Chapter 1: An Unexpected Visitor

The sun shone brightly amidst the azure sky as a strong summer breeze traveled through the Vondray's front yard, shuffling the leaves of the apple tree, which stood boldly in front of their house. On one of its branches, there sat perched a crow with beady red eyes, staring at a woman who was standing on the Vondray's front porch.

She had just rang the doorbell and was waiting patiently for an answer. Her fair hair was neatly tied up into a bun with a clamp to keep it in place. She wore a black veil, which slightly hid her emerald green eyes, a black dress, and a matching pair of boots.

Beside her, a few bags and a suitcase were stacked. After a few minutes of waiting, the door finally flew open, revealing a 9-year-old girl with matching green eyes. At the sight of her, the girl gasped.

"Aunt Stephanie?" she breathed.

"Oh, Veronica, dear! How are you?" The woman said in a jolly good voice.

Veronica smiled. "I'm fine, thank you. Come in." She let her inside and closed the door.

It had been a while since she'd seen her. She lived in Birmingham where she worked and afterwards, got married. But a year after their marriage, her husband unfortunately died in an accident, leaving the Vondrays her only direct family alive. Her sister, Mrs. Vondray, didn't like the idea of letting her live alone, so she asked her to come live with them, but she refused. Though she often visited on holidays, Mrs. Vondray couldn't help worrying about her.

Veronica led her to the living room where her mother was cleaning the furniture.

"Mum!" she called. "Aunt Stephanie's here!" Mrs. Vondray whirled around, surprised. She walked towards her with open arms and a smile from ear-to-ear.

"You didn't tell me you were coming!" She was saying. "Oh, I just wanted to..."

Veronica quietly slipped out of the room so as not to disturb them. She was heading for the stairs when the doorbell rang once again. She sighed and ran to get it. This was going to be one busy day.When she opened the door, she found her friend, Lucy Anderson standing on the front porch.

"What are you doing here so early in the morning?" She asked with a grin. But instead of getting a response, Lucy suddenly grabbed her arm and held on to it tightly. Just from the way she was moving, Veronica could tell something was bothering her.

"What brings you here so early?" she asked, obviously concerned.

"There's something we have to do," she answered, lowering her voice.

"And what might that be?" Veronica raised an eyebrow.

"I can't tell you—atleast not here." She took glance at her house from across the street.

"Why not?" Veronica, too, glanced at that direction, realizing that she wanted to discuss whatever was happening at their house.

"Can you go out?" Lucy began to loosen her grip.

Veronica nodded. "Yeh, but I have to tell my mum first. Just, wait here—I'll be back."

She ran back to the living room to find her mother having a deep conversation with her sister. She didn't want to disturb them, so she gently knocked on the door, catching their attention.

"Can I go to the Anderson's mum?" She asked.

"Oh, sure," Mrs. Vondray said absent-minded.

As soon as she got her response, Veronica ran back to the front door, where Lucy was waiting for her.

"Let's go," she said and they made their way across the street.

"What's all this about?" Veronica confronted her as they entered their front yard. Lucy gave her a hesitant glance.

"I deserve to know," she reasoned when Lucy said nothing.

"I'll tell you inside," she said stubbornly.

When they arrived inside the house, they met Mr. Anderson at the hallway, bringing a few boxes, filled with what seemed like decorations and a bag of baloons. He was bringing it to the car, which was parked outside.

"Dad, do you need any help?" Lucy offerred but Mr Anderson shook his head.

"No, thank you," he declined. They watched him walk outside and effortlessly loading the boxes inside the car. They exchanged a glance thought they already knew what was happening.

The decorations were for the Summer fest, an annual event that was happening later that night and everybody in the neighborhood was encouraged to help especially with the decorating. The Summer Fest was to be held at the St. Mary's Park, where it's usually held.

The two walked through the hallway and passed the ktchen, where Mrs Anderson was busy preparing breakfast.

"Lucy!" she called.

"Mum?"

"Duke's already waiting upstairs, with Margaret and James," she said, as she turned off the stove. She didn't even bother to face her.

