THE PRISONER'S STORY

Chapter One

-- SEPTEMBER ELEVENTH, TWO THOUSAND ONE --

Maria Long poured here first cup of coffee and took a sip. She had a feeling that today was going to be a great day. She smiled.

Tori, Maria's sister, walked into the kitchen and looked at Maria's coffee. "Yuck."

"Say what you will." Maria replied. "But at least it helps keep me awake."

Tori walked to the small TV on the nearby counter, turned it on, and began watching the morning news.

Maria noticed the time. "Damn. I have to head to work so early."

"Don't worry." Tori replied. "Someday, our dad will leave you in charge of the newspaper and then you can come in as late as you want. But until then..."

"I'm the glorified goffer." Maria ended the sentence for her. "Go for this, go for that..."

Tori's mouth opened as her face changed to a look of horror. Hints of sadness also appeared as she stared at the TV screen.

"What is it?" Maria asked. She hurried to the TV and saw what Tori was watching. It took her a moment to realize what was happening. Passenger planes had hit the World Trader Center towers. One of them was... Flight 175...

"No..." was all that Tori could say. A tear formed and slowly ran down her face.

"Mom." Maria gasped. Tears formed on her face as well. Their mother was on that plane.

-- SEPTEMBER ELEVENTH, TWO THOUSAND SIX --

Maria opened her eyes and then placed a rose on her mother's tombstone. Tears once again ran down her face. "I miss you, Mom." she whispered. She then stared at the inscription as her memories of that horrible day resurfaced.

"Your mother is still alive." a male voice said.

Maria was startled by the voice because she thought she was alone. She turned toward the voice to see an older man dressed in a trench coat. "What did you say?"

"Your mother is still alive." the man repeated. "The airplanes were switched."

A confused look appeared on Maria's face. "Yeah. Right. I.. gotta go." Maria turned and began heading back to her car.

"It's all true. Just do the research." the man insisted.

Maria turned back toward the man, but no one was there. The mysterious man had vanished.

-- --

Maria walked to her desk and sat down in front of her computer. It had taken a while, but she was now a reporter for her father's newspaper. Maria couldn't help but be a little curious about what that mysterious man had said. She was about to get online and begin some research when she was her boss-slash-father walking up to her desk.

"You're late." Benjamin Long told her daughter.

"I... went to see Mom." Maria explained.

"Oh. Okay." her father said. "I'm sorry I couldn't make it. There was just too much that I had to take care of here."

"A man approached me at the cemetary. He claimed that my mom was still alive, then disappeared." Maria told him. "He sounded convinced."

"I'm afraid she's gone, Maria." Mr. Long said. "You saw what happened on TV that morning."

Maria sighed, closed her eyes and nodded. But once she knew he had walked away, Maria got online to do some research anyway. She found many websites explaining and discussing bizarre conspiracy theories. Some believed the official story, others did not. Some thought our own president let it happen, while others thought that an evil group within our own government had done it on their own. Crazy.

But then Maria stumbled upon a message board posting. Someone from a local TV station here in Boston had recently posted an eyewitness account of a man who had arrived at the TV station, claiming to be from one of the September Eleventh planes. He had told them that the planes had been switched before the terrorist act occured. But before he could tell his story on the evening news, he had passed out mysteriously in the studio. Paramedics had arrived too early and took him away. He was never seen again.

"Hmm." Maria then clicked the instant message icon under the poster's forum name. A new computer window opened and Maria typed a message to the poster.

MariaLongHerald: Hello. Are you online?

Maria waited for a reply for what seemed like forever. She was about to give up and close the window when another message popped up under hers.

NinjaWarriorAdam83: Yeah. Who is this?

MariaLongHerald: This is Maria Long from the Boston Herald. I came across your account of the 9/11 prisoner and would like to talk to you in person. Can we meet?

NinjaWarriorAdam83: Okay. I work at CBS4 in Boston. Just ask for Adam Park.

MariaLongHerald: Thanks. I'm on my way. :)

Once Maria was done typing, she stood and left for the meeting.

-- --

Maria asked for Adam at the receptionist's front desk. Minutes later, he arrived in the lobby and joined Maria. He was only a little younger than she was.

