Lost and Found
Prologue
A/N: This is the prequel to "Always There." I know it seems weird for me to be posting this story instead of AT, but I figured that maybe if you learned Leah and Madison's backstory it would be easier for you to get to know them better and make a better judgment about them. "Always There" will be posted though, and I think if you read this story and then AT, you'll get a better sense of who Leah and Madison really are and what they've been through. I think that this story is a better introduction to them than just introducing them in AT, though that will be posted as well. I really hope that you enjoy this story and my characters, and if you don't, that's fine, too. Reviews are welcome and encouraged, but they aren't required. I'll still continue writing regardless of whether anyone likes it or not. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the story.
Summary: Family was a foreign word to us. We never knew what it was like to be a family, and chances were, we'd never find out. Prequel to "Always There."
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the WWE Superstars mentioned within this fic. They are the property of Vince McMahon. I do own Leah, Madison, Josh, Leslie, and any other characters who aren't associated with WWE.
The sound of a door being kicked in made Leah and Madison jump. Both girls knew something was wrong, though they couldn't figure out what. They had been told to stay in their room while their parents entertained guests downstairs. Leah and Madison could pretty much figure out what was going on when their parents told them to do that. No normal parents had their kids go upstairs all the time when company came over. They couldn't even eat dinner with the company either and had to eat in their room with a tray of food Gina sent them. They knew their parents were involved in drugs. Madison had discovered the bags of cocaine in the attic when she went up to explore, and Leah had gone with her. Brad had caught them at it and had been furious.
"I don't ever want to see you up here again, do you hear me?" he demanded.
"What's in there?" Madison asked.
"Answer my question!" he ordered them.
"Yes, sir," Leah replied. "We won't ever be up here again."
"Yeah, we promise," Madison added.
"Good," Brad told them. "It's sugar for candy. I'm helping to sell it, and I hid it up here so you kids wouldn't get at it."
The girls didn't believe him, and when they were sent back to their room, Leah said, "I don't think that's candy. It looks like cocaine to me."
"How do you even know about that?" Madison asked her.
"I read, Maddie," she replied. "That's how I know. Plus, we've seen it on TV on those cop shows."
"So, do you think we should call the police and report them?" Madison asked her sister.
Leah thought about it. It would be nice if Brad and Gina were sent to jail, but if that happened that meant the sisters would be sent to another foster home, and they didn't want that to happen at all. "No, we'd just be sent away," she said. "I think we should just keep this a secret between the two of us."
Madison agreed, and the two sisters swore never to tell anyone what they had seen in the attic.
But now it seemed that the charade was up. They could hear yelling downstairs and knew that the police were there. They could hear footsteps coming up the stairs where the girls were. Instinct told them to hide, but they knew there was nowhere else to go in the house. They braced themselves for the door to be knocked down, but instead someone knocked on the door.
"This is the police," a voice said. "If anyone is in here, come out with your hands up."
The girls opened the door and did as the officer said. When the officer saw two young girls come out of the room, she was shocked. Clearly, they had no idea what was going on.
"Girls, could you please come downstairs?" the officer asked in a gentle tone.
They nodded and followed the officer downstairs. She gestured for them to sit on the couch, and they did so. They could see other officers searching the home, probably for evidence of drugs.
"Sara, maybe the girls would be better off away from here," another officer suggested. "We can question them at the station while our team does their search."
Sara glared at the officer. "Tom, I think these girls should at least be informed of what has happened," she replied. "They don't know the seriousness of what has occurred here."
"Yes, we do," Leah replied. "Gina and Brad were taken away for doing drugs."
Sara was astonished at the girl's statement and leaned down to her. "Did you know those two were doing drugs here?" she asked.
"Well, yeah, we did know," Madison replied. "I found some white stuff in the attic, and Brad got mad when he found out I discovered it. We asked him what it was, and he said it was sugar."
"But I knew he was lying," Leah chimed in. "I knew it was cocaine because I've heard about it and seen pictures of it on TV."
"I see," said Sara. "Why didn't you contact the police about this?"
"Because we were afraid," Leah replied. "We didn't want Brad and Gina to get mad at us, and we didn't want to be sent to another home again. We've done that enough."
"Well, you have to go to one anyway," said Sara gently. "Don't worry, little ones. We'll make sure you go to a good foster home and not one like this."
So Leah and Madison went back upstairs to gather their things and left to go to the police station where they were questioned further about what they knew and were asked information about their lives prior to living with Brad and Gina. Both girls answered truthfully and were afraid of what would happen now. Would they be separated and sent to separate foster homes? They had seen it happen many times before, and they didn't want it to happen to them. As if they could sense each other's thoughts, the girls grabbed each other's hand and squeezed. It was something they did whenever they were afraid.
