Chapter One

Chrissy let out a sigh. She watched two cops walk a man in handcuffs inside the police station. It was now or never. She preferred never but Davis gave her no choice. Her finger tapped along the steering wheel. Maybe she could start the car up and go home. Davis would never know since she was still technically in the parking lot and he was behind bars.

Another police officer knocked on her window. She jumped out of her skin. She bit her lip as she looked at him through her window. She had no choice now but to go inside. The keys were taken out as the door opened. The police officer smiled at her as she got out of the car.

"I take it Davis is in trouble again?" She nodded her head as she looked at the building. "What did he do this time?"

She looked at her former classmate. "I have no clue. I don't think I want to know." She replied.

He looked at her with concern. "Why do you do it anyways?"
Her shoulders shrugged. "I don't know. I guess because he's the only family I have left?"

He crossed his arms as the two started their walk to the police station. "Well he doesn't deserve you as a sister."

"Thanks, I guess."

He held the door for her. She hesitated. "You, okay?" He asked.

"Yeah, I am." She left it at that and stepped inside. She was greeted by the security guard. "Hello Ms. Peterson." She smiled at him and kept going. This just wasn't right. The security guard shouldn't know her. No one in this station should. If it hadn't been for Davis, she would never have stepped foot in here. Not with her life. Her life for the past thirty-one years had been pretty boring.

She got up, did things around the house, went to work, came home, and that was about it. Most of her friends had their own lives. She hung out with them maybe a couple times a month when they weren't with their families.

The front desk clerk looked upon her as she stepped up to the counter. "I'm here for."
The clerk nodded. "Yeah, he'll be ready for you in a minute." The clerk went back to her computer.

"Great, thanks." She said with sarcasm. The usual chair in the corner called her name. She sat down and waited. That minute turned into ten and before she knew it, it was a half hour later. What the hell was taking him so long? Thoughts of what he might have done ran through her head as she sat there shaking her crossed legs. Last time it was stealing from the bar. Before that, it was a fight at the bar. It always seemed to be at that damn bar he worked at. Maybe it was time for him to get a new job.

She perked up when she heard footsteps coming. Finally, he was ready. She stood up and stretched. When she got to the hallway, she noticed it was empty. She thought that was strange that no one was there. Sure, it had been a long day at work but she could have sworn. No, she knew she heard footsteps.

"Are you okay, Ms. Peterson?" She turned to the clerk and nodded. She headed back to her seat when the footsteps came down the hallway again. She did a quick turn. Davis was coming down the hall with Jared behind him.

Davis looked at Chrissy but didn't say anything. He walked over to the counter and took his stuff off the desk. Jared smiled at her but it was her turn not to say anything. She shook her head and followed Davis outside.

As they were getting into the car, she heard footsteps behind her once more. She let out a sigh as she did a quick turn of her head to see if maybe it had been Jared. Her hazel eyes widen when she saw no one was behind her.

"What the hell is your problem?"
She glared at her brother. "You are."
He put his hand on the door and waited for her to beep it open. She thought about not unlocking the car for him. Just her side and she would make a run for it. No, she couldn't do that. Somewhere deep down in her heart, she did love him.

"Come on, I want to get out of here."
She beeped her silver pt cruiser. "Gee, I don't even get a thank you anymore."
The two got in. "What did you do this time anyways?"
"It wasn't right. All I was doing was talking to some chick and this man comes over and claims he's her boyfriend."

Her eyes closed and she took a deep breath. "Please tell me you didn't start another fight."
He shook his head. "It wasn't me."
Oh she wanted to believe him but she couldn't. "What did the bar do besides make sure you ended up in jail again?"

"Let's put it this way, I need to find a new job."
"Great, good luck with that."

He turned to her. "You can't help me?"
"Why? So you can get fired from that job?"
His arms crossed and he leaned back into the chair. "Fine be a bitch."

They reached his apartment. At least he lived close to the police station and she only had to be in the car with him for a few minutes. She pulled up to his apartment building. "I'll show you Chris. I can get a job and keep it."

"Yeah, again, good luck with that."
He slammed the door and walked into his building. She waited until he was gone from her sight and pulled out of the parking lot. She drove in silence. Maybe Jared was right. Maybe she should stop helping Davis. That would teach him a lesson. She changed her mind. No, it wouldn't. It would take some type of miracle for him to be taught a lesson. It just wasn't fair. When her parents died in the house fire twelve years ago she lost her own life.

Davis already had gone into having a bad rep. She had to come home from college and straighten up what was left of the house since he refused to do it. By the time she had it all straighten out, the semester was over and she was starting to get her brother out of jail. He was the older brother; he should have been taking care of her.

She pulled up to her house and sat in her car once more. She imagined going into the house and she would grab a suitcase. The suitcase would be filled with just the necessary things and she would never look back.

Her eyes blinked at the front of her house. A light blue flash came from the dining room window. "What the hell?"
She took her foot off the brake and parked into the garage. Her ear went to the door to the house when she walked up the step. She heard nothing. She laughed to herself. "I'm losing it."

The cell in her purse rung as her hand touched the doorknob. She dug into her purse for her cell. She sighed. It was only Davis.

"What is it Davis?" She asked without saying hello.

"I think I found a way to get out of trouble."

"Great, glad to hear it, let me know how it goes." She moved to hit the end button but Davis spoke up.
"I just need a couple things. By any chance do you have the ugly bowl that dad used to have?"