"Hi." Maria said, then showed her press ID. "How long ago did this happen?"

"Only about a month ago, I think." Adam replied. "He went by the name of... John Miller, I think it was. He looked in his 30s."

Maria took some notes. "Okay. Was anyone else with him?"

"Yes. A younger woman." Adam said. "She was hot-- Er, I think her name was Michelle. Michelle... Can't think of her last name."

"That's alright." Maria made another note. "Did you see anyone acting suspicious that day?"

"No. I can't think of anyone." Adam answered. "Besides the paramedics. We had just called 911 when they came in and took him away. They refused to tell us to which hospital they were taking him. Or anything else, really. We tried to find him in the local hospitals, but no luck."

"That's strange." Maria took yet another note. "Did this Mr. Miller sound convinced that he had been held in a secret prison?"

"He seem very convinced to us. John said that his mind had been wiped of all memories before and including September Eleventh. Some dreams and a visit to his home brought everything back though. He showed us this weird bar code on his arm and also mentioned being followed by some Homeland Security agents."

"Homeland Security." Maria noted. "Any more details about them?"

"Nope." Adam said. As he did, his cell phone sounded. He took out the phone and discovered that he had a new text message. Upon viewing the message, Adam suddenly seemed very agitated. "Um, I... have to go... get back to work."

"What's wrong?" Maria asked.

"Nothing, nothing." Adam replied. He tried to leave but Maria stopped him. "Please let me go, or they'll--" Adam stopped speaking and sneaked a glance over Maria's shoulder.

Maria turned and looked in the direction he had been looking to find a security camera attached to the wall, aimed right at them. When she turned back around, Maria noticed that Adam was already gone. She then returned her gaze to the camera with a curious look on her face.

-- --

After some additional research online, Maria had found where John Miller's family lived. She pulled the car up to the house, then walked up to the front door and knocked.

A woman answered the door. "Hello?"

"Hi. This is Maria Long from the Boston Herald." Maria told her. "I'm investigating what happened to John Miller."

"My.. husband?" she asked. "He-- he died on September Eleventh."

"Oh. I was told that he.. survived." Maria said.

"Well, he didn't." she said, as a tear ran down her face.

"I'm so, so sorry." Maria told her. She then went back to her car and got in. "And there goes all my leads." she muttered.

"Not exactly." an older man's voice replied. The newfound passenger startled Maria. It was the stranger from the cemetary and he was sitting in the opposite back seat.

"How'd you get in here?!" Maria asked.

The mysterious man ignored her question. "Kim Miller's mind was wiped so that she would never remember John's return from the dead."

"I wish you had told me that before I hurt her feelings all over again." Maria said. "Who did it?"

"There's many differnt people from many different government initials involved. But Doctor Alexander Rose is an expert in his field. He's also wiped John a couple times, among the many others." the man revealed.

"Many others?" Maria asked. "The people removed from the September Eleventh planes. Where are they?"

"There's a few secret prisons across the country that are holding them. But John, Doctor Rose, and your mother have been assigned to the installation in Colorado." the man told Maria.

"My mom is still alive." Maria said. "I have to--" Maria then noticed that the man had once again disappeared. "...go."

-- --

Maria hurried back to the offices of the Boston Herald and right into her father's office. "Now where have you been?" her father asked.

"I've been investigating September Eleventh." Maria explained as she sat down in front of his desk.

"I told you not to waste your time on that." he told her.

"But there's something that's just not right about it. I can feel it." Maria said. "When I did some research online, some theories were too crazy to believe." She recalled the one that blamed some extraterrestrial race. "But others made the worst kind of sense... I need some money. I'm going to Colorado to continue the investigation."

"Absolutely not." Benjamin said. "Now get back to work on what you're supposed to be working on." The man then stood and left the room.

Once she was sure he was gone, Maria stood and began looking through her father's desk drawers. She eventually found her father's checkbook and wrote out a check for herself. Maria had taught herself how to forge her father's signature when she was younger.

"I'm coming for you, Mom." Maria muttered. She then tore the check out of the book and left the room.

-- --