"BEEP BEEP BEEP" The alarm clock on my nightstand went off, signaling that 5:00 had come. I couldn't bring myself to open my eyes, so I lay there, feeling the warmth of the rays of sun on my face and… screaming? Was that Cyrus Hale? No that couldn't be right. It was hard to hear over the bustling crowd of students. Laying there quietly, I listened, trying to pick out the voices from the crowd. Wait… was that Alexander Hale? I scramble out of bed, the light blinding me, eyes complaining they didn't get time to adjust. Stumbling out my dorm, I bump into Warren who gives me a salty look. "Hey." He mutters not looking up and takes off with Zoe in hot pursuit. She grabs my arm while passing by. "Geez, your a mess this morning Smokescreen." She looks me up and down. "Did you really just wake up?"

"Maybe," I mutter in response. I look down at my rumpled shirt and jeans as we turn down the hall, bumping into curious people in robes and holding their morning coffee. "What's going on?"

"I don't know. I heard Cyrus and Alexander talking with the principal." Zoe looks as puzzled and as eager as ever to find out what's going on. Mike catches up with us, in a leather jacket and black jeans. His hair slicked back with gel. He waves to a couple girls, who giggle and wave back. One blows a kiss. I can't help but roll my eyes. Casual Mike Brezinki always getting the ladies. "Does anyone know what's happening?" Zoe shrugs, and as always, Warren copies Zoe. We get to the scene of the crime and I stop. It's Erica's dorm. With caution tape around it. Cyrus Hale face is flushed, and his ears are red. He's currently wearing a suit. Though short, he looks as professional as ever and a man of business. Principal Sidebottom stands there, trying to calm Cyrus, while Alexander stood there looking as empty as ever in a mustard stained undershirt and tousled hair. He had huge bags under his eyes, and his stomach had become a slightly bigger. Probably was stress eating after he stopped being a spy. Looking around, I wave and he spots us in the crowd, and half waves back, and goes back to being fascinated with the wall. "Do you know what's going on?" Zoe asks a frizzy red haired girl next to her.

"Oh, you didn't hear? Erica disappeared last night." That last part hit me like a bullet. I was drained of words. My face felt papery, my legs glued in place. My fingers were numb. I couldn't process what she said.

"She… Disappeared? How? Why? She was… Why?" My whole body was collapsing on me. Everything felt dizzy. I knew the answer before she said it.

"Ya. No one knows why or how. Sorry. I know you were great friends with her." She frowned as if she knew the shock I was in.

"She WHAT?" Zoe screamed. Everyone looked her way. Zoe lowered her voice. "The greatest? THE Erica Hale the brilliant? How? Who?" The girl just shrugged and turned to look at the principal. That did it for me. I shoved through the crowd until I got to the caution tape surrounding her dorm. Before I could slip under, hopefully, but not likely unnoticed, Principal Barnabus Sidebottom points at me. "Why are you trying to pass the tape young man?"

"I wanted to see if there was evidence I could use to help find Erica."

"Sure. Do you mean you're trying to COVER up the evidence huh?"

"No"

"You kidnapped Erica"

"I didn't. Why would I?"

"You did! You're just trying to cover it up." Principal Sidebottom smirks at me. Cyrus just glared.

"I did-"

"Sure. You didn't do it."

"Where is my daughter!" Cyrus hollers.

"Dad stop it. Why would Ben kidnap Erica?" Alexander Hale defended.

"I want my daughter back." Cyrus squints at me.

"Why would someone kidnap their own friend. Besides, where would Mike hide Erica? Erica's much stronger than Mike and could beat him up in a second. No offense." Mike says, coming up next to me.

"None taken," I responded. Sad, but it's true. I was itching to dive under the tape and look around before the principal drags me out and into his office with joy. Why would Erica disappear? Was she kidnapped?

"He's done several investigations successfully. He's Erica's friend and so are we. He wouldn't have any reason to kidnap Erica. Besides, Spyder is more likely a suspect. They've kidnapped Erica before. Not only her but you too Cyrus." A voice says behind me. Zoe pops up out of nowhere and glares right back at Cyrus, putting an arm around my shoulder. Warren glares at me.

"You will still be a huge suspect no matter what." The principal beams an evil smile saying this. Cyrus simply nods.

"Five minutes youn-" Cyrus says. I didn't hear the rest and immediately ducked under the caution tape into Erica's room, the principal trailing me.

Everything is meticulously clean, not a surprise for Erica. Sunset paintings are perfectly aligned together. The only thing that isn't perfect is her sheets, which are tangled. There's a tear in her sheets, indicating she was most likely kidnapped. The tear was cleanly cut, but for some reason, didn't cut through the mattress at all. So far, there wasn't much to use as evidence, no leads at all. This couldn't have been Spyder's handiwork. They would have left a note on her table, in which the teachers' would have found. But the thought of it. The fact that Erica was most likely kidnapped? It seems surreal. Sure she's been kidnapped before, but she was under siege, being attacked by many. Most kidnapping jobs only take up two maybe three people. The most four. Several of the teachers were also investigating the room. One of which includes Professor Crandall, who smiled at me sadly, and winked before continuing to dust the nightstand next to Erica's bed. He looked like he wanted to talk to me, but the principal was trailing me, not letting anything out of his sight. Her room is the same shape and size as everyone else's. I would take the time to inhale all the scents of gunpowder and lilacs drifting around the room, but time was limited. I longed to flop onto her bed and breathe in the lingering of her pillow, and cry myself to sleep. Part of me wanted to just sit by the door and wait for her to come back, without a scratch on her face. What would Erica do in a situation like this? If she wasn't the victim? Knowing her, she would first kick everyone out of the room. The thought of this made me smile. My fingers trailed her wall, feeling for anything out of place. I headed into the bathroom, which was, by no surprise, as clean as her bedroom. I immediately look down at the tiles, checking for footprints, something Erica would do. There's a slight trail, barely visible to the naked eye. Erica taught me how to identify these sort of things. Things you have to be careful of at all times. "Two minutes Ben." The Principal smirks again and looks down to fix his tie. I follow the trail on all knees and hands to the toilet. Above it, the window was propped open, barely big enough to fit a person. Odd. More evidence she could have been kidnapped. And the person who got her must have been strong enough to carry Erica up and out of the window and keep her from strangling him/her. They also had a plan to get Erica but nothing else. As if on cue, My eyes fixate on a piece of paper behind the toilet. Ducking down, I quickly grab the paper before the principal looks up from fixing his tie. "Times up buddy." He grabs me by my shoulder and takes me outside of the caution tape smiling that fake smile everyone uses nowadays. "Did you find anything?" Zoe, Mike, and Warren crowd me. Chip shoves through the sea of people in a too small robe and comes into the group. "I heard what happened. What did you find from Erica's dorm?"

"I found a piece of paper. I haven't looked at it yet, because then the principal would take it. I think Erica could have left it, or maybe even the kidnapper." We all huddle in closer.

"Well, open it up! Don't leave us hanging!" Zoey clamors. I slowly but surely unfold the strip. This isn't normal paper, it's extremely fragile, and it feels like it could burst to a million shreds any second. When the last fold is unfurled. We all go quiet. On it are two numbers.

41.9350

50.6689

"41.9350 and 50.6689? What does that mean?" Mike asks.

"Well, I'm not sure. All we know is that's definitely not Erica's handwriting."