Ugly bowl, why would he want it? "Yeah, I keep it in the cupboard with a few other antiques.
"Well it's perfect for what I need." She let out a sigh. "I'll bring it back."

She opened the door and listened again for any sound. There was still no sound in the house. Well maybe the grandfather clock that came from the foyer. "Do I want to know why you need the bowl? That's a special bowl you know. It belonged to our dad, his dad, and his dad." And so on. No one in the family knew where the bowl came from. It went to each first born son. Technically it did belong to Davis but she didn't think he deserved it. Plus her dad told her to keep it if anything ever happened to him.

There was a rumored that it was for someone with special power. It went from son to son. She remembered her dad telling her stories of how she was special. She was the first female with this so-called special power. He said it came from his side of the family. This power started centuries ago or what he liked to say, the beginning of time. She let out a sigh. It was just a story. The only power she had was taking calls eight hours a day at work.

What was most bizarre about this bowl was that it survived the fire. She had walked to the kitchen area where the stand used to be. All the dishes had been burnt. She would have missed it if it hadn't been for the sunlight that hit the bowl.

"Fine, come over and get it." She said as she let out a sigh.
"Awesome, I'm on my way right now." That was typical. He didn't even brother to ask her if she was available.

They didn't say their goodbyes. She put her purse and cell on the counter and went to the cupboard where the bowl was. It sat in its place in the middle of her tea cups and other plates that she had collected throughout the years.

Her hands went to it and she picked it up with gentle care. Why was she doing this? Why was she letting Davis take this bowl from her house? She moved it to the light to get a clearer picture of it. It was a mid gold that had one point had been silver. She thought maybe of getting it cleaned but she didn't want to risk it and ruin it. She turned it to the left and saw her favorite thing on the bowl. There were wings indented on it. They were wings that looked like they belong to maybe an angel. Her fingers touched the wings. She felt the bowl get warm under her touch.

"Chrissy."

The bowl almost fell out of her hands when she could have sworn the voice came from the bowl.
"You are seriously losing it." She said out loud to herself. She set the bowl on the table and made sure she had a stock of food in her fridge. As soon as he came over, Davis would raid her for food.

Sure enough ten minutes later he came in through the door without knocking and went to the kitchen without a hello. "Good you have food, I'm starving." He frowned at the food that stared back at him. "What is this crap?" He moved the food to the side as he explored the fridge.
"It's called healthy food. You might try it sometime."
He cursed and closed the door. "I'm not that hungry, I guess."

"Chrissy."

She turned her head to the table in the dining room where the bowl still sat. "Did you hear something?"

Davis tilted his head in confusion. "No."

"Nevermind, I guess I'm losing it."

He gave a small chuckle. "No comment."
She rolled her eyes and got off the stool that she had been sitting on when he came in and headed towards the bowl. She grabbed it and turned to give it to Davis. He looked down at her with glee. He took it from her hands and spun it around with two fingers.
"Stop that, don't break it."
"Whatever, it's just a bowl."
She reached up to grab it but he raised his arm up. She cursed herself for being only 5'2. He moved away and headed towards the door. "See you later, sis."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say." She moved to the coffee maker to start some coffee when she heard a grunt come from Davis.

She turned to look at him. The bowl had made its way to the floor. She ran to it and grabbed it. It was still in one piece. "Oh thank god."

"Thanks for your concern." He said as he waved his hand and started to rub it.

Her eyes went up in his direction and she shook her head. "Well you shouldn't have spun it around. That was kind of dumb."

"I didn't do that. All I did was open the door and stepped onto the pavement when it shot out of my hands."
She sighed and held the bowl to her chest as if it was a stuff animal. She felt it warm up in her arms. "Oh come on, it shot out of your hands? What kind of drugs are you on?"

"It's not funny. It burned me before it fell." She looked down at his hand that he stuck out for her to see. Sure enough there was a burn mark on his palm. It looked like it was in the shape of two horns you might see on an animal. She got chills as she remembered the bowl calling her name. With that thought running through her head, she put the bowl on the counter as if she got burnt.

"Well just be careful with it."

He nodded his head and went to pick it back up but it was only inches from the counter when he placed it back on there. "What the hell, it's still hot."
"No, it's not." She went to touch it with her fingertip and could feel the coolness underneath.

"Whatever, I know it's hot." He curled his lips to the side. "You know what I have another idea. You can keep the damn bowl."

"Good, I like it." She said with a smile on her face.

"You would."

She stuck her tongue out at him behind his back as he went out the door. The bowl found its way back to the cupboard. She glanced upon it one more time before closing the door.

"Sorry dad." She said out loud. "I now know that Davis can't have it." She just knew deep down he would never be allowed to own it. It was strange though how when he touched it, his palm burned. How was it possible that when he held it, it was extremely hot but when she touched it? She felt warmth or even coolness.

The cupboard door closed and she leaned against it and crossed her arms. What would Davis be doing that he would need the bowl in the first place? He said he would bring it back or at least he claimed he would. Was he going to try and sell it? She wondered what else he had up his sleeve.

She moved to go to the family room when she felt eyes on her. She looked everywhere and didn't anything. She shook her head and thought maybe she needed to go to bed early tonight. As she walked past the window, she missed a set of eyes that stared at her from afar.