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Reece

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Talia, my adorable little princess, wanted a zoo date with her daddy, so that was what I gave her. I called up a friend of mine that I knew could call in some favors. This was going to be one of those times that I showed the world just what money could buy.

Yes, it was a little wrong of me to want to force people to do their jobs beyond the close of day, but I did offer them ten times their normal hourly wage to stay on. So, it wasn't really that hard for me to convince them. Not to mention, I was making a massive contribution to the zoo for them to allow this. Basically, since the zoo closed at five that afternoon, I was throwing money at them so that they would stay open until eight or nine. Since we would be by ourselves it wouldn't take long for us to see the whole place.

When I had Talia properly buckled in her seat and we were on our way, I told her something that I knew she would find surprising.

"You know, Talia, daddy has lived here his whole life, but I have never been to the zoo before."

"Really!" Like I thought, she was shocked by my revelation. "Then we need to have twice as much fun as normal because it is new to us both." She always sounded so grown up when she talked, it was cute but sad too.

"Yeah, I think we will."

I pulled into the parking lot for the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo and parked near the front in the spot that my friend had reserved for me. I opened the door for my little Princess, and we entered the zoo while there were a lot of people leaving.

"Hey, mister, the zoo is closing." A boy about ten years old or so called out to me.

"My daddy is taking me on a date." Talia called back to him.

"But it's closing." The boy was still confused. I didn't want to make the boy feel bad about the fact that we were getting private access, so I didn't say anything regarding that.

"We will be quick." I nodded at him.

"Whatever." He shrugged and continued walking with his parents out of the zoo.

Talia and I walked inside and to the guest services kiosk that was nearby. They were waiting for us and I swear I saw, and heard, quite a few of the staff members gulp in fear when I approached them.

"G..good evening, Mr. Gray." The man that seemed to be in charge, came forward and spoke to me first. "W..we are s..so glad that y..you are here t..to visit us."

"Thank you." I smiled at him. "I am glad that you all could accommodate me and my little girl." I smiled down at her at that moment. "Talia, go ahead and say hi to the nice people."

"Yes, Daddy." She was so happy right now. "My name is Talia, and I am four. It is so wonderful to be here for the first time."

"Thank you for joining us, Talia. And might I say that you look just like a little princess." A woman that seemed to be pretty high in the pecking order leaned down to speak with my daughter.

"I am a princess. Aren't I daddy?"

"Yes Talia, you are an adorable little princess."

Talia and I knew of her status, but the staff here didn't, not unless one of them was a member of our community. To them, I just sounded like a doting father that was showing his daughter some love.

"Well, come with me princess Talia. My name is Ginger and I am going to drive you around the zoo so that you can see everything that you have come here for."

"Yay! Thank you." Talia took her hand, but she also took mine. She wasn't about to go off with a stranger that she didn't know.

Just as the two of us followed along after her, I felt the air move behind me as all those that were still there sighed in relief. What were they so nervous for? To them I was just a rich man flaunting my money around. They knew nothing of what I really was.

Talia and I were taking to a golf cart that people could apparently rent while they were here to move around the park faster. However, it was a service that very few knew about. It was, after all, an added fee.

The woman, Ginger, who did not have ginger-colored hair, got into the driver's seat and started our journey. She took us to all the exhibits, the experience habitats, everything. When it was almost sundown, around seven that night, she took us toward the Mountaineer Sky Ride. This would be a way to see a lot of the area from really high up. Not to mention I had a surprise for Talia at the top.

It had just been Talia and I that went to the top of the mountain, and when we got there, I had a picnic dinner waiting for her. There was food that I had ordered to be brought here for my little girl. It was being kept warm in special (magical) devices that were brought from home. The zoo staff, of course, didn't know that it was magical.

"Daddy! We're having a picnic?" Talia seemed to love the idea and that made all of this worth it.

"That is right." I pointed to a little pink pillow for her to sit on and walked over toward the larger green pillow for me. "We're going to watch the sun go down while we eat."

"But won't it get dark?" She sounded worried and scared.

"Don't worry, there are lights they are going to turn on for us." I pointed at the strings of lights that were above us and she giggled.

"Thank you, daddy. This is wonderful." I knew that she was having a good time, and it was only halfway through. From here, we were going to a movie theater to see the latest kid's movie, whatever one it was. And while we were there, she would get her ice cream as well as a lot of other junk food.

While we were watching the sun go down, I decided to start the conversation with Talia. It was time for me to ask her some hard questions, for me anyway.

"Talia?"

"Yes, Daddy?"

"I heard something the other day, something that made me curious."

"I hear stuff that makes me curious all the time. So, I am just like you." She took a bite of her food and smiled at me with her cheeks puffed out.

"Well, I heard something that you had said, and it made me wonder about something. Talia, baby, why did you tell us that Mommy isn't here? And why did you tell Reagan and Rika that Mommy was on a mission with your three younger brothers?"

"Oh, that." She giggled. "That wasn't something to be curious about, Daddy. I just told Reagan and Rika the truth. That was all."

"Yes, I know it is the truth, but how did you find out that truth?" I was at a loss right now.

"Well, I hear the people around us talking about it."

"What people?" Now she had me curious if there were more in the castle that knew about this."

"The whispering people. They told me that Mommy left her body to fight a bad guy and that she was protecting my baby brothers at the same time. The whispering people told me that I didn't have to worry because Mommy was strong and that she would come back when she was done."

"Talia?" I was shocked by her words. The whispering people? What the hell were they? "D..do you know what these whispering people are? Do you know what they want? Do you know why they talk to you?"

"Well, they're all good. At least they have been so far. Some of them are really sad, but most of them are OK."

"What are they? Do you know?" I saw a slight shadow pass over her eyes then. It was not exactly a look that I wanted to see when talking about this subject.

"I haven't been able to see them, so I don't know who they are exactly. But, uhm, well, I..I..I think that they're d..d..dead people.." She looked embarrassed as she said those words.

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