Pepper and Caleb

There is a knock at the door. Kara, Mia, Emily, Nicole, and I share a look before I stand up to answer it. It's the boys and by the look of it, this meeting will be all business.

“Hey, Pep. We need to talk with you guys.” My name is Pepper but everyone calls me Pep. An ironic nickname because I am probably the most pessimistic person in our group. Technically we're all supposed to live in the Tower, a base for people with supernatural powers, like me. We all lived in Manhattan and the Tower used to be called the Empire State Building, a dumb name for a building, almost as dumb as the Tower. Everyone else lived at home with their families including the girls. I didn’t have anyone to go home to so I lived here. I’ve lived here since my parents died in a car crash. My sister used to live with me, but she disappeared about six years ago. Her name was Willow and her voice has fuzzed in my memory, but I have pictures of us all around the apartment. My favorite is the one where we are hiking at the lake near our old house. She was about eight and I was six. Caleb is about her age and is like family. If I’m not at home, I’m at his house, which we call my second home, and we often talk there. We are practically family and even the prospect of dating him is just too weird. He and his dad, Ferdinand, step into the room. Along with Walter, Luka, and J.J., they say that there has been a disappearance, the third one. The only connection between them is a note that says You were always the puppets. Only this time I’m the one pulling the strings. -Puppeteer.

 “I know I’ve asked you all this before but have you seen this note before these disappearances started?” Everyone shakes their heads, except for me. Something about the note seems familiar. 

“Pep?” Ferdinand, the man who is like a father to me, turns his head.

“Gimme a sec,” I say and get up and walk into the room in my house that used to be Willow’s room. I’ve kept all of her things in here, along with everything about her case, one that is still open but isn’t holding much priority anymore seeing that everyone thinks she's dead. I walk over to one of the files, unsure why I went here, and open it. On the top is a slip of paper, identical to the one Ferdinand just showed us. I leave her room with the folder and show it to them.

“So whoever this Puppeteer is, they have been around for longer than we thought,” Caleb says wonderingly. 

“Yep, so I bet all the people taken are dead now,” I respond. 

“Come on Pep, put some pe-” Walter starts.

“I swear if you say pep in my step I will murder you., I say reaching into my pocket. He stumbles back and holds up his hands. 

“Whoa now. I don’t know what you have in that pocket of yours but I don’t want to know.” I reach deeper and pull out a knife. He exclaims and I press it into the pie on the side of the table before grabbing a plate and a large piece for myself. I tuck into it making sure my hair hides my smirk. Something that is probably useless with Mr. Emotions sitting next to me. 

“Let's all calm down. The emotions in this room are running high and quite frankly I don’t exactly want to feel Pep’s glee at scaring Walter, ok?” Caleb is glaring at me so I snatch the whipped cream and pour some out on his head before turning back to my pie and giving myself a generous amount. We continue to discuss this Puppeteer character for a while before it gets late and everyone has to go to their own homes. 

It's always hard to watch Pepper as we leave. It's even harder because I can feel the crushing loneliness and grief that enters her that she can chase away when there are people around her. We wave goodbye to her and I tell her that I have a surprise for her just to watch as her eyes light up but her mouth says that she couldn’t care less. Dad reminds her that she promised to come over for dinner tomorrow. Pep smiles and nods. 

I sit in my room and wonder what my surprise for Pep should be. I really should think about my words before I say them. 

“Hey Caleb, guess who just wanted to join you.” Dad peeks his head in my door and pulls out Rex the runt of our dog, Moxie’s, litter. He was an Australian Shepard with cute mismatched eyes. One green and one blue. 

“Hey, Dad, do you think I could give Rex to Pep? Her house seems so quiet and she always seems so sad when we leave.” The little guy looks at me and that seems like a deal sealer. Dad nods his approval and walks out. 

The shock on Pep’s face, when we give her Rex, is unforgettable. The joy she feels makes it feel even more like a good decision. The dinner is a blur of utter joy and laughter. Honestly, it’s nice to see a smile on Pep’s face instead of a disapproving frown or glare. She looks so much younger, she usually looks much older than she is but with the glare gone, she looks like she is, a 14-year-old girl. We give her an extra leash along with some food and a water bowl. We try to give her a bed, but she refuses and says Rex will sleep with her. Dad and I chuckle at that. 

I haven't been able to sleep. I've been researching since we discovered Willow could be alive. I’m trying to find anything in the Tower’s database about this Puppeteer person. There isn’t a thing. I don’t have a real name for them so there is only so much information that I can find. 

I’m relooking over Willow’s case when there is a knock at my door. 

“Hey Pep, how are you doing?” Emily walks in. Rex instantly jumps up and starts waging his tail. Out of everyone Emily has always been my closest friend. She was the one who helped me through all the hard things in my life. 

“I just came to say they found a lead to our mystery.” She pets Rex and gives me a picture. It's of a young man: black hair, brown eyes, and a knowing smile. I hate him already. 

“Who is he?” I turn to stare at her. 

“Someone who claims to know everything.” 

“Where is he?”

“Main meeting room. Be there in five minutes.” She hurries out and I hurry to my dresser to my closet and throw on my boots, leather jacket, black shirt, and jeans. 

When I arrive Caleb and his dad were already there. They sit with Emily, Kara, and Walter on the opposite side of this supposed lead. I walk over and pointedly sit down between Kara and Walter. Who knows what mischief those two will do? 