Once everything was set up, the girls were sent to another foster home until a more temporary solution could be set up for them. The girls were afraid, but they knew this was the best solution. The head of the home, Mrs. Finnigan, was a very charming woman and seemed to be very sympathetic to their plight.
"Come right in," she said. "We'll make sure you're well taken care of. I'll get you settled into your room, and then you can join the other children in the recreation room."
"You mean, we get our own room?" Leah asked.
"Yes, dear, you do," she said. "I can't separate twins. You two belong together."
That made the girls feel good, and after they were settled into their room, they went to the recreation room. There were a lot of kids playing board games, listening to music on headphones, and reading books. A group of boys were crowded around the TV and seemed to be watching something, though the girls didn't know what it was. Mrs. Finnigan smiled and urged the girls to go and have fun.
"Let's see what's on TV," Madison suggested. She didn't care very much about the other kids even though they stared at her. Madison wasn't as trusting as most kids could be and had no desire to make friends.
Leah nodded and followed her sister. Leah was the oldest by two minutes and usually took the lead when it came to any choices they had to make. However, this one time, she allowed her sister to take the lead. She saw kids staring at them but tried to ignore them as she made her way to the television where the boys were crowded.
"Hey, what are you guys watching?" Madison asked them.
One of the boys turned to her. "We're watching Monday Night RAW," he said. "And don't even think of asking us to switch to some girly show 'cause we're not giving up the TV."
"I don't want you to," Madison replied. "We love wrestling. We used to watch it at one of the other orphanages we stayed at, right, Leah?"
"Yeah, we did," Leah responded.
"Cool," the boy said. "You can sit and watch it with us." He scooted over and made a space for them to sit, which they did. "I'm Dylan," he said. "Who are you?"
"I'm Leah and this is Madison," Leah said. "We're twin sisters."
"Welcome to the orphanage," Dylan said. "Despite what you might think, it's not a bad place. We get taken care of, and Mrs. Finnigan's really cool."
The girls nodded and continued to watch wrestling and talked about who their favorites were and who they didn't like. They ended up really liking Dylan and the other boys and felt that maybe being here wasn't going to be so bad after all. They cheered as The Hardy Boyz made their way to the ring.
"Those are our favorites," Leah said. "I like Jeff the best, and Maddie likes Matt."
"Yeah, they're cool, but I like Edge and Christian," Dylan replied. "They're just so awesome."
As the match progressed, the girls couldn't help but gasp at the moves that were performed. Madison claimed that when she grew up she was going to be a professional wrestler one day. The boys scoffed and said that wrestling was only for boys and not for girls.
"Oh, really? Madison replied. Then she pointed to Lita who performed a perfect moonsault onto Christian. "Look what she did and tell me that wrestling isn't for girls."
The boys said nothing more and continued to watch the match.
When it was all over, Leah and Madison went to bed, happy that they had found a place they could truly relax. They were still a bit on edge after what happened to them, but they had confidence that they would be well taken care of here. But just like any other place they'd been to, the girls often wondered what would happen next. How long would they be here before they were sent to another prospective home?
"I don't ever want to leave here," Madison declared. "I'd rather be here than go to any other home."
"I know, Maddie, but you know it's not going to be that way," Leah replied. "We have to get placed eventually."
Madison sighed. "Yeah, but we'd better not get placed to a drug dealer," she said. "I don't want to go through that again."
Leah reached for her sister's hand and squeezed it. "Don't worry, Maddie, we won't be," she said. "They'll make sure we're placed in a good home where no one can hurt us." Although the words sounded nice to her, Leah couldn't help but be worried about that, too. How could they be sure that they'd be placed somewhere that would be good for them? "No matter what happens, we can get through it as long as we're together," she said bravely.
Madison nodded. She believed her sister because they'd been through a lot together over the years and had been made stronger because of it. Madison felt that as long as she was with her sister, everything would be okay, but she dreaded the prospect of losing her sister and never being with her again. She vowed to herself that such a thing wouldn't happen and that she'd fight like crazy if it did. They were not going to be separated no matter what.
A/N: So, that's the start of the story. I know you're probably thinking that sounds more like an original story than a wrestling fan fiction. However, I want you to be patient. All good things will come in time. I just wanted to set up the story first and give you background on how Leah and Madison came to this point first. Please feel free to leave a review after you've finished reading and have a shelltastic day.