Opening my eyes, I remember nothing of last night. I hear someone calling a name from somewhere else in the building. Grabbing the blanket from the bottom of the bed I am laying on, I don't recognize any of my surroundings, not the faded midnight blue of the walls or the cracked plaster of the ceiling.
Walking towards the door I start to wonder; Who am I? What am I doing here? WHERE am I? I get to the hall and walk strait down the left corridor, not knowing if this was the way out of this crazy architecture. Finally, I find a flight of stairs, and after going down three creaky steps, I hear someone, a woman, tell someone else to go get Cassandra out of bed. This starts me to wondering again; Am I Cassandra? Who's that woman? Who's going to get Cassandra out of bed?
I hear shuffling, I then see a young Asian boy, about 16 or 17, walk around the corner with a slice of pizza in his thin hands. He yells back to the room he was in before, "Cass is already up! Wait. Mom, she looks confused. Is she okay?" and that last comment brought a woman around her mid-30’s into the room.
"Who are you? Where am I? How did I get here? Why am I here? WHO am I?" my voice was slowly rising to a squeak, then falling to a whisper as I finish my confused ramblings, "Am I the Cassandra you were talking about?"
Slowly, as if he doesn't want to scare me any worse, the boy climbs the stairs until he is one step below me. I notice that he is at least a full foot taller than me, even on the stair below.
He rakes a hand through his black hair, leaving it sticking up in places, and for some reason, I want to reach up and smooth them down. What is wrong with me? I wonder to myself, I don't even know him.
"My name is Kai, and this is my mother, Miuuki. We are your family for now until your parents come back. Umm.......that about sums it up, right?" he looks at his mother who nods her confirmation, “Yeah, alright.”
“Okay, I think I got it. But that still doesn’t tell me why I’m here. Why are my parents gone? Why did they leave me here? Why not with other family? I simply don’t understand.” I step back onto the stair above the one I was standing on.
“Your parents left you with us so they knew you would be safe because of their business. I have many bodyguards because of the paparazzi. I hope you don’t mind having someone follow you around all the time when you go out, because that is exactly what must happen since everyone knows you live here with me. The paparazzi already have a couple pictures they sold to the newspapers.  So you need to stay with me until the city forgets about you staying here.” He steps up on the stair I had been standing on and takes my hand. Completely to my utter surprise, he then lifts my pale and shaking hand to his mouth and kisses it.
As soon as he does that, I remember one thing.
My parents are part of the Russian Mafia.
I yank my hand from his face and run up the stairs, taking them two at a time. When I finally reach the top, I see that there is multiple pathways going left, straight, and right. I decide to take the left one. As I’m sprinting down that hallway, I run face first into someone else’s hard chest.
All I hear from behind me is, “Tao, make sure she isn’t hurt!”
Then I really looked at the man I had run into and remember that it is my best friend’s boyfriend. She was always talking about him, saying things like, “Oh, he’s perfect! I wish you could meet him, you would love him! But alas, it is not possible.”
“Kai, she’s not hurt. Only surprised. As she should be for someone who had a head wound yesterday.” says the korean man.
Slowly backing away, I meet another Asian man who then place their hands on my shoulders so I can’t run again. I turn around and see a man with bright eyes lean down to whisper something in my ear, “Someone’s flighty, aren’t we? Well, I suppose we could calm that by feeding you. Dinner’s on the kitchen counter.”