A/N: Hello! Review, review, review? :)

KILL ME, NOT

Chapter Two:

"Locked Hearts and Hand Grenades"

oOo

Footsteps scrambled about, and Clare grabbed Eli's wrist. Noises clattered everywhere in the dark basement and the dropped torches had gone out completely, both broken. Clare and Eli stumbled backwards, unable to determine whether the violent noises meant the footsteps were coming their way. The outline of a dark figure could be seen in the distance and Clare couldn't help but scream. There was more muffled noises and then silence. The only thing that could be heard was Clare and Eli's rapid, violent breaths.

"They left," Eli realised. "Clare, I think they left."

"You think?" Clare whispered, "Who was that?"

"I don't know," Eli took his phone out of the pocket and shined the screen brightness towards the other end of the basement. He took Clare's hand, led her over to the circuit breaker and stared. The switch had been brought down, on purpose. Eli flipped the switch back up and two seconds later, the lights flickered back on and they could see again.

Clare noticed their proximity and pulled herself away as she and Eli tried to compose themselves awkwardly. They glanced around the brightened basement. The empty, brightened basement. Whoever was in with them minutes ago, was gone now.

"The lights were turned off, on purpose," Clare said suddenly, "Who would do that?"

"I'm guessing the lovely basement stranger we just ran into," Eli mumbled back, "Either they waited until we came down, to strike, or they were planning on coming up and getting us in the dark."

"They? Us?" Clare looked at him, "Do you really think that was the Dare Overlord? We were just yards away from him, her, they. Do you really think that?"

"From what you told me," Eli began, "I can't think of another explanation."

"I feel like I'm going to vomit," Clare gripped her stomach.

"Bad pie?" Eli grimaced apologetically.

"Bad day," Clare corrected him. She gathered the fallen torches and said, "Come on. Let's get out of here, before whoever was down here decides to come back."

"Maybe we should phone the police," Eli followed her out of the basement.

"And get laughed at?" Clare answered, "No point. We don't have any proof, we don't even have a suspect anymore. Imogen's dead, unless her ghost is somehow still wandering the earth, trying to finish me, or maybe she's trying to warn me, like that weird Korean horror film Alli made me watch last weekend. Absolutely ridiculous."

"Less of the horror films and more of the locked doors," Eli muttered.

oOo

The Next Day

Fiona walked into the Dot with a bounce in her step. She slammed her books, bag and jacket in the window view table and stalked over to the counter with a smile on her face. Eli turned around, smiling annoyedly when he saw Fiona's face.

"And what can I get you today m'am?" Eli asked, picking up a disposable cup, "To go?" he asked.

"Sitting in," Fiona rapped her fingers against the counter, "You can get me an explanation for leaving early this morning and not walking me to class. And also, a mocha cinnamon latte with a sugar doughnut and a slice of cherry pie."

Eli shot her a look as he got to work on her order. "I left early because I wanted a jog. You know, a jog. People can run Fiona, except you. That's why I didn't wait."

"And last night?" Fiona continued, "I come home and Clare tells me you've gone to bed, early. You're avoiding me. What happened last night? Was it awful? Did Clare reject you? Laugh in your face? Ruffle your hair? Vomit? Come on, give me something!"

"Why aren't you in college or something?" Eli ignored her questions.

"I only had one class today," Fiona replied, "I love college. It's like the pic and mix of academic achievement. Now tell me what happened. Clare looked really shaken up last night. You two didn't try anything you need intense practice for, did you? Did she have Beef Curtain? Did you try Snowballing? Cream Pie? Lemon squeeze? Cowbell?"

"You're gross," Eli said, annoyed, "I don't even know what those mean."

"Urban dictionary," Fiona shrugged back, "I thought having sex was enough. For this generation, apparently not."

"One mocha cinnamon latte with a sugar doughnut and a slice of cherry pie," Eli pushed the cup of coffee and plate towards across the counter, "That's $9.56."

"Put it on my tab," Fiona replied. "Now tell me what happened."

"It's actually my tab," Eli corrected her. "Fine. I tried talking to Clare, she didn't want to go back there, she proposed we be... friends. So there. That's what we're being now. Friends."

"That sucks," Fiona grimaced. "Did you make your home-made pie?"

Eli nodded, "Apparently my grandmother's recipe wasn't enough to sway her back," he paused, "And something else happened... Something weird. The apartment had a power cut, before you came back. Only when Clare and I went down into the basement, someone had pulled down the circuit breaker, deliberately. And there was someone else in the basement with us. They made a lot of noise and then left."

