15th August 2020....Two years Ago

"So what should we do tonight guys?" Amy Martins, a fifteen year old freshman, asks her friends as they all sit around the fire "what game should we play

"I don't know" Eric hale says as he covers his exposing skin with his jacket, he asks "what kind of  games do you have in mind

Amy pretends to think for a long while before speaking up "I was thinking maybe Hide or See

"Lame" Jason Brandt says putting an arm around his girlfriend Amanda Marshal, "Ouch babe

"Or let's play a very interesting game I'll like to call 'Snake in the Garden'" she mentions with a large smirk on her face

Hannah scoffs "Snake in the Garden...what are we...four??

"The game does sound like what a toddler plays, but I can assure you, it's way different"

"Okay Athena" Samantha calls out "enlighten us"

"The game, as you all know from the title, is about a group of snake"

"Yeah no shit Sherlock" Jason scoffs"

"Let her talk" Joshua says sternly "go ahead babe"

"Thanks josh, as I was saying, group of snakes" Amy says "you all are the snakes while I'm the gardener"

"Why do you have to be the gardener?" Hannah asks

"Because Anna, I'm the inventor of the game" Amy point outs "and as the inventor, I should be the gardener"

"Whatever fits your pants m'lady" Jason jokes which Amanda frowns at "what?, it was a joke"

"The snakes need to find a way out of the garden in order to survive, if not, the gardener kills them and the game is over....even sometimes only one could survive and win the game, they could wish for anything they desire" Amy narrates "isn't it wonderful"

Rebecca raises her hand "I have a question Amy"

"What is it Becky?"

"Um are there rules?" She asks

"Of course there are rules Becca" Amy state

"And what are they?" Amanda speaks 

"Number one; don't go against the instructions of the game"

"And what are these instructions?" Sam asks

"No taking shortcuts or you will be disqualified, no bringing of outsiders and last but not the least no asking for help from people inside or outside the game"

"This is already getting scary" Amanda says to Jason

"No it's not" Jason answers his girlfriend

"Now number two of the rules is always stick together with your teammates and number three...." Amy points out ".....always lie"

"'Always lie' what do you mean?" Hannah asks

"Never tell the truth...you know to make the games more spicy and interesting and fascinating" Amy explains with delight in her eyes

"And you are excited...why?" Jason asks pulling his girlfriend nearer to him

"Just follow the instructions and the rules of the game and you all will be free forever" Amy says "the game has already begun but first let me go grab some woods for the fire

"Okay babe but be careful, it's really dark" Joshua begs

"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine" she smiles before disappearing in the woods

Hours later.

"hey guys remember when Rebecca fell of the stairs at my house just because she wanted to learn how to fly" Jason recall

Joshua laughs "yes dude, that was freaking priceless

"Oh my god, I remember...how old were we please?" Rebecca asks

"We were nine girl" Amanda laughs

Rebecca giggles "yeah and Amy decided that this was the prefect time to play doctor"

"She literally brought a whole first aid box over to my house and tried to treat Rebecca of her wounds" Jason states

"Yeah gone are the days of childhood" Hannah says

"Speaking of Amy, where is she?" Eric mentions

"Haven't seen her since the time she said she wanted to grab woods" Sam says

"How long do you think she has been gone?" Rebecca asks bringing out her phone

"Um I think two hours" Amanda state

"Two hours" they all chorused

"We need to find her" Joshua says getting up quickly "AMY"

They all head into the forest, holding their touch light, calling out Amy's name "AMY"

"How about we all go separately to look for her" Rebecca suggests

"Yeah that sounds like a plan" Eric agrees "I mean we could cover more grounds"

"Okay sure, but if anything happens" Joshua states

"Or you see Amy" Amanda continues

"Just shout out, we will all come get you" Joshua completes

"Sure" Rebecca says leaving the group as she heads towards the east side of the forest to start her search. They all went their separate ways looking for Amy, calling her name, but couldn't find her

Walking towards a cemetery, Rebecca spots a tomb that has a red door . She hesitates to ask herself "what's a cemetery doing in the middle of the forest"

She takes a look around her surroundings and finds the red door, she decides to enter.

