Looking for Answers cont...

"So, do you remember anything about where you grew up?" Anna focused her eyes on the road that lie in front of her as she flew through the Iowa country. It seemed that growing up on a farm had given Ashling's roommate the ability to navigate country roads at quick speeds without any effort.

"I remember everything," Ashling responded, "That is before everything changed. We'll have to sneak in the South entrance. That's where the administration office is. They have a security system at the entrance of the facility, but that shouldn't be a problem. I did a science project on code and safe cracking when I was in the fifth grade. I had a lot of interesting success until I was caught by Mr. Watson. He was a real stickler when it came to rules and discipline. I got to know him well. Anyway, compared to the other systems I practiced on, their system should be a piece of cake."

By the time the girls reached the orphanage, the sun had disappeared into the horizon. The orphanage was just as Ashling remembered, old brick buildings surrounded by miles and miles of corn fields. It was an unusual concept to have such an establishment built in the middle of country instead of the city. But the land had come plentiful and free, a price the state just could not refuse. So, here it remained as though nothing had changed in the last five years. As far as Ashling's memory was concerned, nothing had changed.

"Park there," Ashling ordered, "That way no one will see our car."

Anna did as she was told. She placed the car in park, and waited for Ashling's instructions.

"It's past eight. They're long gone by now," Ashling looked at her watch, "We should probably stay towards the South entrance, though. They always have someone keeping watch at night outside the sleeping quarters. You're sure you want to go through with this?"

"Oh yeah. I'm sure," Anna opened her car door and gently placed it shut. Ashling followed her roommate. The grass crunched lightly beneath their feet despite their attempt to keep quiet as they reached the back entrance where the alarm system hung. The chill of the fall evening rushed through what thin layer of jacket Ashling had brought along.

"Ok, do your thing," Anna ordered.

"Hold on. Let me think," Ashling whispered.

"Take your time," Anna responded softly after Ashling had remained quiet for a few minutes, "It's not like we're on any time constraints or anything... "

"I think I got it," Ashling began punching in numbers. The door made a clicking sound as both girls squeezed through the opening, closing the door securely behind them.

"Can't remember what you had for breakfast, but you remember what you read in a book over eight years ago," Anna responded.

"Crazy I know. Don't touch the lights!" Ashling whispered loudly.

"Sorry, habit," Anna walked over to the administrator's desk and quietly began searching through the drawers.

"What are you doing?" Ashling became anxious. They did not have much time.

"Here," Anna handed Ashling a sticky notepad and pen, "So, we don't forget the code when we need to get out."

Ashling wrote the numbers she had pressed to disarm the lock. Her roommate had immediately directed her path towards the file cabinet that rested near the current administrator's desk. Seeing this, Ashling snuck away to explore the contents of the office. Picture frames, furniture, everything was just as she remembered. Only the photos in the frames and the mementos on the desk were different. A loud thud echoed throughout the room bringing Ashling back to the task at hand. It was a tight fit, but her roommate had managed to yank the folder out of the cabinet at the expense of dropping a few others to the floor. The contents of the top folder had scattered.

"Nothing," Anna whispered.

"What?" Ashling walked back towards her roommate.

"It doesn't tell us anything," she flipped through Ashling's file, "Look here. It says that your mom left you on the doorstep of the orphanage."

"How do you know it was my mom?" Ashling asked.

"Because it says she left a note along with you," Anna followed the words with her finger.

"Seriously? They never told me that," Ashling grabbed the papers from her roommate and started flipping through the remaining contents of the folder, "Where is it?"

"Not in here," Anna closed the file and placed it back in its original position. Ashling kneeled to help her roommate pick up the remaining files spread across the floor but stopped when she saw one of the open files.

"What's up?" Anna whispered.

"This is Mr. Watson's file," Ashling put the two folders that were still in tact on top of the filing cabinet and gathered up the loose papers that remain on the floor.

"He was one of the top administrators of the orphanage when I was living here," Ashling informed her roommate.

"Yeah, you've mentioned him," Anna reminded Ashling, "So what's so weird about that?"

Ashling saw that it was Anna who was becoming anxious now. They had been in the office too long. Someone was bound to notice something.

"I'm not sure yet," Ashling paused to flip the paper.

"We gotta go," Anna had heard a sound in the distance that sounded like trouble. Anna grabbed the papers from Ashling's hands and shoved them in the filing cabinet. Ashling grabbed the sticky note from the desk and tore off the one with the alarm code. She then wrote her old administrator's current address and removed that sticky while her roommate dropped the key behind the filing cabinet. The girls punched in the alarm code and then disappeared into the darkness.

"That was close," Anna's adrenaline made her drive at a dangerous speed.

"Slow down," Ashling ordered and she felt the car gradually slow to a more comfortable speed.

"At least I grabbed this," Ashling waved the address at her friend.

"We'll google him," Anna turned up the music as they both traveled the remainder of the trip in silence.