i HAD to post, even though i was supposed to wait for reviews because
1. some had put my story on alert so there's some interest, right?
2. i couldn't wait any longer
yeah, that's about it. but guys, seriously. review! even bad comments are better than no comment
Amy was the first to notice.
"Chloe!" she exclaimed.
"Chloe! You're awake!" said Paul.
"What happened?" Chloe asked groggily. "Oh my God," she whispered as everything flooded back. "What time is it? How long was I out?" she said louder.
"It's three am. You've been out for around six hours," Amy replied. She sat on her bed.
"Have you guys been here all night?"
"Pretty much," yawned Paul.
Amy elbowed him in the ribs.
"What? She asked," he said defensively.
"How are you feeling?" asked Amy, glaring at Paul.
"Not good," admitted Chloe. "Where's my mom?"
Amy and Paul exchanged a look.
"The thing is…she hasn't come home."
"Not home? Where is she? Why haven't you done anything?" Chloe screamed.
"We contacted the police, but we weren't sure of what to say. Where did she go last?"
"Dinner with some big guy from work." Chloe's eyes widened. "Oh my God. What if he was part of the Order? Where's Alek?"
"On the roof," said Paul.
"The roof? How long has he been there?" Chloe exclaimed.
"A little less than six hours," said Amy.
"What?" In a flash, Chloe had the window open. But a thought stopped her from going out.
"You love who you love. Guess I never really stood a chance, did I?"
She couldn't shake away his face; the look of hurt was heartbreaking, especially because this was Alek Petrov. His face was rarely anything but cocky.
Amy noticed her hesitation.
"Chloe? What happened between you and Alek?" she asked slowly.
"I'll tell you guys tomorrow. Go get some sleep," Chloe sighed.
Paul and Amy looked at each other. "You sure?"
Chloe nodded. With a final glance at her, they left. She sighed. More than anything, she wanted to find her mom, but the only way she could do that was with Alek and Jazz. Taking a deep breath, she climbed out the window.
"Alek?" Silence. "Alek?" She climbed up and saw his silhouette sitting just two feet away from her. She padded softly to him. "Alek."
He looked up. "Chloe. You're awake," he said quietly.
"Alek," she choked out. "I need your help. My mom's missing."
Alek looked at her, black eyes boring into her green ones. "Not now, Chloe. You need to rest. And I think we've both got something to say."
"No! My mom might be dead, Alek. Doesn't that mean anything? If you won't help, I'll go get Jazz."
"She won't be able to help you." He stood up close enough for her to see the wounds and dry blood in his body, causing her to gasp. Looking down at her, he said, "Just go to sleep. We'll figure things out tomorrow." He turned away abruptly and sat down again.
"Stay in my room with me," Chloe whimpered. The idea of sleeping in her house alone was too depressing. She thought she saw Alek's eyes light up, but she blinked and it was gone.
"No. I'll be on your roof." He couldn't trust himself to stay with her. He had to get over her because no matter what would happen between them, he couldn't shake away the idea that if she could choose who she was talking to right now, it wouldn't be him.
"He did what?" Amy screeched the next afternoon.
"Not so loud," Chloe said, despite the fact that they were the only ones in the house. I don't want to have to say it again, she moaned in her head, briefly glancing at Alek. He was staring right at her. Awkward.
"He did what?" Amy repeated, quieter.
"He kissed me," she said softly. This time, she didn't dare look at Alek.
Paul, Alek, Amy, and Chloe were sitting in a circle in Chloe's room. It was a beautiful day outside; bright and sunny with just enough clouds to fight the worst of the sun's glare, but all had voted to stay in Chloe's room. Then, Alek told Chloe what happened with Zane, still missing out on the part that they were "brothers", and now, Chloe was taking her turn to share.
"And that's how he died," Alek said lamely. His British accent didn't send shivers down Chloe's spine the way it usually did. Chloe knew exactly what he was hiding behind the monotonous mask, and it was taking every ounce of her energy to resist the need to cry.
None of them said anything for a moment.
"Why were there in the first place?" Paul asked cautiously, his voice slicing through the silence.
Here comes the hard part. "I thought…mydadwasgoingtomeetmethere."
"What?" It was Alek who asked, the only one who didn't know.
"I thought my dad was going to meet me there."
"Wait," Paul said, eyebrows knit in concentration.
Alek picked up immediately. "You said you thought your dad was going to meet you." When Chloe nodded, he continued, his voice firm, "Chloe, who was there?"
Chloe heaved a big sigh, trying to delay the moment as much as she could. "The Order." As soon as the words escaped her lips, big wet tears cascaded down her ivory cheeks. She pulled her knees to her chest before whispering, "I lost another life."
Without another word, Alek pulled her to his chest and she sobbed into his gray T-shirt as he rocked her back and forth. She could feel the tension underneath the muscles, but she refused to break away. It didn't matter if he was angry at her; this was exactly what she needed and there was no one else, dead or alive, she could imagine doing this with right now.
"I—" hiccup, "thought it was him—" hiccup, "for sure." Deep breath. "But it was all—" hiccup, "a trick. They were—" hiccup, "ready for me; members of—" hiccup, "the Order. And after, a girl—" hiccup, "with red hair. She—" hiccup, "was at the event—" hiccup, "Brian took me to." Chloe's face was now tear-free, but the hiccups were driving her nuts.
"But they emailed you?" Paul asked. Again, he was knitting his eyebrows.
Chloe nodded.
"Did you recognize the email?"
She shook her head.
"So what made you think it was him?"
"A story. When I was younger, we made stories together. He emailed me one of the lines," she said softly, still constantly interrupted by hiccups. "We called it Hannity Hoppity."
She looked at Alek again. He wasn't teasingly arching an eyebrow the way he would've done before. He didn't make any side comments. Instead, he stared into space; his gorgeous features a blank mask.
"The girl with red hair was the one who killed you?" Amy inquired.
Chloe nodded. "She had a gun."
"And you recognized her from the business even Brian took you to."
"Yeah. She was with his dad the whole time."
"Well, we've got something. So she's probably part of the Order."
"Yeah."
"And what about your mom? She was having dinner with someone for work, right?"
Chloe nodded, her throat constricted. She hated just sitting here but there wasn't much she could do. She didn't know anything about the person Meredith went out with last night; not his name, his looks, or even how exactly he was part of her mom's work, if that wasn't a lie.
"Do you know where?"
"No. I don't know anything about him," she moaned. Why had she not pay attention when her mom was telling her?
"Don't be too hard on yourself," said Amy, reading her mind. "It's not like we knew the Order was onto everything we did."
"Yeah, but," Chloe sighed.
"But nothing," Amy replied firmly.