Fiona paled. "Oh my god. Really?" she shivered and then whispered, "What the hell?"

"I don't know," Eli shook his head, "But it seriously freaked us out. Someone sent Clare a creepy doll yesterday. It talked and everything."

Fiona let out an unsure breath, "Seriously? Did she call the police?"

"Waste of time, apparently," Eli replied, "It's getting worse, Fiona," he glanced behind and saw a gathering queue. "Now go, I've got people to serve."

Fiona rolled her eyes, "You love company, just admit it. I'm awesome."

Eli frowned, "Aren't you supposed to be at work or something?"

Fiona suddenly gaped, horrified, "Oh, shit!"

She darted back towards her things, grabbed them and ran out of the Dot faster than normal, nearly knocking down customers on her way.

oOo

"Connor," Clare said sweetly as she fell into line with the taller boy.

"Clare," Connor replied, giving her a knowing look. He gestured his head to the right and they snuck into an empty classroom, closing the door. Connor started with, "I'm working on it. Almost in, but not yet. It's difficult, Simpson changes the password every three days."

"If you get anything, let me know," Clare opened the classroom door, "Thank you." She spied Adam across the hallway, talking to a tall leggy blonde and decided to interrupt them in need of her best friend.

"Adam!" Clare cried, linking their arms together, "Walk me to class?"

"Sure," Adam looked slightly annoyed. "Clare, this is Becky Baker. She's new here, from Florida."

"Pleasure to meet you," Becky grinned.

"Same," Clare tried not to judge the new girl too much.

"I'll talk to you later, Adam," Becky smiled sweetly, walking off.

"I hate you," Adam groaned.

"You'd rather talk to miss supermodel than your own best friend?" Clare asked sarcastically.

"Who's a supermodel?" Alli joined the conversation.

"Becky Baker," Adam said dreamily. "She's tall, beautiful, blonde."

"Christian," Alli added, "She's in my Math class, and she's super annoying."

Clare was about to reply when her phone rang in her pocket. "Hello?" she answered, wondering if the Dare Overlord was going to be on the other end of the phone, her stomach jolting horrible.

"Hi, is this Clare Edwards?"

"This is she, can I ask who's calling?"

"My name's Shirley. I saw your post about Imogen Moreno on Yahoo's forum board. I'm calling from Buddha Burger, it's a vegetarian joint in Feat Street. Imogen used to work here and she has a locker full of things that her parents didn't collect. If you want them you can have them."

Clare's eyes widened, "Oh my god, really?"

"Sure. Just drop by and say you spoke to Shirley about it."

"Oh my, thank you, thank you so much," Clare hung up and looked into the curious eyes of Adam and Alli. She added, "So, anyone up for a veggie burger at lunch?"

oOo

Clare, Alli and Adam walked along Feat Street, looking for Buddha Burger when the conversation suddenly turned to deal breakers.

"If he's thirty five and still lives with his mom," Alli said, "Deal breaker. If he has a tramp stamp; deal breaker. If he has grey pubes; deal breaker."

"If she smokes; deal breaker," Adam added.

"If she's secretly a psycho; deal breaker," Clare said, and they both turned to stare at her. Clare shrugged, "Sorry. Oh look!" she pointed across the road and saw the burger joint Imogen used to work in, "That's it."

"I'm getting a bad feeling about this," Adam mumbled horribly.

"Me too," Alli mumbled back, "What's the point in a burger if it's not a burger?"

"Vegetarians are people too," Clare said as they all walked into the meat free restaurant. Alli and Adam hung back and Clare walked over to the counter, to where a curly redhead was wiping a plate, "Excuse me? I got a call from Shirley today. Told me I could come and collect Imogen Moreno's things."

"I'm Shirley," the curly redhead put down the plate and gestured for Clare to slip round the counter and follow her.

"I brought some friends," Clare said to her, "Is that okay?"

"That's fine," Shirley led them through the back room to where a set a lockers was pressed up against the wall. The room stank of meat, surprisingly enough.

"Did you know Imogen well then?" Clare asked.

"Didn't know anything about her," Shirley shrugged, "She kept to herself, really. Only ever spoke about this sweet little thing that went to her school. Oh she was in love, she was. Rambled endlessly about true happiness and the meaning of love."

Clare's stomach clenched. She hated it whenever she remembered the fact that Imogen obsessed over Eli.

