Chapter 0051

“Wow,” I say, taking a sip from my glass. “Um, my family – I mean, the family I was adopted into – we

didn’t pay a lot of attention to that sort of thing. So to find out I have great-grandparents and second

cousins all in one day…” I raise my eyebrows in emphasis and they laugh, nodding.

“Yeah,” Michael says. “It must be a lot, to go from nothing into a big Italian family like this.”

“We remember you, though!” Amy says with a big smile. “Because you were our little redheaded Baby

Fay –“

I blink, suddenly, at the way she says that. Baby Fay – only one other person calls me that –

“We used to play with you at family parties,” she continues, “like I remember one summer, our other

sister Fiona –“

“Hey,” Michael says sharply then, nudging her with his elbow.

“Oops,” Amy says, lifting her fingers to her mouth. She rushes to continue, then, trying to move the

conversation on. “Yeah, anyway, I remember you when you were so little on the slip-n-slide –“

“Wait,” I say, putting out a hand to stop her. “Fiona? Is that –“

Suddenly, though, Kent is by my side. “Fay?” He asks, looking sternly at my new cousins. “Did you

have some trouble getting your drink?”

Michael, Chris, and Amy stare at Kent, maybe a little star-struck. “Kent,” I say, gesturing towards them.

“These are my cousins –“

“Come on,” he says, ignoring them and taking me by the arm. I look back at them and grimace a little,

shrugging as I let him pull me away. They all give me a little wave. As I walk away I see Michael say

something sharp to Amy, who cringes.

“What’s the big deal,” I murmur to Kent when we’re out of earshot. “They were nice –“

“I don’t know them,” Kent says, bringing me back to the table. “And if I don’t know them, they’re a

liability.” He glances back at them and shakes his head. “We can’t take risks like that, Fay.”

I sigh at him. “Kent, if I’m going to come to these things to meet my family, you have to let me, you

know. Meet my family.”

He just glares at me and turns away to survey the room again.

People are starting to filter out, I notice – it’s definitely a smaller crowd than it was before. Even when I

glance at our table, I notice that my father and stepmother are gone, which seems a little odd.

Daniel sees me looking for them. “A problem with the baby,” he says, shrugging. “They all left a minute

ago.”

Kent stiffens next to me, though, and I turn my eyes to him. He’s looking very closely at the people left

in the room now, who have, indeed, grown a little quiet. There are very few children left, mostly men in

suits standing quietly at pairs.

Looking, largely, at us.

Kent reaches out a hand then and just as he grips my arm –

BAM –

The sound resonates through me and I can’t help my little yell of surprise – god damnit, it sounds like a

firework has gone off in the room –

BAM BAM BAM –

The sounds echo throughout the space and suddenly Kent has thrown himself over me, blocking me

with his body, pushing me towards the far wall –

Daniel is next to us as an instant, crouching down, pulling me away with him –

I hear a few more pops and bangs and then the room starts to fill with a grey fog –

“Was that,” I gasp, trying to see around Kent, who blocks me, “was that gunfire –“

Kent he ignores me, turning to Daniel. “Smoke grenades!” he yells, looking around to our left and our

right, trying to see the source, “you know what to do –“

Daniel turns to me, taking my hand and looking me seriously in the face. “We’re under attack, Fay!” he

yells. “We’ve got to RUN!”