No! Mom don't leave me! Please come back! Violet woke up with a fright. Sweat dripped from her forehead. Her knees were trembling. Her heart was pounding so fast, she couldn’t even count how many beats there were.  
“Just a dream. It was just a dream.” Violet said to herself. She touched the soft fur of her cat, Charles.  
“Mom’s going to come back.” She said with tears in her eyes. Charles purred and jumped into her arms.  
Violet’s feet touched the hard, cold ground, and looked out her window. It was still a little bit dark outside. She went downstairs to the living room picking up a water bottle. She gulped the water down. Feeling the cold fluid slide down her throat, she sat down on the couch.  
She picked up a photo that was lying around and looked at it. It was a photo of Mom, Violet, and Charles. Her mom traveled around the world. But it was not just for fun. She was paid to do it. She worked in a company called 7 PM. But ever since she was assigned to go to the place called Cinderthorne Island, she had not returned. Not only did she not call for weeks, but the company people called and said she didn’t show up on the cameras they had given her. Violet was confused. If her mom wasn’t on the island or at the company... Where could she be? Then it struck Violet like an 18-wheeler. She ran up the stairs and Charles followed her to her room. She sat down and logged onto her computer. She searched: Cinderthorne Island. This Island was in the Bloomsder Gulf. 
“I never knew that place even existed. No wonder the company wanted to know about it.” Violet remarked. She scrolled through the webpage, hoping to find something useful. The webpage said Cinderthorne Island is a place where most explorers go. But unfortunately, most of them never come back. The ones that do come back said the Island is haunted and that the explorers that came with them were killed by some unusual cause. This seemed like an adventure to Violet.  
“Okay, Charles, ready to get mom back?” Violet asked, smiling. Charles smiled and meowed. Violet opened the door. A fresh Breeze touched her face. She started to walk along a familiar path.                                     
                                           *                                    *                                  *  
Then they stopped in front of a building.  
“I'm confident that my mom once took me here, so I'm pretty sure this is where she worked,” Violet explained.  
Charles and Violet walked up to the gateway and took the elevator up to the 20th floor. No one noticed them walking in. And so, they assumed they could go up the elevator. Once they reached the 20th floor, her mom’s boss walked up to Violet with a sad look on his face.  
“Violet, I’m so sorry for what happened. We should've been more careful before we sent your mother to the island. We didn’t receive any updates about the island or your mom.” He spoke.  
“Then you should send us there and we will take care of it ourselves,” Violet said furiously.  
“Stop arguing Violet! Please listen to me. Your mom will be here in no time. Now please, you may leave.” He said, walking away from Violet.  
A group of people who looked like security grabbed Violet by the shoulder and escorted her to the 1st floor and threw her out of the gates of the company.  
“Well, that was... unexpected,” Violet said snatching her bag.  
She walked away from the company slowly and walked to her house. She put her key in the keyhole and opened the door. She plopped down on one of the couches and put her warm hands on her eyes. She gazed into the darkness and imagined her mom smiling. Just then, a voice that sounded like a teenage boy came. Violet woke up at once to see who was speaking. All she could see was Charles licking its paw and sitting calmly on the wooden dining table. She lay down again hoping she was hallucinating. But to her surprise, the voice came again. Violet screamed at the top of her lungs. Amazingly, Charles jumped down and it seemed like he was talking to her. Violet was astonished.  
“I just wanted to tell you that you might think this is crazy that a cat is talking to you, but your mom gave me to you just in case you were left alone. I am your protector. And we need to get your mom back as soon as possible.” As Charles talked to her, Violet just stood there amazed. *  
“We need to book tickets to Cinderthorne Island!” Charles glaring at her. 
Violet, scared, ran up to her bedroom and booked tickets to the nearest place to Cinderthorne Island. They packed their belongings and headed for the train station. They went to the train station and waited for the train to come.  
When Violet and Charles came aboard the train, all the seats were vacant. Not a single person was aboard. They took their seats and waited until all the other people came. Not only was the train starting to move, but also the other people did not come. Violet looked out of her window and sighed. She slept but only to be woken by the shake of the soundless train. They stepped into the train station and looked around. Violet caught a glimpse of a person holding up a sign. It reads: Violet Starcup. It was written in big bold letters.  
They hurried up to the person and said they were the people he was waiting for.  
“Yes. I know your mom and I was the one who dropped her off at the island. And it is by a boat that we will be getting there.” He said to Violet.  
They walked to where all the boats were, and they got on the boat that was a bit rusty on the sides and looked older than the other boats on the dock. The man started the engine and the boat started to go faster and faster. Violet investigated what was in front of her. She squinted her eyes to find the island. She shook Charles, who was half asleep and pointed ahead. Charles wiped the drool on hi fur, looked up, and gasped. Just then, the man stopped the boat.  
“This is how far my old boat can go.” He said patting the side of the boat. “You should be able to walk to the shore from here. And good luck.”  
Violet and Charles slowly put their feet into the water and started walking toward the sand. Just as soon as they reached the shore the boat took off. They were lured into the gumbo limbo trees, leaving the warm sand heated by the blazing sun. Then they heard a voice coming from the distance.  
“Violet?”