"It's locker 19," Shirley said, "I opened it earlier. Feel free to take what you want, and throw the rest out."

"Thanks," Clare waited until Shirley had disappeared before she marched over to the locker and opened it. Alli and Adam crammed behind her.

If Clare expected to find a body in there, she was mistaken. She saw two hanging jumpers, a pile of magazines, a box of CD's and an old packet of chewing gum.

"That was exciting," Adam said boredly.

Clare sat on the floor and picked up Imogen's things. "Go through everything with a fine comb," she said to Alli and Adam, who sat down next to her.

"Well, she had good taste in fashion," Alli said as she browsed the magazine covers.

"No, she didn't," Adam argued, "Imogen looked like a riot most of the time. An escapee from a circus act."

Clare frowned and looked at the magazines. They were high end fashion magazines – not Imogen's taste. She picked one of them up and flicked through it. And then it dropped out suddenly, right out onto Clare's lap. A picture. Of herself. Walking down the hallway of Degrassi.

"Holy shit," Alli whispered.

Adam reached over, picked up another magazine and flapped it about. Out popped another picture of Clare. And another one. And another one. And another one. The piles of magazines were actually hiding places – for pictures of Clare.

Clare held her breath. "Some of these are from ages ago, over a year. She tracked me. Followed me. Going to church, going to school, visiting my dad—" she stopped abruptly when her eyes found one that turned her blood cold. She picked up a fallen picture and stared at it.

"What is it?" Adam asked.

Clare flipped the picture over. A picture of her and Eli, resting on the hood of his hearse, on their first date, at the drive in movie theatre.

"She's been following you the whole time," Alli said, eyes wide. "She hated you that much, she stalked you."

"She's been with me for everything," Clare nearly shrieked, her fingers going through the pictures, "Sitting with Eli in his hearse, going to Wendy's, entering Sticky Ricky's, meeting Jake in the middle of the street, at the Dot with you guys, outside Fiona's apartment, lunch with Fiona's godmother, moving into our place. She was documenting everything."

"Seems a bit odd," Adam said suddenly.

"A bit odd?" Clare gasped, "This girl was one stick short of a lolly!"

"No, I mean it's odd her obsession was with Eli, yet she took pictures of you," Adam rushed to explain, "Think about it. If Eli's the object of her desire, why isn't she stalking him and creating a shrine to him or something weird and creepy to that effect?"

"Maybe her desire to kill Clare greatly outweighed her desire to screw Eli," Alli said.

"See if you can find anything else," Clare added.

"Everything alright in here?" Shirley asked, walking back into the room. "Oh, what lovely pictures. You must have been devastated to hear of her death."

"Not as devastated as you might think," Alli muttered.

"Why in heavens name would you think that?" Clare asked.

Shirley frowned, "I'm sorry if I offended. I just didn't think it would take this long for you to collect your girlfriend's things."

"What?" Clare gasped.

"The sweet little thing that went to her school?" Shirley explained, "Is that not you? You look exactly like the girl in the photo she showed me."

"Oh my god," Adam's eyes widened. "Imogen wasn't obsessed with Eli."

"She was obsessed with you," Alli sprung upwards.

"Sorry to interrupt," Shirley left the room again, shaking her head in confusion.

"Jesus Christ!" Clare screamed at the newest revelation.

"This all makes sense now," Alli began, "Imogen dared Fitz to scare Eli with the unloaded gun, leading him right where she would be outside, in the car. She wasn't trying to kill you, Clare. She was trying to kill Eli."

"And when Imogen said 'You just can't leave well enough alone, can you?' she was referring to when you told Fiona and I to call an ambulance, for Eli, because she wanted him to die," Adam stood up as well, his brain cogs moving rapidly, "And when she said 'I wasn't happy with the way things were' it didn't necessarily mean that she wanted Eli. She wanted you."

"And when she said that she wasn't the only one, it wasn't a threat. It was a warning," Alli added.

Clare's head spun. "What the hell are you trying to say? That Imogen was working with someone to split me and Eli up, but it wasn't for Eli? And why would Imogen 'warn' me about the real Dare Overlord, the real master mind? She'd have no reason to, they were in it together."

"I'm not sure," Adam bit his lip, "But you heard that woman. She said Imogen talked about you, like you were her girlfriend. And these pictures prove it."

"Bitch crazy, but it doesn't all have to make sense to us. It clearly made sense to Imogen somehow," Alli took a step back.