Behind the door was nothing but darkness filling the room, the only light that sheds in the room was the one from above, moonlight. She looks down to see a paper and a book that had a cross drawn on it, she picks both up and opens up the paper which had "Welcome Rebecca - A" written on it. Horrified at the sight and wanting to leave, the door closes behind her and a group of people dressed in cloaks come out of the shadows, the cloaks cover all their faces except one, who she believes might be their leader

'his face looked a little bit familiar' she thought to herself

"Welcome Miss Parker" he says loudly, then lowers his voice "Let the game begin"

.... Today

         Rebecca Parker woke up hastily to the sound of her alarm clock going off

'Or was it because of the nightmare'

         She thought as she switches off her alarm and stood up. She went into the bathroom and looks at her reflection in the mirror, gazing at her brown curled hair and puffy eyes from not getting enough sleep. She picks up her toothbrush and instantly hears the words of the man from her dream, continually repeating the words 'let the games begin'. Breathing heavily and feeling nauseated, Rebecca washes off her face with a hand full of warm water that rushes out from the tap, feeling the warm water smoothing her face and feeling relaxed, she looks once more at herself in the mirror

          She takes a shower, wears her outfit for the day and heads downstairs where she finds her mom; Sarah Parker, a SFPD detective, flipping pancakes in the air. Sarah doesn't instantly acknowledge her daughter's appearance until she accidentally drops one of the pancakes, she tried flipping, on the floor

Sarah groans "that's like the fifth pancake dropping"

"I guess I better check the remaining ones" Rebecca says, Sarah turns to find her seventeen year old daughter standing nervously with her bag strapped around her shoulder "you know, in case there are some ruined ones"

"Hey I make the best pancakes ever" she whines

Rebecca laughs "yeah but you can't flip them like dad"

"At least give me some credit, I flipped some ones which looks yummy"

"Nah not very much" Rebecca points out as she holds one of the pancakes in her hand, instead of it to remain together on its own, a piece of it starts falling "best pancakes in the world you say"

"Grumpy much" Sarah jokes which makes Rebecca smile "anyways, how was your night?"

"It was fine" Rebecca says bluntly

"Oh really" Sarah exclaims "no cute boys, coming into your dreams"

"Not really"

"Fine, I give up" Sarah throws her hand up in the air and sighs out of annoyance

"What do you mean?" Rebecca lost at her mother's behavior

"Well for starters, my daughter doesn't have a boyfriend" she says which makes Rebecca giggles

"I don't have time for that mom" Rebecca smile

"What, c'mon, your dad and I started dating when we were your age back in high school" Sarah says pouring a coffee into her mug

"Aren't you of all people supposed to encourage more of books, less of guys...instead of encouraging me to get bad grades"

"I wouldn't encourage you" Sarah says taking a sip of her coffee "if you had any bad grades"

        Rebecca frowns at her mother's statement and looked down to her breakfast and her cup of tea, Rebecca doesn't like being told of how good she is at school and how she should leave books and enjoy life a little, all of it makes her remember Amy. Back when she was little, she did everything with Amy, went to the movies, had crushes on guys, all of the fun she had was with Amy but now all she did was focus more on school

"Look I know it's hard to be yourself again, even after the person who made you feel like that, is gone, I seriously get it" Sarah says as she leans closer to her daughter "but baby, your father and I are worried, we want what's best for you...I never thought in a million years I'll be begging my daughter to at least get a boyfriend or break the rules, act naughty or be bad. I know you are blaming yourself for her disappearance sweetheart, but I want you to know that it's no one's fault, not you or your friends okay....we, the police, will find her I can guarantee you that"

"Really" Rebecca asks

"Of course baby" Sarah kisses her forehead reassuringly "because your mama is a cop and remember cops are cool people"

Rebecca laughs "tell that to the people locked away in jail cause of you guys"

"Hey if you break the law, we arrest you" Sarah says defensively "not our fault"