“So you said you saw what happened to one of the people who disappeared?” Ferdinand begins gently.

“My sister. Her name is Briana.” His shoulders fall slightly as he speaks her name as if it is too heavy to bear. I know that look seeing that I’ve seen it in the mirror when I look at myself all too often. 

“She was the most recent disappearance right?” Caleb as usual is taking notes. 

“Yeah, she was.” He sounds nervous, and unsure of himself. 

“So what do you know about this Puppeteer person?” Emily flips her fiery red hair that matches her personality and peers at him quizzically. He begins to explain how he was awoken by a sound and went downstairs to see a shadowy figure in the doorway. He clams up after this and takes several minutes for us to coax the rest out of him. I bet he did it for effect and glare at him. He then explains that he saw his sister walk out of her room, and approach the figure and they both walked out of her room after the figure dropped a note. 

“Was there anything out of the ordinary? Did it look like your sister was being threatened or forced to leave against her will?” Kara is suddenly invested after getting bored of changing her appearance at least 14 times. I’m not sure what she looks like seeing she changes it up every day only that she always makes sure she is impossibly attractive. 

“Well her movements were jerky, which is unusual for her because she usually moves with the grace of a dancer and the figure kept twitching its hand to her movements. So maybe that has to do with the disappearances?” He slumps a little as he says this before sitting up straighter. 

“I think that means that whoever this Puppeteer person is, they have some sort of controlling power. Like controlling their minds or making them see things that aren’t there.” I jump in before everyone can start arguing. 

“Like Briana saw someone who wasn’t there? It doesn’t make sense. I mean why else would this Puppeteer keep moving their hand to match the movements his sister made?” Caleb contradicts me, as usual. We all continue to trade ideas before the sun dips on the horizon and everyone slowly excuses themselves before heading out home or wherever they are going until it is me, Caleb, Walter, and Emily. We chat about things for a little while before I leave, exhausted. 

I’m about to go to my room and read before bed when something catches my eye, it's a note on Willow’s file. I hurry over and read it. The Puppeteer isn’t what you think. She controls people’s bodies, not their minds. Her victims are prisoners of t own selves. I sprint over to my phone and take a picture of the note. Hastily, I send it to both Ferdinand and Caleb. I fall asleep staring at my phone waiting for them to say something. 

It's the morning after our little visit with the lead and I notice that Pep sent me something last night. 

“Hey, Dad! Did you see Pep’s message?” I shout across the house.

“No, I was just about to look. Why is it something important? Caleb, did she find something?” I can tell by his voice he didn’t get any sleep last night. 

“Nothing, I haven’t looked either.” curious, I opened what she sent me. It's a note, excited, I run into the kitchen and show Dad. We both read it over again before hurrying to get dressed and hurry over to the Tower. It takes longer than usual though because Dad keeps freezing his hands to the steering wheel. When we get there we run to Pep’s apartment and when we get there we notice that everyone else is already there. Pep walks out of her room in her usual attire, jeans, sneakers, a green shirt, and a gray leather jacket. She then shows us the note and where she found it. She also shows us a note that she says showed up on her window sill this morning it says, Go to 1345 Stone Avenue. There you will find the Puppeteer. 

After excessive amounts of arguing, we decide that me, Dad, Pep, Walter, Mia, and Emily will go. Mia quickly shifts her shape into a bird and flies into an open window at the top of the warehouse that has the address of the place we were told to go. After a second we get the all-clear from her, two quick chirps followed by a long mournful note. We approach warily. Pep calls fire into her hand and uses it like a light source. Suddenly I am struck with horrible pain, only it isn’t mine. It still is horrible enough to make me double over in pain. 

“What's the matter, Caleb? Is everything alright?”  Pep is by my side in an instant. Her worry mixes with this pain that is coming over me in waves, each more terrible than the last. 

“There is someone here, they’re in a lot of pain.” I manage to grunt out. Emily gasps.

“Mabie it is the person who left that note.” I can almost hear the wheels turning in Emily’s head. Pep looks thoughtful for a moment before she shrugs and says it is possible. Dad helps me up and we head toward the main area. Right away the pain worsens. We look inside and see a single figure kneeling in the middle of the room. Sharly the source of the pain. We all hesitate to go in, all of us except for Pep, of course. She storms in and brightens the light in her palm to look at her face. I can feel the disappointment coming from her. I realize that she was hoping her sister would be here. The rest of us walk over and help this young lady into a more comfortable position. She looks about 16, so about my age. With a start, I remember that she would be Pep’s sister’s age. We give her some water and a couple of granola bars and I channel some calming emotions into her. Peace, and calm, and I do my best to soothe away the pain. It seems to work because she relaxes and eats the food we give her. Pep asks her what her name is, does she know who the Puppeteer is, where is she from, how long has she been here, and whether is she ok? She responds in a voice that is whispery but strong. 

“My name is June. I do know who the Puppeteer is. I don’t know who she is though, or what she looks like. I am from Rhode Island, and I don’t know how long I’ve been here, it's a blur.” Her voice strains at the end of speaking and I feel a rush of sympathy toward her. I look over to Pep and see she does not share this feeling. She is looking at her strangely as if trying to find her angle. Dad steps out to make a phone call requesting a Medic and an ambulance. 

About 20 minutes later we are all crammed into our car following the ambulance to the Tower. Dad and Pep decided to ride in there with June. I of course got stuck with the relentless questions of the others that all of us want answers to but no one can provide them.