"But Imogen hated me," Clare shook her head, "She spat insults at me, glared at me, gave me weird creepy looks, invited me to her one woman play about death or something. I mean, she used to stare at me, for hours, in the library and in class. These really annoying, creepy looks."

"Actually, if you say it like that," Adam frowned, "It's a wonder why we didn't pick up on it sooner."

"Sometimes people are cunts to the ones they like, because they either can't handle that they like them or, being a dick to them is better than not being anything to them at all," Alli added.

"I hate people," Clare whispered to herself. "I utterly hate people."

"We should probably go," Adam collected Imogen's things and shoved them into his bag. "We should go before we miss lunch curfew."

Clare's mind was already thinking deeply by the time Adam was packed up. "I'll be right there," she told her friends. "I gotta use the toilet." She waited until Adam and Alli left the locker room, then she pulled out her phone and dialled a number. "Hey, it's me," she said when the person picked up.

"A call from Clare Edwards. This must be bad."

Clare smirked, slightly. "You up for doing me a little favour?"

"What kind of favour?"

Clare said, "The illegal kind."

oOo

"This is insane," Eli rubbed his eyes tiredly. He glanced around the room. Clare was sitting on the couch with Sav, and Fiona was in the kitchen making a sandwich.

"I know," Clare nodded. "I just thought you guys should know," she glanced tentatively to Fiona and then to Eli. Clare wasn't sure which was worse. Telling a person they were meant to die, or telling a person the girl they liked obsessed over someone else. Probably the first one.

"Fiona, are you okay?" Clare stood up.

"I'm fine," Fiona said, voice dry. "Why wouldn't I be? Do I care, that Imogen liked you? No, don't be silly. I'm over her. She's dead anyway." Fiona brought the kitchen knife down on the sandwich with a final thwack and made everyone jump slightly.

"Eli?" Clare turned to face him. "I'm sorry you had to find out this way."

"I'm okay," Eli shook his head slightly, "It doesn't really change anything. Imogen meaning to knock me down doesn't change the face that she did anyway. Did you happen to find anything else?"

"The box is in my room if you want to look through it," Clare suggested, "Fiona, you can as well."

"I wouldn't go near that thing, if my life depended on it," Fiona said frostily. She abruptly binned her sandwich and stormed to her bedroom, slamming her bedroom door shut.

"Awkward," Sav sighed. Clare couldn't agree more.

"Anyway," Clare picked up her jacket, "I've got a place to be. Meeting Alli for a late night showing of Fight Club. Bye," she walked out of the apartment and closed the door behind her.

Sav's phone beeped and he pulled it out of his pocket. He groaned, "Crap. Alli's just text me, I forgot another family night dinner. Mom's pissed at me. Can't they give me some slack?"

Eli frowned, "Wait, what? If Alli's having dinner with your parents, then where the hell is Clare going?"

Sav's eyes widened in confusion.

Eli cocked an eyebrow, "You ever tailed anybody before, Sav?"

oOo

Clare strolled into the Buddha Burger joint just before 11PM. The place was in darkness, just about to shut. She looked about, and heard footsteps come from the back room. Shirley stepped out, and frowned at the sight of Clare.

"Hi Shirley," Clare smirked, "Real name Aubrey."

Shirley/Aubrey stiffened.

"I looked on the website before I ever came here," Clare continued, "There's no Shirley's on the employee list. Only one curly redhead, by the name of Aubrey. Why did you use a fake name?"

"I like aliases, okay?" Aubrey snapped.

Clare said, "Imogen never worked here, did she? You set this up."

"I can't tell you," Aubrey took a step backwards.

The door behind Clare suddenly opened and in strolled Jake, carrying a baseball bat.

"Finally!" Clare cried at him. "I've been outside for twenty minutes."

"Sorry," Jake pulled a face, "It was raining."

"What the hell is going on here?" Aubrey's eyes caught the baseball bat in Jake's hand, "You can't hurt me. There's cameras running. They'll get your faces."

"Nope tonight they won't," Clare shrugged, "I have very smart friends who hacked into your very basic low rent security system and turned them off. You need a special code to turn them back on."

"Clever," Jake said, admiringly.

"Thank you," Clare replied smugly. "I'm here all week," she turned back to Aubrey, "Now, here's what's going to happen. You're going to tell me what the fuck is going on, or so help me God, my friend here is going to turn over this place like it's 1999."

