Tiffany's Secret - Chapter One

Instructions

The plane screeches to a stop at the plane station. From the window, I can see a beach. It's breathtaking. Immensely soft, white sand, seashells hidden in them; amazing huge palm trees; and clear blue water. Waves roll onto the shore. I can see a blonde-haired girl, looking two-years-old, wearing a pigtail and playing in the water. She slaps—or tries to slap—the waves while her parents sit together under the cool shade of an umbrella. As a copilot of a plane, I mostly just help the pilot, but when we land I like to notice details. This week, though, I was promoted to a pilot. Now I have a copilot of my own, but she acts like SHE'S the pilot. I don't mind. Annie, the copilot, sighs. "Lily, I'm gonna use the bathroom. Also, remember to do a headcount to make sure everyone's there. How many people are there supposed to be?" "I got 81 before we took off," I reply. "Alright, that's good." Annie gets up and hurries toward the bathroom. I get up from my seat and make my way toward the passengers. I remember when I used to go on planes. They had little windows that I could look through. I loved the bird's eye view from the plane. One, two, three... Every passenger fills up all the seats. Well, mostly all the seats. There are 84 seats, and each row has 6 seats. So as long as all passengers fill up each row, then we'll be good. I count the passengers quickly. 81 passengers. I'm about to head back to my seat when I notice Annie impatiently standing outside of the bathroom door. She keeps knocking. "Hello, we're getting off now!" "Annie?" I ask. "Hi," she says, flipping her dark brown hair as always. "There should be 80 people. Like, in their seat." I gulp. I counted 81 in their seat. Does that mean... "Well, maybe a passenger isn't in the bathroom? It's someone else?" Annie's eyes go wide. "That would be worse. But are you saying that you got...?" "81 people," I confirm grimly. Suddenly the bathroom door opens. A girl steps out. She has blonde, messy hair and bright blue eyes. Her face looks worried. She's got a navy-blue T-Shirt and black pants. I scream. Annie pales. "Wh-who are you?" she stammers. The girl looks up into our faces. "I don't know." ... Running as fast as I can, I turn the corner and find myself in front of a chief William's office. I bang on the door with my fists. "What's the commotion?!" a voice inside yells. "Come in!" I push open the door and fall into a chair, panting. When I look up, I find myself being stared at with confusion from a bald man with a brown mustache. He's got a light blue police uniform and a badge that reads, ᴄʜɪᴇꜰ ɢʀᴀʏꜱᴏɴ ᴡɪʟʟɪᴀᴍ pinned to his chest. "Hello, sir," I pant. "I have a problem here that I need to discuss." Chief William observes me. Yes, I must say I'm not in my best state right now—I'm panting, a bad sign; my black hair's messy, and my face is red. Chief William's eyes dart across my clothes: a simple green shirt with a badge, like his, reading Ⓟⓘⓛⓞⓣ Ⓥⓘⓒⓣⓞⓡⓘⓐ Ⓙⓐⓜⓔⓢⓞⓝ. It's in my most favorite font. Unfortunately, Chief William frowns at it. Finally, he says, "Okay, what's your problem?" "Well, sir," I begin, "we have an extra passenger." "An extra passenger?" he repeats. "Yes, sir. You see, before we took flight, I counted all of the passengers—I counted 81." "And how many were there supposed to be?" "81," I say, not getting what he means. Then I realize. "Let me finish first. After we landed, I got the same number—81." "Yes, yes... so what's this about an extra passenger?" "Well, sir, my copilot, Annie Sheniko, had gone to the bathroom, only to find a passenger there." "Yes, yes..." "And when we asked her who she was, or how she got onto the plane, she said she didn't know. And, sir, I'm afraid she has amnesia. She doesn't know anything about her life. She doesn't know who she is, when she was born...not anything! Even worse, sometimes her eyes become very, very bright, her hair floats above her head, and there's a humming sound! I'm not lying! I swear! I—I think she's...possessed!" Chief William laughs loudly—my cheeks go red. "Seriously, sir, I'm not lying!" "I know that, I know that," Chief William says. Then he hands me a card. "Here you go." It reads: ᴛʜɪꜱ ᴄᴀʀᴅ ʜᴇʀᴇʙʏ ᴅᴇᴄʟᴀʀᴇꜱ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘɪʟᴏᴛ ᴠɪᴄᴛᴏʀɪᴀ ᴊᴀᴍᴇꜱᴏɴ ɪꜱ ꜰɪʀᴇᴅ ʙᴇᴄᴀᴜꜱᴇ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇ ꜰᴏʟʟᴏᴡɪɴɢ: (1) ꜱʜᴇ ɪꜱ ᴍᴀᴋɪɴɢ ᴜᴘ ᴀʙꜱᴜʀᴅ ɪɴꜰᴇʀᴇɴᴄᴇꜱ ᴏɴ ᴏᴛʜᴇʀ ᴘᴀꜱꜱᴇɴɢᴇʀꜱ. (2) ꜱʜᴇ ɪꜱ ʙᴏᴛʜᴇʀɪɴɢ ᴄʜɪᴇꜰ ᴡɪʟʟɪᴀᴍ ɪɴ ʜɪꜱ ᴡᴏʀᴋ ᴛᴏ ʜᴇʟᴘ ʜɪꜱ ᴄɪᴛʏ. ᴄʜɪᴇꜰ ᴡɪʟʟɪᴀᴍ ꜱᴜɢɢᴇꜱᴛ ꜰᴏʀ ʜᴇʀ ᴛᴏ ʙᴇ ꜱᴜꜱᴘᴇɴᴅᴇᴅ ꜰʀᴏᴍ ᴛʜᴇ ᴊᴏʙ ᴜɴᴛɪʟ ꜱʜᴇ "ʀᴇɢᴀɪɴꜱ ʜᴇʀ ꜱᴇɴꜱᴇꜱ". (Continues in credits)