Disclaimer: I don't own HOA, and I never will. Aw.

If Only You Could Save Me

Chapter 1

There was a knock on the door and Nina burst in. She reeled back when she saw me with Patricia. We'd jumped apart instantly, but she'd already seen too much.

"Sorry!" she exclaimed, face a little red. "Patricia... Maybe I'll come back later..." Nina turned to leave. Patricia looked torn, so I was sure this was something important. I smiled.

"Go." She smiled, kissed me on the cheek, and ran after Nina. I stood there for a moment before deciding I should probably go back to my room. At the top of the stairs, I noticed Nina, Patricia, Fabian, Amber, and Alfie standing in the lobby. I probably would have gone straight down, but something about their meeting made me decide against that. They were looking around, seemingly waiting. Finally, Nina nodded.

"I think we're good," she said, putting a key in the lock of the cellar door.

"Tell me again," Fabian said, sounding a little confused, "why do we need the amulets?" Now I was confused. Amulets?

Nina sighed. "Because if you don't have one, the beacon at the entrance to the tunnel will blind you for a day."

Now, I was seriously confused. A tunnel? A beacon? Blindness? That last one stirred something in the back of my mind, but I couldn't put my finger on it. With that, however, they disappeared into the basement.

I was frozen, not sure what had just happened or what they were up to. Then the clock chimed. I looked at my watch. Eleven o'clock. I hadn't realized how late it was. Shaking my head, I made my way back to my room.

I put on some music and laid down. I wasn't sure how long I had been there, but I eventually drifted off to sleep.

~OoO~

When I woke up, the room was dark. Hadn't I fallen asleep without turning the light off? I glanced at my clock. It was seven-thirty A.M. With a soft groan, I sat up. My head throbbed. After turning on my lamp, I looked around. Fabian was fast asleep in his bed.

I would have gone back to sleep, but the throbbing in my head was hard to ignore. With a sigh, I stood and grabbed fresh clothes. Maybe a shower would help. The bathroom was empty, as most of the guys tended to sleep in on the weekends.

When I was done, I didn't feel any better than when I woke up. Regardless, I went into the kitchen to find food. Vera was there, making breakfast. She was surprised to see me.

"You're up early." I shrugged, popping some bread in the toaster. I must have looked off because she got a curious look on her face. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Fine." She raised an eyebrow. "You have any painkillers?"

"Of course. Hang on." She disappeared out of the kitchen. My toast popped up. As I was spreading strawberry jelly (or rather, jam, but I could never figure out the difference) on a slice, Vera came back in with a bottle of Tylenol. She handed me two and a glass of orange juice. I took them quickly.

"Thanks." With that, I grabbed my toast and juice and went to the dining room table. The only other ones there were Mara and Joy. Joy gave me an odd look.

"You're actually awake before ten? Shocking." I rolled my eyes, but didn't say anything.

"Are you okay, Eddie?" Mara asked. "You look a little pale."

"Do I?" I asked, not really paying attention.

"Maybe he's catching Patricia's cold," Joy said with a knowing smile. Mara gave her a confused look, to which Joy nodded. I sighed as Mara caught on, eyes going wide. A smile spread across her face. I didn't hear what she said next. Suddenly, I wasn't hungry. In fact, I felt sick... I dropped my toast and ran to the bathroom, knocking a sleepy Alfie out of my way.

"Hey! Oh..." He backed away. "I'll... I'll go tell Vera to get you some cold medicine or something..."

I felt awful. There was a dark laugh. In the corner of my eye, I saw a shadow. When I looked up, nothing was there. No person, no shadow. I was alone.