"What happened in 1999?" Jake frowned.

"I don't know, I thought it was a saying," Clare winced.

"You can't do this!" Aubrey cried, "I'll tell the police."

"And who are they going to believe?" Clare snapped coldly, "A recovering prostitute drug addict, or an academic Senior, and her environmentally friendly step brother?" she took a step forward, "Do you really think I'm an idiot? The police would have ransacked Imogen's locker months ago, had she ever worked here in the first place! There's no way in hell they would have left pictures of me behind in there! You planted those in there, you phoned me, and you lied to me! If you don't start talking, my friend is going to ruin this place."

Tears watered in Aubrey's eyes. "They'll kill me."

"I'll kill you!" Clare cried. There a tense, silent moment and then Clare turned away and looked at Jake, "Do it."

Jake brought the bat up and started trashing the counter, the tables, the windows. Everything in sight was getting smashed, cracked, demolished or battered. Clare took a step backwards and Aubrey shrunk behind the counter.

Clare cried to Aubrey over Jake's noise, "Really sucks, doesn't it? Feeling fucking powerless while someone else takes a wrecking ball to your life? I wonder what the owner would say! You being the last one here and this place suddenly gets trashed with no real evidence or explanation! I know what the police would say! You missed a payment to one of your drug dealers and they got even by messing up your work life! How does that sound?"

"Stop!" Aubrey screamed suddenly, arms flailing, "Stop!"

Jake stopped whacking the baseball bat about and glanced at Clare with a pink flush in his cheeks.

"Someone paid me to do this, okay!" Aubrey cried, "They found my email on Craig's List and mailed me, asking me to plant all this weird stuff in a locker and tell you that Imogen used to work here and that I saw your listing on Yahoo. They sent me the money to my house, I never spoke to them, I never saw them face to face, I don't know who did this, but they threatened me to never tell a soul. I have a four year daughter. Please understand."

"And all that spiel about Imogen liking me? Telling people she was my girlfriend?" Clare asked.

"I was told to say that," Aubrey answered frantically, "I said every word, word for word. I don't know who you are, or why any of this was necessary, I swear."

"We're done here," Clare said to Jake.

"Wait!" Aubrey cried, "What about this mess?"

"What about my fucking life?" Clare snapped. "Nobody's going to fix mine. If you breathe a word to the police, I will make it my personal mission to let your one time employer – otherwise known as my psycho stalker – know that you didn't keep their dealing a secret. Understand?"

Aubrey said nothing and watched Clare and Jake leave the Buddha Burger.

Jake and Clare walked towards his car and Jake flung the baseball bat into the back as he jumped into the front. Clare got into the passenger side and closed the door with a sigh.

"Waste of time," she muttered.

Jake said, "I was surprised to get your phone call, considering..."

"Considering you told me my mother was engaged before she did and also happened to tell my mother I was going out with Eli," Clare finished for him. "That was last year, Jake. Bigger things have happened since then."

"I noticed," Jake smirked slightly. "When did you turn into such a badass?"

"I don't know," Clare murmured, "At some point, I just changed, and I can't find my way back. I don't understand any of this. It doesn't make any sense. I'm just right back at square one."

"No, you're not," Jake shook his head, "You're smart, Clare. You'll be just fine."

"Take me home, please," Clare fastened her seat-belt. "Eli will probably be wondering where I am."

oOo

"Can you see anything parked from here?" Sav squinted through Bullfrog's car window. He was sitting in the passenger seat, with Eli in the driver seat, parked across from a weird little restaurant called Buddha Burger.

"I saw somebody go inside that burger joint," Eli murmured. "Oh wait, look." Across the road, the restaurant door opened and Clare walked out... with... Jake?! Holding a baseball bat. Eli whispered, "What the fuck?"

Sav and Eli watched Jake and Clare walk towards Jake's jeep and get inside. They sat for a moment, talking and then Jake turned on the engine and the lights bleared ahead.

"Get down," Sav pushed Eli and himself down past the windows so they wouldn't be seen as Jake and Clare drove past.

"What the hell?" Eli raged. "Why is Clare hanging around with Jake?"

"And why did he need that baseball bat? Why did they go inside that restaurant?" Sav added.

Eli turned on the engine, drove forwards, across the road and parked outside Buddha Burger. The sight before him left him speechless.

"Holy shit," Sav stared through the car wind shield at the burger joint.

The place was completely trashed.

Clare and Jake... as Partners in Crime?