D had flipped out. Alvin had left as Mr. D was beating her with his fists. He couldn't stop him and he couldn't watch. The girl had been helpless to d...efend herself, cuffed, just like Miss Alex. He had never seen the girl again and Mr. D had never mentioned it.Alex, watching as Alvin laboriously got his breathing back under control, slowly grasped that she might have made a serious misjudgment in sassing back to Mr. Smith right then. She would have to watch herself. She was making too many. I'd seen my Aunt's similar garments formany years but these were especially fine and beautiful. The collectionof brasseries and pants as well as the hose and suspenders was intriguingand I noticed my body was excited.As I continued to investigate the room and the tenant's things I wasintrigued with several objects that I now know changed my life. I heard asound and turned and saw my Maman coming. "What has kept you? Come awayfrom the flat this moment," though she could not see me as of yet.I. Instead, for some reason, it comforted me. I felt safe and protected with this ancient sacred symbol smudged upon me. After the night I had last night with the mysterious stranger, I needed this spiritual ritual to bring me back to reality. I kept telling myself it was all just an illusion. People didn’t just vanish in a flourish of fabric and a flicker of lights. Whoever my mysterious lover was planned the whole elaborate trick. But why? And most important, why me?Leaving the church, I went. There was a really bad snowstorm one winter. That's when I was activated, for lack of a better word. Temperatures dropped to record lows, mass snowfalls and windy conditions made travel almost impossible.No, no strange visitor came to my house, no long-winded explanation or glowing lights. I was watching tv when suddenly I got a blindingly painful headache. Enough to make me almost blackout, and when it passed it was like I had downloaded the basic gist for what was going on. I was in the.