Blog #10

While there had been times in Vinny's life when he was unsure of himself and maybe a little lost as to what he was supposed to be doing in life, he had never felt pure doubt like this before. Vinny had spent the last few weeks of his life devoting himself to finding a girl that he loved and cared for, but now that he had possibly found her he had doubt. Whats wrong with me? First I have this weird dream where I'm on a cruise and then I wake up here, I don't understand, thought Vinny. He cautiously approached the chest. He could hear something still moving around inside. It had to be Laney! When he got up close to the chest he saw how big the lock on the chest really was. How will I be able to get her out? Vinny looked around the room for something to break the lock with, but the best object available for the job was a rotted out two by four... not very useful. Vinny stuffed his hands in his pockets in frustration and felt a hard cold object. A key. And then for the second time the doubt hit him, and it was an evil feeling, because Vinny doubted whether or not he wanted to open the chest or not!

Vacation

Vinny took his first step up the ladder towards the hatch and everything went blank. When Vinny woke up he was on a cruise boat at sea... Vinny was disoriented and confused. He wandered down the immense deck watching the many overweight tourist lounge around like big greased up sun burned whales. As Vinny walked he tried to remember how he gotten on this boat, where he had just been, and he tried to figure out where he was going. I must of had a crazy time last night, Vinny thought, and he went and jumped in the pool. After his swim Vinny found his room key in his pocket and headed to his room, room 512. Everything felt familiar here. Vinny showered and left to go eat dinner. He was seated at a round table with people that he had never met before, yet seemed overly familiar. There was a short stocky man that said he was a policeman back on the mainland, there was an elderly Hispanic woman, a normal looking middle aged man, and finally next to him there was a very pretty young girl, maybe 6 or 7 years old. Everyone at the table had a great time, the dinner was as pleasant as Vinny had ever been to, and when it came to an end he was giving hugs, exchanging contacts, and saying heartfelt goodbyes. Vinny got back to his room and was overcome by fatigue. So Vinny got ready for bed and laid down....

When Vinny woke up he was in a dark room, and in the corner of that room there was a large chest with a big lock on keeping it closed. Vinny wouldn't have noticed the chest except for the fact that it moved!

Christmas Blog

It was December 22, and Vinny was not in the Christmas Spirit. It seemed like every jolly tune on the radio reminded him of what Laney was missing out on. No, this time of year was a time of sadness and letdown. Vinny went out to the store to buy presents for the rest of the orphans. He was on the toy isle looking at some stuffed animals when he heard a loud commotion on the other side of the isle. Someone yelled "Stop!"  and then suddenly the isle was coming down on Vinny! The Isle hit him and knocked him to his feet. It took Vinny several minutes to collect himself and figure out what had happened. The first thought Vinny had was, "I'm alive!" If it had been any other shelf but the light stuffed animal shelf he would of for sure been dead right now. Several nearby customers ran over and helped Vinny out of the shelf and asked him if he was ok. He replied yes and left the store. On the way out, Vinny saw that the man who had knocked the shelf down had been arrested and was handcuffed off to the side. Vinny walked up to him and told him, "What if I had been a child?" The man cackled wildly, but gave no real reply. Crazy drunk, thought Vinny. Vinny walked down the street to the next store to bu his presents. Christmas was living up to the year's reputation.

Vinny saw the man that had left the card and he chased him. It was as if the were playing an immense game of tag all over the Castle Apartment district, with Vinny chasing relentlessly but never catching up. Eventually the chase led back the the Castle Apartments. The man was racing up the stairs, and Vinny was finally beginning to draw closer. When Vinny was just about to grab the man's collar, the man pulled open the 13th floor doorway, slipped through, and closed it. When Vinny pulled to open the door, he felt the resistance of the lock, and Vinny woke up. Vinny looked at the clock, it was 6:30 which was fairly late. Vinny got up and made himself a cup of coffee, and stepped into the hallway to check for mail. What he saw when he opened the door made him drop the mug in his hand. There standing face to face with him was the man!

Vinny swung but hit nothing. So he swung again with the same result. This time Vinny knew he should have hit him, something was different about this man. "Who are you? What are you?" shouted Vinny. " "I'm a friend, and I've come to help you" said the man. By now Vinny had collected himself, but he still had a question, "Where is Laney?" The man replied, "My daughters on the 13th floor... Find her!" As soon as the man said this everything went black and Vinny collapsed in the hall.

When Vinny woke up, he was in his bed again. But he knew this last experience wasn't a dream because he was fully dressed including his coffee covered shoes. Vinny was still unsure about Laney's father, was he real, was he a ghost? But Vinny didn't linger on the thought because he had more pressing matters to attend to. Vinny was going to look for the 13th floor.

First he went to the elevator, but there was no button to press that would take him to 13, so he got off and went to the stairs. Starting on his floor five, Vinny headed up the stairs checking each floor looking for some kind of fluke. He got to the very top of the stair well and it just stopped at floor 12 as anyone would expect, there was no floor 13. Disappointed and kind of embarrassed that he had gone looking for a floor that he knew didn't exist, Vinny turned around and began to walk back down. Suddenly, Vinny heard a slam! He whipped back around and right next where the 12 floor sign was on the wall, a wooden step ladder had fallen and crashed on the floor. Vinny looked at it and then looked  up... there was a hatch...

