked, almost pitying the woman.
“I loved you once,” And then she was gone.
Jasmine hurried back into her room and turned on her radio, hoping that her fake parents wouldn’t suspect that she’d been listening.
She waited until the couple was engrossed in a deep conversation in the living room before she opened her bedroom window and climbed out into a tree.
She climbed down the trunk easily and ran down the street. She could see Alana just ahead of her, opening a car door.
Alana saw her coming and stopped.
“Jasmine? What are you doing? You should go back home.”
“I heard the whole thing.” Jasmine said simply, stopping next to her. “I want to know what happened to you.”
Alana sighed and opened the door for her. “Get in,” She said.
Jasmine obeyed and slipped into the passenger seat of the Mercedes Benz her sister had somehow acquired.
“How’d you get this? You steal it or something?”
Alana looked at her and laughed. “No, no…I’ll explain when we get there.”
“Where?”
“You’ll see.”
‘There’ turned out to be a fancy restaurant near the other end of the colony. Jasmine knew already it was impossible to even get a reservation there. She wondered if Alana knew that.
Alana walked in, Jasmine trailing behind her. “I need a table for two, please.” She said to the matre d’.
“I’m sorry ma’am, but you’ll have to make a reservation. Perhaps if you call now we’ll have an opened in a few months.”
“You must have something,” Alana frowned, leaning over the counter, giving the man a clear view down her top.
His eyes bulged, “I-I think I may be able to help…” He stuttered. He hurried off to find them a table. Alana turned and winked at Jasmine.
“How…” Jasmine gawked in awe.
“Oh Jasmine, you can get anything you want, as long as you know how to ask.”
When they sat down for lunch, Alana told them the entire story of what happened to disown her form the family.
Jasmine was a little disturbed, but also angry that her parents could not forgive her.
Alana continued on, and told her what she did. Jasmine knew what it was, but for some reason she didn’t care.
“You’re a very beautiful girl, Jasmine.” Alana said, “You can get whatever you want from men, just promise me you’ll never become like me. I wouldn’t want that for you.”
“I promise.”
When Jasmine returned home, she’d never been happier. She felt like she knew all the secrets of the universe.
“Where have you been?” Mary cried desperately. “We were worried sick!”
Jasmine shrugged off the woman’s arm. “With Alana.” She said simply.
If she had turned around she would have seen the look of utter horror on her mother’s face.
Her parent’s tried talking to her, but Jasmine didn’t listen. She like Alana, and she went back to see her three more times.
But on day, on a Friday after noon, Jasmine went to meet Alana at their usual spot, but she never came. She waited out in the artificial cold for three hours before numbly heading home.
She found out where Alana went two days later. She saw it on the news.
“Early this morning, the body of a local prostitute, Alan Orion, was found strangled to death in an alley off of Main Street. Local authorities…”
Jasmine switched off the TV. Alana was dead…? She could hardly feel her limbs as she ran upstairs and threw herself on her bed crying. She’d lost the best friend she’d ever had.
Alana’s death had little or no effect on her parents. Life went on as usual; Mary had another child, a boy.
Jasmine had hardened after that, not nearly as open as she’d used to be. She tried out the tricks Alana had taught her, and discovered that she was just as good. She had a lot of friends, and they all adored her. She couldn’t have been happier, or so she told herself.
She got everything she wanted, and never had to pay for anything. But she felt strangely empty. She was starting to despise herself. She wanted to do something for herself, instead of relying on other people.
It just didn’t seem very honorable, conning other people out of their money. One day, Jasmine vowed. I’ll be independent.
The phone rang. She ran to answer it but her mother got there first.
“Hello?”
Jasmine stayed on to listen.
“I need to speak with Jasmine Chang.” The unnatural voice demanded.
“Who?”
“You know who I mean, you’re so-called daughter.”
Mary gasped, and Jasmine slapped a hand over her mouth. He meant her!
“I don’t know who you’re talking about!” Mary insisted, “Don’t ever call here again!” She slammed the phone down on the receiver.
It was beginning.
