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"State your name for us."
"Sarah Weinsmith."
"And how old are you, Sarah?"
"Forty-three. But hopefully you wouldn't know it," the frail woman said with a nervous chuckle.
"And why are you here, Sarah?"
"I'm here to talk about my daughter, Leilani."
"Start when you're ready."
The woman shifted slowly in her seat and rubbed her hands together. A few seconds passed before she smiled nervously. "Where should I begin?"
"Um," the young voice behind the camera murmured, "How about her birth?"
The woman chuckled. "She was an interesting baby. I actually didn't have her. She appeared on my doorstep about a year after my incident."
"Can you specify the incident?"
The woman's smile faded. "Do I have to?"
"Please, Mrs. Weinsmith. It will give us insight into this."
"Well, the September before she came, I had been... um... abducted by aliens." She paused to scratch her ear. "I was walking along the street when I was blinded by a bright light. I thought it was a car with its brights on but it got so bright that my corneas felt like they were bleeding and then, I opened my eyes and I was in a room and-"
"It's okay, ma'am. Take your time."
"There's not much to say after that. I couldn't see them, but I could hear them. Rather nice I guess. They were quite nice about everything. Nothing too strenuous. Then, they put me to sleep and I woke up screaming."
"Were you pregnant?"
Her brow deepened. "No. I got pregnant about six months later. I had been doing amazing. My husband and I were excellent. Talking more, active, we'd even gotten a puppy."
"So when did Leilani get in the picture?"
"I was six months pregnant and going to get the paper. Weird I know, with all of the technology that I was still getting the paper, but I still believe in print. I went out and there was a little bundle of blankets. And there she was. My baby."
Tears began to stream down the woman's face. "Would you like to-"
"She had the bluest eyes I'd ever seen. I loved them. That was my favorite part. It was like she looked like me. But, I didn't ever think..."
"Maybe we should-"
"I remember thinking 'Who in the hell would just abandon this cutie?' and I knew right then I had to take her. So I did. I took care of her and bathed her and named her and everything. My husband and I loved her. So much that we didn't even mind that we'd end up raising two babies at the same time."
"Two babies?"
"Yes. But our son was stillborn. We named him Tyler, after his dead uncle, and we buried him. I think we definitely would have been depressed without her. But Leilani still need us, so we got through it. And when Misti came two years later, of course we were scared of another miscarriage but we also knew Leilani would still need us."
"So, the pregnancy?"
"It was great. Misti was born and healthy with no complications and we had our life and our girls and everything was great."
"So when did things change?"
"Her third week of kindergarten. I got the call from her teacher, frantically telling me to go to the school, so I got Misti ready and went there. Leilani was in the principal's office, and I noticed her arms and legs were tied to the chair. When the teacher came out, I was furious. I was yelling and cursing because I couldn't understand why my daughter was tied up in a chair like an animal. The teacher begged me to just come inside and talk to her in the office so I left Misti with Leilani and went in the office. There was a TV. And my daughter was standing there getting taunted by a little boy. And all of a sudden, the swing started to shake uncontrollably and it flew and hit the little boy. Nearly crushed him. She was blaming Leilani, screaming and carrying on and she said I had a choice. I could either get my daughter some help or she was calling the police."
"What did you choose?"
"I kept her home for a while. But, then she hurt Misti and I couldn't have that so I called the authorities." The woman broke down in sobs so violent she fell off of her chair. "I didn't want to hurt my daughter. I just thought that if she kept that up my baby would die!"
"Turn the camera off!" a deeper voice commanded.
The picture went off and I was staring at nothing. Tears were rolling down my face. I didn't remember hurting Misti, just the men coming and grabbing me while I screamed that I hated them and I hoped they'd died. I didn't remember what happened next. Manila placed her hand on my shoulder. "You see why we have to do this now? Somewhere, that woman is waiting for you, hoping you're okay."
"She hates me..." I stammered through my tears. "I wished death on her. I almost killed my sister."
Manila hugged me and kissed my forehead. "We have to leave. You know it. I'm sure she loves you. I mean no one cries like that over someone they hate. Do you sob about Emilia like that?"
"No way," I grumbled with a chuckle.
"Alright then. Get your stuff. We're going to get you back to that woman."