              Immediately a moving truck horn was heard outside which made both Sarah and Rebecca look out the window. A group of men off loading boxes and packing other boxes from the house into their truck

"Isn't that a moving truck?" Sarah asks absent mindedly

"What are they doing?" Rebecca asks her mom

"I think someone bought that place"

"But that's Amy's house, she's not dead, just missing" Rebecca says

"I know baby" Sarah console her daughter "lemme go ask some questions, I'll be right back"

"Okay" and with that Sarah leaves the house, walking across the street to Amy's house. She spots one of the workers and taps him

"Hey what are you doing?" She asks

"What does it look like we are doing, moving boxes"

"I can see that, the Martins are still living here" Sarah says

"Who are you and what's your business with this property?" The worker asks

"My name is Detective Sarah Parker and my business is this neighborhood" Sarah answer flashing her badge

"Ohh sorry detective, didn't know you where the one" he say

Hating the topic they were on, she decided to change it "why are you guys doing this"

"We got a call from the real estate manager saying she has a family who wants to buy the martins house" he explains "I told her that the Martins still live there, but she told me that they had moved a long time ago, leaving their daughter's things locked up in the house"

"Why would they do that?"

"I have no idea, it's just messed up...rumor has it that the mayor was behind the removal of the Martin family, him and the FBI"

"The FBI" Sarah exclaims "that's impossible, the FBI does nothing but help the community"

"You are a detective, do you really believe that" he asks which makes Sarah silent "you see even you think it's possible for the FBI to work with the mayor's evil plan...the only people I trust are you guys, you all help to defend the country and I know you will be able to catch the kidnappers before they come after our kids"

"So who lives here?" She asks curiously

"I don't know, some guy named Thomas hardwood" the man say

"Hardwood" she repeats

"Ring any bells" he asks

"It does sound familiar, but I don't really remember" she says then looks around to see the workers are almost done with off loading and she was late for work "I have to go, I didn't even get your name"

"Hank" he says extending his arm for a shake

"Nice to meet you hank" she shakes it

"Pleasure is mine detective" he smiles

"Please call me Sarah" she smiles before leaving

"Keep up the good work hank" she calls over her shoulders as she retreats to the house. Sarah opens the front door and comes in contact with Rebecca as soon as she enters "hey kiddo"

"So" Rebecca eagerly waiting for details

"So the Martins no longer live there anymore they moved"

"But why?"

"I don't think it's easy for them Rebecca, living in a house that brings a lot of painful memories, hurts. I believe it's best for them to leave and move to a different surroundings, continue their lives while they wait patiently for their daughter to run back to them" Sarah carefully explains to her daughter as she kisses her head

"Oh okay" Rebecca sighs

"Now I'm going to leave you and head to work, you should do the same" She says as she grabs her jacket and car keys to leave, walking towards her car, takes a last quick glance at the Martins house, waves to hank and dashes out of the driveway into the street and straight to work

          Rebecca looks at her mom, as she leaves for work, through the window then looks straight ahead to Amy's house. Voices from different people came flooding her mind, she looks around to see if someone was home with her but couldn't see anyone

"The book"

"Go get the book Rebecca"

"Let the games begin"

"Welcome Miss Parker"

"The Outlaws"

"Rebecca"

      Voices she has never heard before, thoughts went through her mind like it was thinking for itself not with her help anymore, she couldn't control it. Like as if her mind joined forces with her legs, she found herself walking towards Amy's house, eager to look through her things to find anything. Rebecca walks over to the boxes packed outside the house ready to be uploaded into the truck, ransacking Amy's clothes, looking for valuable things she could find. She luckily found Amy's diary, about to open it someone calls for her attention

"Hey what are you doing?" The person asks

Rebecca looks up to find a young girl with brown hair and green eyes "um I was just looking through her stuff"

"To steal something" the girl asks taking a step forward

"What, no, I would never do that to Amy" Rebecca says hiding the diary behind her

"So you knew her" the girl asks

"Yeah she was my best friend"

"Was?"

