Runaway: The Cycle of Wandering

*Release me, I'm just as lost as you.

Believe me, I'm just as lost as you.* -Still Frame, Trapt

Chapter Thirteen: This Isn't the End

*And does it make you sad

To find yourself alone

And does it mad you mad

To find that I have grown

I'll bet it hurts so bad

To see the strength that I have shown.* -Through With You, Maroon 5

Federal Report Number B086-27: Agent Maureen Hanson

Date: 10-27-05

Review of written records of Samsara Kasey Alucinari.

Daughter of Thomas Jason and Janet Karen Alucinari.

Name: Samsara Kasey Alucinari

Age: 17

Height: appr. 5'-6" (at age 15)

Weight: appro. 115 (at age 15)

Hair color: Light brown

Length: Medium-long (at age 15)

Eye color: Green

Last seen: 3-13-04

I, Maureen Hanson, work in the Missing Children Sector of the FBI. Samsara's case was not an ordinary case- there was nothing to go on. The only piece of evidence recovered had been a slip of paper that read:

"Samsara Alucinari- the endless cycle of wandering"

This paper seemed to be the key to the investigation, but nothing could be made of it. It, just like the room, had been wiped clean of fingerprints. The books, after thoroughly searching through them, revealed nothing written on them, not even when our forensics team tried to discover anything unusual about them. There was nothing unusual about the room other than it being perfectly clean. The girl was obviously very intelligent- she knew what we would be looking for. I wondered if she had left the piece of paper on purpose, just to screw with our heads.

Maureen Hanson stopped writing. She was turning the case over and over in her head, trying to find the one place where the girl had screwed up. No one, not even the professional criminals, was this good. There was some flaw that had to be there. No one could know this much, and know how to erase her entire past from the records. Maureen had had to go to the actual Petersburg Police Station in order to review Samsara's case- her files had been wiped clean. It was as if the girl didn't exist in the computer network. And this really alarmed the woman. It showed that this girl had worked everything out to the last detail, and was perfectly capable of making it work. She sat back in her chair and put her feet up on her desk, her black stiletto-heeled shoes pointing to the ceiling.

Maureen sighed. The FBI had put her on the case because she had been able to crack all supposed 'runaway' cases wide open. They called her 'Miss Lost and Found' because she had been able to locate all the runaway kids that they had given her to find. But this case, even though she had been working on it for six months, baffled her. Nothing that she had done before had prepared her for this mastermind girl. She looked at the sketched protrait, the only picture that resembled the girl. The parents had never taken snapshots of their kid- and that was a big problem. No one actually knew exactly what she looked like because there were no photos.



"This," she said aloud to her dim office, "has got to be the most difficult and hopeless case that I have ever worked on." She lit up a cigarette, even though she knew that she wasn't supposed to in the office building. She was the only person there apart from the night watchman- even the night janitor had left. She looked at the clock on her computer screen. 2:47 in the morning. She opened the small file folder containing the case files again. "'Samsara Alucinari- the endless cycle of wandering'," she murmered thoughtfully. Then she yelled out in frustration. "What in the hell does it mean?!" She slammed her coffee cup on her desk, splashing the remains of her coffee onto the keyboard.

"Dammit," she cursed, looking around for a paper towel or tissue to wipe it up. When she picked up her coffee cup, she noticed that the coffee had formed a ring on the desk. "Endless cycle of wandering..." she said thoughtfully. She opened up her internet browser and went to Google. She typed in 'Samsara', and went to the first link.

"Samsara," she read aloud, "is the endless cycle of birth, misery and death caused by karma that can be transcended only by following one's dharmic path, most commonly found in Hindusim." She paused. "Interesting... either the parents are total idiots and just couldn't decide between Samantha and Sara, knew something of Hindu mythology, or it was pure coincidence." She went back to Google and looked up "Alucinari." She knew that this girl had been intelligent, and had looked up her name meanings,or else this girl came up with this stuff out of pure coincidence also. Her rational mind told her that the girl had looked up her name. Coincidence doesn't happen twice like that, she thought.

She clicked the first link again and read to herself the meaning of Alucinari. 'To talk wildly; (mind) to wander.' She pursed her lips in deep thought. "So... this girl really knows her Hindu mythology and has a basic knowledge of Latin. It seems that a girl who likes mythology would go somewhere that had mythological references. Let's see... Greece, Italy- no, I highly doubt a girl as intelligent as she is wouldn't have left the country. She would know it would be suicide... going somewhere where the customs are totally different and not blending into the background would be suicide for a runaway. No, she would have stayed in the states. But, she would go somewhere that had a mythological reference... let's see. Cities with mythological references. I'll look that up on the net."

She typed in 'United States Cities With Religious Mythological References'. The first twenty hits showed absolutely nothing in the way of helpful information. Then she came across a link labeled 'Cities of the US and Backgrounds of Their Names'. Maureen figured she had nothing to lose on it- she had seen worse. She clicked on it.



The page showed a table of cities that religious names. San Diego, San Jose, San Francisco, Santa Fe, St. Louis, and finally, Los Angeles. She clicked on each one and read what it had to say. She came to Los Angeles last. She read it. It was short, but it held valuable information.

"Los Angeles, the city of lost angels. Christian Mythology. Refers to the downfall of Lucifer (Satan) and his band of renegade angels, and how they were cast out of heaven by St. Michael and the angelic host that remained faithful to God."

"'Lost' could refer to wandering, couldn't it? They wandered away from God, and fell into sin, thereby causing them to be cast out of heaven. Oh my God... this is it! YES!" She picked up her phone and punched in the number of her boss. His groggy voice on the other phone answered her.

"Hello?"

Maureen almost shouted into the phone. "Sir, I think I've had a breakthrough in the Samsara Alucinari case."

This statement woke her boss up instantly. This case was really important to him personally. His son had run away also, under similar circumstances. The room was clean, just like Samsara's. Nothing had been left except the books and a piece of paper. "William Thompson- Casus Angelus." Translated- William Thompson- Fall Angel, or Fallen Angel.

"Tell me, please," Mr. Thompson's calm voice said, although in truth his heart was racing. He hadn't ever figured out why his son would run away from home like he did. His son had always been happy- or so he thought. He had been the athletic star, made passing grades, and had at least two girlfriends during eighth grade. He had everything he wanted- a television, a computer, a cell phone... everything a kid could ask for, he had. Maureen's estatic voice broke into his thoughts.

"I think she went to Los Angeles, sir. Fallen angels... angels who had wandered away from God... cast out of heaven... I know it's a sketchy connection, but it's all that we've got to go on."

"Fallen- fallen angels?" he asked incredulously. Casus Angelus. Fall Angel. Fallen Angel. Everything seemed to be falling into place. "I don't think it's sketchy at all, Maureen," he said, calling her by her first name for the first time. "I say we go to LA and see just who's there."

"Yessir. I'll start booking the flight plans."

"Excellent. Good night, Ms. Hanson," Mr. Thompson said, hanging up the phone. He sighed and looked at the photograph of his son that was on his nightstand. His son was looking off into the distance with a preoccupied look on his face. "Were you thinking about running away, even then, Will?" he asked the photograph sadly. He lay down in his bed and pulled the covers over himself, repeating "Los Angeles, Lost Angels," over and over again until he fell asleep.