Memories

As Vinny walked home he thought about the mugging, and he remembered how seeing things of that nature used to be a daily thing for him. When Vinny was twelve years old he was living on the streets. He had been through three foster homes and after a fallout in the third he decided it was time to fend for himself. That first week was the the hardest time of his life.
During this time Vinny became a thief and then a gangster. He wasn't getting by and he was seeking a family, so when a tough looking youth passed by him lying in the alley and stopped with an offer of salvation, Vinny jumped at the opportunity. The youth's name was Payne Owen and he was the CA13s organizer and leader. When Payne saw Vinny he asked him if he would like to help rob the convenience store across the street. Vinny was so hungry that he figured that is what his life would result to anyways so he might as well have company. As soon as they walked in, Payne pulled a gun and began waving it around like it was a prized possession and everyone should see it. As soon as Payne had the money from the cash register he sprinted out of the door saying nothing to Vinny who was busy eating anything and everything. By the time Vinny realized he was alone, the police were running through the door and putting him in cuffs. Vinny spent a week in the juvenile detention center cursing Payne Owen the whole time. However, when Vinny was released, he was greeted by two more youth about the same age as Payne had been waiting for him, and they took him to the basement of Isabellas and he was officially initiated into the CA380s. The CA380s became his family and taught him to be hard. Vinny started as just a thief for the gang but later became an enforcer because of his skill as a boxer. Vinny could not count all of the times that he had put people down for various offenses towards the Fam, but unfortunately he never would forget them. Vinny was tired of hurting people and he wanted out. It all went down Payne had Vinny go to meet someone that owed the gang some money. Vinny went to find him but when he did he knew he couldn't hurt him. It was a young kid, he was maybe fourteen years old. Vinny looked at the boy and was reminded of himself not so long ago and he let him go. When Payne heard this he was furious and he confronted Vinny. Vinny explained why he let the boy go and then once again out of character, he asked Vinny to leave. Rarely are gang members simply allowed to leave but Payne had compassion that day and Vinny left the CA380s forever.

Vinny knew that he would have to search all night yet again, because every passing day only added on to his ever growing feeling that he would loose Laney forever. Vinny played with the kids up until it was time for them to go to sleep and then after saying goodnight and sleep well to each and every one, he left to begin the search yet again.
Vinny decided to begin looking around the Northwest section of the Castle Apartments starting near Isabella’s cafe because he knew all of the sleaze balls nearby flock to to the place after 10. “Its a shame they put this place so close to the orphanage” thought Vinny, if I were in charge of this town I would have it shut down. But nothing stood out to Vinny around Isabellas so he continued up the street turning on to Anastasia street (I dont know the name of the street).
Then suddenly as Vinny approached the alley way between the Roller Rink and Walter’s lane, he heard a great commotion. Vinny rushed around the corner to see a short stocky man hunched over a long wiry thin man, beating him with a trashcan lid. “Stop!” yelled Vinny. Immediately the stocky man took off and rather than chasing him, Vinny ran to the man that was just assaulted. “Are you o.k.?” Vinny asked. The wiry man hesitaded, clearly still dazed, but then answered, “Ill live, but he took everything.” Vinny helped the man to his feet and asked him if he needed help getting home or to wherever he was going. The man said he would be alright and wandered off. Vinny continued to search.

"Some one has gotta be fucking with me!" thought Vinny. Who ever left that card had to of taken Laney, and Vinny would find him!

After studying the simple card for what seemed to be an hour, Vinny stepped into the shower and got ready to go to the orphanage. Today would be his first day back since being asked to leave by the policeman, and although it would remind Vinny of Laney, he was looking forward to seeing the other kids.

As soon as Vinny entered the orphanage all the kids immediately dropped everything they were doing and rushed to embrace Vinny. For the first time in a while Vinny felt happiness. He played with the kids for a while before making his way to Ms. Fernandez's office in the back. Vinny knocked twice before he heard her faintly say "Come in." Ms. Fernandez looked very tired, and considering all that she was dealing with, Vinny completely understood. "How are you?" he asked. Ms. Fernandez replied, "I'm fine, but all of the kids keep asking about her, and there is really nothing I can say to them." "I'm sorry Ms. Fernandez, we will find her!" said Vinny. "What have the police told you?" he asked. When Vinny said this Ms. Fernandez's expression went from slightly distraught to angry. "They haven't done a damn thing!" she exclaimed. "I'm sorry to hear that." Vinny muttered in a tone that suggested he expected as much. "Well I came here to play with the kids so I'm gonna go back out with em' now, its good to see you Ms. Fernandez." "Its good to see too Vinny." she replied. As Vinny opened the door to leave Ms. Fernandez called out out his name, "Vinny! You have to find her!" Vinny looked at her and said, "I will."