"She's not dead, just missing"  Rebecca corrects

"So what were you taking from her box?" The girl asks her. Rebecca didn't like the idea of being interrogated by someone she just met but so as not to get into trouble she had no other way but to comply

"I was trying to take this" she says showing the girl the diary "wanted to know the reason why she disappeared, like what happened before that day, everything"

"I'm sorry about your best friend and I'm sorry for interrogating you, I believe I got that from my dad...it just I'm trying to be extra careful, I'm new here"

"I understand, my mom is a detective, that's practically what she does"

"My dad too"

"What's his name?" Rebecca asks

"Thomas hardwood" the girl says

"Huh never heard of him" Rebecca says

"Like I said, 'I'm new'" she chuckles "sorry about our introduction, can we start again"

"Yeah the name is Rebecca Parker" she says extending her hand for a shake

"Paris hardwood" Paris takes it 

"So you are the new girl I'm supposed to take around San Francisco high today"

"So you are my tourist, cool" Paris says "are you heading there now"

"You want a ride" Rebecca offers

"Since your my tourist, I think it might only be fair, right?"

Rebecca smiles "right"

"C'mon" Rebecca takes out her car keys as they both towards her driveway

The FBI branch..

      Sarah walks into the FBI station and heads for her husband's office, she meets his secretary Rose Brown seated in her desk, sorting out files

"Is he in there?" She asks the secretary

"Yes but.." Rose tries to stop her but she walks into his office without any care

"Detective what are you doing here?" Ben ask her as he is in with two other people

"I'm sorry Mr Parker, I tried to stop her"

"It's fine rose, I'll be worried if you tried to stop her" he says looking at Sarah "she would have pinned you down with her gun"

Sarah chuckles at her husband compliment and looks at rose "bye bye rosè"

"But Mr Parker..."

"It's fine Rose, I'll take it from here, you have done enough" he says, Rose leaves the room, giving Sarah the death look as she left

"Hello gentlemen, may I speak with Mr Parker for a second" Sarah smiles at the two gentlemen seated in front of Ben's desk. They both look at Ben curiously debating on whether to go or not

"I'll be fine" Ben tells them giving both them a reassuring look "don't worry"

"They look worried, like as if you were going to kill me" Ben laughs immediately they left, he walks over to table which a bottle of wine and two cups "you want one"

"No" she responds

"Okay babe, so what do you want?" He asks

"What job are you doing for the mayor" she asks

"Being the FBI" he laughs "babe you've got to be more specific"

"I found something interesting today, a moving truck came to the Martins house"

"So?"

"So I asked the worker and he tells me that the Martins have been gone for like weeks now and people believe the mayor drove them away using the FBI"

Ben scoffs "babe do you really believe that I could do something like that"

"I really don't want to, but I know and you know that the FBI are the only ones who could handle a job in secret" she says adjusting his tie

"What do you really want Sarah?"

"I want answers Benjamin"

"On what"

"On why you would willingly work for the enemy after years of suffering from him, why Ben"

"I have work to do Sarah" heading back to his desk

"Always good at running from your problems, never face them"

"Leave my office Sarah"

"What, you want to remove my membership card, go ahead Ben, I don't bloody care anymore, you just lie whenever you want to and you don't care who you hurt"

"What are you talking about?" He ask

"When was the last time you spent a day with your own daughter Ben?" She asks "you don't come home anymore, you spend your time here, I'm sick and tired of having to lie for you in front of her, she's not a kid anymore, she needs to know the truth"

"And what is the truth?"

"That her daddy and mommy are having problems with their marriage"

"What are you talking about?" He asks again more furious

"Go ahead Ben, continuing living under the shadows of a man who has done nothing but made you his target countless of times, who has made you and your family suffer, go ahead. But know this I'm not going to stand here and let you ruin our daughter's life or mine, I'll find whatever it is you are hiding even if I end up in trouble, I'll get to the bottom of this with or without your help" Sarah says as she leaves his office

South San Francisco High School.

"Wow" Paris exclaims as they enter the school's building "so this is south city high"

Rebecca turns to give her a look "Yeah what were you expecting?"

