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The Land Of Dreams Unfulfilled continued. After a few months, my parents finally bought another house: with four bedrooms this time. It was no Beverly Hills, but it was better than the shady East LA place where we spent the first five months. My sister was more into her friends than ever, and we completely stopped talking, now that we had our own rooms. She spent her days with her ‘crowd', driving down to the beach and going to malls and shopping. I sat in our backyard and read. It was my way of escaping reality, and it was the only time I was happy. "Hey Rie!" my sister called out to me one day. "Yeah, Mel?" I asked happily. Wow! She's talking to me again. "Uhm, I just wanted to know if you're going to the semi-formal next week," she asked. "Oh, that silly dance. No probably not. Plus, I don't really have a date," I added sheepishly. "Oh well, guess who asked me?" Mel was ecstatic. "Who?" I wondered "Raul Johnson, the football stud," she exclaimed. "Isn't that great?" My heart skipped a beat. "Uhm, Mel, I may not know much about what's ‘cool' and what isn't, but isn't he Clara's ex-boyfriend, who she's totally in love with still? In fact I heard her state once that she would seriously hurt any girl that went near him." "Oh silly! She talks like that, but I bet you she doesn't mean it. Now will you come to the mall with me, so I can pick out a dress" she pleaded. I sighed softly. This almost reminded me of the good old days back home, where my sister and me used to spend all our time talking about boys and clothes, so naturally, I jumped at the chance. "Sure, just say when and I'll be ready," I stated with a smile. The next day I happened to stumble upon an argument between my sister and Clara. "What do you mean you're going with Raul?" Clara was beside herself with rage. "Clara, please calm down, it's just one little date, it doesn't mean anything, I swear." Mel tried to convince her with no luck. "Melanie, I swear to you, if I see you at that dance with him, you'll live to regret it. I promise you that!" Clara threatened before she walked away. My sister's face darkened. If there was one thing I knew about Mel is that she hated being pushed around more than anything else. "Just watch me Clara," Mel added, before she walked away in the opposite direction. I wondered if what Mel did was wise: I knew Clara wasn't the most pleasant person. The rumors were that in the past she had successfully managed to terrorize one girl so much, that it eventually led her to commit suicide. Of course, these were just rumors but nonetheless, I couldn't help wondering about Clara's mental state of mind. "Should we be worried, Billy?" I asked my brother, who happened to witness the ugly showdown in the hall. "Nah! Mel's a big girl, she can take care of herself," he finished. The dance was that night, and my sister seemed really excited. Clara's threats were the last thing on her mind, I could tell, so I began to ease up a bit. Why should I be worried when she obviously wasn't? Mel looked beautiful; her long black hair was shinier than ever, her short silver dress showed off her movie-star figure, and her diamond, sparkly sandals finished the outfit perfectly. "Wow Melie, you look great! They're all going to be so jealous of you tonight," I smiled. "Thanks Rie. You know, I'm really sorry that I've ignored you these few months: it's just that I got so swept away with everything, you know? I didn't mean to make you feel bad. You know I love you. Right?" Mel apologized. "Ah, don't worry about it, I'm fine," I assured her. I took a few Polaroid's of her and hugged her good-bye. "I'll wait up for you Mel, then you can tell me all about the dance and all about the look on Clara's face." I stifled a giggle. "Sure sis, I won't be too late. I promise." She happily added as she ran out the door. That was the last time I ever saw my sister. She had been missing for a week and the police were practically living at our house. They told us that the chances of finding Melanie alive were slim-to-none. My family was a wreck. My mom locked herself in her room and didn't come out of it for days; my father spent his days sitting by the window, looking out of it, jumping at every rustle or noise that he heard, in hopes that she would bounce back into the house. She never returned. My brother sat in our backyard and spoke to no one. I couldn't even recognize myself anymore. My face was so puffed up and red from crying and my eyes had shrunk so small that I could barely see. On top of everything else, I blamed myself. I should have known that letting her go to that dance was a bad idea and despite what the police said, I knew Clara and her goons were behind this. I told the police everything I knew about Clara's threats, but they said they had no evidence, and therefore, no case. The news about her disappearance was all over the TV, and in some sick way, she had achieved a fame that she always so fondly dreamed of. The next day I decided I couldn't just sit around the house and watch my family fall to pieces. I went to school and looked for Clara. I couldn't find her, but I did find her best friend Joanna. "Joanna, you were there at the dance, please talk to me, what happened to my sister?" I asked, with tears streaming down my face. "Look, I don't know anything." She claimed, her voice shaking and tears welling-up in her eyes. "Please Joanna, end this right now and tell me where she is. Where did Clara take her? Has she locked her up somewhere? Please tell me so I can bring her back home. Please!" I pleaded. Joanna broke down."Oh God, it wasn't supposed to go that far, I swear it, we didn't mean it!" She cried. "What wasn't supposed to happen, tell me what happened." I begged.
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