"Their here aready?" she said, surprised.

"I'm guessing it's not just the two of us, eh?" Veronica said, turning to her.

Lucy walked towards the stairs, which led to her room. Veronica followed her, leaving a busy Mrs. Anderson in the kitchen.

"This was actually all Duke's idea," Lucy was explaining as they got nearer to her room.

"Our job is to make it work."

"To make what work?!" Veronica was desperate to know what all of this was about.

But before Lucy could answer, the door to her room flew open and out came Duke. At the sight of them, he looked relieved.

"There you are!" He exclaimed happily. He let them inside, where two of their friends, Margaret Williams and James Harris was waiting for them.

Lucy closed the door and turned to them.

"Will someone please tell me what's going on now?" Veronica turned to Duke.

"Well, the Ruddicks happened," Duke answered.

"Wait, what?" Veronica stared at him, horrified. "What did they do this time?"

"Well, since dad won as a governor last time, it made Ruddick become competitive and this time, since they were both against each other once again, I guess he became threatened," Duke explained, leaning against the wall as he did. "So, last night he called my dad, quite randomly, if I should say, and told him to back off the election or else it'd cause my life."

Veronica's jaw dropped. "I don't believe him!"

"And don't forget," Lucy added, "he even promised to pay Mr. Stevenson money, thinking he might persuade him, which, of course, he never would."

The Ruddicks were a wealthy family who lived at a mansion near St Mary's Park. Mr. Ruddick, with his ruthless mother, were two power-hungry politicians who would do anything just to get what they wanted.

The children, Rachel and Desmond Ruddick, seemed to obtain their father's arrogant attitude, looking down on those they thought they were better of.

The youngest, Rachel was probably the worst of the two. She was about their age and wherever she was, trouble came. But she was the kind of spoiled child who thought the whole world revolved around her and that she could get out of every mess she made. There were times that her luck would be able to save her. But, most of the time, it was usually misfortune that struck her. If it weren't for the aid of her father, she'd be having a hard time getting out of trouble.

But this was different—much, much worse!

Mr. Stevenson, Duke's father, had ran as a governor for the second time now. Last two years ago, he was also a candidate and, fortunately, he obtained the position, taking it away from Ruddick's grasp. And now, it seemed like the Ruddicks were making a comeback.

"So, what are we gonna do about it?" Veronica asked.

Lucy, Duke, Margaret and James shared a glance and somehow became hesitant.

"Tell me!" Veronica insisted.

"We already have something planned—" Duke began.

"So? Tell me!" Veronica demmanded.

"The problem is maybe you won't like it," Margaret said.

"If you won't tell me, we wouldn't know."

Margaret gave the others a no-big-deal shrug and spoke up, "So since the Summer Fest happens later tonight, we thought we could use the opportunity to get revenge." She gave her a mischievous grin she didn't quite like.

"So this is what happens," James continued, "we planned that some of us— you, Lucy and Duke would have to sneak out the Summer Fest and into the Ruddick's mansion." From his pocket he produced a piece of paper which was folded many times. He began unfolding it to reveal a floor plan of the Ruddick's mansion. "There are four floors, but where you should go to is the basement." He pointed to a certain area within the floor plan. "When you get there, you then lock Duke inside--"

"What?!" Veronica sounded more surprised than Duke was. But James ignored them.

"The Ruddicks think they could just buy the Stevenson's with money. But we all know too well that they're wrong. As our revenge, we'd frame them as if they'd abducted Duke during the Summer Fest, so as Mr. Stevenson will just back out of the elction in exchange for his son's safety."

"Wow," Veronica said amazed after hearing it. "I got to admit, that's...really cool."

"Yeah, but why does it have to be me?" Duke asked. "Why can't it be any of my brothers?"

"Because," Lucy began, "you're the youngest child of the Stevenson's and everyone knows that. If everyone sees how corrupt they are to the point that they'd kidnap a child to win the ellections, that would greatly affect their reputation."

Duke nodded thoughtfuly. "I guess it makes sense now."