"Um you know the usual, walk through front door where popular kids walk into or the lockers looking old" Paris says inspecting the lockers on the walls "or...battered"

"This isn't your ideal type of a public school, this school is being taken care of by the mayor" Rebecca points out "you will love it here"

             Suddenly a guy pushes a junior to a set of lockers making it impossible for people not to look, Rebecca could easily identify the bully; Chad Hamilton, ex boyfriend to Amy back when they were all in the third grade, even in the third grade, Amy still had the ability to make guys fall before her knees until Joshua came to her life and stopped all that from happening

Rebecca sighs "or maybe not"

"Hey" Paris chuckles "looks like one thing still remains intact"

Rebecca looks at her then back at him, she steps closer to the crowd. "HEY CHAD"

"Oh shit" Paris curses under her breath "um Rebecca I don't think bothering the school's bully is a good idea"

"What do you want Parker?" Chad asks before Paris could push her away "you are interrupting me"

"How about you leave the poor lad alone" she responds without a stutter

"Or what, you gonna call the cops on me" he jokes making some of the crowd and his teammates laugh "run along Parker and go find someone else to bother"

"What, are you scared of a girl...Hamilton" Rebecca mentions which makes the crowd gasps, everyone knows how much Chad hates being referred to by his surname

"What did you just say Parker?" Chad asks already pissed

"Um Rebecca, big bad wolf is already pissed, i repeat he is very pissed" Paris tries to warn her as Chad walks closer to them

"I said 'Fuck off Hamilton'" Rebecca says looking dead straight into his eyes. Chad was about hitting her when someone comes out of nowhere holding his hand preventing it from coming in contact with her face

"I wouldn't do that if I were you" the person says, Rebecca turns to see her cousin Jason Brandt blocking Chad's hand " if she tells you to leave the kid alone, leave the kid alone"

Chad drags his hand away from Jason and gives Rebecca a death glare "watch your back Parker" and with that he leaves the hallway with his teammate

Jason watches his back retreat and looks around to see people still around "okay people nothing to see here", he turns to look at Rebecca "what the heck where you thinking, do you want a death wish cuz"

"Why would I have one, when I have the leader of the football team as my cousin to defend me against assholes like him"

"I get your using me and all for your advantage and shit, but if you keep on doing this i won't be able to save you from the 'assholes like him'" he emphasizes

She rolls her eyes "fine, I'll stop, but it was good, wasn't it"

"It was actually good talking back at him" he admits enjoying the tease from his cousin

"You see, I'm not the only one who's feeling it" she laughs

"Soooo, who's the chick?" He asks after noticing there is someone behind her "or you weren't going to introduce me to her"

Rebecca hits her forehead "I forgot, Paris this is Jason Brandt, my cousin from my mom's side of the family, I call him my twin brother, he is the leader of the football team and he has been carrying his teammates to victory ever since he became the team captain"

"Ooooo a skipper" Paris says happily

Both Rebecca and Jason look at themselves then at her as they chorus "what" confused

"You know, another name for a captain or leader" Paris tries to explains

"Please never call me that" Jason begs while Rebecca laughs

"This is Paris hardwood, a new neighbor who lives at Amy's house and a new citizen of San Francisco California

"Lives at Amy's house" Jason says confuse

"I'll explain later" she assures him then looks at Paris "come on still need to show you around the school"

"Sure" Paris follows waving bye to Jason. Jason looks back at the boy who was bully trying effortlessly to carry his books on the floor

Jason walks over to help him "here you go"

"Thanks" the boy says putting the book in the locker

"What's your name?"

"Um Sebastian" the kid says feeling rather scared

"You new here?"

"Yeah"

"So you wanna tell me why Chad was bullying you"

"Look, I don't know who you are, but you need to stay away from me if you don't want anything bad happening to you, don't follow me and stop asking me questions" Sebastian says out of fear

"Buh I just..." He tries to say but Sebastian was already sprinting towards the home room "who am I kidding?"

He was about leaving when he sees Chad staring straight at him with a death glare before he could acknowledge his presence, Chad vanish

Jason sighs "Weird people everywhere" before going to his home room